I have a 06 Malibu Vride in which I have many gelcoat cracks that have developed. Within the 2nd year I started to notice fine gelcoat cracks at each window screw mounting holes. The holes were drilled poorly from the factory and caused the gelcoat to crack. My dealer repaired each of the cracks and within the first month 3 of them had reappeard and within 6 months all of them came back. They were repaired under warranty. I had huge issuse with the dealer so I decided to repair them myself. The dealer could not do it right the first time, I was not going to let them do it again. I ground out each crack and found that they had only ground out the crack through the first color of gel and not the other 2 colors down to bare fiberglass. <BR> <BR>My question to everyone is. Do you feel I could use Evercoat fine hair glass repair to fill in the cracks after I have ground them out. I have been told by repair shops that this will not hold up and I need to use matt and resine. Has anyone done this type of repair? How well did it hold up? I included a picture of the ground out crack. Please any help would be greatly appriciated...<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/745820.jpg" alt="Upload">

All the glass guys I've ever worked with would use DynaGlass or something similar to fill the grinds. Not familiar with Evercoat, but it sounds like the same thing as DynaGlass.

meathead, it is resin filled with short strand fiber.

Use a gelcoat putty to fill it. Then sand it flush and have somebody paint it. You can use paint on small areas, it is much easier to blend in than spraying gelcoat.

It will not hold up. Unless you put back what you took out...glass and resin. The dealer probably did the type of repair you are considering and you see how long that lasted.

I ground out each crack about 2 inch's wide and filled with resin and glass. Thanks for the input.

Completed pics??

Just order the color matched gelcoat from spectrum color. Very easy to work with. You can add some thickener to fill those ground out cracks most of the way, then do a little sanding with 220 to make sure it's rough, then do a top cover coat with un-thickened gelcoat. <BR> <BR>I had a bunch of scratches and chips on the bottom of my boat that I did last year. Chips were in the very tip of the keel and were from a poorly placed crossmember on the trailer. The scratches were all over the keel because I used to beach it (no more!). I also had tons of chips around the edge of my swim platform from my Sky Ski. Those I filled with thickened gelcoat, but then sprayed over the top of the entire edge. Everything I did turned out great. The gelcoat from Spectrum was a perfect match!

Before. Notice how close that cross member on the trailer is to the keel. When you unload, the keel hits it as the boat drops into the water. I placed a pad on top of the cross member, and a roller behind it. Seems to be fine now. (Thanks for the bad design Boatmate!) <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746804.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746805.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746806.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746807.jpg" alt="Upload">

After. The bottom got thickened gelcoat to fill the major nicks. Then, I just spread unthickened gelcoat with a spreader to fill all the scratches. Wetsand, buff, done. On the platform I used thickened gelcoat to fill the nicks again. Then, taped off so I was working with just the edge, and over to the edge of the top, and sprayed gelcoat over it all. Wetsand, buff, done. <BR> <BR>I was surprised at how good it all turned out. The mechanical finishing of the gelcoat is key, as well as your color match. Just order from Spectrum and you'll have a perfect match. <BR> <BR>Bottom: <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746812.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746813.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746814.jpg" alt="Upload">

And here's the platform. Hopefully using that pad all the way around the edge will save it from getting so dinged up from the Sky Ski. Well, it's been good through one season anyways. The pad material is Seadek. Ordered a large sheet and cut it out. <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746820.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746821.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746822.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746823.jpg" alt="Upload">

By the way, having overhead cranes is a great help when working on the bottom of the boat!

Charlie,what did you use to thicken the gelcoat?Nice work BTW looks good. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by wakebrdjay on November 12, 2009)

<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746827.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/746828.jpg" alt="Upload">

Spectrum Color has a product called Cabosil/Airosil. It's basically small, hollow fiberglass spheres that you mix into the gelcoat. Very easy. It doesn't seem to change the color either. If you're ordering the small little tubes of gelcoat from them, I believe it's pre-thickened, but ask them to be sure. If you're ordering larger qauntities, (I got a quart that did all my repairs), it's not pre-thickened. It's about the consistency of latex paint. You'll want to thicken it to fill larger nicks/gouges, leave it as is for spreading a thin finish coat, or thin it if you need to spray it. Spectrum has everything you'll need. They helped me out over the phone when I ordered my stuff to tell me what I'll need.

Thanks,so its similar to micro balloons,that's what I thought you would use.

Yes, it seems very similar to micro ballons. Not sure if it's exactly the same product or not, but Spectrum could probably tell you. <BR> <BR>I have helped build a couple of boats in the past- duck boats with my dad- marine plywood coated with fiberglass. We used micro balloons to thicken the epoxy in the corners. The micro balloons made the epoxy appear white rather than clear. The Cabosil from Spectrum did not change the color of my red gelcoat. So, it may be a different product, but not sure. It may have changed the epoxy color simply because it was clear to start with.

OK,thanks Charlie