Fiberglass or Gelcoat Repair?

[travelingjw]

I have some hairline cracks in my 2017 Whitehawk 23MRB. I recieved 2 quotes for repair, one says they have to do the entire front panel and reinforce the cracks with fiberglass, the other says the cracks are cosmetic and wants to only apply gelcoat. He agreed that to lower the cost he would gelcoat 12" on either side of the area. There is a minimum $3,000 difference in price; I may, in fact, just do the repair myself. But, which way do I go, fiberglass or gelcoat? Crack are only on the curved part of the transition from front to top. Thanks

[curver900]

the one who just wants to re-gel coat it ask them how long they will guarantee the work.. same with the other quote.... that may or may not sway your decision...

Generally surface cracks are slight and you can only tell if it is structural once you open up the crack.

if you push on it sometimes you can see flex which would indicate structural issues...

you may even seek a third opinion....

[travelingjw]

Thank you. These are not structural cracks. In.the close-up the cracks barely even break the surface. There are only 2 places where you can even feel them with your finger; the surface is uneven. All of the cracks (see photos below) are on the area where the fiberglass was molded into a curve to get from the front to the roof

[curver900]

if it was me... and it's not.. but if it was, I would fix those myself...

1. spectrum gel coat has lots of colors and may have yours if not they do have a kit to mix to match.. not easy but doable...
2. use a small drill and touch the end of the crack with a small indent to stop the crack from spreading.
3. get a suitable V scribe and scribe out the gel crack. (there are videos)
4. put the gel coat in (follow directions) don't worry it may look horrible but it isn't a big deal (tape off the area)
5. sand it down then buff it out and you are done...

I did this on my boat after it took a whack by the dock.. i was scared to death to do it.. but it ended up being easy and the only person who can tell where the gash was is me...

it just takes patience ... you may or may not feel comfortable doing it but if you have done painting and such it is pretty easy..

don't forget you need to use acetone to clean the exposed crack...

good luck with whatever you decide... I agree it is probably just surface cracking but you can't be 100% sure till you expose the crack...

good luck!

edit - know one will know if the gel doesn't match exactly up there!

[herewego]

Have spry on bed liner put on just do a strip from left to right cover the cracked area bed line comes in colors

[travelingjw]

Thank you, I am leaning towards the DIY. Rather them mess with matching I am going to do an accent stripe. Thanks for the point about opening up to inspect.

[curver900]

that is a good idea... you will need to remove whatever width it is to the fiberglass between your tape...

Then make sure you get enough gel coat to fill it up.. they sell quarts if i'm not mistaken..

hint don't try to make it perfect with a trowel... but make sure you are higher than the mating surface so you can final sand (600 grit or 800 down to 1200) to remove the lip....then buff it out carefully... this is the manual labor part... ;o)

be careful of the original gel.. (keep it safe from sanding). RV's have very thin gel coats.. adding it back on is really harder than taking it off

[Yooper906]

Originally Posted by curver900

. but it ended up being easy and the only person who can tell where the gash was is me...

!

Good post, and this is true on many repairs done by the owner. I'm far more critical on repairs that I've done, only to find out later no one else can even find the repair.