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vonapa
member (5)member
  
08/24/2020 07:49PM  
I bought a used Bell Magic solo canoe. One side is in very good shape, but the other has some damage. It seems to be mostly radial cracks in the gelcoat where there was some impact. The previous owner repaired these areas and said that he has used the boat on a few trips since then with no problems. The repairs are fairly obvious and in my opinion somewhat unsightly (thick, yellowed), so I was wondering about redoing some of these.

For the thicker fiberglass repairs, could I sand these off and try to do them neater with an epoxy that won't yellow? Would I need to lay any fabric down? For the smaller radial cracks in the gelcoat, it seems like he just brushed on a coat of epoxy. Could I sand this down and redo with a higher quality epoxy and use plastic wrap to create a better finish? Should I just recoat the whole hull while I am at it to clean it up? If so can I epoxy over the decals? What grit should I sand to before coating? What epoxy is recommended? I want to maintain the look of the original blacklite as much as possible while obviously making/keeping the boat functionally sound.

See pics for examples of the damage and previous repairs.




 
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AdmAckbar13
senior member (70)senior membersenior member
  
08/24/2020 09:29PM  
vonapa: "I bought a used Bell Magic solo canoe. One side is in very good shape, but the other has some damage. It seems to be mostly radial cracks in the gelcoat where there was some impact. The previous owner repaired these areas and said that he has used the boat on a few trips since then with no problems. The repairs are fairly obvious and in my opinion somewhat unsightly (thick, yellowed), so I was wondering about redoing some of these.

For the thicker fiberglass repairs, could I sand these off and try to do them neater with an epoxy that won't yellow? Would I need to lay any fabric down? For the smaller radial cracks in the gelcoat, it seems like he just brushed on a coat of epoxy. Could I sand this down and redo with a higher quality epoxy and use plastic wrap to create a better finish? Should I just recoat the whole hull while I am at it to clean it up? If so can I epoxy over the decals? What grit should I sand to before coating? What epoxy is recommended? I want to maintain the look of the original blacklite as much as possible while obviously making/keeping the boat functionally sound.

See pics for examples of the damage and previous repairs.




"


You could always give Northstar a call and see what they recommend for this particular layup; especially for the removal of the old repairs. If it's a pre-2004 it would have a fairly thick clear gelcoat over the carbon layer of fabric. Northstar sells clear gelcoat kits that would have all the sandpaper, peel-ply and gelcoat for your repairs. It can be found at this link:

https://northstarcanoes.com/accessories/repair/

Are there white marks on the interior of the hull where the impact occurred indicating that the hull folded in? If so, you would likely want to lay a little bit of fiberglass a few inches larger than the white lines caused by the impact site to strengthen that area to ensure that it will be structurally sound and would survive another impact like that. Northstar sells another kit called the "Composite repair kit" that would have everything you would need to do this repair. Both kits come with instructions as well.

Good luck and congrats on the new Magic!
 
jhb8426
distinguished member(1440)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/24/2020 11:32PM  
Were the repairs done with poly resin or epoxy? In either case I'd try to sand it off and apply new resin on the exterior, especially on that goober near the decal. As noted above it may need a patch on the inside, and also as noted it would be good to contact Northstar. Using plastic wrap will make the repair smoother.

It's probably just me but I just can't see applying epoxy to a poly resin boat.
 
08/25/2020 01:37PM  
Vonapa,
I refinished a Blacklite Bell Northwoods with similar issues.
I used utility knife blades to widen out the spider web cracks, then filled these areas with epoxy from Northstar Canoes, covering with plastic wrap until cured. Then I wet sanded the areas going up to 600 plus grit. Once I was satisfied with the smoothness I did a light sanding of the whole hull using a random orbiting sander. After wiping it down with acetone to remove ALL the dust I rolled out the whole hull, including the decals, with Epifanes spar varnish. With all the sanding the boat will look pretty rough until the spar varnish goes on, but afterwards it will look beautiful. Look in my photo album for a bunch of before and after pictures of the project. Some yahoo had epoxied the wood gunwales to the hull, and to remove them I had to break them free, so before I varnished the hull I brought the canoe up to Ted Bell and had him put on new aluminum gunwales.
 
Dave1111
senior member (62)senior membersenior member
  
08/28/2020 04:37PM  
I was confused for years about whether it matters that it is gel coat, vinylester resin, etc., and mixing epoxy one part this- two parts that, fiberglass, seems like a big learning curve, nasty chemicals. I hesitated, but I did not need to.

It is not rocket science. I had impact spider cracks in a black gold layup.

Flake off the loose bits, sand with 220, clean with denatured alcohol which you can also use for an alcohol stove. (Acetone is nasty but maybe slightly better than alcohol). Use disposable gloves, outside to avoid fumes.

Mixed up west gflex epoxy , two part, which is cheap and so simple, just squeeze out two roughly equal amounts onto a flat surface. Mix with a stick.

Fill the cracks but, importantly, use too little. Tape saran wrap on hull, pull tight, tape the other sides. Do it a second time, to fill any voids, as necessary. Yes, you may get a small wrinkle or bubble here or there, so what.

Add a drop or two of black acrylic paint to the gflex to add UV resistance. Varnish or paint with brightsides paint for better UV resistance.

Your canoe is a tool. It does not have to look perfect. The gel coat is a sacrificial layer.

As to that horrific looking patch you have there, I don't know what to tell you.
 
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