years of old bolt holes need some love

[panga]

After a long day of trolling yesterday staring at the pilothouse walls and all the old owners years of random holes in the boat made me realize that I need to do some repairs. I have holes in the fiberglass all over the place, from old electronics to old rod holders, to old audio speakers and lights, 20 yrs of dieing and replacing equipment. Most holes are bolt holes 1/4".

Two question
1- whats the best way to dry these holes out before filling to prevent rot in the parts that hit wood?

2- what is the best product to fill these holes, my main objective is functionality, weather proofing and preventing future problems(mainly rot), last is I would like it to look as decent as possible for a 20 yr. old boat.

Thanks for the help

 

[96TL]

I use West System epoxy. Mix with some filler (Cabosil) to thicken. Put it in a svringe. Inject into hole. Put a piece of blue tape over it. Done.

 

[panga]

Cool I was thinking epoxy, and I already have plenty of both epoxy and filler addative products, What about drying and/or treating any wood that was exposed to elements through these holes? I would hate to epoxy in moisture and find a big pocket of rot down the road?

Thanks for the help


PS- MODS I intended to post this question in projects, made a mistake, if you feel it belongs in projects feel free to move it over. thanks

 

[DaleH]

Epoxy isn't UV proof; it will turn yellow and degrade ... it can be a bitch to gelcoat over, and if as many holes as you say, will kill, IMHO, any value upon selling as they'll look like amateur repairs.

Best bet for non-epoxy would be to fill to less-than-flush with Formula 27, then glecoat them properly. Lots of how to tips & info on here from Pork Chunker, myself, and others. You could still get some 5-minute water-proof epoxy, mix up, and wipe core with gooped Q-tip or similar, then once cured (NOT filled), scratch up severely with sharp awl or such, add F27, and then gelcoat topcoat to flush.

If insistent on an all epoxy repair, best bet IMHO would be to buy the $20 starter kit from http://www.raka.com and forget about expen$ive West Systems and even more expen$ive pump systems. Raka is a simple 2-to-1 ratio regardless of how much you mix.

 

[panga]

Cool, thanks Dale, good to know about UV & epoxy, I will look into F27, Im not familiar with it. I have been planning to order some gel coat anyway for various repairs, so I will spend a week end on filling holes and cracks. They are not a "terrible" amount of holes, and Im sure I notice them much more then anyone, mainly I am worried about the long term effects of water getting into the structural members of the boat, and doin these repairs in a fashion that will not hurt the value would be nice. And, many of the holes are inside the cabin and not on "rough" finish gelcoat.

Im planning to dry the holes out with a heat gun in an attempt to get as much moisture as possible out, then wet out any expopsed wood with penetrating epoxy before filling with F27 and gelcoat over the top.

thanks for all the help, keep it coming if anyone has anything else to ad.

T

 

[96TL]

I didn't realize these were in an open area. If I am covering the repairs with something else (i.e., a new battery switch - larger than the previous one), then I usually don't gel coat them over.

After the epoxy cures, I hit it with a dremel or drill bit and bring it just below flush. I then apply thickened gelcoat (Cabosil) right over the holes (I put a bit extra and make a small bump). When the gelcoat cures, I wetsand it with 220, and work my way up to 1000, then compound/polish it. They come out completely invisible.

I've never had a problem with gelcoat repairs peeling off the epoxy, but none of my repairs are older than 4-5 years, and they are only screw holes, nothing large.

If you think some water may have gotten inside the hole, you can run a slightly larger drill bit inside it to clean it up. Depends on how much water you think is inside there. It will also give the epoxy (or Formula 27) a cleaner "bite", and remove any residual caulking that may be inside.

Formula 27 cures way too fast for me. I also like the way epoxy fills the holes better. Formula 27 is like a putty mixture. Thickened epoxy goes into every little crack and crevice and perfectly fills the hole.

West System is pretty expensive though, but it is supposedly compatible with gelcoat, as long as you remove the amine blush that forms after curing.

:wink:

 

[striperon]

Dale helped me fill some holes in the deck when I switched from seat to leaning post. His method worked well for me. Thank you again, Dale.