fiberglass rerair

[hrgermany]

I have a small fiberglass damage on my right taillight area.Is there a repair kit available to rerair this minor damage?
Hans 1995 26 RB

[Mel Wilbur]

I would check with a marine supply store as they usually carry a complete line of fiberglass repair materials.

[Barbara & Ken]

We recently had some fiberglass repair done, and the fiberglass repair specialist's name was given to us by a local RV repair technician. We suggest that you contact a few marine and/or RV dealerships for suggestions of fiberglass repair specialists that they use.

Also, contact Born Free Customer Service RE: the appropriate gel coat to be used in the repair.

[Dave&JanPotter]

One of the nice things about fiberglass is that it can be repaired fairly easy. That said, there are a lot of so called fiberglass repair technicians out there who don't know much about what they are doing and there are a few good ones too. With over 30 years in the marine maintenace field, I've seen my share of both. You didn't say what kind of damage or how deep it goes. If it is gel coat repair over a fairly small area, there are many kits out there that will allow you to do it yourself. The biggest problem will be to match the color so it doesn't show. I suggest going to a large marine supply house and getting a kit or assortment of colors that allow you to mix and match the color until you have it right. If you do this on a practice sheet, and keep track of the amounts of each color/tint that you use, you'll be able to recreat it again for the actual repair. It is very rare to find a technician who can hit the color exactly right on the first shot. As Ken and Barbara have said, you should consult BF first and they may be able to give you the specs they use to get the exact color. Keep in mind that fiberglass fades slightly over time and even if you get a spec from BF, it might not match exactly. The second problem is getting the patch to conform to the original contours and smothing the surface. If the repair is only small cracks, then you can use a scraper to fill and smooth. If it is over a larger area then you can have a problem getting the patching material to conform to the curve of the coach, especially around the tail light, and getting it smooth. There are techniques for doing this, like making a small mold, but they are time consuming. If your repair goes deeper than the gel coat, you may have strength issues that complicate things and it can become more than a straight patch. This is where a good technician comes in.