Diy pump tunnel reinforcement.

[Matt Hill]

Hi Matt you sound like you have experience with laying glass. I think the point here is most people don't and are merely trying to save a buck. I have seen failed tunnels that were done with all the right materials, but not the skill set needed for the job.
My point is this is not a mod for the novice, when asked about this vs the pre-fab piece, I always tell people do the pre-fab. you have to really try and screw it up. I saw one a 16yr old kid did on here, it was a disater with glue everywhere, but it worked.
my $.02

No doubt. There seem to be plenty of people out there that just don't have the experience or the patience to get in there.

I'd actually like to prep and run some more carbon/kevlar in mine after some additional disassembly to reinforce the rear wall more. I would also like to make some plates of my own that more widely distribute the shoe bolt pressure and so forth... Just didn't have the time last season...

[bgruhn76]

Anyone near Clearwater area that would like to teach a highly mechanically inclined person how to lay glass properly? I'd rather make my own, rather than pre-fab for $165. Might even do CF route. Let me know. Thanks.

[Steve-m31164]

I have taken off the old school tunnel on my ski . it was glassed on and with the hull prep it was still holding . I had started to put Kevlar over it and had been advised to remove the fibreglass and start again with a stick on reinforcement piece . my take of this is .... the tunnel flexes and with all these conversions around these days with the old school way it WILL eventually come unstuck from the tunnel ... With the piece that is stuck on it will flex with the tunnel (very slightly) and stay stuck ! thank you for the members on here for the advise .

[Busy_mechanic]

Hey, I'm new to the forum.
I have a 2005 GP 1300r that i recently bought on which I am patching up some holes/cracks on the underside. What's the better product? Epoxy or smc resin? I found out that my hull is made of smc material. The epoxy costs me 60 bucks for 200ml and for 30 bucks I can get a gallon of smc resin... What's the pros and cons...? And lastly what paint should I be using... Some threads say then just paint it..... Well, with what...?
Thanks guys, would really appreciate some helpfull feedback.

[TRDRacing]

Anyone near Palm Beach County who can help me with this project?? Dinner, beer, or cash?

[steelmesh]

5/25/19 DIY quick get it ready for Memorial Day rush build, this is a diy tunnel reinforcement story...

I used one (1) full tube of West System 610 (six10) by wetting fiberglass cloth with a scraper, in my case exactly one tube because the last thing I did was lay an epoxy bead on the critical corner fillets then it ran out. This is auto parts store fiberglass cloth, I utilized 85-90% of it. I began the glassing by laying an epoxy bead along the main fillet corners along the transom and bottom of the pump hump.

21-24 layers in the bottom-rear corners (3-edges meet)
14-18 layers around the main 'pump hump', includes overlap past the transom fillet and bilge fillet

Details, it's hard to count so above are estimates because lots of overlapping:
Main large fiberglass template, including the fillets so templates cut longer = 7 layers
Using scraps from the main template, I reinforced the pump hump with the scraps butted to transom vertical wall = 7 layers
2x3" squares stuffed into both bottom corners where it meets the horizontal part of the bilge = 5 layers
Additional fillets reinforcement, 2x8" strips on the corners around the "horseshoe", the corner that meets the transom = 4 layers
Pump hump to bilge bottom fillet has similar fillet reinforcement, pressed into the corner with a scraper. = 3 layers



5200 sealed shoe brackets in place: