The 15th International Portafold & Ansfold Gathering) (i.e. 2024)

Our annual gathering will be returning to the Newbury Retrofestival.

So put the dates 9th, 10th & 11th of August 2024 in your diary now and get those dates booked off work early.

Show Address: Newbury Showground, Priors Court, Hermitage, Thatcham, West Berkshire, RG18 9QZ

Don't book direct with the show organisers it will cost you more money, just contact me (07771544419) to get your pitch saved.

Filling holes in fibreglass

Any questions about maintenance or the restoration of your Portafold or Ansfold.
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The Gomersalls
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun, 14 Sep 2014, 8:08 pm
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Filling holes in fibreglass

Post by The Gomersalls » Wed, 01 Oct 2014, 2:08 pm

Now we have a Portafold we need to start fixing it up, the fibreglass doesn't seem too bad and there are only a couple of spider cracks on the roof so although a full respray may happen sometime in the future we would like to keep it as is for the time being.

There are however a few holes (not all the way through) and chips in the surface, what should we use to fill them and depending on what we use will we have to prime/paint etc afterwards.

Cant get the hang of posting pictures yet but can be seen here. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrmerlin/15224306650/

The Gomersalls
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun, 14 Sep 2014, 8:08 pm
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Re: filling holes in fibreglass

Post by The Gomersalls » Wed, 01 Oct 2014, 2:34 pm

15224306650_53137d9e83_c.jpg
Done it!

This is probably the largest hole. I have looked on various fibreflass suppliers and there is so many different options, help! please.

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Admin
Posts: 856
Joined: Sun, 05 Nov 2006, 8:53 pm
Location: Christchurch, Dorset

Re: filling holes in fibreglass

Post by Admin » Wed, 01 Oct 2014, 7:33 pm

First of all, don't do anything with spider cracks on the roof, as a rule they won't leak and it really is a waste of time and a lot of effort trying to do anything about them. I have lots on my roof and I've spoken to my GRP man about fixing them and to fix them correctly requires a full dig down deep into the fibre and it's a whole lot of work for very little gain. Apart from anything, if they're on the roof you don't see them anyway!

Assuming it's still the original gellcoat and hasn't been painted, I would give the roof a good clean, then T-cut it, then give it a good polish with normal car polish, and maybe even some good quality car wax. Sorted.

For filling actual holes you need some gellcoat filler. Find your nearest boat chandlers and ask in there, they'll have some that you simply mix up and use like Polyfiller. Then you polish it up afterwards and it should buff up nicely.
Matthew
portafold.co.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wanted: Any original Portafold, Ansfold or Mini-Motel brochures, adverts or magazine articles.
Also, any chassis numbers for the above caravans!

The Gomersalls
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun, 14 Sep 2014, 8:08 pm
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Re: Filling holes in fibreglass

Post by The Gomersalls » Wed, 01 Oct 2014, 7:53 pm

Thanks Matthew, our van is the original yellowy creamy colour, is there a colour reference or Ral code that you know of to match to?

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Admin
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Joined: Sun, 05 Nov 2006, 8:53 pm
Location: Christchurch, Dorset

Re: Filling holes in fibreglass

Post by Admin » Fri, 03 Oct 2014, 12:36 pm

The Gomersalls wrote:Thanks Matthew, our van is the original yellowy creamy colour, is there a colour reference or Ral code that you know of to match to?
Same as mine, fraid not, they basically mixed it on the day, and you'll find that different parts of the caravan are different shades, which can be a tad annoying to say the least!

Mine has different colours all over, generally I think down to bleaching from the sun.
Matthew
portafold.co.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wanted: Any original Portafold, Ansfold or Mini-Motel brochures, adverts or magazine articles.
Also, any chassis numbers for the above caravans!

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