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Howdy

This summer I bought an 1981 Venture 21. Since being passed through who know how many owners and how many modifications it has had. The deck has many small holes drilled through it. What would be the best sealant to plug all those holes?

Thanks

BCAnderson wrote: ↑Tue Aug 23, 2022 5:06 pm Howdy

This summer I bought an 1981 Venture 21. Since being passed through who know how many owners and how many modifications it has had. The deck has many small holes drilled through it. What would be the best sealant to plug all those holes?

Thanks

I would use Marine-Tex or the West Marine version of it (Marine Rx). It's a two part epoxy putty. Quick and easy, sandable, and you can gel coat over it if you want.

Or glass and resin if you have any big holes, or cracks.
Glass and resin are super easy to work with, fear not.

BCAnderson wrote: ↑Tue Aug 23, 2022 5:06 pm Howdy

This summer I bought an 1981 Venture 21. Since being passed through who know how many owners and how many modifications it has had. The deck has many small holes drilled through it. What would be the best sealant to plug all those holes?

Thanks

The best combination I have found is WestSystem 105 Epoxy, with the appropriate hardener (206 slow or 205 fast, depending on your ambient temp) and their 406 Colloidal Silica thickener. You can add enough 406 to make a really thick paste, that fills gaps and corners and maintains it shape, almost like caulking.

I rebuilt part of the transom using this combo, where the Evinrude dealer cracked it by leaving the stern ladder down and backing the trailer up a hill. It mangled the ladder and left the bolts loose and small cracks in the transom around the bolt holes. The rebuild is super, super solid, and I'm by no means a fiberglass guy. Just mix it up using a respirator to avoid and early death from Silicosis, and it hardens super strong. I just removed the ladder, sanded out the cracks using a dremel, and filled the space with the thickened 105 paste. I redrilled the bolt holes, and sanded the repair level. I'm really happy with the result.

Howdy
So would I use the epoxy and filler to fill cracks in the gel coat? Or how do I fill cracks in the gel coat?

I have used a product called crack sealer. It's not very viscus, so it penetrates cracks. sometimes I put a second or third coat on.
https://www.westmarine.com/search?q=cra ... lang=en_US

BCAnderson wrote: ↑Wed Aug 24, 2022 4:59 pm Howdy
So would I use the epoxy and filler to fill cracks in the gel coat? Or how do I fill cracks in the gel coat?

Epoxy isn't used for gelcoat repair. It's used for more major structural issues like cracks or holes in the fiberglass.

Repairing spider-cracked gelcoat isn't easy to do well, because you start having to deal with large areas. However, repairing small damage in gelcoat couldn't be easier with this stuff: https://www.entrepotmarinemart.com/en/g ... -eve105653.

My non-skid surfaces had many little cracks, nicks, dents and holes, and the EverCoat kit made them disappear. I had some larger dings in the hull gelcoat as well, and the EverCoat did pretty well there, too. You can't see them at all from more than a few feet away. On closer inspection it becomes obvious, but hey, most of us are driving 20+ year-old boats.

Best way I know of to deal with gelcoat cracks is to get a die grinder and small egg shaped carbide burr along with a dust mask, safety glasses, a good dust collecting vacuum and a compressed air blow-off. Some amount of “detailedness” patience would be recommended as well.

Chase each crack with the burr making sure that you get to the bottom of the crack in the gelcoat. Then check to be sure the “gelcoat crack” hasn’t translated into the fiberglass. If it has then you need to determine what further work needs to be done. For the moment let’s assume the cracking is only in the gelcoat.

Remove all dust.
Throughly Clean the chased areas with acetone.

Then mix up some thin gelcoat into a baggie and apply a bead sparingly into the cracks you have chased with the burr.
Take a thin probe ( like a metal toothpick ) and gently stir as you go to get it to sit down.
Let it cure.
Repeat as needed to level fill (or a smidge more to get a slight crown) the chased cracks.
Sand flat and polish, buff wax.

Just a suggestion of what I’ve found works best for me.

Best Regards
Over Easy

when I drill holes I drill them bigger & I use this to refill holes then redrill to the right size this reseals the hole against water intrusion between the deck & liner or the balsa core in some places



& then use this or just use this for small hole repairs
https://www.westmarine.com/evercoat-mat ... 34454.html
https://www.westmarine.com/west-advisor ... pairs.html

J