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Author Topic:   Repair Damaged SPORT 13

eedork posted 09-12-2009 10:26 AM ET (US)
I'm in the very early stages of rebuilding an old SPORT 13. The hull is from the mid-1970's and has a Desert Tan interior, and the motor is a late-1990's Mercury classic 40-HP, four cylinder two-cycle. This boat was my dad's and when he passed away about ten years ago it was given to me. This hull has an interesting past, and I'd like to get some opinions on what I should do with it. My dad originally bought this boat with a mid-1970's Evinrude 25---probably the original motor. The Evinrude was in rough shape and a few years later he decided to repower it with the Mercury I mentioned above. The Mercury was installed by the dealer that it was purchased from. At the same time the motor was installed, new controls and a teleflex system were installed.
Shortly after repowering it, my brother had an accident with the boat that left the hull badly damaged (he was OK but shaken up). Sparing the details of the accident, the boat hit a dock at fairly high speed which took a huge gouge out of the hull. My father had the hull professionally repaired shortly after the accident, and it now looks as good as new. I can't even see where the repair work was done, and I remember being told that the repair was done following Boston Whaler's recommended procedures.
The boat was never actually put back in the water after the repair work was done, and since then it has been sitting in my garage collecting dust. I've recently decided to get this rig up and running again for use on freshwater lakes and rivers in my area.
I've stripped the boat of everything except for the motor. After a quick cleaning and inspection, there are a number of screw holes and other small nicks from normal wear and tear that I'll need to patch. I've already received guidance here on these forums about how to do this (never worked on fiberglass before - should be interesting!!). My concern however is that there are a lot of cracks in the gelcoat, some of which are fairly large. These cracks seem to be located near joints, which is also a little curious. How concerned should I be about these? I know this is a hard question to answer without actually seeing the boat, but given the boat's history, would I be better off finding another hull altogether? I also don't have many details on the original hull repair, so it's hard for me to know how well it was actually done.
I want to make sure that the boat is seaworthy and safe - that's my first priority. This hull is in otherwise good shape, much better than many of the ones people here have brought back to life, but the history and prior damage scare me a little. I've also considered bringing this to a professional to have all of the problems mentioned above taken care of. This might not make the most economic sense though - I'd probably be better off just getting a new hull in good shape.
I'd love to hear some opinions on this. Thanks for reading!

rong posted 09-12-2009 11:57 AM ET (US)
If you can't see where the repair was done. Why worry about the repair? Sounds like you have a nice boat with history involved with your dad. If the boat floats. I would clean it up and tune the engine. Then I would take it out and have some fun. Good luck.......
eedork posted 09-12-2009 07:18 PM ET (US)
Thanks rong. I basically agree with you after thinking about it for a while today.
I decided to go ahead and get started on this today. I picked up some Marine-Tex for the screw holes and started cleaning and polishing the gelcoat. I also started sanding the brightwork.
Tomorrow is going to be a little warmer, so I'll take a stab at the Marine-Tex tomorrow. I also picked up some of the syringes that West Marine sells. I hope the Marine-Tex is thin enough to flow through them (this will make the job much easier).
The gelcoat is in very good shape aside from the cracks I mentioned in my first post. The area around the norman pin and bow light needs a little work - there is a dime sized chip and a number of other small nicks in this area. I also found another old repair hidden under part of the rub rail - it looks pretty shoddy so I might have someone look at that and the hull repairs (I think these two areas are beyond me).
My son is helping with this project and we are having fun doing it. That's what this all about!
One more question -
There are eight through-holes in the transom from where the old steering pulleys were located. I still have the screws. Would it be better to just soak the screws in a sealant and put them back in, or try to fill the holes with Marine-Tex?
BobL posted 09-12-2009 08:54 PM ET (US)
Sealing the screw holes is important to keep water away from the foam interior of the hull. Both methods you mention will accomplish that but I think you might be happier with the Marine-Tex. Extra screws in the hull always seem to get in way and catch on things. After filling the holes with Marine-Tex and allowing it to set up, grind back the Marine-Tex a little with a Dremel tool and fill with the correct color gel coat. I’ve learned from this forum to grind an undercut to get a mechanical bond. I’ve filled some screw holes on my 15 footer and after some wet sanding and polishing, the holes are undetectable.
