I’ve got some old holes (screw holes, etc.) from the previous owner of the boat in the console that I want to fill in, and sand down to make it smooth and, well, have no more holes.
I’ve checked out the isles with boat repair stuff at Boaters World, West Marine, and so on. However, I’m not too sure what I’m looking at and what to get.
Basically, looking for like a filling gel, epoxy, type stuff.
If you just want it water tight, I’d inject some 3M 5200.
If you want it beautiful, then excavate each area to be patched.
Lay in a little epoxy/fiberglass patch.
Sand to slight depression.
Lay in some gel coat.
Wet sand with increasingly fine grit paper until it’s beautiful.
I’d go with the 5200. It might leave little bumps. But, my hull is kinda’ old and hasn’t seen wax in 15 years. So, I like to have mine sound. But, I’m not as worried about ‘pretty’ as many others would be.
Thanks for the specific tip there Palmer. I do appreciate it.
Yeah, this is a used boat, and not “show room” anymore, so I’m just more concerned with water tight than I am pretty. So long as it is white, and fills in the holes, I’ll be good.
5200 is not sandable. It’s more like RTV or silicone caulk. It’s magic! It takes a week to fully cure (there is a fast cure but I’ve never used it) but when it does it’s bulletproof. Good stuff.
Marine Tex will dry hard and can be sanded and won’t take much more effort to use at all, just mix it up 50/50 and fill the hole leaving it a bit hi then can use a sharp knife or chisel to trim it further when it’s allmost all the way hard. 5200 won’t ever really fully dry hard.
Marine Tex is the way to go. Make sure you get it as smooth as possible before it fully cures. You can sand later but you can cut down on the amount of sanding by smoothing with a damp clean cloth before it fully cures.
Just finished working on the console, and I want to thank all of you for your advice. The Marine Tex worked just like I’d hoped. You can still see where the holes used to be, because of the “new” white of the Tex compare to the bleached color of the console. However, it is all smooth, and now water tight.