Ugh - Found a crack in my Pontoon! Be Careful with yours.

[TTimmy]

Ugh - I found a crack in my pontoon.

I was in the final stages of bodywork and searching closely to identify and repair pinholes, then I found what appeared to be a crack. Sure enough it was. I have always taken reasonable care when installing and removing the body, so this came as quite a surprise. I captured a few photos below and posted a video on YouTube of the issue along with my repair.


https://youtu.be/6jraTl0MDyY

Here is what I spotted while searching and repairing pinholes. When I flexed the pontoon I could see it widen:
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This is what it looked like as I took down the filler and gelcoat:
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Here it is with a backlight. I have some much better shots of the crack on the video.
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A little bit deeper:
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[Skuzzy]

I cannot tell from the pictures. Is it possible there is no fiberglass in that area? I have several areas of my hood and body where it is only resin and gelcoat. It is the primary reason it is taking me so long to get my car done. I hate fiberglass work and the added expense of buying the resin and glass. I keep finding areas that need glass and resin added.

It has really taken the fun out of the build.

[TTimmy]

I cannot tell from the pictures. Is it possible there is no fiberglass in that area? I have several areas of my hood and body where it is only resin and gelcoat. It is the primary reason it is taking me so long to get my car done. I hate fiberglass work and the added expense of buying the resin and glass. I keep finding areas that need glass and resin added.

It has really taken the fun out of the build.

I don’t have the issues that you have, or at least I hope that I don’t. I did reinforce a few things areas at the top of the windshield and rear hatch. I agree with your statement about the body issues taking the fun out of the build.

Yes, there was a layer of glass in there, but not much at all, probably one layer. You might see it better in the video.

It looks like the area was compromised from the start. I could see two distinct colors, pink and clear. It was cracked right at that point, following border between the colors.

I have been really disappointed with the body. The alignment wasn’t terrible, but air pockets and voids are everywhere, especially at the corners. This might be normal, but my mk3 had very few issues by comparison.

[ggunter]

I feel your pain on the crack. Luckily you can get to the back side and make the repair as thick as you want. I don't know if you have worked much with fiberglass, but in these cases it's fairly simple. I used to work in a boat shop where we built race boats, and nothing takes a beating like a boat. Corner cracks are quite common because they are stress points. I would just grind out the top side about two to three inches back. Put one or two players of chop cloth and feather it back to the edge of your grind area. On the inside I would grind back three inches each way and put five or six layers of chop cloth and feather it back to the edge of the grind area. You can use woven roving but chop cloth is a bit easier to make go around corners. Amazon has rollers for working fiberglass which help to push the resin into the material and work out air bubbles. Use polyester resin. If it doesn't look right when your done just grind it off and put on some more. That's kind of the beauty of glass. Most of the parts on these cars are done with a chopper gun which is nice for fast part making on items that don't need a lot of strength or parts that are not stressed. These bodies just hang on a frame and are not really stressed. Working with glass is not too big of a deal, usually just messy. Keep some acetone around for cleanup. Good luck.

[ggunter]

These rollers make working glass so much easier.226347

[GoDadGo]

For all sorts of fiberglass repair and techniques videos, check out Captain Jim at Fish-Bump TV's Youtube Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@FishBumpTV

Hope he can help you if you get stuck.

Good Luck!

[TTimmy]

These rollers make working glass so much easier.226347

Thanks Man - The is probably the exact kit I purchased!

I hope this is all behind me!

[Tooth]

I had allot of areas that have very little fiberglass and allot of gel coat. Spent a year on a mark IV's bodywork.