Stress Cracks at strut mount

Chris, I would route them out with a Dremel and a small 1/8 dia. carbide or diamond bur just to make sure they are in the gel only. Chances are they are only in the gel. Since gel is so hard, it doesn't bend very much so it doesn't take much to crack it. Fill the groves with some thickened epoxy. When routing, you should be able to tell by looking and by feel how deep the cracks are.

Chris, I would stick with a marine version of epoxy like West or the Mas. Get the small kit which I believe is a quart and a 1/2 pint of hardener plus a mini pump set. The fillers are available in small 6oz. quantities. It's probably going to set yo back $60 to $65 but it is a known system for marine. You never really know what you are getting at the hardware store. The epoxy won't go bad and is always handy to have around the house/garage. After routing, put a first coat of resin without any filler. If the cracking goes deeper than the gel this first coat will penetrate into the glass. Then add a low density filler such as West 406 or 407. smooth it out and don't worry about anyone looking at the repair!!

Chris, do the screw holes have a shoulder around them where there is no gel coat? What I'm talking about is about a 1/8" gap all the way around the bolt hole where there is just bare glass. If not, you can take a forstner bit and give each screw hole this so called bare shoulder. It will help prevent the gel coat from cracking more in the future. Don't go deep with the forstner bit,....just enough to remove the gel coat around each hole. I got this tip from the company that made my ski tower. It works very well.

Will do, thanks for the tips. It's sunny today so I should have plenty of light. I'm itching to get started.

SNobsessed wrote: I'm going to give it a couple layers of cloth & MAS epoxy.

I hope this doesn't sound too insulting!! I just want to make sure you grind down to bare glass and route out the cracks a little on the inside too! Sounds like a good plan. Hopefully you don't have a major delamination problem like Greg (buffalo) did! However, I have a feeling that in his case, a poor repair was made and then the boat was driven thus enlarging the original damage.

Chris, Are you planning on going to the Muscatine show? I'm trying to fit it into my schedule!

Thanks guys for the additional advice - I was intending to grind off the gray layer - not sure if it is paint or gel coat. No insult taken - you can never be sure what someone else in cyberspace is thinking.

Pete - Very much looking forward to the Muscatine boat show & meeting you & 62Wood. I hope the river goes back down to normal by then.

Chris