Hi everyone!
I'm in need of some good
advice from you guys regarding the transition between an iron
keel and a
fiberglass hull.
I've been getting old
paint and a considerable layer of rust off of my iron
keel in order to cover it with some new layers of
epoxy primer and a fresh coat of
paint.
Now after I removed the old paint and rust up until the point where the keel ends and the
fiberglass hull begins (see pictures #1 and #2) I noticed there are two additional substances. The first one is white and almost feels like some type of silicone (in
parts it was even still sticky and fluid-ish) and it sits in the little crevice right between the keel and the fiberglass. The second layer is right on top of the white one - it is a somewhat broader but thinner black band that also feels rubbery and on top of that were the old layers of
epoxy and paint.
Someone told me the thin black band is probably there because the keel can move a bit and it prevents paint from cracking and flaking off at those points and the white stuff is to protect the crevice from seawater.
Unfortunately, my partner was a bit overzealous and already put five coats of epoxy primer on top of the keel without replacing either the white nor the black substance (see picture #3). So basically imagine picture #1 and #2 and there is nothing apart from black epoxy primer where the transition is.
My questions are:
1) Do you think I should remove the epoxy primer from the crevice again to replace those two substances?
2) What would be consequences be if I just left it the way it is now (after put paint on top, obviously)? I plan to pay someone to sandblast the whole keel in 2-3 years again anyway since using an angle grinder with a
steel brush to get the rust off wasn't enough to remove it completely.
3) What do you think those two substances are and what products would you buy in order to replace them?
4) How careful do I need to be around that fiberglass? Removing the rubbery substances is quite difficult - can I go to town with a spatula/chisel or could smaller scratches on the surface of the fiberglass result in
water damages?