Repairing screw holes in fibreglass gunwhales

[Twosheds]

When I bought my boat 4 years ago it came with storm covers which attached to the gunwhales by a row of stainless steel press studs screwed into the fibreglass. I had a full canvas cover made up and don't use the storm covers any longer. I just left the press studs on the gunwhales even though they were a bit of a pain when they caught up clothing and fishing line.

However just recently one of the little buggers caught a hold of my shorts, jocks and a jatz cracker when I slid over the side of the boat onto the sand at the ramp. Thankfully there was nobody watching as I was suspended halfway over the side frantically looking for a sky hook to pull myself back onto the boat with. It was about that time I decided the press studs have to go.

But what to do with the row of small screw holes left in the white gelcoat. Fill the holes with white gelcoat is the obvious solution but from past experience I know it is difficult to match a small gelcoat repair without it looking fairly obvious and standing out. I was thinking of covering the holes with something small and smooth but I don't know what with. I looked at pan head stainless screws with hex head drive but they would protrude a bit and may be just as bad as the press studs at catching things. Has anyone got any ideas or has anybody done this to their own boat. Is a gelcoat repair the best way?

Thanks in advance,
Twosheds

[rexaway123]

What about putting pop rivet in there that will sit pretty flat smooth

[Twosheds]

Thanks Rex, I didn't even think of that. I'll check out some stainless rivets and see how they look.

Anybody else who has some advice with gelcoat repair or other options?

Thanks
Twosheds

[Noelm]

I have seen the small holes simply repaired with gelcoat "putty" repair kits, and a pin stripe from an auto store used to cover the whole lot, you would never know they were ever there, pin stripes come in a thousand colours and widths and will cover and enhance at the same time.

[Noelm]

In fact, I found an old picture of my old boat, if you look along the top sides of the gunnel, you will see a black trip, made up of 3 smaller stripes, this was used to do exactly what you want, the old boat had a storm cover held on with press studs, that I removed and fixed.

[rayken1938]

http://www.nanotechrepairs.com/ may do the trick. its only new on the market so only avail from Sydney.
Cheers
Ray

[deckie]

Roughly how many do u reckon ? I had 20ish to do about 3-4yrs ago and a pro showed me how. Will step u thru it if u like. Not difficult. Probhably the only tricky part is colour matching the flowcoat but i was given a tip for that too.
First (and probably the only) extra tool you'll need is one all f/glass boat owners should have to install any fittings/bolts/screws into glass and to repair stuff...go to a good hardware and get what is called a 1/2 inch countersink bit..get a good one. You may already know what they look like but its a stumpy conical shaped drill bit with maybe 4-5 spiralled "blades". No matter which way you do the repair this bit will speed the preperation and also will get used over the life of the boat for fittings. 10 bux well spent and stops any gelcoat cracking from screws/bolts and also great for prep/reparing old holes.
Steve.

[Spectre]

Hi Deckie

An interesting thread...I am have a number of similiar holes that need fixing ...but never quite confident enough to tackle the repair.
Would defn appreciate any tips u can give on filling screw/bolt holes..
I am sure 'Twosheds' & many other f'glass boat owners would benefit from a step by step process on this.
;D
Thanks for your help

Cheers
Phil

[Twosheds]

Thanks Deckie.... I already have countersink bits that I use for woodworking so I'm off to a good start already. Would appreciate it if you could give some step by step instructions and I will give it a go on a couple of test holes. There are 18 press stud screw holes to fill. If I make a mess of it I can always use some pinstriping like Noelm suggests to cover up.

Thanks
Twosheds

[Fish_gutz]

go find your local surfboard ding repair bloke . he`ll sort it for you .

[deckie]

Hi Deckie
An interesting thread...I am have a number of similiar holes that need fixing ...but never quite confident enough to tackle the repair.

