fiberglass products

[Jofly]

Does any one in Chattanooga sell fiberglass supplies? I tried google, with no real luck. Any suggestions, I am looking for filler and such. Thanks!!

 

[wrechin2]

Kick-shaw on Hixson Pike 875-6672

 

[Jofly]

emoToast Thanks, hows wed or thur looking for a motor inspection?

 

[NRG]

Jofly - 5/23/2010 3:21 AM

Does any one in Chattanooga sell fiberglass supplies? I tried google, with no real luck. Any suggestions, I am looking for filler and such. Thanks!!

Also in Ooltewah

Advanced Plastics Inc
8928 Transport Lane, Ooltewah - (423) 238-9303

And thats it .. neither carry epoxy resins, polyester only, Advanced is much cheaper on mat and resin, if your doing a big project Advanced sells 5 gallon bucket of poly resin for about 100 bucks, Kick Shaw sells theirs for 25 per gallon .. only size they carry.. filler ? you can get Cab-O-Sil at Kick Shaw and mix it with resin to make a filler, but if you want filler with strength get some glass chop to mix in with the resin and cabosil.

For the best price on Epoxy resin and mat, cloth etc .. go here http://www.uscomposites.com but reg poleyster resin is cheaper locally due to the Hazardous materials charge from UPS and Fedex along with the shipping.. Epoxy there is no Hazardous Materials charge.

I have some fiberglass tape , and some very heavy mat Id sell ya cheaper than you can order or get from US composites left over from my shop 75 cent per yard for the tape, and 40oz cloth 15.00 per yard.

You can get brushes at harbor freight 4" chip brushes great for fiber glass work .. for half what they will cost you any where else .. and half price when they run a sale on them
'

 

[Jofly]

Which is better poleyester or epoxy, I have heard cons and pros on both, will the cab-o-sil work for filling gouges in the gel coat? Easy to sand? Thanks

 

[Jofly]

What about bondo glass, it says its for marine use as well, any thoughts?

 

[NRG]

STAY AWAY from Automotive Resins, . ok so your trying to fix gouges in gel coat ? are you going to paint the boat ?

If not do not use resin, bondo or any other body filler... use GEL COAT.. if chips and not fiberglass damage just scratches or chips in gel coat .. you also can use marine tex to fill small chips.. marine tex comes in dark grey and white.. most of the boat shops around here carry it.. Academy Sports prob carries it..

Dont use bondo etc to fill fiberglass gel coat chips .. it will fall right out and ugly as hell too.
The only thing you should fill GEL coat with is Marine TEx or GEL Coat

Better if you give more details on what you are doing .. and or pictures

 

[wrechin2]

Thursday will Probably work on the engine tear down.

 

[dragfish]

Check out this new stuff called HyperFiber. It comes in rolls sandwiched between plastic masking.
You roll out and cut off what you need, peel one layer of masking, form it to the shape you want then peel the other layer of masking and let it cure in sunlight or a UV light.
No mixing or mess. It comes as a plain mesh or with wire reinforcement. You can also layer it.
Don't have a link, but it shouldn't be hard to google. I saw it in the last issue of Hot Rod magazine-didn't see any fishing stuff there!

 

[Jofly]

Thanks for the input. I will post pic's tomorrow. The boat is a 89 VIP with cracks in the gel coat, very bad in some spots, like a spiderweb. I started sanding to see how deep they went and they go all the way to the glass. I dont have enough sand paper in GA to remove that much gel coat and paint. I started gouging them with a dremel, just chasing the cracks down to bare glass. Now i have several gouges to fill all about 3/16 wide and the same deep. I plan on sanding the whole boat and use 2 coats of prime and then painting with a marine paint. I also have alot of extra screw holes to fill in. I hve never worke with gel coat is it thick enough to fill the gaps without running? What about if i need to build up an area, i will have to do this on the hull in a couple of spots. Any input will help out. thanks!!
Wrenchin2 I will give you a call to get directions WED some time Thanks.

 

[NRG]

Where are the spider cracks top or on the hull .. if its below the water line you cant paint it will have to be gel coat.. and gel coat cures fast, and you have to mix in hardener to it ,, it can be rolled on .. or sprayed .. this is not an easy fix to make look good, if the cracks into the glass .. no matter what you put on it .. it will come back .. and you need to find out why the glass is cracked ? Did you hit a rock etc ?

 

[Jofly]

Most of the cracks are on the cap. There is a spot on the bottom where someone hit something and maybe broke a stringer, it has alot of cracks there I'll know more when I pop the top and get to the inside of the hull to have a look. I will probably have to cut a section of the hull out and redo it. I have seen alot of bottom paints that are not antifouling such as this http://www.supermarinepaint.com/topside-revolution-SM-1000.asp I had planned on painting the bottom cause there is no way I will ever match the gel coat. I checked out that marine TEx looks like good stuff.

 

[NRG]

Dont pop the top .. unless you plan on replacing all the wood.. because you will have to after you POP the top .. these are not just sitting there .. this is a major project .. if you want to replace the floor, transom, and stringer fine .. but let me send you some info a pdf book and some other stuff before you tackle this .. you need to not jump in until you know what your jumping into.. bottom paints are ok .. but gel coat is the way to go .. for the hull .. and yes you can match the gel coat .. there are companies that specialize in matching. DO NOT CUT THRU the hull there is no need to do that and you will open a monster can of worms if you arent experienced in doing so.. if you want to paint the tp cap you can .. but there is a lot of prep work involved .. dont just brush over the old gelcoat.. even with a topside paint.. trust me you are about to dive into very deep expensive water. take your time .. and learn as much as you can before you tackle this any further ..

 

[Jofly]

Once the motor is off and in wrenchin's hands I will inspect the transom. It may be fine. The plywood floor is totalty rotten and needs replaced, most of it sits under the cap, and the hull is storing water some where, I removed an old transducer when I got the boat and it is stll dripping water from the screw holes. So the foam is probablywater logged. I have been researching this for the past month on the net and have complied several articals on this subject. Most i have read say to remove any broken fiberglass and redo either from the inside or out. Please send me the PDF and I will post some pic's up tomorrow. I bought this boat knowing it was a project and I am prepared to take all the time I need to do it right the first time. I was going to wait till winter but the motor is out of commision so I got an early start. Besides I would be tough to paint in the winter, my garage dosent hold heat very well. Thanks NRG for the help and input and please send that PDF emoToast emoToast

 

[Jofly]

DOH I will PM you my email thanks!!

 

[Skeeter]

Jofly, Interesting post here. Sounds like you will have a interesting project on your hands. Be sure to take ALOT pics of the teardown, fixes and reassembly. I would like to see the before and after.

 

[Jofly]

will do, I'll post some up on tuesday and continue through out.

 

[wrechin2]

That sounds good! It is easy to find. Later!

 

[NRG]

For those that never saw the progress of my boat .. mine started out as a $200 project boat bought from wrechin2 aka James ... I replaced all the stringers, transom and floor, new seats, carpet, gauges, etc etc

Here is the link to photobucket with all my pics day one to completion http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c296/northrivergeek/Hydrasport restore/