Working on ducktail

[jhelgesen]

Been sanding off the old paint from my ducktail, prepping for paint. I've found a few hairline cracks and figure I should reinforce the back side a areas to strengthen these areas.

Should I just sand the back side of these places and put in some resin and mat or kitty hair, or is there some other method I should use?

[Paulporsche]

Duck tape!

(sorry...couldn't resist.)

Paul

[Jeff Alton]

It depends. Are the cracks in the actual lamination or just stress cracks in the gelcoat? Do they look like spider webs? Reinforce from behind if they are actually in the laminate. If not, sand down and fill.

Jeff

[jhelgesen]

Originally posted by catca
It depends. Are the cracks in the actual lamination or just stress cracks in the gelcoat? Do they look like spider webs? Reinforce from behind if they are actually in the laminate. If not, sand down and fill.

Jeff

One in the lip looks like it was squeezed too hard and cracked the gel coat, the others look like something poked it from the inside.

Maybe I should cut a piece of EPS foam, stuff it up in the lip of the tail and lightly glass it in there, keep it from getting squeezed again.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by jhelgesen
One in the lip looks like it was squeezed too hard and cracked the gel coat, the others look like something poked it from the inside.

Maybe I should cut a piece of EPS foam, stuff it up in the lip of the tail and lightly glass it in there, keep it from getting squeezed again.

"Spiders" will show up in the paint if you don't grind them out and fill. You can reinforce from the back if you wish. However, painting on some resin in the sanded area before applying filler will take care of it. Be sure to also sand the resin when hard before using the filler. Together, they make a strong repair.

[911pcars]

Yo can relieve stress at the ends of the crack (so they don't continue) by drilling a small hole at each end. Countersink holes, then fill with filler.

Sherwood