Help with canoe patch

[Hawg]

My buddy who now lives out of state called and told me I could have his canoe he doesn’t need anymore. It’s a Royalex canoe.

He told me to get some Kevlar skid plates. When I picked up the boat there was a worn spot on the bow.

I’m m guessing that I should patch the hole first before installing a skid plate/Kevlar fabric?

Does anyone have any advice on repairing this? I’ve never done one.

I thought I read a thread here on the subject recently but I couldn’t find it..

[Dutch]

I don’t know of any reason why a fiberglass patch wouldn’t work.  I use it on lots of things.  I get Bondo resin and fiberglass cloth at the local O’Reilly’s auto parts store.

[tjm]

I would do a web search for how to repair Royalex or how to repair ABS, because I don't think that it is comparable with standard polyester resins used in auto work. I think ''bondo'' might melt the plastic, but I'm  not an expert and it's been a few years since I did any of that kind of work. A real quick search gives this repair kit- https://northwestcanoe.com/shop/ols/products/royalex-repair-kit  - and I've read about using "Gflex" epoxy from West Marine, but again that was a while ago and you should research it.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

@Al Agnewseems to be familiar with the rolyalex canoes.  I repaired a Fiberglass Gheenoe with a bondo kit from an autoparts store.  It worked fine.  But, as mentioned some materials don't play well with others.  It may create more problems than solutions if they don't mate up.   

[Flysmallie]

The Kevlar skins will bond to it better by themselves rather than having something sandwiched in between. 
 

Fiberglass will not stick. 

[Hawg]

2 hours ago, tjm said:

I would do a web search for how to repair Royalex or how to repair ABS, because I don't think that it is comparable with standard polyester resins used in auto work. I think ''bondo'' might melt the plastic, but I'm  not an expert and it's been a few years since I did any of that kind of work. A real quick search gives this repair kit- https://northwestcanoe.com/shop/ols/products/royalex-repair-kit  - and I've read about using "Gflex" epoxy from West Marine, but again that was a while ago and you should research it.

Thanks yeah I found that gflex a couple of places on the web as well..

[Hawg]

12 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

The Kevlar skins will bond to it better by themselves rather than having something sandwiched in between. 
 

Fiberglass will not stick. 

Are you saying that I should not fix the whole first and then put the Kevlar cloth/skid plate over the top because it won’t stick?

[Hawg]

Thanks for the responses guys. Has anybody on here actually done this by chance?

[Flysmallie]

22 minutes ago, Hawg said:

Thanks for the responses guys. Has anybody on here actually done this by chance?

I’ve repaired some holes but it’s been with a special product from 3M that requires an expensive applicator gun. 
 

Ive been part of the process of adding the Kevlar strips. The glue included with them works well. That’s why I would use it without repairing the hole. If the Kevlar strips are wide enough to cover the hole then you will be good. You’ll basically be fixing the hole with the Kevlar. 

The issue you have with any product is adhesion and flexibility. Something like fiberglass has none of that. And once it comes loose, and it will eventually, the Kevlar strip will come loose too. 
 

It’s really no different than repairing a car bumper. You can’t  treat them the same way you treat metal or fiberglass. It just doesn’t work. And I have about 35 years of experience in that. 

[tjm]

17 minutes ago, Hawg said:

Has anybody on here actually done this by chance?

I've patched canoes and boats and I've done quite a bit of fiberglass work and I have attempted to repair several plastics that did not work with the commonly available materials and resins, those fails are why I suggested looking at the wider web. The people that sold a lot of Royalex also sold repair kits, like the one I linked above.  or - https://tgwatersports.com/old-town-canoe-poly-roylex-repair-kit/   - or - https://www.boundarywaterscatalog.com/west-marine-pro/royalex-repair-kit-24665

I have not worked with Royalex itself.