Fix a small hole

[zsuprausa]

I have a 91 Supra Marauder. I found a BB sized hole in the gel coat about 18" above where the water line would be about 3 ft back from the bow. My guess is a stone or small rock kicked up when I was trailering it. On previous fiberglass boats this usually would have been a nick or a gouge. I am not familiar with Kevlar or how Supra layers its hulls. I was suprised that it got a hole and how thin the gel coat layer was. It also doesn't appear I can get at the hole from the back side. Any ideas on how to fill it without making a patch. I really don't want to patch it since it is so small.

Thanks,
Steve

[87SunSportMikeyD]

With the KevlarTrac hull the material is much stronger so it isn't as thick. I was told the gelcoat was nice and thick on older boats like ours but I am not certain.

[michael hunter]

Can you post a pic? Is the hole all the way through? If its not just get some matching gel
fill,sand and buff. All gel is very thin about 1/16" any thicker and it will spider crack.

[Tim405]

I would just repair the gelcoat - degrease the area and be sure and scarf ( bevel gradually) the edges of the existing hole for a good bond...you can use waxed gel - which will harden without any vapor barrier or use regular gelcoat but you will have to use PVA or some mylar to cover the patch and make it airtight so it cures out...then sand and buff....cake and pie!

[cmtaylor777]

For a cheap quick fix you can use a product called Aquamend. Found at Loes or Home Depot. Its a putty that will dry hard and seal the hole. I wouldn't do this if you planned on matching the gel. I don't know if it will accept it. The mend will dry an off white color and be hard as a rock. Good product for small repairs.

[dusty2221]

Thanks to your ^ post about your snap repair, I bought some of this and filled some of the holes where my windshield screws down while it's off being tinted. Some of them were worn where the windshiled must have been loose. This should give it a nice place to screw back into.

[cmtaylor777]

Worked like a charm for me. Stuff is hard as a rock when it dries.

[zsuprausa]

I went with the Aquamend since the hole was so small. I then took some of the wife's nail polish that was close to the gel coat color and dabbed it on the white spot. You can't see a thing until you are closer than 3ft. We will see if it stays in place.

Thanks

[cmtaylor777]

Sounds good. Let us know if it works out for you. Pics would also be nice if you took them. Always nice to see what works for these situations.

[zsuprausa]

Here are the pic's of the repair. The nail polish I found was close but not perfect but a lot easier than making a big patch and sanding. I have ran the boat for about 6 hours since the repair and it has held fine, including trailering to and from where we dropped in.