I’m refurbishing an OT Camper 16 to keep at a state park lake. The outer layer of vinyl is worn of slightly at the stems. Would painting on several coats of g-flex without any glass fabric be an acceptable skid plate for a boat that will be gently used? I have West’s kit with the tubes of thickened g-flex.
Thanks in advance.
Well, it will more or less replace the missing vinyl and help keep the adjacent intact vinyl stuck down the the ABS substrate. It would obviously not be as strong as if you applied a strip of fabric with it. But the thickened G Flex is really not the thing to use to wet out cloth.
I do not know how the abrasion resistance of cured G Flex compares to the outer layer of vinyl on Royalex, but you could always reapply it as needed. I would check to see if the exposed solid ABS substrate layer has been thinned out. This can occur without being obvious. Press in on the area with your thumb. If it feels spongy, the ABS is thin and you would be better off applying some cloth over it. If you do go with the G Flex alone, wash it well when cured and paint over it.
The substrate feels solid. I’ll give it a go with just g-flex and see how it holds up.
I did that with an R-lite Wenonah. I mixed in some black pigment though, to protect the g-flex from UV damage. It lasted at least until I sold the boat a couple years later. I didn’t test it by habitually grinding it, but I didn’t baby it either. In my case, it was a small area of about 1/2" wide by maybe 3" long.
Go for it. I have used gflex for royalex repair, although with glass, bedding 2 rifles, fixing a truck rack, and attaching a car mirror back to the windshield, where it held 3 years. See you have thickened which is good, stuff wets out like crazy, go easy, watch the drips/runs, as that stuff is tough.