What fiberglass repair product should I use?

[Davidgsx]

Hi guys, I need a fiberglass product to
1) repair the rivet holes from the plastic traction mat before sticking the new traction mat on

2) to repair a couple small dings in my hull from beaching

I love to use the same product for both, also after sanding the repair spots on the bottom can or should I spay paint those spots or just leave them?
Thanks guys!!!


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[spx787]

Use Bondo Glass. And yes you can sand then paint right over it.

 

[Davidgsx]

Oh great, thank you!!!


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[spx787]

It sets up VERY quickly once you mix it so only mix a small amount at a time.

 

[Davidgsx]

Ok, one question, the instructions are a bit weird on ratio of hardener. Can you shed any light, I only need small amounts


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[spx787]

I don't remember what the instructions say and I'm not at home. What is the ratio that it gives?

 

[Davidgsx]

It says something like "for a golf ball size batch use 3 inch strip" it was very scientific


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[Lake Sailor]

Davidgsx, reason is the Bondo materials are fairly insensitive to mix ratio. More hardener, faster set, less hardener, slower set. At extremes it can affect cured properties, but normally not a problem.

Use enough of each part to be sure you get a good mix, give it your best guess on ratio of each, apply promptly.

Mix a test batch or two to get a feel for it. I predict you'll do OK with it.

After all, carpenters use the stuff

 

[Davidgsx]

Davidgsx, reason is the Bondo materials are fairly insensitive to mix ratio. More hardener, faster set, less hardener, slower set. At extremes it can affect cured properties, but normally not a problem.

Use enough of each part to be sure you get a good mix, give it your best guess on ratio of each, apply promptly.

Mix a test batch or two to get a feel for it. I predict you'll do OK with it.

After all, carpenters use the stuff

Extremely well said, you should write a book!! Seriously


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[ski-d00]

Well, that is kind of the old school method of ski repair and works okay but not great. If you want to do it right, you don't use fiberglass resin and you don't paint it. Google West Systems Epoxy repair and you will find a much better way to fix your ski. Your ski has gel coat and you can get an exact color match from GelKote Intl(the SeaDoo OEM supplier) for like $40. Gel coat is easy to work with, sands and polishes very well.

Unless you drilled out the rivet holes in the traction mats, you don't need to patch them at all. The best way to do mats is to use a sharp chisel and shear each rivet, takes 10 minutes to remove a set of mats.

It sounds like your small dings in your hull will only need a small gel coat patch which is very easy to do.

 

[Lake Sailor]

Davidgsx, thanks, it'd be a pretty short book, I pretty much told you everything I know about it already

 

[soccerdad]

If you want to do it right, you don't use fiberglass resin and you don't paint it. Google West Systems Epoxy repair and you will find a much better way to fix your ski. Your ski has gel coat and you can get an exact color match from GelKote Intl(the SeaDoo OEM supplier) for like $40. Gel coat is easy to work with, sands and polishes very well.

The gelcote used on these skis is polyester resin (typically known as fiberglass resin), not epoxy. Epoxy can be used to fix it, but epoxy really does not buy you anything in this case. For a simple fix, you can get gelcote repair kits from some of the boat places. I have heard some come with color pigments so you can get close to the color. The material you get from GelKote international is polyester gelcote.

For rivet hole repair, I used bondo body filler. This is just polyester resin with some fillers in it. It will bond to the deck and is easy to use. You can use most any bondo filler, be it bondo glass or regular bondo. The glass is just stronger which is not needed for filling the rivet holes but will not hurt either.

 

[Davidgsx]

Thanks guys!!!


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[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

If it's not white may as well stick with with polyester resin and polyester gelcoat I think.

I use white epoxy on my white hull, both Marine-Tex filler and white epoxy appliance spray paint from Home Depot. Keep in mind, polyester resins like gelcoat will not adhere to epoxy so once epoxy is there gel coat cannot be applied overtop. Epoxy will take to polyester resin substrates like a drone on ISIS.