Hairline cracks in Maggiolina RTT
- Thread starter The Swiss
- Start date
Grim Reaper
Expedition Leader
In the Gel coat on the fiberglass?The Swiss said:
Sounds terminal. I'll come pick it up tomorrow evening for $50 and get it out of your way so you can order a new one. :ylsmoke:
Its more cosmetic then anything. If it is really driving you nuts then a Trip with a full wallet down to West marine and talk to them. They know about fiberglass refinishing.
Lemsteraak
Adventurer
It is an age thing, we all get a few wrinkles, adds character. Seriously, the little black spyder marks are from the fiberglass flexing more than the outer white gel coat and the gel coat cracks. You have noticed it is a cosmetic thing and doesn't affect the structure. Easy to fix if it bothers you.
West Marine carries Evercoat products. They make a gelcoat filler that comes in a small tube that is easy and very fast to use. You first "key" the scratch, make a grove so you can get the filler in there. Put a little of the paste on the scratch and then spread it in with a small plastic spreader. Clean the surrounding areas with a wet paper towel. You can mask off, but it takes too long and the goop seems to be water soluble so as long as it hasn't dried, it easy to clean up with a wet rag. Next day, use a little polishing compound to get the patch shiny to match. Oh, get the bright white stuff, not the buff white (it is beige), here is a link.
http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=102
Now, the reason that this happens, to keep the weight of the fiberglass down, it has to be thin. A large expedition Maggiolina is about 150 pounds, the mattress is about 45 pounds of that. The shell is very light, lighter than a fiberglass storage box. The fiberglass resin now used is a flexible isothalic resin rather than a polyester resin used in boats. It is much more expensive but flexes rather than shattering if you hit something. If you do hit something, it will punch a hole rather than destroying the whole shell. Again, easy to fix. The downside is spyders, the fiberglass is flexible, gelcoat isn't, gelcoat cracks. With age, the gelcoat will degrade but you can then paint it, but that is another topic, we can discuss that in another ten years.
Hope this helps
Rich H
West Marine carries Evercoat products. They make a gelcoat filler that comes in a small tube that is easy and very fast to use. You first "key" the scratch, make a grove so you can get the filler in there. Put a little of the paste on the scratch and then spread it in with a small plastic spreader. Clean the surrounding areas with a wet paper towel. You can mask off, but it takes too long and the goop seems to be water soluble so as long as it hasn't dried, it easy to clean up with a wet rag. Next day, use a little polishing compound to get the patch shiny to match. Oh, get the bright white stuff, not the buff white (it is beige), here is a link.
http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=102
Now, the reason that this happens, to keep the weight of the fiberglass down, it has to be thin. A large expedition Maggiolina is about 150 pounds, the mattress is about 45 pounds of that. The shell is very light, lighter than a fiberglass storage box. The fiberglass resin now used is a flexible isothalic resin rather than a polyester resin used in boats. It is much more expensive but flexes rather than shattering if you hit something. If you do hit something, it will punch a hole rather than destroying the whole shell. Again, easy to fix. The downside is spyders, the fiberglass is flexible, gelcoat isn't, gelcoat cracks. With age, the gelcoat will degrade but you can then paint it, but that is another topic, we can discuss that in another ten years.
Hope this helps
Rich H
The Swiss
Expedition Leader
Sorry, will not happenGrim Reaper said:
I basicly picked it up for a song and a dance about 7 years ago from a guy that apparently did not know what the RTT is worth. I'm planning on keeping it for a loooooooong time.Thanks for everybody's input; I decided that the best way to fix it is to cover it with some trail dust; that should take care of it