Fiberglass Fightercat Daytona Transom Repair

[lt130th]

I purchased a fiberglass Fightercat Daytona as a stripped hull from Jlov, here, in the for sale forum. He'd sold it once as a complete boat to another member, but during shipping the box was compressed causing the rudder blade to bind, which separated the transom at the seam and tore the fiberglass up onto the deck from the rudder control-rod holes. First pictures are of the boat before shipping damage, before I bought it.

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[lt130th]

Here's what the damage looked like after I cleaned up the torn fiberglass and removed all the loose debris. I clamped it in place and did a 3k twill carbon fiber layer on the underside of the deck with West Systems 105/207. Then I filled the transom with West Systems G-Flex 655.

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[lt130th]

I lightly gouged the clear coat everywhere that there were spiderweb cracks and then I filled the deep cavities with a marine epoxy.

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[lt130th]

Lastly, I went over the areas with new, white gelcoat. Sanded, polished and done. It's not all pristine and white like before, and there are some small imperfections that the gelcoat wouldn't fill, but a vinyl wrap or primer and paint will make that a non-issue. The transom is now much, much stronger than before the damage, and this hull is ready to be put back together.

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[lt130th]

I filled the holes in the canopy from the previous hatch bolts, and plan to install counter-sunk, stainless bolts to be flush. I also got some old epoxy cleaned off the interior, lightly sanded and went over the tunnel with a fresh, thin coat of West Systems 105/207.

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[lt130th]

Here are pic's of the hull as it currently sits. Waiting to be re-assembled...

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[lt130th]

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[lt130th]

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[dmitry100]

Shipping insurance didn't cover it ?

[lt130th]

Shipping insurance didn't cover it ?

I'm not sure. Jlov sold this hull to another member who lives in Hawaii. When the guy received it, he posted pic's of the damage & sent it back to Jlov. Then it was disassembled and sold for parts. So, I bought the empty hull to see if I could restore it. The Leopard 4082's, rudder & servo-mount are the only thing's I've added so far.

[lt130th]

Ran the rudder control rods through the transom...

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[lt130th]

Drilled out the holes for the cooling lines. You can see, now, how thick I poured the epoxy on the transom.

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[lt130th]

Starting to look like a boat, again. Rudder control rods shaped and attached, and cooling line trim rings mocked up. The hull already had the dual antennas so I just kept it as it was.

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[iridebikes247]

Nice job on the repairs. The hull looks awesome now. Whats the motor size, esc, cell count, etc?

[lt130th]

Whats the motor size, esc, cell count, etc?

Whatever its new owner wants to put in it. It's got a pair of Leo 4082's. I'll replace the stuffing tubes & Teflon liners & get a pair of stinger shims from Fightercat, and run all the cooling lines. Then I'll put it up for sale needing flex drives, collets, prop's, ESC's & receiver to be complete.