Catnstripers needs a Fiberglass guy

[mwardncsu]

No - he didn't run his SeaPro up on a rip-rap bank - rather he wants more room for his clients.

Can anyone suggest a good fiberglass guy that can chop of the front console seat and reglass flush - and do it in a reasonable period that does not put him out of commission for weeks? I know a couple of you out there have had this done....

Post it up for ol' Travis!

[striperjohn]

coastalfiberglassllc.com
Located in VaBeach but travels.
A good friend of mine says his work is topnotch.

[Brian]

I can tell you where not to go... The guy in Boones Mill took about 5 times longer than he said, charged me twice what he estimated and when I pointed out the rough finish and pinholes in the gelcoat he did, he said he could fix that but it would cost extra... At that point I just wanted my boat back so I just paid him and took back my boat.

Then, on my second trip to Cape Lookout, we encountered some rough seas and his work ripped itself out, delaminated I guess is the technical term.

In any case I figure I can do a better job myself so I took the angle grinder to his work and ground out the part that failed. I'm fighting with the weather now to finish it. Turns out that fiberglass resin is extremely hard to work with when it's cold and my boat won't fit in my heated garage so the best I can do is local heating with halogen lamps... I have it waterproof again and just need to fair it and then gelcoat and I'll *finally* be back to where I should have been after paying big bucks for a "professional" to do it.

Before it failed, it was awesome though... Even saltwater fishing was better since it's very nice to put the cooler in front of the console instead of under the leaning post.

So I say definitely do it, but just bite the bullet and trailer closer to the coast where you have a better chance of finding someone who knows how to work with fiberglass. That's what I wished I had done :/

[Brian]

Also, check under the console to see if the the deck is level under the console. The complication on mine is that underneath the console is a molded raised section that the console is set down around and glued to. That makes it *extremely* strong and totally waterproof (On my Nautic Star, water leaked under the console whenever there was water on the deck, which made for a lot of mold and mildew inside the console and the bilge pumps running when they shouldn't have.

If the deck is level under the console, a good ol' boy like CnS might want to just take a sawz-all to the console, cut a piece of plywood to plug the hole, caulk and paint it and go fishing

[CorneliaGale]

Travis,
You might check with Kevin Hart, he may know someone who can do glass work.

[catsnstripers]

Thanks Mike for posting this for me!

Brian I am glad I read your post as I was heading to Boones mill in the morning. To be honest I was skeptical when talking to the gentleman and stated that the work would have to be performed between therapy sessions. . Idk for what. But that got me thinking of getting into a timely manor. . I believe your suggestions will push me away from his work.

I have though of tackling it on my own. But scared to as I have no type of fiberglass work in my history. I guess a good time to start is now.

Believe I may do some studying on the work for my self. This good olé boy is a picky as hell when it comes to my equipment.. you should see my truck. But a painted piece of plywood has been thought of

Mward find me some info or a video on do it your self boat seat removal

[mwardncsu]

I'll bring the Sawzall

[CorneliaGale]

Fisher should have supplies to do the work, resin and glass sheets, 344-6666 ask for Ron, he should be able to help you.

[FishON]

Travis, I would get the work done at some point. Having the extra floor space is priceless and will be well worth the hassle after the nightmare of having the work done is over.. I used Dave Owens he lives just off of the lake. [phone]... It turned out well at the end but, I am not sure I would recommend him.. It is a long story feel free to call me if you would like me to fill you in on all the details.. Bryce [phone]


Brian, I feel like I might of lead you down the road to getting your fiberglass work done. I really really hope your fiberglass nightmare is over soon as I feel bad things have gone so bad for you. I still stand by my statement that after the work is done you will be VERY happy and the boat will fish better. Hang in there buddy!

[FishON]

I removed the front seat cushion and added three tackle boxes that I really like as well:

With 30 gallon SBT in:

[Brian]

Feb 12, 2015 7:44:47 GMT -5 FishON said:

Brian, I feel like I might of lead you down the road to getting your fiberglass work done.

You did and I'll never forgive you! Kidding. When I was boat shopping I really tried to find one with a console like the seapro striper console. .. but I didn't like the boats that were set up likr that so bought one with a seat on front... then I saw your mod. Brilliant!

My only regret is not just doing it myself to begin with. Fiberglass work isn't rocket science, it's just a tedious messy pain in the ass.

[BentRod]

Put Mward to work - if he takes too long, just use his boat.

[johnr]

Pal, You should just get rid of your console and get a TILLER conversion for that 225. Add the tiller assist so your arm doesn't get sore and you will be set!! It'll be slicker than a wet foot heading for a dry sock, promise.

[Brian]

CnS, What did you decide to do?

I spent all afternoon shooting gel coat. May have ended in disaster.

On the last coat (which is when you mix in wax) I noticed it was going on lumpy and thought the gun was clogging so I put down the gun, brushed out the lumps (ruining the perfect finish that was going to require almost no sanding) cleaned the gun and then started mixing a batch with the last of my gelcoat. That's when I noticed that the wax had come out of solution. I heated it up so that the wax went back into solution, mixed it in and sprayed it on, but I have no idea what is going to happen to the part that had the lumps of what I assume was solid wax that I brushed out and then sprayed over.

[Brian]

The gel coat cured but I wasn't even in the same zip code on my color
match.... In any case I'm declaring victory and going fishing
tomorrow. It will all look the same under a good layer of mud and shad
scales!

Maybe some time in the far far future when I'm incredibly bored and
have exhausted my backlog of projects I'll shoot another layer with a
closer color match... Or not.

That's a 40 gallon G&M tank (SBTII clone). Should have gotten the 50