Phil...thats the thing about fibreglass...its actually one the easiest things to repair/work on...and small holes are dead easy and can be done in any one of 20 ways using any one of 20 things. Especially these non critical small repairs that are way above waterline where u dont need to get too anal or second guess your work...just try to get them to blend in with the background gelcoat colour. All manufacturuers have diff't versions of "white" or "off white" and it does change colour slightly over time...so its surprising how obvious a plain arctic white type gel/flowcoat can look up against the background "white". Smaller the holes, such as screws the easier it is and ones that are hidden from view or internal u can usually just fill with a bit of epoxy.
I mentioned the countersink drill bit coz it was probably the best tip i;ve been handed re drilling/repairing f/glass. When u drill glass, esp older glass with gelocat it can crack/chip very easy with regular drill bits and been hundreds of ways of lessening this devised. The other issue is that when fitting something as simple as a rod holder or bollard they get tightened right up and can create things like stress cracking of the gelcoat which u may have seen around older stainless fittings. Its a good habit to get into when drilling holes for screws/bolts to get the surface gelcoat away from any contact with the drill bit as well as the s/s screw/bolt head or thread. So an extra bit change during drilling is a great way to ensure you can tighten up the fittings without risking the gelcoat...and indeed the countersink bit doesnt chip the gelcoat like an ordinary drill bit does. Sometimes u can start drilling carefully and this big gelcoat chip just "explodes" around the edge of the hole and gives u the shits...so effectively you are simply driling a hole designed for a countersunk screw/bolt no matter what type of screw/bolt you use...i.e. gets the gelcoat away from the hole edges. Seems to work well...not so important for stuff like dashboard fittings but good insurance for anything we tend to tighten up firmly...i.e. it tapers the gelcoat away from the steel thread of the screw/bolt you pass thru it. Extra 1-2 minutes with bit changes over say 3 holes is just good practice i reckon.
Mark the hole, drill with undersize bit maybe halfway as a guide hole, change bit and countersink the hole carefully so its wider than thread of main screw then change bit to correct one and drill it out. Sounds fiddly but is pretty quick in reality when drilling say 3 holes for a rod holder. When u tighten the fitting the edges of the holes wont chip or crack under force when tightening. Anyway...off track a bit. Will grab a coffee then try to explain this way i do it (just one way) of trying to fill a hole so it isnt obvious...i reckon ask 10 guys and you'll get 7 different ways tho and it doesnt matter much with above waterline stuff.

[deckie]

Hey twosheds...i see that name and cant help thinking of an old monty python sketch where a bloke called something like Arthur "twosheds" Jackson was being interviewed about where he got his nickname. Funny as hell. Anyway back to this crap.
If they're anything like mine were they are s/s press studs and rivetted thru the glass. If they're screwed thats just a gift. You sound pretty clued up with those woodworking skills so just drill these studs out carefully and try to go easy on the gelcoat so that the holes stay as small as possible. Inevitable u will get some cracking and chipping...just try to minimise it to make it easier later...smaller the hole the better.
get some wetndry maybe about 120 grade and smooth the gelcoat edges quickly then use the countersink bit and carefully create a conical hole then gradually broaden it (or use a larger countersink bit) so u it is a pretty smooth around the edges...dont make it too big tho, u want to keep it small. get the paper and taper the edges of the holes out further with finger pressure..the important part is to simply taper the edges of the hole so it isnt a distinct edge. You'll quickly get a feeling for how thick the gelcoat is over the glass. Flatten the hole edges to graduate in with surrounds and pretty much anything u use to fill it will come out better and not create a hairline crack around the edge of the filler over time...dont be too anal about it tho and dont go increasing the size too much coz that will just make for more work sanding later on. Wipe each prepped hole clean with a little acetone. Get some masking tape and tape the holes from behind so the filling doesnt spew thru. Also cut a piece of masking tape and place underneath the hole so that after u fill it u can quickly tape it over flat to hold in the filler on a vertical surface. A little fiddly and practice on the first hole will help. Put a small fold in the masking tape so that air can get at the filler once taped over. We'll be using flowcoat to fill which dries in air, rather than gelcoat which doesnt works when not exposed to the air (thats my technical explaination ;D). U said you'd practice on a cpl and that'd be perfect coz its a tad fiddly.

