H18 hull repair- different approach for large sections?

I just picked up a H18 for dirt cheap. The prior owner had put a lot of time, effort and money into the rig, trailer, accessories, etc. It is all in good to great shape... except the hulls which he did nothing with. Decks are good. Hulls have large sections of delamination, a foot or more wide and maybe 6 feet long. It can be easily deflected 3/4" or more.

I have read some on it and see the drill and fill technique. I am thinking my hulls could soak up a couple of gallons of resin given the size and depth of the defects. Is there a different technique recommended for such large areas? I was thinking of maybe pressurizing the hulls after injection to try to force the inner skin and core back against the outer skin. Also had some thoughts of peeling the outer skin, then somehow pulling the inner layers outwards tight against the outer skin after resin coating.

I don't imagine that new hulls are available?

Been discussed on the forum many times - you are probably fighting a losing battle on this one. But since you also have little to lose (other than time and the cost of resin), I guess repairing could be worth a shot.

One thought would be to use thin wooden strips (I’m thinking 1/8” to 1/4” thick) to compress the fiberglass skins to the core while curing. The idea would be to cut some strips maybe 2”-4” wide and as long as the delaminated area. Place them inside the hull. Depending on where the delam is located, you might need to add an access port to the deck to get inside. Have an identical strip on hand for the outside of the hull. You could pre-drillt hat strip with holes placed about every 4”. Then drill your holes into the hull and inject the resin.

After the hull has been injected, line up the wooden strips with one another inside and outside of the hull and screw through the outside strip, through the hull, and into the inner strip. The screws will clamp the inside and outside surfaces together and the thin wood strips will conform to the hull shape to distribute the clamping force. After the epoxy cures, remove the screws and wood strips and fill the screw holes. You would want to put some wax paper between the wood and the hull so the wood doesn’t adhere to the hull when the epoxy squeezes out.

This is not a method that I’ve ever tried, so I have no idea if it will actually work, but you will definitely need to come up with some method for clamping the hull together. And you are correct in your last statement - new hulls are not available and have not been for many years.

sm