Wood hull and cracks in autoclear

[ClayGlover]

I'm hoping for some suggestions on repairing cracks in the clearcoat at the corners of the fuel cell compartment on a wood hull. Despite my regular fuel residue mop-ups, I'm getting some separation and cracking in the corners of the auto clear topcoat at the bottom of the fuel cell compartment, and beginnings in the engine area. The rest of the hull is fine. When built, the bare wood was sealed with epoxy, and I can't really see evidence of oil soaking into the wood just yet. The cracks are in the top auto clear and there's no other paint underneath it, just the epoxy.

What do you guys suggest, if anything, to try and extend the life of the wood when this happens? The sealer is west systems. The clear is PPG. 55% nitro.

I was thinking of doing an epoxy filet over the cracks? Or maybe try and clean it up, scuff it, and respray in the cracked areas? It will be near impossible to get all of the oil out of the existing corner cracks during surface prep for a new clearcoat. Or will I just make a mess and not fix the problem due to the oil in the cracks or oil that may have seeped under the original clear. I like this boat and it's always a bummer to watch oil-logging happen. I guess if the epoxy sealer holds, it's not a big deal, just an eyesore? My main concern is the epoxied tub bottom-to-side joints might get weak from the unreachable fuel residue just sitting in the cracks. It's a high stress area right between the sponson booms. thanks

 

[Mike G]

If you sand out the clear and fuel residue you can use fiberglass cloth with some more West-systems to make corner fillets that won't crack. Get some really light cloth and put the weave on diagonally. If you can radius the corners first it will make even a stronger corner.