Ok, Ive started doing my huge delam repair on my P-16 junker. These hulls are technically toast anyway, so I am doing this as cost, and time effectively as possible. Someone asked my to document my work and post pictures, so here goes:
You will need the following:
fiberglass resin (or epoxy)
mixing cups and sticks
wide masking tape
sharpie marker
drill
1" drywall screws
roll of paper towels (or two)
lacquer thinner
horse syringes (any large pet supply has them for ~ $1.50 ea.)
drill bit for the tip size of your syringes, and something to cut the drill bit short.
Ok, start out by getting your work area flat, decks can be done while assembled, but the hull sides will require the hulls removed and put on sawhorses.
clean the area and cover with a layer of masking tape
mark your drilling spots in a triangular fashion, about 3" apart (I tried 4" apart at first to save time, did not work well, make them 3" spacing) I made a template out of a piece of cardboard, to speed up the process:
Now its drill time, you have to drill through the top layer, and the foam underneath, but NOT the inner fiberglass layer. The depth is anywhere from 1/4" to 1/2" , you want to drill through the soft foam to the inner layer. You will have to experiment with the depth, as no two old broke down boats are the same. Prep your drill bit by cutting it in half and discarding the rear portion, this is so you can set the drill depth easily. Heres a pic:
Once the holes are drilled, I take an extra drill bit and spin in the holes by hand to make sure I got through the foam.
If your delam area is large, like mine, you will have to put in screws to hold the layers together, otherwise you will end up pumping in huge amounts of resin as the layers spread out. Put a screw through a hole every foot or so.
Now you are ready to fill, on a large repair, I mix about 12 oz. of resin at a time. fill your syringe up and start at one end, pumping into each hole until it comes out of another. Each hole usually needs 1/3 to 1/2 a syringe full. Work quickly.
After I fill each row of holes, I wipe off the excess and put down a strip of tape over them, this keeps the stuff in when you move on to the next row, making less waste.
Always keep your paper towels handy, and use the thinner to wipe it off of the other parts of the hull if it runs.
As soon as each batch is done, you can wipe out your mix cup, and clean out the syringe with laquer thinner to make the most out of your supplies.
after it sets, pull the screws and fill those holes as well, then leave it alone until it sets and cools a while.
Peel the tape, use a razor blade to level off any protrusions.
Fill any divots with bondo, or marine sealant, and thats it!
Now take pride in the fact that you just saved another boat from being parted out!
It only took me about 1 1/2 hours to inject the entire space between the beams on the old P-16, its really not that time consuming once you are set up and ready to go.
Hope this helps somebody.
Edited by anrkii on May 20, 2011 - 04:37 PM.