Guest peter Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 davenewell@home - 2008-05-11 6:54 PM Hi Michele, sorry to hear you've dinged your 'van. Personally I'd suggest you get it professionaly repaired unless you're experienced at repairs like this, which you're obviously not or you wouldn't be asking for advice ;-) . Make the damage temporarily watertight by any of the methods already suggested and find a local body repair specialist to do a proper job. Yours is still a newish 'van and it would be a shame to spoil it for the sake of a hundred quid or so. D.I 100% agree with Dave. You woudn't be experienced enough with the materials to do an invisible repair yourself. If you have a Boatyard nearby, use them as they will have the skill and experience to do a good job. Whatever you do, do not use Plastic Padding car repair paste. You would have to spray over it and it would show. It's porous anyway. The hole will grinding out to a chamfer and laid up with glass cloth and resin and then finished off with Gel coat repair paste of the correct colour and finally sanded to a good finish and polished. I wouldn't have thought it would cost more than £50 cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 JudgeMental - 2008-05-11 7:49 PM Bad luck *-) I always carry a roll of GAFFA tape or DUCT tape for these occasions as it is strong and waterproof.... I would then try a few local car body shopsEver tried to get the gaffa tape glue off after a while in the sun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Hi Michele, If you can get at the inside of the damage a boat wright will do a perfect job. FG boats are repaired in reverse order, ie gel coat first. A gel coat is mixed to match the original colour and the hole is smoothed off on the outside and roughed up on the inside. A sheet of acitate is secured on the outside of the hole and the gel coat applied from inside. The sheet of acitate will ensure a smooth finish so no rubbing down is required. The gel does not sick to the acitate. Then layers of GRP are layed on from the inside until the required thickness is reached. When it has all set the sheet of acitate is removed from the outside and 'BINGO' perfectly finished repair. I don't know how much it will cost you, I was a Coxswain and just watched the boatwrights at work, never did the repair work myself. Just had to sign that I was happy with the finished repair. Being a big outfit we had our own workshops so I never saw any money change hands so can't help with a price. ( PS get furnisher removers in next time ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 LOL furniture removers haha... i have tried again to upload the piccys however no joy the server won't play ball . I think I am going to stick with putting a motif over it for now and wait until something else happens and then get it repaired properly as I dont have the experience and it would look like nothing on gods earth . Anyway guys & gals thanks alot for the advice .I will still post the piccys when I can get the server to work .. Anyone else having probs for piccys ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 sorry its the best I can do :-(Emailing_ Damage 11th May 08 003.emlEmailing_ Damage 11th May 08 005 (2).emlEmailing_ Damage 11th May 08 005.eml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trikershaun Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 hell i would drill it out bigger and munt a grill and then pipe the grill to that locker, it then becomes a functional part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Michelle these instructions are from my OH who has successfully repaired damage to our van and car bumper: 1. Obtain MILLIPUT SUPERFINE WHITE two part appoxy putty from a Window installers (PVC) costs about £5 for a small box containing 2 sticks of putty and follow instructions on box. 2. Round off the hole making sure they is no cracks shooting outwards (these would spread if left). 3. After mixing the 2 sticks together into a white putty fill in the hole and level off with a straight edge, wet slightly and it will be very smooth, leave at least 5 hours to dry, you can sand it with wet and dry if needed till satisfactory. We sprayed ours with a matching colour from Spray can mixed to your colour coding. It makes an excellent job and saves a couple of hundred pounds if you were to take it into a caravan repairer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 hey guys thanks for the above replys . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanracer Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Still think gel-coat filler will fix that Its the one @ £8.99 even if you make a mess should not do, at least its sealed. http://boats.letsgoshopping.co.uk/c-170-gelcoat-filler.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Michelle, Hopw I'm not too late, but here are my thoughts anyway: 1. Do not cover the hole with gaffer tape or any other sticky tape or the first thing a repairer has to do is to get rid of the sticky stuff with solvent. It's much better to cut a generous piece of ploythene and then tape round the edges - much easier to get any sticky off later without damaging the preparation area around the hole. 2. I'd then go either to a professional body shop (motorhome garages rarely seem to do boduwork repairs these days) or a boat repairer. 3. If you want to diy, the Plastic Padding make both GRP repair kits and gel coat which is the essential top coat (GRP is both hygroscopic and not totally waterproof). Both will be available from a ship's chandlers (yellow pages or your nearest canal or river). 4. The general steps needed are: a) Prepare the hole and cover the insulation with polythene. b) Fill with GRP repair kit, including fine glass cloth (which is what gives GRP its strength), till just shy of the panel surface. c) When dry, apply a thin layer of gel coat to just proud of the panel surface. d) When thoroughly dry and hard, use 600 grit followed by 1200grit wet and dry sandpaper, wrapped round a very flat block to sand level and get the surface finish. It is vital during this sanding operation that a continuous trickle of water is played over the sanding block or the sanding will overheat and melt the gel coat. e) Get the repaired area painted. My guess is that thge existing paint will have changed colour with age, so the whole panel is likely to need spraying. As you can see, this is a very time-consuming job, so go get some estimates before you start. Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 Everyone thanks for all the tips/ Advice and everything thank you all. Mel E , Thanks also better late than never I say :-D We have decided to heed the words of advice and go to a PROFESSIONAL We decided that it will come out a mess if we try and had we had the chance to try on an old banger things might of turned out different however it cost rather alot so I think the professional way is probably the best .. Just out of nosey interest...I notice inside the white stuff is kind of like a polystyrene . Question for future knowledge would the stuff you are suggesting not eat this polystrene away ? probably a silly question . Must just be cack handed as yesterday I managed to put a chest of draws threw the wall also well, nearly made a mess of my nice new plaster *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Hi Michelle, Theres a web site www.cottagelife.com, which details how to effect a repair....pictures as well ! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.