Posted: 8/18/2012 3:31:14 PM EDT
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My neighbor gave me his old canoe and its quite beat up. I have no idea who made it and all I know its its fiberglass, the front and rear bench seats are evenly spaced (ie rear seat isnt further back). It needs lots of work but I kind of want a new project. Has anyone done this before? IS repairing fiberglass super hard. Can a guy who is reasonably handy do it? |
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That depends. If you want to restore it to like new condition, then yes, it's a pretty demanding task. If, on the other hand, you only want to restore to usable condition, then a chimp could do it. In other words, making fiberglass strong is easy, making it pretty is an art.
Jane |
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Thanks both of you. I mainly just want a project to have. My goal is to get it safe on the water, thats about it. As far as buying one, I already have an old 17'' Grumman to use Here is what I have to work with. Looks like someone already ghetto fixed it before. Its gonna look like Frankenstein monster in the end, though I wil probably sand her down and paint it up a bit.    |
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Quoted: Thanks both of you. I mainly just want a project to have. My goal is to get it safe on the water, thats about it. As far as buying one, I already have an old 17'' Grumman to use Here is what I have to work with. Looks like someone already ghetto fixed it before. Its gonna look like Frankenstein monster in the end, though I wil probably sand her down and paint it up a bit. thats not to bad, just grind out the old stuff that looks dry and loose, with some good overlap onto clean stuff. Probably 2 layers of some 1708 or similar and your gtg. Making it pretty....well  This is the peach i picked up for free, so I'm a sucker for POS boats       head over to http://forums.bateau2.com/ and you will get all the help you need. The guy that runs the site is in FL, sells what you need at good prices, and will give you a repair plan/all the help you want for free. |
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Looks like the gel coat is pretty crappy. I am going to sand the whole lot of it off as there are a few more cracks I found and its flaky. After I remove and glass the damaged areas, can I coat the hull in resin instead of gel coat? Isnt gel coat basically colored resin? I am looking for cheaper. Maybe etch primer it after then paint? Thinking of brushing resin on the hull sanding smooth, prime, paint. |
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Quoted: It would have to be a pretty nice canoe. Depending on how much work it needs, the cost of materials and the value of your time, it may be easier to go find one on craigslist for 300 bucks. The guy told me he thinks the mfr was Sawyer but isnt sure as it was a long time ago. Are they decent? Worth restoring? I am stil going to restore it and I have plenty of time so if its normally a decent boat,I might spend a little more $ and time with it. I paddled in it years ago with him and it was pretty stable and fast. |