Repairing a Evinrude Cowl

[utahusker]

Hello, this is my first post as I'll take possession of an "83" Mirrocraft Deep Fisherman tomorrow. It has a 25 horse Evinrude that the cowl looks as if it's rotting away on top Can I use Bondo on the fiberglass cowl and refinish it?.
Thanks
James

 

[Zum]

Welcome to the site.
Not sure about the bondo but I imagine you could(it's used on cars),may even want to try fiberglass or just the resin.

 

[utahusker]

Welcome to the site.
Not sure about the bondo but I imagine you could(it's used on cars),may even want to try fiberglass or just the resin.

I was thinking of resin also. I've never worked with it so was wondering how easy it is to sand. Once I receive it I'll know more about the year of the engine and maybe I can find a whole cowl used on eBay.

 

[crazymanme2]

Will have a better job with fiberglass

 

[phased]

If the fiberglass is still strong and it is just the thin outer layer flaking I would use bondo. I have worked with both and can say that fiberglass is a lot harder to sand because it is a lot tougher than bondo. Mine was doing the same thing and I opted for the bondo. If it were a part that got a lot of flex I would have used the fiberglass. Just my opinion.

 

[KMixson]

You can get fiberglass repair kits that have all the materials in one small package. Just follow the directions on the package and I believe it would hold up better than bondo would in my opinion.

 

[huntinfool]

Bondo will stick to fiberglass, but it WILL crack back out in time. I work on fiberglass everyday and it will sand easy.

1st you need to sand the area with some 80 grit sand paper. Then get some resin and mat (fiberglass). Mix the resin according to the directions, (making sure that your in the shade) and place a piece of the mat over the area. NOTE If you tear the mat so there is not a cut edge it will almost disappear when applied.
Apply the resin with a chip brush (the cheaper the better) and wet out the mat until it is no longer white.
Apply as many layers over and around as needed to fix the damaged area.

Then allow it to get hard.

Once hard you can now come back and sand it smooth (220 grit) ( or start with 80 grit if you got it too high and have a lot to take off and then go to the 220 grit.)

Then if you still don't have it as smooth as you would like it, take some of the resin and mix in some sort of powder. Talcum powder works just fine. Mix it to a paste the consistency of bondo and harden it and stir it well and apply like bondo then once that hardens you can sand that smooth and you will have a repair that will last much longer.

 

[utahusker]

Thanks Huntinfool, I used a resin putty that's pretty thick. 80 grit is going to be used for sure. It's at a stand still till I get back from vacation, but there's definitely some finish work to be done

 

[huntinfool]

The putty itself will not have any strength unless it has fibers in it. If the crack was not all the way through then you should be fine.

 

[utahusker]

There wasn't a crack, the gel coat or whatever you call it was deteriorating leaving the fibers exposed. So this really is more cosmetic than any thing. The structural integrity is fine.

 

[huntinfool]

Heck if that was the case the you could have just painted it. Either way it will work and you've just got some to do and paint and your ready to go. Good luck.

 

[jasper60103]

Hey, utah.

there's a hood on fleabay. cheap !

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OMC-1983-25HP-COWL-HOOD-JOHNSON-SEA-HORSE-25-HP-NICE_W0QQitemZ390101047710QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBoat_Parts_Accessories_Gear?hash=item5ad3d5999e

 

[utahusker]

If that was a rope start, I'd be all over it. Thanks for the the heads up.