Good luck with the project.
eedork posted 09-12-2009 09:08 PM ET (US)
Thanks BobL!
I'll try the Marine-Tex on the through holes in the transom. If the Marine-Tex doesn't work out, I can always drill the holes out and put the screws back in.

Wasatch Whaler posted 09-13-2009 09:59 AM ET (US)
You should not put gelcoat over Marinetex.
If you read the Marinetex directions it specifically says not to.
If you want to repair holes in your transom, the procedure is to cut some plywood plugs in the proper diameter and fill the holes with several plugs each using Gorilla Glue or polyester resin to bond the plugs to the plywood in the transom.
After that has thoroughly cured you can then grind or Dremel each plugged area back to bevel the existing gelcoat and at that point apply gelcoat in a paste form. Once the paste has cured wet sand and polish.
You can purchase "color matched" gelcoat, either in liquid or paste form, from Spectrum in WA or Mini Craft in FL.
I put "color matched" in quotes because it's doubtful the match will be exact. Your boat has over 30 years of fading and exposure and an exact match will require some tinting.
Good luck in your restoration...
eedork posted 09-13-2009 08:34 PM ET (US)
Hi Wasatch,
I've read and heard about the issues associated with gelcoat over epoxy. My original thinking was to just use Marine-Tex and try to get it flush with the surrounding gelcoat and then paint it with an epoxy paint. I read here that others have had good luck with this approach. Most of the screw holes I need to fil will be covered back up by fittings, so there really aren't too many areas where the color difference between the Marine-Tex and the gelcoat will be obvious. The only big area will be the screw holes in the transom for the old pullys. These are through holes, but they are relatively small (#10 screw maybe).
I actually contacted a local fiberglass repair shop about the shoddy repair under the rub rail and the area near the norman pin and bow light. These are beyond my skills, so we'll see what they say. This shop may be able to fix up the transom holes while they're at it.

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Author	Topic: Repair Damaged SPORT 13
eedork	posted 09-12-2009 10:26 AM ET (US) I'm in the very early stages of rebuilding an old SPORT 13. The hull is from the mid-1970's and has a Desert Tan interior, and the motor is a late-1990's Mercury classic 40-HP, four cylinder two-cycle. This boat was my dad's and when he passed away about ten years ago it was given to me. This hull has an interesting past, and I'd like to get some opinions on what I should do with it. My dad originally bought this boat with a mid-1970's Evinrude 25---probably the original motor. The Evinrude was in rough shape and a few years later he decided to repower it with the Mercury I mentioned above. The Mercury was installed by the dealer that it was purchased from. At the same time the motor was installed, new controls and a teleflex system were installed. Shortly after repowering it, my brother had an accident with the boat that left the hull badly damaged (he was OK but shaken up). Sparing the details of the accident, the boat hit a dock at fairly high speed which took a huge gouge out of the hull. My father had the hull professionally repaired shortly after the accident, and it now looks as good as new. I can't even see where the repair work was done, and I remember being told that the repair was done following Boston Whaler's recommended procedures. The boat was never actually put back in the water after the repair work was done, and since then it has been sitting in my garage collecting dust. I've recently decided to get this rig up and running again for use on freshwater lakes and rivers in my area. I've stripped the boat of everything except for the motor. After a quick cleaning and inspection, there are a number of screw holes and other small nicks from normal wear and tear that I'll need to patch. I've already received guidance here on these forums about how to do this (never worked on fiberglass before - should be interesting!!). My concern however is that there are a lot of cracks in the gelcoat, some of which are fairly large. These cracks seem to be located near joints, which is also a little curious. How concerned should I be about these? I know this is a hard question to answer without actually seeing the boat, but given the boat's history, would I be better off finding another hull altogether? I also don't have many details on the original hull repair, so it's hard for me to know how well it was actually done. I want to make sure that the boat is seaworthy and safe - that's my first priority. This hull is in otherwise good shape, much better than many of the ones people here have brought back to life, but the history and prior damage scare me a little. I've also considered bringing this to a professional to have all of the problems mentioned above taken care of. This might not make the most economic sense though - I'd probably be better off just getting a new hull in good shape. I'd love to hear some opinions on this. Thanks for reading!
