Bondo Resin Repairs
youtube Frugal Teq - PASS INSPECTION! Car Body Rust DIY Repair Fiberglass Bondo Epoxy How-to Video
youtube TheCityRider - 1jz 240sx Project - Filling Holes With Bondo! (Part 9)
youtube Donnie Vlog - Can Bondo Fill Holes?
youtube Wesley C - How to repair a SMALL hole up to 1 inch in a boat using fiberglass putty Cabosil
youtube MrKistel - How To Boat Restoration; Fiberglass Hole Repair
youtube BoatworksToday - Different Types Of Fiberglass Repair
Products
3M Marine Premium Filler
$42 for 1 pint at westmarine.com 3M Marine Premium Filler
$22 for 1 pint at amazon prime 3M Marine Premium Filler
$30.50 for 1 pint at jamestowndistributors.com 3M Marine Premium Filler (1 Pint)
3M Marine Premium Filler is a water resistant vinyl-ester filler designed for fiberglass repair work above or below the waterline. It is ideal for repairing decks, hulls, and other fiberglass components. It can also be used to treat gelcoat blister damage. Premium Filler features a unique and easy to sand formula designed with 3M Scotchlite Glass Bubbles. Available by the pint, quart, or gallon.
Review By James Larsenon February 16, 2014
I own my own marine repair business. This is hands down one of the best fillers for topside and bellow water line. Despite the “epoxy hype” this is a great vinyl ester product, completely water proof, THAT CAN BE GELCOATED . Buy it all the time.
Review by Jpnffon May 26, 2015
I used this to fill in some scratches on a fiberglass boat before gel coating and it worked great. It dries fast so you’ve gotta work quickly after mixing and it can be sanded in around 10 minutes. Great stuff!
Review by W. Whartonon July 29, 2016
Goes on like drywall repair mud, kind of like putty that is really easy to work with except it dries FAST so you don’t have too much working time. My main issue with it though is it isn’t as strong as an epoxy resin. It’s easier to apply and use though so keep that in mind if you don’t need it to be super strong. I just have one area that gets a lot of stress and this stuff just cracked again while the side I used epoxy on is still holding.
Review on March 2, 2016
Used it to fill gouges on used 25 foot boat I bought an some small fills.. Set time is really fast, make sure your ready and preped prior to mixture. Worked really good, went over a small area a second time due to some small pitting which wasn’t even an issue. Just sprayed on gel coat came out really nice no shrinkage.
Repairing holes in a Fiberglass Console
youtube Gregg Cerenzio - Boat Repair: Repairing holes in a Fiberglass Console
Published on Dec 20, 2012
Here I repair holes and stains, left behind from an old equipment installation. This can be done a few ways, including color matching, but, here, I show a simple way to glass and patch with Marine Tex & Fiberglass Cloth
I’d like to add, that, if you don’t want to use expensive Marine Tex, you can use BONDO PREMIUM MARINE FILLER. It’s at Home Depot, and likely WALMART. It works great, dries quick, and sands easy.
Comments
Gregg Cerenzio - Your most welcome! You can totally add color. Just use some Gelcoat Coloring Agents. You’ll want to make a little test sample to work with till you get it right. Can find them at jamestowndistributors
wascification - Very nice job but color doesn’t match, maybe you should add some other white tone to *match the boat fiberglass jelcoat color..
Gregg Cerenzio +wascification There are a few options to fill this. You could Bondo Glass-Filler. It’s ready, right out of the can, but, it’s green. It works great.
You can also use Marine-Tex. It’s WHITE, and strong as hell. I can’t reccomend this stuff more. It’s pricey, but it’s masterfull at doing it’s job.
You could cover either, with gelcoat. This get’s trickier, but, it will match the surface of the rest of your boat. You can buy small tubes of Gelcoat color, for color matching. You could likely use some of that color with Marinetex. I doubt it would effect the cure.
For me… I would go with Marinetex, to keep it simple, and strong, with extremely low chance of error. Back the larger holes with fiberglass cloth and resin (or even epoxy). Or, with strong cardboard. You just need something behind the hole, so you can fill it, without just pushing your filler right through it. Expoxy would be fine also. I suspect you can add Gelcoat color to the epoxy, to whiten it, but, I am not sure how adding paint would work, and I’m hesitant to support that. A bottle of Marinetex in your tool box, will go along way on your boat, with little holes and defects like this. You’ll wonder how you lived without it.
A Bottle of Marinetex, and perhaps even a bottle of White Gelcoat (the kind with wax in it) get’s my vote, for 2 items to learn how to work with, and keep in your arsonal.
Gregg Cerenzio - +wascification I don’t know why I didn’t say this, but, you could also use Bondo PREMIUM MARINE FILLER. It’s my GO-TO these days, for inexpensive fixes. The hardener, comes in different colors. I also sometimes add WHITE Gelcoat tint to it, to make it a little whiter. For this kind of repair, I like to put a layer of fiberglass behind the hole. I use Fiberglass MAT and Resin… put 2 layers on the underside, then, add Marine Filler, level it with a razor, and sand it smooth. The stuff dries in MINUTES and makes awesome repairs… I would go this route, for those repairs…
daveumpref - Gregg, Two small issues about an otherwise excellent job. Never use Mineral spirits or paint thinner. They tend to leave an oily residue and may release your patch using acetone or Lac thinner would be preferred. Also use a spreader rather than a stick and you’ll keep your job and your fingers from getting messy @ 3:58 and reduce the sanding to finish.
John Drake - Strong work! I hate to fiberglass. One method that works for me, is to chamfer the top and bottem edges of the hole, so the epoxy cannot ever work itself out. And instead of fiberglassing the bottom, place a layer of wax paper on top of a paperback book or scrap wood, supported underneath with a clamp or bottle jack or wedged stick. Now the Marine Tex cannot fall through the hole, and when it has cured you can peel away the wax paper underneath and have a smooth surface there.
Marine-Tex Epoxy Putty Kit
$14 for 2 oz at amazon Marine-Tex Epoxy Putty White 2 Ounce Kit
Bondo® Glass Reinforced Filler
$12 for 1 quart at Walmart Bondo Bondo-Glass Reinforced Filler, 1 Quart