Fiberglass damage-2005 AR210

[Hoppy]

Well boat ownership is boat ownership... I bought this boat last year and thought I looked the hull over good but when I got it home and the sun hit it just right it was not as damage free as I thought. I don't know how I missed this but now that I have seen it I cant un see it and the more I look the larger the affected area gets. It dose feel solid and I'm more concerned about it being water tight and structurally sound then cosmetically perfect. I don't know if it leaks I never got a chance to put it in the water, a small water leak on the port engine became a larger ordeal and ran out of summer to find out. Anyways I need some opinions and advice as to how bad this really is and what it would take to fix. I am comfortable attempting to fix this myself with some direction but would also like to know if anyone has a suggestion on a shop to have the fiberglass repaired I'm in western Nebraska. Getting pictures is a challenge of holding the light just right but if it helps I can get more the cracking can be felt with the fingers and is on the bow mostly the starboard side and some on the port. Thank You for any and all help.

 

[Hoppy]

Well the previous owners had three anchors totaling 65lbs (30lbs, 20lbs, and 15lbs) bouncing around in that front compartment. I'm starting to think that caused the damage from the inside but the damage extends a long ways past were they were.

 

[lazergeek]

Fiberglass impacts causes delamination in the fiberglass layers thus weakening it. I would have a boat fiberglass person repair person look at it to get it properly evaluated.

 

[Hoppy]

Fiberglass impacts causes delamination in the fiberglass layers thus weakening it. I would have a boat fiberglass person repair person look at it to get it properly evaluated.

Thanks, I'm looking into that. The google shows the nearest boat fiberglass repair shop a 4 hour drive to the west of me in Fort Collins or a 3-4 hour drive to the east of me in Lincoln and Omaha. There is good access from the inside in that area to reinforce it as necessary.

 

[Hoppy]

I was hoping to get some free advice from some fiberglass guys so I will post more pictures. I tried to outline the stress cracks most of it is just hairline cracks but there is some chipping along the body line / hull line. Just wanting to know what all this cracking is from? Is this a result of impact damage, the anchors bouncing around in the front compartment, or a manufacturing defect showing itself. What kind of price range am I looking at to repair this?

 

[Hoppy]

Well I looked at it really hard today and picked at the loose stuff a bit. It appears someone has used some gray body filler and paint to cover some preexisting damage that is now showing itself. I can see a layer of body filler and paint on the stuff I picked out and judging by the pattern of the cracks it has body filler going back from the bow about 2 feet. I can not see were they blended the paint in with the gel cote just by eye but using the reflection of a flashlight I can see it has been painted about 5 feet back from the bow. I do not see any damage from the inside of the fiberglass looking though the storage compartments but no tailing what one would find under the body filler on the outside of the boat once the digging and grinding began. So a while back I bought a blue LX210 hull I was going to use for parts but I am starting to think it would be a good idea to see if I can use that hull instead.

 

[Hoppy]

I decided to start digging I'm out nothing but time to look all I can say is no amount of paint and bondo is going to fix a crack. But I gess it was good enough to make it my problem not some previous owners when they covered the damage. Original gel coat on the left, cracks down the middle, and bondo and paint down the right.

 

[Hoppy]

I did a bunch of grinding and sanding following cracks in the surface (that made an awful mess) and sent some pictures to a boat fiberglass shop that was superhelpful over the phone. It appears some previous damage was covered with body filler/kitty hair, then gel coat, then more body filler, then paint and primer. To fix it properly it would need to be all ground out to the original fiberglass and rebuild from there probably costing 10k or more. The damage and cracking is on both sides extending back atleast 3 feet, I think the cold weather and temperature swings we have had in nebraska brought the cracking to the surface as is was not showing when I bought it in July last year and all it has done is sit on the trailer both myself and my wife looked over the boat twice for any concerning damage like this. This sure has been an ordeal I bought the boat knowing the previous owners had an engine put in it professionally that had a water leak thinking it would be a simple gasket replacement to find out the engine block was warped and and needed replaced. The engine was still under warranty so I sent it back to SBT and they sent my replacement engine to the shop that originally put the engine 4 hours away instead of me and I had to get SBT to send a shipping label to the shop so the shop could forward the engine on to me. On top of that once I pulled the engine that was professionally installed I figured out there was pump driveshaft alignment issues and damaged bearings as a result. And now the hull is beyond what would be financially intelligent to repair. I got what was going to be a parts boat for me a blue lx210 out of the snow and inside today hopefully the hull is usable I never really looked it over because I was just going to use it for parts.

