Lockley Sea Witch Repairs

[JoesBlues]

Hey All, new member here with a question. I don't know if this belongs in the maintenance area, if so mods please move. Ok -

I purchased a Lockley Sea Witch on E-bay for 400 dollars. In hindsight it might have been a poor purchase, however I should have gone and looked at the boat before buying. Anyway, the boat is plastic, with closed cell foam about 2-3" thick, followed by another layer of plastic for the inside. There are several LARGE gouges in the plastic that are cutting into the foam and the seller repaired with what looks like injectable foam. (very ugly yellow color) The boat will sail, however I want to clean it up and make it a nice dinghy for myself and my family. Question is this, can you put glass over the existing plasic hull? My plan was to sand the plastic with coarse sandpaper, apply several layers of alternate mat and roven woving, while filling and fairing the areas that were gouged out. Do you thing the epoxy will bond to the plastic? Would it be better to take off the plastic and bond to the foam (is that possible) Any other methods that would work better than what I mentioned? Any help is much much appreciated. I plan on taking pictures of the process and making a blog out of it. It will give me something to keep me busy during the winter. Once again thanks to anyone who can help.

- Joe

[JoesBlues]

Nobody can help??

[Valiente]

Sorry, I've fixed cored fibreglass, but not foam core plastic laminate. How you fix the gouges would depend on the composition of the plastic and whether glass will stick to it. If possible (and on general principles), if you can determine what the original plastic is, patch it with that if you can melt it on without setting fire to the foam core, and then sand it down or simply shape it with a razor.

For $400, you can afford to experiment. Roughing up the surface and having a crack with thickened epoxy is worth a try, but I bet the epoxy is considerably denser than the plastic and might fall off.

If that doesn't work, try gluing rubber or PVC patches on with contact cement, and paint the outside so it doesn't show.

But seriously, I don't have a clue what you boat is made of (there's dozens of structural plastics in general use) and the potential for making it worse is strong.

[JoesBlues]

Ok...Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to try to epoxy over it and See what happens. Worst case the epoxy wont bind well and then I'll have a female mold of the hull...right?? lol

[therapy23]

There are a lot of plastics out there.
I have done a couple of repairs on cracks.
I took a little piece to a local Plexiglas (I will just call it that) fabricator.
I found which solvent they sell that melts it.
I scraped, cut, or otherwise collected some of the plastic and mixed it with the solvent to create a "glue-like" consistency.
I put it on the pieces and "glued" them back together.

Good luck finding.
1. the right solvent.
2. the same, exact plastic - manufacturer scrap??

I did not need much so I actually found it on the faring in the form of molding ports - you know, extra points etc that things have when the molding is done - whatever you call it.

Then there was another plastic and the "good" (I thought) solvent would not melt it - had to get another kind. Expensive and VERY volatile.

Short working time too!!

IMO epoxy will not stick to plastic.

Maybe the Mfgr will give you a hint?

[camaraderie]

Here is repair info for Snark which is same construction:
HULL REPAIRS : use two part epoxy cement for all repairs or reattaching rub rail. Obtain locally May use epoxy cement or automotive epoxy fillers. For large areas you may use fiberglass repair kits. All above locally available.

DO NOT USE ANY PRODUCT CONTAINING PETROLEUM BASES.

DO NOT USE FIBERGLASS KITS WITH POLYESTER RESINS.

WEST SYSTEMS Epoxy coatings can be found at
WEBSITE: www.westsystem.com



Painting ABS - Most enamel paints will adhere to ABS. Use several light coats. Test paint in a small spot first.

DO NOT GET ANY PAINT ON ANY PART OF EXPOSED FOAM - IT WILL DISSOLVE IT.

Painting Sea Snarks - This all foam boat can be fiber glassed, obtain materials locally. Any petroleum based paint will dissolve the foam.

DO NOT USE PETROLEUM BASED PAINTS DIRECTLY ON FOAM

[JoesBlues]

Thanks so much. I'll soon be hard at work.