How do you fix Fiberglass cracks - Fiberglass RV
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Old 01-29-2008, 03:02 PM   #1
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If something cracked the fiberglass, how easy is it to repair?
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Old 01-29-2008, 03:15 PM   #2
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If something cracked the fiberglass, how easy is it to repair?
All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put.... Actually it depends on how back it's broken. Corvettes are crashed and repaired all the time. (fiberglass body)
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Old 01-29-2008, 04:09 PM   #3
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Boats too! Any boat guy could fix it.
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Old 01-29-2008, 04:50 PM   #4
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While we're on the topic, I just tried a boat repair product (Marine Tex putty) for small cracks and pin holes on the roof of my Trillium, and was very impressed with the result. It's a white paste that applies much like drywall compound, hardens as hard as the original gelcoat, can be easily sanded to be even with the original surrounding surface, softens/cleans with acetone and can be colored or painted. So far does a better job for small local repairs than regular fiberglass mix or epoxy tubes. There are probably a few other brands that would work the same way.
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Old 01-29-2008, 10:55 PM   #5
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We have also used Marine Tex for small dings with excellent results. Comes in a small size for small jobs at a reasonable price from our local boat supply.
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Old 01-29-2008, 11:08 PM   #6
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Try Marine Tex
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Old 01-29-2008, 11:23 PM   #7
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A crack needs more than a filler, you need fiberglass cloth, which is coated with resin. There are usually kits in the hardware or auto store.
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Old 01-30-2008, 07:22 AM   #8
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A crack needs more than a filler, you need fiberglass cloth, which is coated with resin. There are usually kits in the hardware or auto store.

A "through" crack needs more than filler.

Surface cracking can be repaired by cleaning out the crack and using either putty filler, "kitty hair" which contains small particles of the fiber glass, or even spot gel-coat repair kits can be used.
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Old 02-05-2008, 09:55 PM   #9
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If the crack is through the panel, vee it out, make it into a vee. Take some liquid resin, mix fiberglass material into it ( fines) and fill the crack. If the crack is large, put a piece of cloth in the crack first. Add Hardner to the resin, about two drops to 3oz of resin. With a brush apply the resin mixture in the crack. Let it harden, sand it smooth, and paint.
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Old 02-08-2008, 11:01 AM   #10
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Sharon,

You didn't say how much of a crack you're dealing with. There are basically three kinds of damage that can occur to fiberglass. The first is gelcoat stress (or spider) cracks. They're cosmetic and appear to be a spider web design radiating out from a spot. "Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure" available at most marine stores is the perfect fix. It's a little difficult to do on horizonal surfaces, but it works well.

The next type of damage is a chip in the gelcoat. MarineTex or other similar kinds of epoxy putties work really well. Clean the chipped are with acetone, put the epoxy in it and let it harden. Sand it off and it's good as new.

Last is where the fiberglass is deformed, cracked, or torn. Your best bet there is to seek professional body work either from a good boat repair shop or an auto body shop with fiberglass experience. You can do it yourself, but there's a learning curve and it's pretty steep.

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Old 02-08-2008, 01:46 PM   #11
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Really, I don't have a camper yet, therefore I don't have a crack, lol. I was asking before I buy so I could know all is not lost if such a thing happened. Still looking for an older (affordable) Casita Freedom Deluxe with the captain's chairs.
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Old 02-08-2008, 06:24 PM   #12
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Well, the answer is that one really good thing about fiberglass is that you can repair it, cut out the repair, repair it again and then do it over in five years time, all depending on your mood! That's a lot tougher to do with other kinds of trailers.

The hard part is getting the repair to look good because the original is made inside a highly polished mold and layered. The interesting part is that the best place to go for repairs is a boat place because they do most of their work in FG.
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Old 02-12-2008, 09:46 PM   #13
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I don't recall if it was in this forum or another, but someone said that Krylon makes an ivory paint that matches the finish really well on old eggs. I found a can at Wally they were clearing for $3 Krylon Gloss Ivory. Put a test spot on and it is almost a perfect match. Should be very useful as I clean up the shell and make small gel coat repairs this spring before polishing and waxing.
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