My mad river explorer was damaged while in storage at a friend’s house. The canoe was dragged across concrete and a gravel driveway a few times and has some rather deep gouges on the front and back stems. The interior ABS layer is also gouged. Can anyone offer any advice on using the royalex epoxy resin to repair issues like this? Thanks.
Though I’ve used epoxy on boats for
about 40 years, I do not have personal experience with the “Royalex” epoxy resin offered for repairs. I believe you could just clean the gouges out thoroughly and then spatula the epoxy into the grooves. If the epoxy is runny, you can try to see that the boat is leveled carefully so the epoxy stays in place. You can also put pieces of plastic food wrap over the epoxy and used bits of tape to pull the plastic wrap down smooth. Don’t worry about runs, they can be scraped off later.
An alternative to epoxy is 3M Structural Adhesive, a two part polyurethane that comes in tubes. I used it to fill a deep gouge in Royalex, and it has stayed put for several years without apparent deterioration.
I am not a fan of skid plates, but it you get a kit (about $100 these days), you can put the pads on over the filled gouges. That way you will know the epoxy will not pop out of the gouges. My approach would be to use 2 or 3 concentric layers of S-glass or E-glass with epoxy. Makes for a thinner and quieter-running skid pad.
Wat G2D said…
ya might also try Marine-Tex fer gouges - available in any boating store.
The cheapest fix
The cheapest, most convenient way to go is the good old JB Weld. Never underestimate this stuff; I used to, now I’m a believer. I think Paul Harvey uses it to patch all of his whitewater playboats! Don’t forget to clean the area with some type of solvent first for good adhesion.
What kind of solvent?
I’m not in need of such a repair just yet, but it’s only a matter of time. What kind of solvent would you (or anyone else) recommend for preparing the site prior to applying epoxy or other filler?
Ah’ always used wood booz
denatured alcohol. Do not drink!
FE
J.B. Weld
I’ll second cheap ol’ J.B. Weld. Worked well for me. Just be sure to mix it twice as long as you think you should, let it set up a little before trying to work and give it plenty of time to cure before using. It’ll be hard in a several hours but won’t be rock solid for a night or two.
FWIW, some places like PepBoys sell J.B. “IndustroWeld”. It’s just regular J.B. weld in a pair of 5 oz. “economy size” tubes. The regular sized tubes never seem to be enough for boat repair.
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