I have an old red fiberglass canoe that belonged to my dad (he passed away a few years ago). I’d like to fix it up for my daughter, who was very close to her grandpa. The canoe sat out in the sun for decades – the red gelcoat is very chaulky, easily scratched, almost pink, and has a few large shrink cracks in the gelcoat (glass appears to be ok). I have considered filling cracks, polishing as much as possible, and coating with a few coats of Penetrol (I’ve used it on my red fiberglass sailboat hull, but never in such bad shape). The canoe also needs seats (age and sun have destroyed the plastic). The canoe was manufactured in Michigan around the early sixties by “Tamarac.” Any advice would be greatly appreciated (methods, materials, where to get, etc.). Thanks.
ideas
fix all the scratches and cracks with epoxy and then paint it.
For seats you want to contact the folks at Ed’s. Their prices are very good, their advice is great, and they’ll make a custom size if you need it without charging you an arm and a leg.
Who/where for the seat?
I’m looking at refurbishing a 1970-somehting tandem kayak and will need a pair of seats. (Kush-comfort, it’s a rec. boat.)
I’m at the same stage.
I’m trying to figure out who/where/what I want to try and accomplish for refurbishing a 1970-something tandem kayak.
My general plan is what Frank said – to sand down any grotesque areas, patch it with epoxy (and maybe a little fiberglass if needed) and then paint it. My only real concern/question is if I’m going to paint it with marine paint (Brightsides) or simply go with oil-based exterior paint. The marine paint is pretty expensive. We’ll see.
Good luck and keep us posted how you’re doing!
I’m getting close to getting mine wet
Although I’m not considering painting this year, at least not yet.
I had some fibre glass repair to do, but mostly my story is relaceing the wood parts.
http://www.free-canoe.blogspot.com/
Feel free to email me if you want to know more about my experience.