93 Wellcraft 196 SC - Bare hull rebuild

[gsxrdan]

Hi all, I bought a ski boat as a project knowing it needed new deck, and suspecting it needed new stringers too; didn't really know which bits the stringers were, but the seller said they were prob ok - imo since everything looked nasty, i figured whatever they were, the stringers were rooted too! Only way to learn is elbow deep...

Its a 93 Wellcraft 19 footer, 92 Volvo Penta 5.0 litre with a 92 duoprop

Unfortunately the engine and leg etc were already removed (and partly disassembled, and def some parts missing) Means doing a jigsaw with no box... lucky I love a challenge!

The deck was partly pulled, were were lots of chunks carved out of bulkheads and stringers (yes, I learnt what they were :facepalm and it was all sitting on a trailer set up for a different boat - big job ahead!

I began my research by watching frisco boaters entire Sea Ray rebuild on utube, and since then at least another 15 hours of videos on glassing and reading iboats threads (did i mention ive never fiberglased either?)

I now have a bare ground hull, and exactly 50 pieces of marine grade hardwood ply - cut, sanded, and ready to coat with resin. Still have the front seats to fab, but its time to start glassing. Im going with poly resin, and will end up with flow coat on the top with carpet over that.

Ill work out how to put pics up next, and then my inevitable questions will follow... i have a list already drawn up!

 

[mickyryan]

cant wait to see pics and watch the project, will subscribe and follow along

 

[gsxrdan]

Cheers, apparently 3 posts before i can put up pics, so here we go...

Ive been trying to clarify the details BEFORE i start putting glass down, cause im concerned about missing something vital at the start, then having to re-do work.

So some questions for anyone who can answer with the correct techniques...

1. For the transom laminates, should there be csm in between? Or just pb (unless pl glue is better??)

2. After the transom is pb'd in place, should I tab it in before or after the stringers are installed (wood to wood joint) - same with the engine mounts, do I fully glass in the stringers and then install the pre-made and already glassed boxes, or what is correct layup method

3. When putting the deck down, is it just tabbed to hull and screwed to stringers, or do we glue it to the stringers etc with pb as well, in fact is it better to glass some blocks to the sides of the stringers to screw into (i think frisco boater did this)

4. Is there any way to allow drainage from a foam filled cavity? This boat has so many cavities created by all the bulkheads and floors, and future rot concerns me! Especially as it seems theres no way to confirm the watertightness of the deck to hull joint, and there were gaps in the factory job!!

5. Im trying to find fg suppliers here in adelaide, south austrailia, havn't been able to find anything like the fabled and oft used 1708 - is that just an american thing, if i have to substitute csm and cloth instead, what weights will i need for the layup. Can i use woven roving instead of cloth? (finding it hard locate a supplier that sells it all)

Thanks for reading!

Dan.

 

[mickyryan]

well I will try to answer as I did
1 I sealed all of my wood first with a thinned coat of poly resin , just enough to seal it not make it look glassy
2 I did'nt not put csm between my layers of wood(used pl premium spread with a notched trowel" in transom but I did seal it, then skinned it after tabbing before I put stringers in and tabbed them to it .
3 I used pl premium to the stringers from deck sealed wood and used 3/4 exterior wood then after screwing to the stringers pb and tabbed sides with 1708 bias I ran a layer of 1708 over entire deck to be sure it wouldn't crack and let water seep in , none of my friends are under 250
4 I added 1/2 holes to each cavity to allow water to exit sealed the holes of course with thinned resin to be sure they were sealed.
5 no clue about your area but I know my wellcraft originally just had a layer of 24 oz roving over stringers and transom and it lasted 25 yrs

 

[Woodonglass]

Biggest problem with the PL adhesive is it takes a minimum of 72 hrs. to fully cure and stop outgassing. Also Polyresin has a tough time adhereing to it if you use it for filleting material. Titebond III wood glue works extremely well for gluing the two pieces of 3/4 " plywood together and deck screws will ensure good adhesion.

You might find this helpful...Fabricating Decks, Stringers, and Transoms

 

[mickyryan]

Yeah as ya know wood i only use pl for glue not for pb there is no replacing pb imho for filling sorry i should have been clear on that point and he is right you need time for pl but i have ripped a glue joint apart and i ripped wood not the joint so it passes imho for strong joints

 

[Woodonglass]

Great adhesive just too slow for this Old Dumb Okie!!!

 

[ondarvr]

And don't thin the resin, it degrades it significantly.

 

[gsxrdan]

Thanks guys, have read the link above, but the details are still stressing me. So NO to csm between laminates, and NO to laminating with pb?

Next job on the list is sealing all the wood first - 5% acetone added to resin? Have roughed everything with 40 grit already, its all in the rumpus room with a heater on.

I would like to add limpet holes to all cavities, but i also want to foam the hull - the 2 seem to cancel each other out

And yeah, i noted the factory just used thick roving, but then they did a deplorable job of everything (no such thing as rolling the air pockets out - in places there was up to an inch gap between the roving and the ply ) so i dont really trust any method they used...

 

[gsxrdan]

U guys are quick with responses! So NO to thinning the resin, OK. (for sealing the wood?)

 

[mickyryan]

I thin it only for sealing wood not for layups or anything else I read extensively on the subject and came to the conclusion that for penetrating the wood thinning helped and kept it from getting too thick to become a shell that would crack the topic is well worn out with pro's and cons so I reckon that will be up to you

 

[mickyryan]

another thing to remember when pre-coating wood its best if you can keep working through to get a chemical bond not a mechanical as it would be if you waited a day or two to do a layup the more chemical bonds you have the more the fiberglass will be like a solid piece .

 

[gsxrdan]

Sure, makes sense to do it as strong as possible - this is gonna be a nerve-wracking few days ahead, steep learning curve on fiberglassing!

 

[gsxrdan]

 

[gsxrdan]

Cool, photos work! hope im doing the right thing by using photobucket and resizing there to 480 x 640.

​

This is how i bought it, after cleaning out the debris and hacking out more foam

 

[ondarvr]

There is no controversy on thinning resin, it's a big NO NO. Anyone that knows anything about the subject should know this.

The difference in penetration is minuscule, the degradation of the resin can be significant.

 

[mickyryan]

wont argue it in this thread, only offered what I had learned I'm not advocating thinning epoxy I'm going off of poly resin and yeah I thinned mine before applying normal consistency over it then adding glass over that then more resin to be sure I had the 1708 saturated, I found trying to do it with dry wood was a pita and didn't want to coat from one side as well, thinned or not for first batch to the wood ? that's your call do as you wish .
ps.
when I cut my transom out for sterndrive, I was curious so I tried to remove the fiberglass from wood , it took a air chisel and even then it was ripping the plywood with it , so id say I had pretty good adhesion .

 

[mickyryan]

Ondarvar is way more experienced then I on the subject of fiberglass, heed his advice over mine any day

 

[gsxrdan]

There is no controversy on thinning resin, it's a big NO NO. Anyone that knows anything about the subject should know this.

The difference in penetration is minuscule, the degradation of the resin can be significant.

Please sir more words of wisdom - ive read many posts extolling your expertise, so i really appreciate you input! And thanks mick and woods too, the more input and discussion the better!





5 days of grinding later...


this was the transom - that black dust!

 

[mickyryan]

Shoot you well on ya way! Are you going to go with a mercruiser drive or ?