Need some fiberglass repair advice/guidance

[StoryTime]

Hey guys- I have some cracking, chipping that I need to repair on my 2001 228. It's not too bad but obviously needs to be addressed. I'm probably not skilled enough to put more fiberglass in these spots so my question is what is the easiest/best fix for this type of repair? Can i just sand and layer poly over these areas and then spot paint? Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your help and input!

 

[DennisG01]

deleted

 

[SkunkBoat]

I have a couple of those that I need to take care of also.

Scrape/break off ALL loose chips, sand rough and CLEAN and feather out, build up Epoxy lightweight filler ( Marinetex type stuff will do...try to match color if you care about such things), sand smooth.

Warning, Once you paint you will be re-painting forever....

 

[MA208]

Since its all on the livewell cover one option would be to remove it and bring it to a glass shop. The grady dealer did some of mine so well that i couldnt tell there were ever chips.

 

[StoryTime]

Thanks guys. Thinking of doing what Skunk mentioned I think. @MA- All the cracks/chips are on either the live well lid or ice/fish box lids so they are easy to remove but my closest grady dealer is a couple hours away. I'll post pics of how it turns out.....

Let me know if anyone else has some thoughts. Thanks!

 

[1st grady]

The problem is caused by the lack of gelcoat on the thin bottom edge of the lids. Moisture wicks up into the substrate, freezes and pops the filler used to build the panels. I found very minimal glass in these panels and many voids (which hold moisture)in mine when I ground the edges out in order to find solid material to build against. I layered up lots of glass and resin, like it should have been done. I wrote a post about rebuilding them a few years back, but photobucket has disabled the pictures. I had problems with all the hatch edges and pulpit. The inside core was found to be a Masonite type of product which turns to mush when it gets wet, expands and cracks the putty filler what ever it is (not resin) as well.
That seems to be a problem with many Grady’s from late 90s into mid 2000’s.
You either need to learn to repair or pay $$$, but if not done well, will happen again, don’t ask me how I know that.

 

[seasick]

The problem is caused by the lack of gelcoat on the thin bottom edge of the lids. Moisture wicks up into the substrate, freezes and pops the filler used to build the panels. I found very minimal glass in these panels and many voids (which hold moisture)in mine when I ground the edges out in order to find solid material to build against. I layered up lots of glass and resin, like it should have been done. I wrote a post about rebuilding them a few years back, but photobucket has disabled the pictures. I had problems with all the hatch edges and pulpit. The inside core was found to be a Masonite type of product which turns to mush when it gets wet, expands and cracks the putty filler what ever it is (not resin) as well.
That seems to be a problem with many Grady’s from late 90s into mid 2000’s.
You either need to learn to repair or pay $$$, but if not done well, will happen again, don’t ask me how I know that.

X2