Return to Hobie.com
Hobie Forums
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:18 pm

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 11:29 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:29 pm
Posts: 226
Location: North Bend, WA
As this boat is new to me (last year) and I have not disassembled the boat I have some questions about takedown.

I have limited space and would prefer to remove one hull at a time and complete a bottom job. I was going to remove the trampoline and then just remove one hull while on the trailer. Has anyone done this? Pro's / Con's?

If I just remove the two tapered pins on one side, is there anything I need to be aware of when I remove crossbar from sleeve?

What is best brand of gel-coat?

What are the main items to be aware of when gelcoating the whole bottom?

I'll take pictures of the process......especially because this is the first time....


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 7:22 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:34 am
Posts: 267
Location: Banana River , Fl
This is where I bought mine. http://www.uscomposites.com/ I've ordered from them a couple of times w/o any issues and fast delivery....but they're only 150 miles away.

I can't think of any reason why you can't support the cross beams, and then pull the hull from that side. I'd buy a tube of anti-sieze grease to liberally apply to the bolts when you put it back together (hopefully you can get it apart )

Use PVA to seal it off so it can dry, or use Pledge furniture wax. I opted for the PVA as it was water based and easy to remove, and won't cause fish eyes if you have to shoot another coat. Wet sanding with a block is a must. You want your final grit to be 1200 or finer before you buff it all out. I wouldn't worry too much about color matching. In time the sun will take care of that if you still have white hulls.

My situation was a little different. i just raised one hull at a time and shot them while I layed on the ground. There's some tape tricks you can use to help eliminate a hard tape line and allow you to feather the finish in. Flipping the hull, really would be best though. One thing about gel coat, it's almost impossible to get it to run, so you can build it up really thick before you hit it with the PVA sealer to set it up. The bad thing is you can blow little bubbles into it as you shoot it, which will make little pin holes when you sand that you then have to fill.

You can also roll it...

Good Luck!!

_________________
TC


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 9:22 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:29 pm
Posts: 226
Location: North Bend, WA
I was able to prop the starboard hull in the air with two notched 1x4 boards from trailer to cross beam. I then removed the tapered pins, I needed to use a punch to rap them out as they probably have not been out for the life of the boat....Also since this is boat 031, i bet it is the orignial small tapered pins. Secondly the end spacers on both crossbars have missing rivets, but at least they are still there! I placed the hull on cradels and was able to easily move.

I used a board air sander and sanded the full bottom and realized I had two impact areas that were the cause of my leaks. One was at the location of the front roller on the trailer and the other was near the rear where I think we hit a rock when we were taking the sail down in 15-25mph winds.... I ground these down to glass and are repairing prior to completing the bottom job.

TC - I think I will roll on the gel-coat and sand. What taping trick do you have theat you can share?

I have taken pictures and will post if I get good sequencing and good quality pictures. More info about gel-coat success or problems coming....

Thanks Jeremy for talking with me and giving advice....


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 4:47 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:34 am
Posts: 267
Location: Banana River , Fl
Crap...I just lost my reply....have to start over

Seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0fO8TVE ... re=related
There's several more on how to gelcoat as well.

Tape trick only works if you're shooting....take 2" or 3" painters tape and run it along your repair area, BUT instead of pressing the closest side down, lift it up and peel it back. The far side needs to be tacked down hard, and you can run another piece of tape over to adhere some paper or plastic overspray protection for the rest of the boat. The object is not to intentionally shoot under the tape, (creating a hard edge) but rather over it and allow the overspray to fog under the lifted/peeled area. This will give you a soft edge that will be easier to feather in to your original gelcoat. I wish I had a photo, as my explanation is probably confusing.

Shooting is better than rolling, but you should practice on some cardboard first. It's really not that bad.... Done right it'll give you a smoother finish with less sanding....and who wants to sand off half of the gelcoat they just laid down just to get a slick finish? Gelcoat is easy to sand out, but only after it's cured. If you don't seal it first with some PVA, you'll have a $%^&*%!@#$ mess on your hands, and you'll be hating life.

Good luck! Got a Harbor Freight nearby??

_________________
TC


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:51 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:29 pm
Posts: 226
Location: North Bend, WA
I was able to follow your explanation of the tape trick and it makes sense. I have a long board 18"x1.5" air sander and this seemed to make quick work of the scratches and fairing of the bottom. I then over sanded to the glass in the two areas that I need to complete some very minor glass repair.

