Boat in primer

This is the first primer coat. It is two part urethane. After curing I will block it using a sponge behind the sand paper to keep the finger groves to a minimum.

Plugging holes

I cut plugs out of marine plywood using a hole saw. Plugs were glued in place using West Systems Epoxy. The back was sealed with fiberglass cloth. The front was skim coated using Tiger Hair

Backing cracks

Cracks were backed with quad angle mat. It is best to pre-cut fiberglass before mixing your resin.

Repairing cracks in gel coat

In repairing cracks in gel coating I removed them with a 1/4" ball mill chucked in a hobby tool (dremel). I do not recommend a die grinder as it is too aggressive and the slightest pressure will cut through the fiberglass. Just remove the gel coat and not the fiberglass! On this boat the whole job took less than two hours.
Blow out the dust and wipe with a solvent such as acetone or mek. Take caution with these products. They are highly flammable!
Fill areas with tiger hair. It is a long fiber filler by Evercoat. Sand and glaze with 3M glazing. This product is water proof it is easy to sand...it does shrink and may need more than one application.

Let's get started

Finding a boat is easy. Depending on your skills and work involved you can find a bare hull from $500- $2500 on a trailer. The hull that I will be working with is a 1983 Sanger picklefork stage1 5 rib drag boat. This hull is a "lite lay up" 320 lbs. and has a rocker bottom, nick named "banana hull".This style of bottom aids the boat to set and "fly" as well as re-entry back into the water, and also has a 38" cockpit which will allow two seats. I prefer ex-race boats, as they have already been put to the limits. Anything that can crack, break or shake apart has already done so. Using this boat as a hotrod I will add support to areas that need extra strength to handle the rigors of pleasure use.

Intro

Hello,
My name is Michael, also known as Canoe Jockey. I have some 35+ years building, rigging and testing performance boats. I enjoy drag boat racing, but age and health do not allow me to compete any longer. In this blog I will build a bad to the bone lake/river hydro. This is also my first computer experience, please be patient....I am keyboard challenged!