Keel Repair

[VIP]

Hello all

I have a 17' VIP (fiberglass) bass boat. My question is regarding the "Keel Saver". Over the years it has suffered abuse (improper loading) and some of it is now gone (scraped), and a small leak has appeared. Is there any product (ie... silicone) that I can apply, other than a new $150 "Keel Saver" and some fiberglass work? I've identified the problem area on the trailer causing the damage, so no further damage should occur.

Thanks

[Dutch]

You can get some fiberglass resin and cloth and patch it. It isn't hard to do.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Its surprising how long silicone will last in a small leak and it doesn't cost much to try it. If it doesn't work however it will have to be removed completely to glass the area.

The biggest problem with repairing a keel gouge is getting the epoxy to stay where you want it. The best way is to use small amounts of chopped glass and epoxy to slowly fill the area in until a piece of cloth can be laid over it. You can use a heat lamp to speed the process.

[VIP]

The area in question is only about 1" wide and 30" in length. I'm curious if silicone will hold up to the waves at full throttle. I can't fiberglass this area unless I remove the existing "Keel Saver" as it is rubber and won't bond with it (right?). I was just curious if anybody has had the same type of repair experience. Removing the "Keel Savers" can be a royal pain, and I was trying to avoid it if at all possible. Thanks for your advice.

[Dutch]

Can you get to the area from the inside? If you can, then you could glass it from there.

[VIP]

It would be nice if they built boats that way, but those dam^ engineers don't think the way you and I do. I used to build Lowe boats, and would constantly argue with them to design the boat with repair in mind, but they wouldn't listen. I going back to school for drafting and design, so maybe I can talk some sense into them in the future. I'm going to Pomme tomorrow to check out the crappie (& pull the daughter on the tube in between beds), but maybe later in the week I'll try some silicone and see if that works, then I have to work on them there lights for night fishing.

[Buckshotdad1960]

Yo Daddy,

Can I call you Daddy? LOL

I started out as the glass man for Ulrich Marina then worked for Buddy Baxter at his shop (Pro Boat Repair) in Highlandville, then started my own business. For the last two years I have been a bum do to two heart attacks I’ve had, the first one actually killed me. So don’t ask me to fix your boat. I’d like to get back into it but if I did my name would proceed me and the work load would soon pile up then I’d be dead before I knew it. I don’t miss breathing the fiberglass dust, chemicals, the hard work or the hassle of dealing with people. It’s been a slow road to recovery for me but I’ve been pampered and I expect I’ll be able to whip the old lady soon! LOL In the spring I plan to help my son open up a vinyl car wrapping business and may end up working on boats again too in a sense because vinyl wrapping the bottom or sides of your boat if you’re a tournament fisherman seems to be a growing trend.

However I can give you some free advice.

There are no short cuts when it comes to doing it right! I can fix anything fiberglass, and I’ve fixed it all! From Bath tubs to electric company truck boom boxes to pole volt sticks for the kids in school, you name it I’ve fixed it! Not to mention I’ve fixed just about every kind of boat they’ve ever made from canoes to bass boats to house boats to luxury this and that. The one common thing in all these boat owners is they want to fix it cheep. But cheep don’t fix your boat. Cheep cost you more money in the long run. Bite the bullet and fix it right! I’m just trying to keep it real. I’m not making a dime here; I’m just telling you the truth. You do what ever you want with it.

You’re going to have to buy a new keel saver sooner or later so do it now. Do not put silicon on your boat! At 40mph the force of the water on the bottom of your boat is 2100lbs per square inch. How long do you think the silicon will last if you put that in? Do not put a keel saver on the bottom of your boat without fixing it first. Unprotected fiberglass rots faster than you think. I’ve seen house boat owners leave there boats in the water for years then wonder why their stringers rot out. Gel coat is just glorified fiberglass resin with a color pigment in it. If left in the water too long water can soak through gel coat. An open wound on the bottom of your boat can soak up water 20 times faster plus water blasting it as you run across the lake will increase the deterioration rate of the exposed fiberglass. Wonder why your bilge pump kicks on all the time?

A new keel saver will protect you from the water blast but will do little to stop the water soakage and rot. Most people are not set up to do this kind of work themselves. First you must grind off the old fiberglass and expose the clean fresh fiberglass. This makes the repair area bigger but don’t panic. Then fill the repair area with fiberglass mat and resin. Let harden. Then grind it to shape and slightly below grade. Then use a body filler, most work well, over the repair area and slightly higher than grade. Use 180 grit sand paper and sand to shape. Then mask off your repair area. On the bottom where no one will see your repair you can keep the edge of your masking tape 4-6” away from the edge of the repair. If the repair was higher up or on the top where people are going to see the repair area you would want to double those distances. So lets recap, make a box with your tape around repair area 4-6” away from the edge of your repair. Then use masking paper and put that around your repair area using your masking tape that formed your box around the repair area to tape your paper too. With paper in place take some 320 sand paper and sand the repair area and the box area around your repair. then wipe it down and clean it good with acetone. You can get it at Wal-Mart. Now that was the easy part.

Now all you have to do is shoot your gel coat, let it dry, peel the paper off, then dry sand with 180 and blend in you lines, then dry sand with 320, then wet sand, buff and your done! Simple right? Well for me it is. But odds are you will mess it up and end up having to reshoot and do it all over again. Plus you’re not going to have the chemicals it takes to mix the gel coat. Even if you went to the trouble and expense to get those it would take you several tries to get the gel coat to do what you wanted it to do. It takes a lot of practice to mix the gel coat right. It is not easy. It takes time to get good at it. Solid colors like on the bottoms of boats are easier than clear gel coat. After you shoot your metal flake, like on bass boats, then you shoot your clear layer over that. If your not paying attention to the humidity and it reaches 50 - 60% look out, you might end up standing there with a hand held hair dryer so it doesn’t fog up on you while it dries. Humidity can cause your clear gel coat to turn a milky white. If so, it all has to come off and you do it all over again.

My advice to you is to do the body work yourself and save yourself a few bucks in hourly shop fees but then take it to a shop and let them tape it off and shoot it. You’ll be glad you did. They’ll even put on your keel savor for you or you can do it your self.

[taxidermist]

Do it right,, silicone is wrong and it will not last long either..

Dutch told you is easy one dixie cup of resin 8 drops of harnder and saturated the matt,,, yea get matt to push in small wet pieces into t he hole,, let it set sand a bit do it again.. until you have it almost perfect.. then you can wet out some cloth with resin the sameway.... its the best way to fix it, way stronger and better than pushing silicone into it, silicone is justy wrong.. its a caulk for the house..