Repairing Outboard Motor Cowling....... Any suggestions?

JimW · **Posted:** Fri Oct 28, 2011 10:23 pm

Okay I've been looking for a kicker motor for my boat I finally found one a few weeks ago. A 6hp Yamaha 4 stroke for a good price in excellent shape based on info from seller, it was shipped to me from Nova Scotia, risk free, I didn't pay any money up front. Anyways UPS damaged the motor in shipping breaking the top cowling quite badly. Unfortunately the seller did not buy shipping insurance so the damage is not covered.

We have checked the motor out and it runs great with no other problems except broken cowling. I offered to seller a greatly reduced price for the motor since a new cowling is about $400-500.

I may order a new cowling in the future and I am searching for a used one, but thought in the mean time I thought I would try and fix the broken one so I can atleast use the motor in the short term.

Here is the cowling.

I have the pieces to fill in the hole, my plan is to use fibreglass tape and 2 part epoxy on the inside to hold the crack together and secure in the missing to fill in the hole. Then use the epoxy on the outside to fill in the remaining small cracks and chips, then sand and paint.

The cowling seems to be plastic.

Does this sound reasonable? Any suggestions?

JimW

Fred Fisher · **Posted:** Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:09 pm

Hi Jim. Look for someone in your area that does plastic welding. Contact a ATV dealer as they usually use there service to repair ATV fenders. Also check your yellow pages. If you are going to try it yourself put the pieces in and use duct tape to hold them in place from the front side and there are lots of products out there to repair plastic like JB Weld. I would take a dremel tool with a small ball cutter and gouge out the crack lines in the back side a bit so it sticks better Apply the JB Weld to the back side and let it dry up good then remove your duct tape. Take your time with it and i bet you could do a pretty good job. I fixed one like this and after i got it all glued up with the JB Weld i used a dremel tool to lightly gouge out the crack from the front side then i put some body filler in and sanded it down. I then sanded the whole cowling with a scotch bright pad and primed it then painted the whole hood. I ordered a new set of decals and it looked as good as new and seems to be pretty strong. I think the whole thing cost me under a $100.00 bucks. This is just what i would try but someone else may have a better idea for you. Good Luck with it... Fred

Trannyman1 · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:38 am

Exactly what Fred said. JB weld or Loctite cold weld (Which I like better). Time consuming but will do the job if you can't find someone that does plastic welding.

Al

rtkman · **Joined:** Sun Jul 10, 2011 6:28 am **Posts:** 528

That's really bad Jim. They really messed that up. Its too bad your not closer. I work in a body shop and could help. I assume you have the pieces? I would use fiber tape on the inside backed with plastic. They have it at auto body supply places. Everything needs to be sanded and cleaned thoroughly first of course. When you are done filling everything you can pull the plastic off the back of the tape. (the plastic stops everything from dripping through. It should be fixed with bumper repair kit not epoxy. Epoxy is too hard and will be a nightmare. When its wet its too runny when its dry its so friggin hard to sand its not funny.

adventure · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 6:29 am

I fixed one up with a combination of what everyone has said. I glued it together to get the proper shape back, then used fiberglass resin and layers of matting on the inside only for extra strength. I dremelled out the cracks from the outside, used bodyfiller, sanded, painted and top coated. It took a while as I made a winter project out of it a few years back and it still looks good and has held up to some pretty good back lake and duck hunting abuse.

Walleye-Jay · **Joined:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:21 am **Posts:** 159

Form it from the inside, use thin metal and rivet it on, then just layer with fiberglass until its smooth! Will take work but is repairable

Roaster · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:24 am

Duct Tape, nice easy 10 minute job, but I am pretty lazy and am sure it will look like crap.

JimW · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 9:48 am

thanks for all the tips guys.

we`ll see what I can do

JimW

Fred Fisher · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 9:56 am

OK Jim but post pictures of your progress so we can all judge you on your future as a Outboard Hood Repairman. You will be judged on a scale from 1 to 10 .... 1 being - Jesus that is hideous... and 10 being - Red Green would be damn proud of you...LMAO.

JimW · **Posted:** Sat Oct 29, 2011 10:10 am

Fred Fisher wrote:

OK Jim but post pictures of your progress so we can all judge you on your future as a Outboard Hood Repairman. You will be judged on a scale from 1 to 10 .... 1 being - Jesus that is hideous... and 10 being - Red Green would be damn proud of you...LMAO.

Will do, though I will probably start with the Red Green method and just some duct tape, since I want to hopefully use the motor soon, and then do a permanent repair after I put the boat away for the winter.

yankee clipper · **Joined:** Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:21 am **Posts:** 33

Check with a local auto repair shop some do plastic welding on bumper covers.

steve-hamilton · **Joined:** Fri Apr 25, 2003 7:40 am **Posts:** 1776

i had my broken cowling held together with duct tape for 3 seasons...broke it reversing into ice back in 2006.

gotta luv quinte in December!

Rednose · **Joined:** Sun May 14, 2006 12:36 pm **Posts:** 11

Took mine to a auto collision shop and their fixed it.

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Repairing Outboard Motor Cowling....... Any suggestions?

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