|
No Lunacy, my initial repair strategy was to replace the core just under the stanchion bases to effectively eliminate the need for gelcoat repair. This is why those semi-circular holes were cut. When I got in there I realized that the core was wet far beyond just the base area. I literally picked out wet core through those initial holes to the approximate rectangle where I cut. It never seemed to end! Wet core kept coming out.
What I was left with were two rather large holes right through the deck because I had no idea where the core ended and the laminate became one solid glass piece. So, I had to laminate from the inside first to create a new lower skin, then from the top to add thickness. Once that was done I had to add some filler (404 and 406 mix I think) to level the repair area out as prep for new core material. Core was added, then filler again, then more glass. Once I had that last top layer of glass I hired a local glass guy to finish it up (I wasn't about to screw around with gelcoat matching). He laminated the top skin back, scarfed the edges, glassed, faired, then started gelcoat. He created a non-skid pattern by hand. At the moment, the repair is totally sound and looks decent but the gelcoat guy isn't happy with it and will come back for some final color match and skid touchup. I used homemade fiberglass backing plates on the inside (none there originally). And, yes, I had to remove the wood trim to get to the nuts. I had to cut back some of the headliner too. Many hours of shear joy I can tell you!
|
Login
Register
FAQ
