T&T: Filling and fairing a steel hull

[Albin43SDtr]

'Lo All,

John, I most strongly recommend AGAINST using automotive Bondo. About 
4-5 years ago, I tried it on an old, 16' sailboat that was of little 
value, so took a chance - also, simply was curious to see if it would 
work. I painted it with a good paint that I had left over from 
another project. Within less than a year, the Bondo had curled up and 
peeled off, leaving the bare fiberglass. I had prepared the 
fiberglass by sanding it with (?80?) grit sandpaper to provide a good 
bonding surface. (I did not coat it with epoxy first, as polyester 
resin [which Bondo is, or at least the Bondo I used was] doesn't 
stick too well to epoxy.) The area where I put it was on the stern - 
above and below the waterline, but since the boat was stored on a 
lift, out of the water, I thought that it should work. WRONG!

>Yes I know about East and West epoxy systems. But looking for cost 
>and time efficient alternatives.  The house superstructure is made 
>of aluminum  ( a wonderful material to work with) and for the odd 
>bit of filling required at joints, I'm thinking of just using a 
>simple automotive filling product, like Bondo.

There are other good fairing compounds (can't remember their names) 
that stay on, even under water - provided the fiberglass is properly prepared.

YMMV, but the above was my experience with Bondo - which I have 
successfully used on cars and trucks for years.


Take care and be safe.

Wayne
Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck
Near Panama City, FL