Soft spot repair/ methods?

I recently purchased a 1979 Sol Cat 18. It has been sitting for at least three years on a farm in the middle of Texas. (fresh water only!!) The day I bought the boat was very cold, I inspected the rigging & hulls and found two minor soft spots...so i purchased....

Once I had the boat at my house and the temperatures soared into the 80's, the soft spots grew.....alot! I am committed at this point so I researched various methods of repair and have decided to go with the "git rot" injection method.

So far I have injected 20 ounces into the port hull soft area. The area has stiffened significantly;however, there are still areas that flex..... So my question is, at what point does one decide to stop injecting and get radical with the repair?

I could turn the cat upside down and roll presoaked fiberglass in layers as I have seen done before.

Thoughts/insults are welcome.....?

ouride12Thoughts/insults are welcome.....?


You suck
you smell
you are a fool
you act like a baby
you are a disgrace!


Boat: a little flex is ok.. a soft spot (in the wrong place) can lead to critical falure.

i would continue with your method until you feel you have done all you can.. give it time to setup and test it.

It may be worth looking for new hulls
I used the injection method on my old H16 and my firend's H16. Both times, I was surprised by how much resin it took.

Mine was fairly bad, and it took almost a full gallon. My friend's didn't seem too bad at all, but it still took about 40 oz.

From my experience, I'd say just keep injecting. She'll stiffen up.



edited by: rhuntbach, Apr 23, 2009 - 12:13 PM
You suck
you smell
you are a fool
you act like a baby
you are a disgrace!

HAHAHA!!! I love it!

I added another 16 onces today.... It stiffened up like a porn star! I'll keep ya updated and humiliated....

Thanks for the input/insults..

Sincerely,

Lance


P.S. Nacra's are for girls........j/j icon_evil




edited by: ouride12, Apr 23, 2009 - 08:40 PM
[quote=andrewscott]
ouride12Thoughts/insults are welcome.....?


You suck
you smell
you are a fool
you act like a baby
you are a disgrace!


You forgot:
ulgy,lazy and disrespectful icon_smile
How does this this "git rot"system work?The port hull on my H14 has a soft spot just fuoward of the frame post.
You start by identifing you soft area, then using a 1/8" drill bit, drill holes about 2" apart untill the soft spot is covered with holes. It is not a bad idea to cover the area with painters masking tape before you drill your holes. This is so you can minimize the clean-up process. Once the holes are drilled and you have confirmed the area to be dry, you can begin to inject the two part "git rot" with a syringe. I used my turkey injectors because they hold more epoxy than the smaller syringes. You will know when you have injected enough material when you notice the epoxy begin to overflow from the other holes. You will notice that while some of the holes will take alot of epoxy, other holes may take very little if any.....this is normal, just keep filling the "hungry holes". As the voids begin to fill and the epoxy sets-up, the hull will stiffen.

Once the hull is repaired, I use a countersink bit to flare the holes out so they can be filled/patched easier. If you want to get creative, you can use a piece of screen to create a similar to original texture by pressing the screen into the patches as the are dring.

Good luck man, keep us posted on your progress!



edited by: ouride12, Apr 29, 2009 - 08:15 AM
you don't drill through the hull... you drill through the top of the foamboard .. but not through the bottom of the foamboard... just enough to make a "cup" to catch the epoxy resin