Royalex Repair

[Camp43]

Hi,

I picked up a royalex Old Town Tripper cheap and it has 2 little chips in the royalex. Is this something that can just be repaired with putty or epoxy? It doesn't need anything crazy like fiberglass reinforcement or anything I hope. I see some people mention JB Weld Putty or G flex or and something else Marine-Tex would any of these do the trick/

Thanks

 

[recped]

it looks like it's just gouges out of the vinyl skin, I wouldn't do anything, the skin only provides UV protection for the Royalex itself. The vinyl layer on the old boats was a lot thicker than Royalex boats of the current century.

 

[Guest]

I picked up a royalex Old Town Tripper cheap and it has 2 little chips in the royalex. Is this something that can just be repaired with putty or epoxy? I see some people mention JB Weld Putty or G flex or and something else Marine-Tex would any of these do the trick.

I’d go ahead and fill them. Any of the above would fill the little gap from the missing vinyl skin, and if you have such a product around I’d just use that.

Of those choices my preference would be G/flex. The most expensive if you have to buy something, but also by far the most useful. I have JB Weld and PC-7 and other epoxy putties in the shop, but my go to for small repairs, especially on plastic or vinyl, is G/flex. I probably mix a tiny pencil-eraser sized batch of G/flex once a week for some household repair.

If you wanted to install vinyl pad D-rings G/flex will work well. If you wanted in install skid plates G/flex mixed with regular West System epoxy does the trick.

Still the best testimonial to G/flex – we have a cast iron pot with a decorative ceramic lid, used as a humidifier atop the wood stove. The ceramic top was dropped and broken into several pieces. Glued back together using G/flex that lid has spent a half dozen winters covering a pot of boiling water and steam.

 

[pblanc]

I can't tell for sure but it looks to me as if some of the foam core might be exposed on at least the larger area of damage. If it looks like Swiss cheese, you are looking at the foam core.

I also would use G Flex and if there is any exposed foam core I would thicken it a little with colloidal silica powder (cab-o-sil). Sometimes it takes a couple of applications to fill in an area where the core is exposed as the epoxy settles into the interstices of the core. You can apply more epoxy over an initial application while the first is still green. Cured G Flex sands smooth and fair quite well, and can be painted to match the hull color.