 

[212s]

I thought it looked a bit like cracked filler...a shady seller used body filler to do a quick fix to sell off the boat? I'm guessing they ran into a dock at high speed (drunk) or punched the throttles by mistake while docking. Sorry to see that kind of damage on a new to you boat.

 

[Hoppy]

I thought it looked a bit like cracked filler...a shady seller used body filler to do a quick fix to sell off the boat? I'm guessing they ran into a dock at high speed (drunk) or punched the throttles by mistake while docking. Sorry to see that kind of damage on a new to you boat.

Thanks for the condolences. Who knows what happened to cause the damage. Somone was really good at blending paint and not so good at fixing fiberglass boats correctly. I will probably do some investigating with a Sawzall when I dispose off the ar210's hull to find out how far the filler gose. The good news though is my lx210 parts boat hull looks to be usable just needs a good cleaning, polish, and some minor gel coat chip and scratch repair. I bought the lx for the pumps and windshields it had no engines and what was left of the vinyl was trashed. I never looked at the lx's hull it was full of garbage and just too dirty to even see the gelcoat. The lx I bought from a guy that bought at a police auction it had definitely had a ruff life. At some point was sitting with the front right corner low long enough to leave a water line below the steering wheel. Anyways after cleaning out the trash and rotton interior, a power wash, and alot of scrubbing the lx is starting to look good.

 

[84rzv500r]

well all is not lost the blue boat seems to be the one to save... don't go cutting up that AR210 hull just yet... are you willing to part out some of the hull ? im interested in the rub rail...

you could throw some MR-1's in it... ?

 

[Hoppy]

well all is not lost the blue boat seems to be the one to save... don't go cutting up that AR210 hull just yet... are you willing to part out some of the hull ? im interested in the rub rail...

you could throw some MR-1's in it... ?


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Yes, not all is lost I will be able to put boat together, just my plan of keeping it simple did not pan out... I probably wont get around to cutting the AR210 hull up for a while but I pan on keeping about everything spare parts wise I can fit in a box or stash away (including the rub rail) probably will sell the red swim deck off of it though my lx210 already has a matching blue one, you just never know when you need a spare part like a hull... I have read though your MR-1 conversion thread you have some serious time and skills invested in your boat... very cool.

 

[84rzv500r]

yep your speaking my language... i don't NEED it but one never knows when one will need a spare... I been in side the LS/AR hull so let me know if you decide to get rid of stuff...

 

[Hoppy]

yep your speaking my language... i don't NEED it but one never knows when one will need a spare... I been in side the LS/AR hull so let me know if you decide to get rid of stuff...

Will do

 

[KC-AR240]

Well the previous owners had three anchors totaling 65lbs (30lbs, 20lbs, and 15lbs) bouncing around in that front compartment. I'm starting to think that caused the damage from the inside but the damage extends a long ways past were they were.

I just had 18,400 $ of what I would call Minor work done under my boat and i'm not done yet . They say that the "spiderwebbing" of the cracks is what really raised the cost of the repair. Mine was all Gel Coat repair and no fiberglass damage

 

[Hoppy]

I just had 18,400 $ of what I would call Minor work done under my boat and i'm not done yet . They say that the "spiderwebbing" of the cracks is what really raised the cost of the repair. Mine was all Gel Coat repair and no fiberglass damage

Ouch, what caused all the spiderwebing on your boat? I have some scrapes and gouges in the blue lx210 hull that I am going to use instead of the red ar210 but it is all stuff I can fix myself or live with.