Small hull repairs - Marintex - Vinylester?

[DangerNewb]

Just bought a new to me boat and want to fix some nicks in the bottom. I have 5 or 6 maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch long x 1/8 deep nicks on the sharp edge (about 80 degree angle) of one sponson. None are structural problems, no cracking etc. Just want to fill and smooth them. I think my boat is painted, not gel coated. At least that's what a local boat repair guy told me. He wanted lots of money to fill them and professionally repaint the entire area. I'm not willing to add 25% to the cost of the hull to fix these little dings.

I know zero about fiberglass or any sort of body work. These are on the bottom so won't be visible. The local guy said he'd run it like it is. But I'd rather fill them on a budget if possible.

Thanks for any advice.

[XstreamVking]

Need to know what the boat was built with. Poly, vinyl ,epoxy to say for sure. But.... Poly or vinyl, could use some gell coat and fumed silica (cab-o-sil) as a thickener. Or a pre made filler like marine tex for epoxy or poly or vinyl. Just has to be clean and dry. You just sand with some 80 grit paper to prepare the area to bond the filler. Remove any loose glass and paint, smooth the edges of the damaged areas with the paper and put several coats of filler in them. Sand smooth with some 80 grit then 180 grit and then 220 if you want it smooth..

[engineermike]

Subscribing, same issue here.

[XstreamVking]

To do the repair correctly, you would use resin and glass to fill the gouges. Using the same material as what the boat was built with. Cover that with some paint or gell coat of the same color. Filler is designed to be used as a fairing material only. Maybe 1/8'' thick. Has no strength on it's own. Any breach of the hull surface needs to be waterproofed and filled with something. So a temp repair is better than nothing in dangernewb's case. I would not "do nothing and run it like it is"......

[engineermike]

Mine are nowhere near 1/8" deep.

[XstreamVking]

Filler will be fine then...Maybe you can get some factory gell that matches? Would be nice to have the right color.

[DangerNewb]

Thanks XtreamVking. The nicks in my hull are nowhere big enough to use fiberglass. I plan to try the Marinetex once the weather warms up some. From what I've read, it needs at least 55 degrees for 24 hours to cure so it might be a couple months before I see that.

[XstreamVking]

A hair dryer will warm it up enough to harden. Also, you can put the tubes or cans in hot water to warm the filler up before you mix it up.

[97mirage]

I have used MarineTex for the exact issue you’re describing and it works great! Warm up the product so it’s malleable (as you’ve mentioned) and apply to the targeted areas. Really press/push it in!!!

As it begins to cure, you can wet your finger and smooth it out. You can get it as smooth as glass using this technique. I put painter’s tape around the perimeter just to prevent it from migrating into unwanted adjacent areas.