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The object is a wooden crate with a yellow adhesive label reading 1270021 affixed to it. It sits in a workshop with hoses, blue metal frame, and a tub nearby.
  1. Boat Building & Repair
  2. Boat Repair
  3. Wooden Boat Repair

Tunnel Hull

By: Epoxyworks Community

Spring 2017

A restoration with WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

By Ed Stubbs

I’m rebuilding and restoring this vintage tunnel hull race boat for Steve Roberge. It was his late father’s boat and he wanted to restore it. We took it to my house to do as a home project.

I love using WEST SYSTEM Epoxy because there is very little odor or product waste, especially when compared to working with polyester resins in less than ideal temperatures.

I used G/flex 650 epoxy to fiberglass documentation numbers onto a bilge. I had vinyl numbers made, then stuck them onto dry fiberglass cloth. I then squeegeed G/flex into the cloth, laid another piece of cloth over the numbers, and let the epoxy cure overnight. I trimmed away the excess, then sanded both the back and the mounting surface. I used G/flex 655 Thickened Epoxy Adhesive to bond the numbers in place: no fuss, no muss, no polyester smell. It was easy!

The next steps will be wet sanding and restoring the deck, which has a lot of cracks from an accident some time ago.

We got through repairing the tunnel hull repaired, sanding it and fairing it with WEST SYSTEM Epoxy thickened with high-density and low-density fillers, then gel coated in blue. We had no problems using the poly-based gel coat over epoxy, as we took no shortcuts. Everything was sanded and properly cleaned before spraying.

Large white curved fiberglass shell rests on a wooden workbench in a cluttered shed; its stained, damaged surface shows holes along the edge, with cardboard boxes and tools nearby. Object: large curved plywood panel bolted and clamped to a workbench. Action: it is being shaped in place. Context: cluttered woodshop with OSB walls, shelf of paint cans, including DECK. Large boat hull on a wheeled trailer fills a wood-paneled workshop; a person in light clothing stands at its center, while shelves with paint cans and tools line the walls. Object: a dust-covered boat deck. Action: rests in a wooden workshop. Context: OSB walls, tools visible; the bow end is curved upward, with two vertical pegs protruding near center. The tunnel hull repaired, and faired with WEST SYSTEM Epoxy thickened with high-density and low-density fillers, then gel coated in blue. We had no problems using the poly-based gel coat over epoxy, as we took no shortcuts. Everything was sanded and properly cleaned before spraying.

 

Boat Building & Repair

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