My cockpit floor and ER doors area on my 1993 Mainship Sedan Bridge is looking terrible, it is loaded with crazing. I have already had 2 supports made to stop the flexing which I believe led to the problem. I would like ideas on how the proper repairs should be done. I would prefer to have it gel-coated with no slip like it currently has once finished. The rest of the topsides are solid and I had some minor cracks fixed 2 years ago and they still look good. What kind of money are we talking about to do this area? The area is approximately 12' X 10'. Thanks in advance. Bill
Cockpit crazing what should I do?
- Thread starter Billylll
- Start date
Bill, had similar problem with my '93, 37C. Had repairs done at dealer where I bought boat new. Rather than use gel coat on repair they went with a paint (2 part?) feeling that it would be more flexible than gel coat. Initially, it was absolutely perfect. Approx'ly 2 years later; crazing started to reappear. There was no guarantee on fiberglass work so I had to live with results. If I recall correctly; I believe it cost me something like $3K for the repair; less winter storage as they kept boat for entire winter. I would think you could get it done for less but I always felt...you get what you pay for.
Had the same on my 34C. Is the non skid on the Mainship painted like on our Silvertons? I suspect it is. I opened the cracks up wide with my Dremel tool and repaired with Marinetex. Then I Used white Interlux Interprotect 2000 as a primer. That's typically a barrier coat but was suggested because of it's increased ability to flex. I then painted the deck with Interlux Interdeck. This is a nonskid paint used at the Factory. Looks great and is holding up well.
Before you can fix the crazing, you have to find the reason for it. If your deck is flexing under load, then you need to stiffen the entire deck. Once that is done, the cracked gelcoat should be ground away to expose any delaminated fiberglass. The delaminations should be repaired with fiberglass cloth and resin, not just putty. It's the cloth that provides the strength. If you want to regelcoat the deck, use polyester resin as gelcoat won't bond well to epoxy. You need a fiberglass shop with a lot of experience in structural repair, as some this is not just a cosmetic problem.
I believe I have found the crazing looking at similar boats to mine I was missing 2 braces. One that us shaped like a rectangle without the bottom missing mear where the cockpit meets the glass sliding door and the steps to the bridge the bottom through bolted at the forward stringers the engines mounts are at and then another one further aft is in front of the generator and rear door to get on the boat. Since these brackets were fabricated and installed the crazing appears to have stopped. It is very minor crazing it just looks like crap. I suspect that the poster above mentioned the no skid yes almost the entire cockpit floor and 2 engine doors are no skid except the edges.
Bill
If it looks like sand paper, its painted on. If it looks like little diamond shapes, its molded in. In either case, you can restore the nonskid very close to the original. If its the sandpaper type of nonskid, you can buy a non skid powder to incorporate into the gelcoat finish. If its the molded in type you have 2 choices: buy a flexi-mold that closely matches your pattern or make your own flexi-mold with some impression compound that you can get from your dentist or you can try this stuff from "Smooth-on" http://www.smooth-on.com/Silicone-Rubber-an/c2_1113_1135/index.html. I never used this stuff, but it looks like it will make a great nonskid mold. You would brush or roll out the gelcoat and then lay the flexi-mold on top of the wet gelcoat and when the gelcoat cures you remove the flexi-mold and you have a perfect nonskid deck. Preparation is the key here. All crazed areas must be ground away and you must make sure there are no delaminations under the crazing. All delaminations should be fixed with fiberglass cloth and polyester resin.
It looks like sand paper so it must be painted on. Large areas of the front deck have the same coating there are no problems there. Thanks for the tip and information. I really would like the final coating to be Gel-coat.
I remember the surveryor telling me about it and to keep any eye on it. He said it was common in Silvertons, Luhrs and Mainships of this era.
Bill
I remember the surveryor telling me about it and to keep any eye on it. He said it was common in Silvertons, Luhrs and Mainships of this era.
Bill
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Can you cover it with flexi-teek?
In all seriousness Billy...truck bedliner companies are indeed expanding their horizons. They have an application of the bedliner that is flexible. The texture depends upon how far the gun is held from the surface. Check out durabak or grizzly grip for starts.
HTH
HTH