Fibreglass question

[thatsakeeper]

Hi, the bump bar if its called that fell off one side last weekend. Ive had the painstaking job of removing silicone bit by bit on the boat and inside the plastic plastic strip. My hand and wrist is so damn sore i'm coining it masterboating.

Two questions, Ive got the bulk of silicone off but trying to get the finer stuff as in picture 1, that stuff just doesnt want to come off and im not about to try any liquid in the cupboard that i think might get it off in case it causes some damage or off-coloring to the paint.

In the other shot you can see where the two pieces of the boat are separated a little and wondering if theres anything that needs to be done before hiding it away for a number of more years. The original staples are still intact without any degradation, and also there has been some loss of gel coat on areas where it simply just came off with the silicone.

Any other tips would be appreciated thanks.

[Blackened]

G'day

What's left behind is sikaflex (or seems to be). Remove the finer stuff with liberal amounts of acetone and a rag.

Dave

[blueline]

yeah mate as said acetone will take the rest off. if theres exposed fiber mat, light sand and clean well with acetone and give it a seal with some resen, if not just sikaflex it back on as sikaflex is very strong, and will seal well,. you can get marine sikaflex from your hardwear store.

[deckie]

Let me pass on some experience in such boating matters. For every problem there can be a brightside ...here's what i'd do knowing that xmas is coming up.

Go into the bathroom and steal your wife/girlfriends favorite hairdryer. Heat is one of the best way to soften and get old adhesives/stickers off, and when combined with acetone as others mentioned it might just help as long as u dont go overboard and burn the paint/gelcoat. Not sure if it will work but there's method in this.

The true benefit (even if the hardryer doesnt help) is that u now have a new tool for the garage (make sure u get it dirty) plus an instant damn cheap xmas present for the wife....at the cost of only 5 minutes of her scorn.

Hellova bargain when u consider the time it takes to think about xmas presents for her...dont forget that a real pro would be thinking about the instant potential for quality make up sex tonight for being such an ass....BONUS

[cormorant]

Hairdryer and acetone will give you a new blow job!!! Not one you will enjoy either but your hair care willbe easier after that. Acetone , low flash point with 90% volatile vapour and a hairdryer is a bare wire heater element.

It is going to be covered by the moulding so lightly scuff the area where it bonds with coarse sandpaper after you have removed as much sealant as possible.

Putting them back on is a 2 or 3 bloke job so do a test run and use some masking tape as cleaning off frest sealant is messy and painfull.

I can't enlage the photo ( My PC) but they clamo the deck and hull moulds together with a epoxy glue and staples. They are rearely a perfect fit so you will see some of teh epoxy bog between the mouldings. If the epoxy has still bonded and it isn't leaking water or seperating leave it alone and wipe it with extra sealant when applying moulding.



There are special sealants that are stickier than teh usual sikas so call a local boat builder and get a couple of tubes off him. Get a extra and return it a syou don't want to run short.

[deckie]

Hairdryer and acetone will give you a new blow job!!! Not one you will enjoy either but your hair care willbe easier after that. Acetone , low flash point with 90% volatile vapour and a hairdryer is a bare wire heater element.

hmmm....i doubt anyone would suggest working away with acetone at the same time as using the hairdryer....i guess there's also always the risk he'll light a smoke or maybe take a bath afterwards with the hairdryer too...but you're exactly right...cant assume anything and shoulda been more specific.

[Noelm]

another small "trick" in getting the rubber back on, is to bend it backwards, the groove will open right up and as you place it on the edge of the hull and let it straighten, it will just sort of fold right back and clamp itself on the boat.

[cormorant]

Noel is right with some mouldings and if one person bends it out you can apply the glue / sealant into the rubbers groove and then squeeze it on.

Warm day so it is supple and you may have to duck take it or screw it in a couple of places to get it to sit right till the stuff cures.

Do test of the glue and it may help to rough up the rubber slightly.

The " grippy rubber" or other mouldings people depending on if it is rubber or vinyl and suggest the correct method. Don't stretch it too much or too little and a couple of marks around the edge of where it should sit will get it right first time.