Chrysler Sailors Forum

I made a new lid for the aft hatch ( lazarette I have seen it called). I used the original to make a mold out of MDF which I patched with body filler then waxed several times and finally coated in spray vegetable oil. This is my first ever attempt at fiberglass, I think it came out pretty good. I also cut a piece of treated 1/2" plywood to fasten to the underside of the hatch. My problem now is how to finish it. Gel coat is real pricey, and matching the color seems tough on a '78.

/Here are some pics of the original hatch, the mold and the unpainted new hatch.

Nice work. There was enough of my hatch left to repair the cracks and add a new piece of plywood. You would probably do just as well to paint it with one of the marine topside paints.

Some of you guys make me feel so lazy!

Seriously, nice work! I still have some chips to fill in.

Very nice!
I like it!
Scott

Is there such a thing as bad quality gel coat?

This sounds too good to be true. They have great prices on fiberglass mat also, as well as release agent, wax, clay, etc.

I am tempted to purchase the gal. of gell coat because it cost only $20 more than the cheapest quart of top coat I've seen. Only down side is all I need is a quart and I'd hat for it to go bad.

WHat color is the deck? Is this white or off white, does anyone know how to match it with new gel coat?

Wet sand the gel-coat with 1000 grit to get your true color. what you might need to do is get white gel-coat and tint it. coat a small spot then have your wife look at it and tell you what tint needs to be added ( woman see colors better then most men)

I to plan on going the gel-coat route, I'm fixing cracks and other fiberglass problems as I can ,I just fixed the hinge area of the cockpit locker hatch .
My lazarettehas some small issues but with the added teak its looking good.

Surveywaters

I'm using Rust-Oleum topside oyster white... it has the first mate's thumb of approval. Here is how it looks on the cockpit storage hatch. Feel lucky you have a Lazarett hatch lid... mine was gone when I got my c26. Sorry... I was thinking topside paint, not gel-coat.



Terrence
Wilmington N.C.
Chrysler 26 1980
Pandora (for now)

hp18carr: you are welcome to my original hatch if you would like. It could be considered repairable, depending on how good you are with glass. Just pay shipping and you can have it.

Thanks for the offer,but I think I'll pass; the old original lids are way to thin for my liking. I've cut something out of 1" treated plywood for now, until something better comes along.



Thanks again

Terrence
Wilmington N.C.
Chrysler 26 1980
Pandora (for now)

Wow, where did you find 1" ply at?!

I think I'll stay off the forum for the time being... I'm truly batting 1000 today! Its 3/4" plywood.

Terrence
Wilmington N.C.
Chrysler 26 1980
Pandora (for now)

LoL, that sounds a little more familiar.
It looks good none the less, I should have taken that route, the new fiberglass hatch cost a small fortune when you add up all of the mat, resin and gel coat, not to mention chip brushes, latex gloves, mixing cups, a new 90 deg die grinder and 40 grit pads, pneumatic cut off saw and bits; all and all close to $200. Of course the tools don't count.

If the tools don't count, how do you get them past the chief auditing officer?

Ask for forgiveness

Finished my hatch, gel coated and all. Managed to match the finish using white gel coat and a touch of brown colorant.

Question now is, what should I use to glue the pressure treated plywood to the underside for reinforcement. 3m5200 or liquid nails? Maybe something else, little help please.

Lazarette hatch

When I repaired my hatch I laid a piece of fiberglass mat inside and a little extra around the edges to run up the lip of the hatch. I used 1/2" marine ply and cut the piece to the inside of the lip by about 3/8" all the way around, then I used a 45 bit with a bearing to relieve the edge. Fiberglass does not drape well on 90 edges and I wanted to cover the ply with 8oz cloth on the bottom surface and roll the cloth into the lip. Anyway, I saturated the mat with polyester resin and painted the face of the ply with resin then clamped the ply in place, working the mat around the lip. I left it clamped overnight, roughly sanded the exposed fiberglass then laid out the piece of 8oz cloth, painted the ply with resin applied the cloth and finished saturating the cloth using a cheap bristle brush with bristles cut short. It is very strong now.

some pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/93952888@N ... 517122054/

Fiberglassing it down would have been a good way of doing it, but now that I have gel coated I really hate the thought of more glass.

sauerleigh,

Very nice work and I bet it's rock solid. Like the way the wood comes through too, it will look nice open.

surveywaters,

How many layers of gel coat did you apply?

Love the way you guy's manufacture what the boat needs. I know it's out there somewhere sometimes, it'll cost ya, but making it stronger and better yourself is, for me anyway, something I enjoy doing. You folks' work inspires and gives me ideas for my project Catalina 27!

Keep posting the picts too! Love to see the progress

I put down 5 layers of gel coat. I was only planning on 4 but I tinted every layer and the fourth was to dark, had to do one more to get the match right

I was real impressed with how easy it cleaned too, I used my hlvp gravity cup gun and was concerned that it would be ruined, but a bit of acetone through it and it's squeaky clean.