fiberglass canoe repair

[Shark]

i know this is a jeep site but this is the OT forum right?
anyway, ive got this canoe that i inherited with my house. it was hung up on the side of the garage by 2 hooks for what seems like an extended period of time because its got a very long crack down one side of the hull where the hooks were holding the canoe up. the crack goes all the way through so it wont hold water. the crack is about 5 feet long and all the information i can find on the net is for fixing small cracks and holes.
anyone here worked with fiberglass before? is the crack too long to repair or does the same info for small cracks apply to long cracks?

feel free to delete this post if its too off topic.

[seanyb505]

I think if people can make fiberglass fenders and even bodies, I dont see why you could fiberglass a crack. A buddy of mine told me about using felt and some epoxy and its almost as strong as carbon fiber. Ill see which epoxy if its some particular one.

[Shark]

i found the fiber, resin and hardener at home depot. i began sanding and cleaning inside and out around the infected area. pictures to follow.

ive come to realize that when working with fiberglass, its impossible to not breathe in the particles no matter how good your mask is and you wont realize it until its too late. stops you up real good.

btw, glass bodies are only for canoes and vettes. real deal steel is where its at.

[seanyb505]

Actually our front header panels are fiberglass too. Ask me how I know

[Shark]

thats true, i didnt think of that. so if the lift gate for that matter.

btw,...how did you find that out?

[seanyb505]

My 97 has a steel gate...as for the header pannel..

[Shark]

i wonder why they decided to go with a steel lift gate in 97... whats the advantage?

[seanyb505]

...Better rear end protection?

[Flash]

i found the fiber, resin and hardener at home depot. i began sanding and cleaning inside and out around the infected area. pictures to follow.

ive come to realize that when working with fiberglass, its impossible to not breathe in the particles no matter how good your mask is and you wont realize it until its too late. stops you up real good.

btw, glass bodies are only for canoes and vettes. real deal steel is where its at.

So were is the pic's



Flash

[Shark]

sorry, ill get em up tonight.

[Shark]

this right after i did the initial bit of sanding around the infected areas. it really highlights the extent of the damage.

forgot to get a pic before any sanding. im surprised i even remembered to start taking pictures at this point.

[Shark]

more sanding


close up of more damage.


another angle.


this one is after a bunch more sanding. i started with a 4.5" grinder with a sanding wheel with 60 grit to take the rough stuff off. then i went to an orbital with 100 grit to take off the gel coat. you need at least a 3" area around the area to be fiberglassed to be clean of gel coat so the new material will bond well. i went a little overboard so i wouldnt have to be as precise with the new sheets of fiber.


close up of the major damage


the i started sanding the inside. here's the result.


i didnt take any pictures of the actual resin over fiber process because you have to work quickly. the directions on the resin say you have about 15 minutes work time per mix of resin and hardener but it seemed a bit less to me. i had problems with some of the fibers coming up when i brushed the resin over my precut sections of fiber material. i started on the inside of the canoe. dont know why i started there but it just seemed to feel right at the time. i cut all the sections before i mixed the resin from the sheet of fiber that would overlap the areas that needed the repair along the length of the canoe. i just eyeballed the sections i cut and cut them all before i mixed the resin. i spread some resin over the areas to be fixed before i layed a section of sheet on top of the resin then brushed more resin over top of the fibers. not hard but just had to work quickly.

still wet in this pic.


after drying.


after drying. this is the most damaged area from one of the earlier pics. you can still see quite a bit of light coming through the damaged area but i was surprised how strong it is. this is only 2 layers on the inside.


heres the same area from the outside.


another angle.


more to come. work schedule hasnt allowed me time to go any further with this project. still sittin with 2 coats of fiber applied.

[Shark]

sorry bout some of the pics bein fuzzy. think it was the caffeine.

[seanyb505]

Did you happen to hit an iceberg with that thing? Thats a pretty monstrous crack! Anyway, nice work with the fiberglass!

[Shark]

naw, its just dry rotted out from hanging on its side too long.