Tower holes, patching them

[haugy]

Yeah, I know I'm asking a lot of these lately. It seems all the best boats have the worst crap added to them. Black Saltare, with enough rusty snaps to give the whole lake Tetnus. A red Supra with a horrible looking tower on it.

So, if I were to buy a Supra with an awful tower on it, how hard would it be to get those patched, and color matched like it never happend? I don't think the tower is drilled through, just 4 mounting screws at each foot. (I hope). It's a Monster MT2.

Damn what I would do for a non modified red Supra Sunsport/Saltare.

[sybrmike]

Seriously, screwed on tower not thru-bolted?

Holes can be filled, patched, & matched no problem. I had several bad nicks, scratches, & gouges in hull that wouldn't polish out. Also, PO had bolted a plate on the deck where a bimini mount obviously stripped out. Plus, I had holes from removing all the bimini mounts, nav light pole mount, pitot tubes, turnbuckles, and all the snaps for what I assume were for a walk thru wind screen. I'm a gelcoat novice, but was able to repair well enough that you have to look with the light just right to tell on most areas & may even get better with sun fade. My bow repair was the worst match, but the rubrail will cover most of it so I may leave it alone. Cost me $80 for two 4 oz gel repair kits.

Or for just a few screw holes, I'd think a pro glass shop could probably knock it out for under $150?

[haugy]

Not sure on screwed or bolted. What I meant was, the tower legs are not a through mount, meaning a 2" hole. They should be through bolts otherwise that's a nightmare waiting to happen. How did you match the color? That's a good idea about the Anchor light mount, and some snaps. This boat also has snaps below the rub-rail at about 3' apart that I would love to remove as well. But if I think I can replace the tower, and the guy is reasonable on his asking price, I may have a boat soon.

I hate Monster towers. I know they are cheap and great for those who can't afford better, and it really makes me sound like an arrogant prick. But the look of them is awful, and the build quality is worse. Yes, I'm spoiled by New Dimensions. But going from their tower, and having a bimini, to a Monster with no bimini is NOT going to happen. :D

[sybrmike]

Matching by trial & error. First, you've got to sand the existing gelcoat deep enough to get down to its original color. The black was easy - just add black colorant to the gel paste & it matched real well, but not many repairs needed on the black. The bone/grey/offwhite was more challenging - a combination of mostly white colorant with a little brown and dab of black. Just used gel for the surface stuff, but filled bigger holes with resin thickened with chopped glass, let cure, then prepped for covering with gel. The bow ding & a few other bigger spots took multiple coats to get it all feathered in with sanding/compounding/polishing.

Take your time to get the color of the paste just right. Smear some uncatalyzed paste on the area to insure a match (the color holds very true after it's cured) & wipe off the paste with acetone before actual repair. Things happen pretty fast after adding the catalyst, so get the color right first.

[jonyb]

Eric, I've got a bodyman here that does excellent work and has done work for some of my customers, including fill holes from removed towers. I can give you his number if you want it. His shop is about 10 miles past my house

[haugy]

May have to. I'm working on something that will hopefully pan out.

[DAFF]

While you are working on fixing holes and mtching colours. It would be the perfect time to add some thickness and structural integitry to the mounting areas for the new tower. I love overkill for structural strength, this way you allways have piece of mind pulling your buddy Moose out of the hole!!!

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Hey bud - I love my Monster tower. Would appreciate if you would stop calling it crap. Thanks!

[jonyb]

Gotta watch those opinions are here Eric, people get their feathers ruffled in a hurry on this site

[haugy]

Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I have mine, they have their's.

[jonyb]

Not here :)

[haugy]

Aww come on. Me and you have a great sense of humor. We never offend............................much. :D

[Ptownkid]

Take it easy Mikey, lots of people think they are ugly, me included. No need to get all huffy about it. The only person that has to like it is you so don't worry about what others think.

[Mani]

The only time I've gotten my feathers ruffled was after I was tarred and feathered. ;)

[87SunSportMikeyD]

hope it feels good to be rude

[Ptownkid]

Having an opinion is rude Mikey? Give it a rest. You're not going to make it far in this life if you can't handle people having opinions that differ from your own.

Just so everyone knows, Mikey filed some kind of complaint against me for my previous post saying something about how it's insulting and I committed an "infraction", pretty sad bro...I hope you aren't actually a mod here as you have proven yourself to be incredibly biased on multiple occasions...I'm assuming you gave Haugy a -1 point too?

I did not insult you, I said I agreed with Haugy that Monster towers are ugly. Unless you are a monster tower, the insult is not directed at you and you're simply going to have to accept that not everyone likes them.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

No, being rude is being rude. This forum is not the place to insult people or products. You must not have much thought for how the things you post on a public forum make other people feel.

We came up with rules for posts like that. http://supraboats.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=7760
3) Personal attacks, mean-spirited comments, and abusive behavior will not be tolerated.

You are NOT entitled to come in here are say "Hyperlite sucks, Mastercraft sucks." Express your opinion politely or you are subject to editing.

If I think something is un-kind to say, I will POLITELY ask the user if they really wanted to say that. If this is how you are going to treat other members on this board, you have come to the wrong place.