I know spraying is better, but need to know specifics. Sometimes the time to mix the paint(gelcoat), put into the sprayer, spray and then clean all the equipment might take longer than laying down some thick coats with a roller and within 30 minutes after hardening I would be faired and ready for the fine sand paper. BUT, I have never worked with gelcoat, only epoxy and auto paints...so all of your suggestions I am weighing. I will be going to Fiberlay fiberglass supply (on the internet and in Seattle)tomorrow to purchase all of my resins and get their opinion as well.

Also Harbor Freight is down the road as well. Cheap tools, but the cheap HVLP sprayer would be good from HF to spray if that is what you were implying.

Thanks,


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:24 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:34 am
Posts: 267
Location: Banana River , Fl
You're right about setup and clean up time, but I have three issues with rolling. One is you have to be careful about the type of roller used. You don't want bits of foam or nap coming off and sticking in your finish coat. Two, I've also tried to push the time envelope and had chunks of gelcoat came up off the surface I was repairing and stuck to the roller. I knew better...but I had just a little more to do and I was going to be done! The third would be there's no getting around a hard edge with a roller, you can't feather your work.

I have to tell you my repairs are not 100% blemish free either. I mean you can run you had over some areas and not feel a damn thing. It's only after buffing it out and sight lining it can you see the imperfections. It bugged me, but I'm over it :evil:

There is no perfect method. Each has it's drawbacks, I guess it boils down to what ever you're most comfortable with.

I've used the paint guns from Harbor Freight and had no problems with them at all. I also found this video useful
Bennett DVD Cosmetic Gelcoat & Fiberglass Repair: Crack
here's a sample of it
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1098456/c ... ds_and_fr/

_________________
TC


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 2:29 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:23 am
Posts: 599
Location: Lake Norman NC
Who really looks at the bottom of a boat You could have used Marine Tex for a quick easy repair on the trailer I have a worn spot on my bottom from surf and sand and I intend to do nothing unless it gets a lot worse
Gary


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 7:24 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2009 7:32 am
Posts: 424
Location: Lake Gaston, NC
If you are going to spray gelcoat, get some styrene to thin it with. Especially with a cheap HVLP spray. You can spray it smooth enough that little sanding is needed. I always taped away from the edge of where my spray would end and just wet sand off and buff the overspray between the wet edge and the tape. If you load it up right up to the tape you will end up with a ridge to have to deal with. I used a Binks #15 gun for bottom jobs because the width of fan was so easy to control-that was before the days of good quality HVLP sprayers, but even though I have both now, I'd still use the Binks old style air sprayer. Acetone will clean the gun (the Binks has leather washers) and if any starts to gel in the gun, styrene will cut it.

A 3M hand masker takes most of the setup time out of it. http://www.uline.com/BL_6430/Painters-M ... 5QodkDj6UQ The paper comes in all sorts of width rolls. I think I used 24" mostly. But for just one job, I'd buy the masking plastic with tape built onto one side from Sherwin-Williams. Of course newspaper and tape will work too, but after using the "hand masker" it's about as irritating as using crank up car windows after getting used to power windows.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:04 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:34 am
Posts: 267
Location: Banana River , Fl
It's not a matter of looking at the bottom. Fiberglass absorbs water and in time you will get bubbles, delamination and rot if the boat is left in the water or not allowed to dry out. Other than that, some of us are just anal about these things.... :wink:

_________________
TC


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:30 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:29 pm
Posts: 226
Location: North Bend, WA
It was snowing in the mountains yesterday and therefore, was not a good glassing day. Went boarding instead. Today was sunny and the snow was calling again. No glassing this weekend.....

I did purchase a HVLP sprayer from Harbor Freight for $14.99. Hopefully this will be easy when I get to it. Keep the tips coming and I will definitely let everyone my success or horror stories for the first time gelcoater.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:34 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 5:22 am
Posts: 675
Location: Columbus, Indiana
I would like to see some pictures of your work,thanks Bill 404 21 SE

_________________
Bill 404 21SE
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:30 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:41 pm
Posts: 30
Hi, You May also want to put your Q here. http://beachcatsaustralia.ning.com/


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Jump to:  
© Hobie Cat Company. All rights reserved.
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group