Ok, this might sound strange, wierd or otherwise silly but an idea struck me and I was wondering if it was feasable. Is it possible to apply fiberglass over an old plastic hull? A friend of mine repaired his canoe with fiberglass and when it dried it was pretty good. I have an old Chinook and I really like the boat. I would love to get a fiberglass boat instead of a plastic one but they are just too expensive right now. Would it be possible to apply fiberglass over the poly hull to reinforce and otherwise strengthen it and kinda transform it into a glass boat? Just curious.
Why?
Mostly all you will do is add weight.
Most epoxy does not stick well to the polyethelyne plastic used for plastic boats. So it will either all fall off immediately, or fall of in degrees over time.
No epoxies stick to poly boats.
No vinylesters or polyesters stick to poly boats. If your poly boat is wearing through, there is a way to hot-iron duct tape patches to the leaking spots from the inside of the boat.
Do you know what a quart set of West epoxy costs, with pumps? Have you priced glasscloth? Even if you were covering a wood boat, where the epoxy would stick really well, the cost would be significant.
Good heavens !!!
Even if you could do it, can you imagine what the boat would weigh when it was done???
Plastic boats are much better than fiberglass for bumping around rocks and gravel bars.
Do some plastic welding, or get some of that new stuff that West Marine sells that will stick to plastic to seal any leaks or fill holes.
Then when you get a few bucks, buy a used fiberglass canoe.
Cheers,
JackL