Fiberglass repair

[slowmoe]

A co-worker of mine recently bought a well used fiberglass mini-drifter. The bottom was in need of some TLC so he sanded it down. He now wants to coat / paint the bottom with some form of sealer but is having a rough time figuring out what to use. I did a few quick searches, but only could find a couple posts that dealt with fiberglass repair. Anyone out there with experience / an opinion, that would like to share? :cheers:

[ondarvr]

I can help you with the repair. Did he just lightly sand the gel coat, or did he sand most of it off and do some patching too. Drift boat hull repairs are fairly easy.

[Beefcake]

If he didn't sand it too far, he should be able to fill any dings with a fiberglass filler (available at most boat shops like West Marine), then paint it with an epoxy sealer like Gluvit or Coat-it. We just did my girlfriend's kid's drifter with Coat-it, and I'm impressed. It's only about $20 per quart (it took 1 quart per coat for the bottom of his 16' db), and it has graphite in it to slide over rocks. The main difference between it and Gluvit, as far as I could tell, is that you can apply Coat-it over whatever is there with minimal prep (light sanding for adhesion), and if you need to you can apply more coats later. My understanding was that you have to sand off all of the Gluvit before re-applying it in the future (and it's more expensive). I'm not an expert, but I hope this helps.

[slowmoe]

Thank you for the info. From what you describe, it sounds like the Coat-it is the way for him to go. I'll be sure to pass this on to him and hopefully I'll have a pic or two to post when he's done. Thanks again guys.

[Buck50]

Be sure he hasn't gone through the gel coat into the fiberglass. If he has he'll need to put on a patch of some fiberglass roving. It really is a simple (but messy) job. There are small kits at places like Joes that have everything you'll need. Then you can apply the Coat-It.

[slowmoe]

No, he didn't take it down that far. So he's in the clear as far as that goes. But, that is good information to know if he had. So thank you.

Anyone have a lead where he can purchase the Coat-It in the Eugene area?

Thanks again.

-slow