Fixing wood to inside of GRP Hull

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Whiterose

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I want to take my headlining down and put battens up and screw the headline mounted on board.
My question is how do I fix strips of batten to Hull?Whats best to use.

I also want to replace my electric panel with a tidier wooden panel mounted to the Hull presumably the same would apply although the Hull has probably been painted.
Advice on glueing or fibre glassing in would be much appreciated.

On another point is it possible to block ingress of water from inside ie a fitting leaking without unmounting the fitting.

Many thanks
Rich
 
I used epoxy for that, with complete success.

  1. Hold the batten in place and mark around the batten with a pencil or felt marker.
  3. Scrape off any paint and dirt on the hull inside the marking and roughen the surface. Also roughen the mating face of the batten. Clean the mating surfaces with acetone (observing appropriate safety measures).
  5. Devise some means of holding the batten in place while the epoxy sets; eg props, velcro, quick setting adhesive, gaffer tape or whatever.
  7. Prime the mating surfaces with unthickened epoxy resin.
  9. Before that sets, apply thickened epoxy to the mating surfaces
  11. Position the batten and hold it in place (see step 3). Scrape off any excess epoxy with a sharpened tonge depresser

 
According to the videos on YouTube there is a couple refitting their AlbinVega called Lealea.Theyuse builders mastic and epoxy.In the latest video heis sticking battery's to the hull using epoxy but he reckons the builders stuffwould be ok
 
No More Nails or similar instant adhesive seems to work OK. Stick on ply pads and then attach your battens to those.
 
Thickened epoxy is good for seriously structural stuff, using the technique Parsifal describes, but I’d consider it overkill for headlining battens. Builder’s gunnnable grab adhesive (lots of them about under various memorable names) will do nicely and not need any packing to hold it in place until set.

There is no good way to seal a leaking fitting from below without dismantling it. For a small weep on something really hard to move you could maybe try Captain Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure from above, but it really it needs removing and rebedding. The sealing material needs to be inside the joint (Captain Tolley’s flows in as a thin liquid), not squidged around the outside.

Pete
 
TheOrs said:
Would Sikaflex 291 work well?
Click to expand...

It would, but you have to keep pressure on it until it is cured. Not easy on the underside of the deckhead. Same with the epoxy suggestions. The proposed application is not one of high loads and the builders adhesive suggested is more than adequate and only needs holding in place for a short time.
 
Tranona said:
It would, but you have to keep pressure on it until it is cured.
Click to expand...

I don't think you would, for the sort of lightweight batten typically holding up headlining. I've glued a few bits to the inside of my hull using Sikaflex, all just splatted into place and held themselves until cured. The only reason I didn't recommend it above was price - a tube of Pink Grip or Sticks Like Shit will be cheaper and just as good. I used Sika because it's what I already had to hand.

Pete
 
prv said:
I don't think you would, for the sort of lightweight batten typically holding up headlining. I've glued a few bits to the inside of my hull using Sikaflex, all just splatted into place and held themselves until cured. The only reason I didn't recommend it above was price - a tube of Pink Grip or Sticks Like Shit will be cheaper and just as good. I used Sika because it's what I already had to hand.

Pete
Click to expand...

If there is a lot of curve in the coachroof then the method I suggested of sticking on pads and screwing the battens to those should work well.

There are so many different techniques so best to consider the individual job to decide which might be best.
 
Many years ago I used a 2 part polyester filler which worked really well (bought from a motor factors for bodywork filling/repair). As it is not too expensive, one can use it to take up any small gaps due to curvature of the hull/deck.
It does also set quickly.
 
I stuck a ply frame to grp inside a new hatch to allow positioning and fixing of headlining recently.
I used a polymer adhesive called Multistick from Toolstation. It has an excellent first grab so you don't have
to hold it too long and it costs under £3 quid for a gun sized tube. You do need to keep it warm
as it is very thick.
 
A technique I use on occasion is to use Saba (like Sika but better) and a hot glue gun.
Coat the back of the batten with Saba but leave four or five areas clear.
Hot glue gun blobs in the clear area, hold the batten up for 20seconds for the hot glue to stick.

If it's a long springy batten then I use push cramps or lengths of batten wood from a suitable location like the bunks.

The issue with using epoxy apart from the lengthy cure time is it can be a bit brittle where as the Saba will flex a little.
Your coachroof will flex a little with folk bouncing around on deck and a hard point created by the epoxy has the tendency to peel off either the gel wash its stuck too on the underside of the deck or a thin layer of laminate.
 
No need to over-engineer the solution. I cut squares of ply and Sikaflexed them to the hull and deck at the points where I was going to screw the lining panels to. Sikaflex is sticky enough to hold a square of ply while it cures. Then screw the panels to the pads. You need enough pads to carry the weight of the panel and follow any curves, and the pads need to be large enough to have a good sticky area to bond. I have done this with Rebel Runner and as it is a power boat/fishing boat it takes a pounding from time to time. Not a hint of Sikaflex coming unstuck, anywhere. If you want to see examples of the result have a look at the rebuild blog here: https://harley25refit.blogspot.co.uk/
 
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