rudder damage

[Bobg]

Last fall while backing I hit a rock and took a chunk out of my rudder, does anyone know what the composition of the rudder is?  A friend who fixes bodys on boats will help me with the project, but he would like to know what the rudder is made off, we may have to use a insert of some sort before fiberglassing. I would like to send a picture of the damage, but I cannot figure out how to put it on here.  The damage is in the outside lower corner, kind of peeled back the fiberglass and ground up what ever was in there, thank you for your help, Bob on "ghostrider",  The boat is 160 miles from here and would like to bring what we need the first trip.

[Ted Pounds]

The rudder is basic fiberglass with a foam core.  You may have to dry out the core before you fix it; unless it's been out of the water long enough to dry or you didn't expose the core.  Any water trapped in there will corrode the rudder stock and webbing.  Especially if you have an older boat with plain steel webbing.

To do the fix you will need good epoxy such as WEST System.  Do not use polyester resin, it is not meant for repair jobs because its adhesion is not near as good as epoxy.  You will also need fiber glass cloth and some sort of thickener for the epoxy such as silica or micro-balloons.  Also  you'll need tape and plastic to hold things together while it's curing.  A heat gun is handy to speed up the cure.  And, of course mixing pots, stir-sticks, disposable brushes and gloves.   I'm sure your friend will handle all that stuff.  If you have a big gouge to fill I would suggest using thickened epoxy before glassing over it.

[Ron Hill]

Bob : If the damage is deep you might want to do some filling with "Bar Rust" epoxy paste, before following Ted's suggestion.   

[Bobg]

Thank you Ted and Ron, I have printed this out and will go over it with my friend.  I would have liked to send a picture but am not real computer savvey.  I did try though  Bob