Aqua Stik Epoxy Repair
Browsing Youtube, I found an interesting video on a repair Epoxy material by the name of Aqua Stick. I am not sure how it is available, but I am sure that you can search it on the internet.
It looks to be very user friendly, and has some very interesting potential applications in the arena of adhesive application and repair for underwater environments. No metering/measurement of the two parts is required, as they only require a kneading action to mix the two doughy components to uniform color.
Subcontracting Boat Repair
Repairs to boats can be difficult to perform yourself. There are many considerations that must be made when performing fiberglass repair on boat hulls and decks. Structural integrity must be returned to the laminate to prevent failure of the repair. Boats must also retain their neutral buoyancy, so that the repaired side must weigh the same as the original side of the boat.
Cosmetics are also important. The surface must be smooth and color matched. This can present several difficulties as gelcoat and paint fade under the UV sunlight. Custom matching must take place.
The materials and practices used to perform repairs may also be detrimental to health and safety, unless proper precautions are made. Protecting your eyes, ears, and skin is important and easily accomplished. Many of the materials have health side effects if used improperly. Excessive exposures are rare, but can prove deadly.
Good practice and training is the best solution to a good repair. That is why it is important to consider hiring an experienced and talented professional to perform any repairs on your treasured boat. Whether it is a powerboat, yacht, sailboat, or ship, qualified and experienced professionals can perform repairs easier, quicker, and cheaper than most novice people.
These experienced professionals can be found via word of mouth, yellow pages, or Internet search. One of the best ways to search is with a dedicated directory, such as www.MarineLookup.com This directory matches local service providers with potential local customers. It is free to search, and a great marketing tool for these talented professionals.
Repairing the Inner Fender
One of my recent projects involved the repair of a 1993 International Medium-Duty truck hood made from SMC. There were several areas needing attention, and one of them was the driver’s side inner fender. This piece had formerly been attached with button-head pop rivets. This design is common to composites, and allows for easy replacement of the separate fiberglass pieces. The pop rivets had come loose over time, allowed to move around, and cause severe damage to the extent that the riveting flange was broken off. My only solution was to bond the two pieces together.
Material Fatigue in the corner
The loose panel flexed so much and for so long that it fatigued the material and failed in the corner of the inner fender next to the attachment to the rest of the hood. To repair this, I removed the area with the rivets, ground down the surfaces of both pieces on both sides, and reattached them with fiberglass and epoxy resin.
Prepared glass and resin
I wanted to place epoxy and fiberglass on both sides of the repair area to ensure a good, solid bond that would hold very well.
Epoxy Resin and Fiberglass applied
After the area was prepared, I applied epoxy resin to the surface to ensure good adhesion. I had a low spot that was a gap, so I mixed some microfiber and epoxy to make a paste and fill this gap. A stronger bond is produced when the fiberglass is not spanning an open gap between the two pieces. I placed two layers of 3oz Chopped Strand Mat over the paste and worked the air out to make a nice consistent repair. I then ground down the surface to make a nice-looking, consistent repair.
Back end of the inner fender
The rear of the inner fender had similar problems. A hole had emerged in the black SMC piece. I ground down both surfaces and placed some fiberglass across the area to bond it together.
IH Hood Repair– Passenger Corner
One of the repairs on my International Hood was for the passenger corner. This portion of the hood was damaged before I got it, and was COMPLETELY MISSING!
Time, effort, epoxy, and fiberglass, allowed me to successfully completed the repair. This SMC hood will be repaired as good as new!
Damaged area to be repaired
The hood was placed upside to allow for work access. The repair area had several cracks and breakage areas. The repair began with surface preparation.
Surface Preparation on the repair area
I used a grinding disc to remove material on the front and back side of the repair to scarf the repair into the large area. Good surface preparation gives us a clean area that can hold a bond and create a transition area. I also drilled some holes in the end of the cracks to stop their propagation.
The back side was prepared too
The back side was prepared for repair by grinding the surface to allow for good bonding by the epoxy resin and glass reinforcement.
Beginning to add material
I started to add epoxy and fiberglass back onto the fender. I had to gradually move back out to where the existing fender used to be. I worked both sides bit by bit and allowed it to start curing before adding more.
Getting the shape back
I actually went a bit beyond the shape I needed. This allowed me to get the surface planes in the right spot, and later return and trim back the proper hood edge.
Back side getting rebuilt
The back side of the repair also got transitioned into the hood and out to meet the front repair area.
Grinding the repair
After most of the rebuilding was complete, some grinding got it back into shape to allow an evaluation of the repair progress.
Grinding on the back
The back side was cleaned up as well, getting the appropriate part thickness back to where it was originally intended. A nice transitioned surface was created, and all sharp edges were removed.
Bodyfiller for cosmetics
I used some bodyfiller to smooth the repair and restore the cosmetics of the hood. I could also have used epoxy, and it would have bonded better. Polyester bodyfiller is less expensive, easier to apply, and easier to sand. I smoothed the surface and feathered it back into the surrounding area to allow for a consistant surface.
Application of Primer-Surfacer
Urethane Primer-Surfacer is applied to the whole area to allow for removing the sanding/grinding scratches and preparing the surface for paint application.
The repair is complete, and the hood looks back like it was original. This repair, and many others, can be detected with some investigation of the back side of the repair area. This will be a very durable repair and will last as long as the rest of the composite body panel.
Hood Repair– A big hole!
My IH SMC truck hood project involved repairing a large hole. This was one of my largest hurdles to the whole project. This is what I initially saw.
The Big Hole
The picture is showing the hood upside-down on a work table. The hole is the result of some sort of long-ago impact the shattered the composite material and did significant damage. My first reaction was to just repair it from the backside. This hope was lost when I quickly discovered that there was not any access to the backside of the repair. At least not without cutting some support structures out of the way. Which would mean that I would need to rebuild those after I repaired the hole. Not impossible, but it seemed like a lot of work.
I began this repair like any other, with the surface preparation. The hole got larger as I removed all of the damaged material and created a transition area.
Damage is removed and transition area prepared
The edge of the hole was a razor’s edge as I transitioned out to the existing finished surface. I also used some sandpaper to sand around the inside of the hole to allow epoxy to adhere to the inside surface when I put in my patch.
My strategy was to create a thin layer of composite using epoxy resin and 3oz Chopped Strand Mat. The layup was done on a piece of plastic and allowed to cure. Once cured, I cut it to be about 1/2 inch larger than the hole. Then I mixed up some thickened epoxy and applied it around the perimeter of my patch and placed it in the hole. I had already placed a sheet metal screw in my patch, and attached a wire to a support to hold the patch in place until cure.
Patch in the hole
In the picture you can see the patch, the wire, and the support. The tension on the wire held the patch in place until the patch was cured in place. Next I worked to add material from the front to fill in the low spot. This returned strength to the laminate and restored the surface profile back to where it should be. I again used 3oz Chopped Strand Mat and started with small diameters and worked out to larger ones until the surface at the correct level.
Most of the Glass and Resin have been applied
Now most of the surface has been filled in, and it can be ground to remove any high spots, air bubbles, and allow for adhesion of the next layer.
Grinding the surface
Now I can fill the low spots with thickened epoxy or bondo and sand the surface to match the surrounding areas and get a nice finish.
This is how a repair should be made. A nice transition in the existing laminate will keep the repair from cracking or breaking in the future. After the bodywork is complete nobody will know it was repaired.
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