Bilge Floor Repair

[(Nobody You Know)]

A couple of weeks ago I removed an OEM battery box which was bonded to the flat section in the bilge floor between the engines (the box was old and starting to break up). To tear it out it ripped up a section I wouldn't call gel coat but was a section of coating over the original floor matting (see pic).

Should I go back over this with fiberglass resin or something like an epoxy coating? Then awlgrip?

Not sure what is the best thing to do. Your comments are appreciated.

[Maynard Rupp]

I would use West epoxy and a heavy cloth that has woven cloth on one side and unwoven mat on the other. I think it is a 9 oz. material. Just one layer and 2 coats of West epoxy out to do the job. Next paint whatever you want. Don't forget to grind the area first. Enjoy the itches.

[(Nobody You Know)]

...and a heavy cloth that has woven cloth on one side and unwoven mat on the other.

Maynard,

Thanks for the response BTW. Why would I need the "mat" when what is exposed at this point is the original mat material (which is soft)?

Just trying to get out of doing more work if at all possible.

[clark leighs]

The roving / mat combo I know as Knitex and that is the way it comes. Your photo looks to me like roving. You will end up with a better bond if the Knitex mat side goes to the old roving.

[(Nobody You Know)]

What you see in the pic is SOFT roven - no resin, spongy to the touch. No way it can be grinded. Thats why I'm under the impression that I need to apply some kind of resin first. No?

[Starman]

Bill,

The "soft" comes from poor mixing of the fiberglass resin and the hardener in the original layup. The hull is made up of several layers of roven fiberglass.


This area needs to be ground out witha grinder using 24 grit disc on a rubber pad. I use the Hitachi grinder because of the amp draw and the 10k rpm. It may get the discs gooey, but still you need to do this. Grind about a good two inches all the way around the raw area removing the paint.

I use bi axial fiberglass cloth with a matt backing. The matt backing and its fibers going in thousands of directions makes for a superior bond to the old. The bi axial top portion of this cloth gives superior strength.

After grinding, wipe clean with acetone. The use West System epoxy to bond the new glass to the old. Use a Bodi roller.1/2 thick 3" long. ( a fiberglass roller ) . This will remove the air bubbles when laying up the new glass.

After you roll out the fiberglass, ( one layer ) brush on a nice thick coat of the remaining west epoxy . Thick enough so that no fiberglass strands can be seen through the wet.

The next day when it is dry, use the grinder again to skim the surface. This is a fast and effective way to rough it up. Then use a sander with 80 grit to smooth it all out. Get rid of the shine.

Then use what ever paint you want to cover it up.

For a small area like yours, the time frame is maybe 4 hours of labor, over two days.