I'll assume u know about poly flowcoat and catalyst u can get from most places but i do know that Whitworths have little pots of tint in various colours. You can get a kind of beige colour that hopefully your closest one will have...maybe bias stocks them too i dunno. Anyway at this time of yr bring the catalyst back a bit due to warm/hot weather or do the job v early morning so u get a bit extra work time. Alternatively use a pot of gelocat filler u can get off the rack and fill the holes and do the flowcoat/colour matching at a later time. Easier to just bite the bullet and do in one job tho with just the flowcoat.
Find a well worn or typical wear n tear spot of the boat and face it to the sun. Outboard Well is usually the go coz it cops a good beating and is exposed. Wipe a spot on the gelcoat surface lightly with acetone to clean get rid of polish, and then add a tiny tiny amt of tint surprising how little to the stark white flowcoat and smear a bit on that spot on the boat...this is where facing the sun helps coz its far easier to colour match the flowcoat to the background with the sun on it. Slowly add a tiny amt of tint to the flowcaot (no catalyst yet) until it kind of disappears into the background gelcoat colour....dont worry about using a good size smear coz u just wipe off each with some acetone between tests...a bigger patch makes it easier on the eye. You will be surprised at the start how different "white" flowcoat is from most white gelcoats that have been used/cleaned/exposed over the yrs. Trust your eye on the tint and remember it will dry fractionally darker shade. Now add the catalyst when you're ready to go and fill into the hole that has the masking tape ready and underneath the hole to stop spillage on the vertical surface...dont put too much in, just enough to fill so that when tape goes over it it is just slightly bulging..i.e. flowcoat sits just higher level than surrounds. Close the masking tape over and go have a beer. Hopefully the fold in the tape will speed up the drying.
I gotta go out in a minute so i'll speed it up...take off tape when dry and use a block to carefully sand down. use wetndry with a little water and start with maybe 120-220ish grade to take off excess, then 600 as u get close to flat with surrounds. Finish with 1200 and water to blend in. If there are any tiny air holes just go back and dab/touch up with a bit of catalysed flowcoat after all holes are done and resand lightly. Can do lots in not much time to get perfect and wouldnt worry about tint for tiny tiny amts. Remember not to put too much flowcoat in at all times coz it really makes sanding a bunch of holes a pain in the arse. bviously take a bit of care not to push too hard and rub back the surrounding gelcoat much...its a flat finish you;re after.
Hopefully i havent totally forgotten something and hope that helps a bit...sorry gotta scoot but will be back later today.
Steve
p.s. dont forget to take off the smeared flowcoat from the outboard well with some acetone...once tinted its not easy to spot and easy to forget ...maybe i've got premature alzheimers i dunno...yeah dont ask ::)

[Twosheds]

Hey Deckie, funny thing about my nickname. "Twosheds", or "Sheds" as I am usually called, is actually the shortened version of my full nickname which is Arthur Twosheds Jackson. Its a football nickname from about 1984 and was bestowed upon me from that very same Monty Python skit.

Thanks for posting the step by step instructions for the gelcoat repairs. I can now see why my previous attempts at gelcoat repair have all been crappy - not enough preparation and not knowing about how to tint and match gelcoat. I'll round up some flowcoat and tint and have a crack at it next week. I'll let you know the results.

Regards
Twosheds

[Spectre]

Hi Deckie

Awesome info mate ...very detailed....I'll defn be having a crack at pluggging some holes.
Fortunately all are up high n dry ...so it will just be a cosmetic thing !!!
;D
Thanks again.

Cheers
Phil

Cheers
Phil