rong	posted 09-12-2009 11:57 AM ET (US) If you can't see where the repair was done. Why worry about the repair? Sounds like you have a nice boat with history involved with your dad. If the boat floats. I would clean it up and tune the engine. Then I would take it out and have some fun. Good luck.......
eedork	posted 09-12-2009 07:18 PM ET (US) Thanks rong. I basically agree with you after thinking about it for a while today. I decided to go ahead and get started on this today. I picked up some Marine-Tex for the screw holes and started cleaning and polishing the gelcoat. I also started sanding the brightwork. Tomorrow is going to be a little warmer, so I'll take a stab at the Marine-Tex tomorrow. I also picked up some of the syringes that West Marine sells. I hope the Marine-Tex is thin enough to flow through them (this will make the job much easier). The gelcoat is in very good shape aside from the cracks I mentioned in my first post. The area around the norman pin and bow light needs a little work - there is a dime sized chip and a number of other small nicks in this area. I also found another old repair hidden under part of the rub rail - it looks pretty shoddy so I might have someone look at that and the hull repairs (I think these two areas are beyond me). My son is helping with this project and we are having fun doing it. That's what this all about! One more question - There are eight through-holes in the transom from where the old steering pulleys were located. I still have the screws. Would it be better to just soak the screws in a sealant and put them back in, or try to fill the holes with Marine-Tex?
BobL	posted 09-12-2009 08:54 PM ET (US) Sealing the screw holes is important to keep water away from the foam interior of the hull. Both methods you mention will accomplish that but I think you might be happier with the Marine-Tex. Extra screws in the hull always seem to get in way and catch on things. After filling the holes with Marine-Tex and allowing it to set up, grind back the Marine-Tex a little with a Dremel tool and fill with the correct color gel coat. I’ve learned from this forum to grind an undercut to get a mechanical bond. I’ve filled some screw holes on my 15 footer and after some wet sanding and polishing, the holes are undetectable. Good luck with the project.
eedork	posted 09-12-2009 09:08 PM ET (US) Thanks BobL! I'll try the Marine-Tex on the through holes in the transom. If the Marine-Tex doesn't work out, I can always drill the holes out and put the screws back in.
Wasatch Whaler	posted 09-13-2009 09:59 AM ET (US) You should not put gelcoat over Marinetex. If you read the Marinetex directions it specifically says not to. If you want to repair holes in your transom, the procedure is to cut some plywood plugs in the proper diameter and fill the holes with several plugs each using Gorilla Glue or polyester resin to bond the plugs to the plywood in the transom. After that has thoroughly cured you can then grind or Dremel each plugged area back to bevel the existing gelcoat and at that point apply gelcoat in a paste form. Once the paste has cured wet sand and polish. You can purchase "color matched" gelcoat, either in liquid or paste form, from Spectrum in WA or Mini Craft in FL. I put "color matched" in quotes because it's doubtful the match will be exact. Your boat has over 30 years of fading and exposure and an exact match will require some tinting. Good luck in your restoration...
eedork	posted 09-13-2009 08:34 PM ET (US) Hi Wasatch, I've read and heard about the issues associated with gelcoat over epoxy. My original thinking was to just use Marine-Tex and try to get it flush with the surrounding gelcoat and then paint it with an epoxy paint. I read here that others have had good luck with this approach. Most of the screw holes I need to fil will be covered back up by fittings, so there really aren't too many areas where the color difference between the Marine-Tex and the gelcoat will be obvious. The only big area will be the screw holes in the transom for the old pullys. These are through holes, but they are relatively small (#10 screw maybe). I actually contacted a local fiberglass repair shop about the shoddy repair under the rub rail and the area near the norman pin and bow light. These are beyond my skills, so we'll see what they say. This shop may be able to fix up the transom holes while they're at it.