GmikeHall Posted August 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2023 So after the project sitting dormant for over a year I am thinking about getting back to work on it. I think I want to fix the strake damage with thickened faring epoxy then reglass the entire hull bottom. I know it is normal practice to grind/sand back to raw glass but the glass layer is so thin I am not sure I could accomplish that on this hull. The skin coat is super thin then you get into kevlar which I want to avoid. I am thinking that if I prep the surface correctly and use epoxy to reglass the bottom, I would never have any kind of separation problems. The key will be to remove anything that may be loose or to sand down the old gelcoat to as thin as possible. Anyone have any suggestions? I know is is going to be a ton of work to reglass the whole bottom but I think that is the route I want to go. I even thought about setting up and vacuum bagging the bottom glass layer with peel ply and this would really help make sure the epoxy gets into every single little void and should make delamination an unlikely event. It would also help reduce the time faring the bottom nice and flat again with the peel ply...Any suggestions from you seasoned fiberglass guys would sure be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted August 8, 2023 Report Share Posted August 8, 2023 Really glad to hear that you're getting the "itch" back on this one. I'm not a fiberglass guy, but the idea of glassing over gelcoat - or anything other than raw fiberglass - seems like a short term proposition. You may get a mechanical bond, but it's only as good as the mechanical bond between the raw fiberglass and the material you are fiber glassing over. Getting back to raw material gives you both a mechanical and a chemical bond and reduces the number of layers that could delaminate over time. I would also recommend putting this thread over on Microskiff. There are a LOT of guys on there that deal with this stuff more often, and many of them do it for a living. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart90deluxe Posted April 4 Report Share Posted April 4 Wow! Nice work. My 1990 MA Deluxe is very similar, fuel tank just has been leaking for a while unbeknownst to me until last weekend. I’m wondering how much space you had between the bow stringers, looking to do a poly belly tank. Original tank I have to cut out this weekend as I am NOT cutting deck. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted April 4 Report Share Posted April 4 FYI - a poly tank has a much much longer life than an aluminum (my 24 year old tank is still going strong), but they do have one downside - they STINK. The fuel eventually permeates the plastic and everything left in your boat will have a slight gas smell. Just a heads up. I wouldn't discourage you from going poly, but that's the one downside I'd never realized before I had one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart90deluxe Posted April 4 Report Share Posted April 4 Hopefully the materials have improved over the last 24 yrs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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