18' Thompson Calae transom, stringers and deck

[F14CRAZY]

Are there any regulations regarding running the hoses for the fuel tank (including the fill hose and vent) in the engine compartment? The replacement fuel tanks we've been looking up tend to have the filler necks at the rear of the tank, either at a sharp upward angle or vertically. The old tank's filler neck was horizontal along the top of the tank. With the vertical or near vertical filler necks I figure I have to move the tank back a few inches and maybe extend the engine compartment (/engine cover) forward to hide the filler neck and hoses, if that all makes any sense.

My Capri was like that originally and that's how I redid it but my best man was questioning whether that's ok. He's checking over the Coast Guard regulations.

Thanks guys.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Day 6 seemed unproductive but I cut 3 of the stringers. My wife's uncle came and picked up the waste to take to the dump. They charged $40. Ordered a new Moeller 35 gallon gas tank from Amazon to replace the aluminum one with pinholes. The tag on the old one was unreadable but I think capacity is slightly being increased.

Day 7 (today) I cut the 4th stringer. I spent like 2 hours and drove around town to replace the blades in my jigsaw and to get other necessary supplies.

I've drilled out the thru-transom holes larger and filled them with epoxy earlier tonight (not pictured). I didn't do that with my Bayliner, figuring that the transom core of an OMC Series 400 boat isn't doing much anyway. I really like the idea of the bolts passing through resin rather than wood in case the 5200 or w/e sealant doesn't quite work. The drive is getting a new transom gasket BTW. I'll be sticking the transom and glassing it tomorrow, hopefully. I was trimming the stringers but realized that where they sit depends on where the transom sits and getting the transom in place first was the best course of action.

I've adjusted the heat in the shop to be at least 60 degrees for the resin.

My previous work has pretty much just been with epoxy and I knew that polyester resin has some strong fumes but holy...I had my chemical/particle respirator on the whole time so I didn't smell it but took it off for a few seconds and had to open up the overhead door of the shop. I'll be sure to open the front service door and the rear emergency door for ventilation tomorrow.

The new Wise high back seats from Amazon came today. I can't remember if I said but my FIL decided not to replace the back to back seats the boat had. These will go on adjustable pedestals behind the consoles. He ordered new jump seats for the rear and one has arrived so far. I'm not sure exactly how mounting will work for those and how that will work with the engine cover and ski storage compartment and all but I'll figure something out when the time comes.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Are there any regulations regarding running the hoses for the fuel tank (including the fill hose and vent) in the engine compartment? The replacement fuel tanks we've been looking up tend to have the filler necks at the rear of the tank, either at a sharp upward angle or vertically. The old tank's filler neck was horizontal along the top of the tank. With the vertical or near vertical filler necks I figure I have to move the tank back a few inches and maybe extend the engine compartment (/engine cover) forward to hide the filler neck and hoses, if that all makes any sense.

My Capri was like that originally and that's how I redid it but my best man was questioning whether that's ok. He's checking over the Coast Guard regulations.

Thanks guys.

We checked over the Coast Guard boatbuilding guide regarding fuel tanks and hoses and couldn't find anything that said the hose couldn't pass through the engine compartment. With the tank I had my FIL order I don't think it'll be a problem since it has a horizontal fill neck and there's enough room for it to fit under the deck

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MTB7NS/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

 

[hvymtl939]

Great looking work so far!

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Polyester resin smells great doesn't it?? LOL. Looking good so far, you're really kicking this thing in the tail feathers......or is it tail fin? eh who cares. Nice job! :clap2:

 

[proshadetree]

Dang man I forgot how fast you work. Looks great so far

 

[F14CRAZY]

Day 7: final touches on the transom core and got that stuck to the transom skin. Taking advice from my best man and surveying what others have done I used some scrap 2x4's to use as a clamp. The part of the clamp on the inside is roughly the same as what's on the outside.

Those extra long Pittsburgh clamps were from an illegal marijuana growing operation that was discovered in a warehouse unit my mom was renting out. That was a PITA for her to deal with but regardless she ended up with like a dozen of these clamps.

With everything scuffed and wiped with acetone I wet out the transom skin and the core, made a load of peanut butter and applied to both the skin and the core, "stuck" them, then clamped. I put a fillet on all edges of the core. Went outside and filled in the thru holes of the skin with peanut butter, acetone-wiped any excess off the skin. I have the heat cranked up to 65F overnight. I cross ventilated the shop and stuck a box fan in the hull (behind where I took this photo) and pointed it upward to keep fumes from accumulating in the hull while I worked. Before the fan, even with my respirator on I could tell it was getting bad.

I thought about tabbing the core in but figured I might as well wait till I can glass over the whole thing too. I'm thinking it might need until tomorrow afternoon to cure enough. I figure that ideally I should get to glassing it over when the peanut butter is almost cured but has a tiny bit of tack left, but I'd rather get back to it with the resin cured versus it being too wet, and removing the clamps to find it pulling away from the skin. That would be pretty tragic.

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to bonding the stringers to the hull with thickened resin versus PL construction adhesive? I figure PL is cheaper so that's one possible advantage but is it strong enough to "bond" the stringers down? I know that it's debatable whether or not the stringers have to be bonded, or if the fiberglass tabbing/encapsulation is what does the structural stuff, but in my head I see the stringers and their bond to the hull as being important. In my Capri and in this boat the cores of the stringers were not in contact with the hull, or near it, with a 1 inch gap in some places. What do you guys think?

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I'm no expert but in my mind PB, (thickened resin) is the way to go. I'm not using PL for this because it takes 72 hours to gas out until you can lay glass over it. Also I have found that PL if used in a really thick bead, will harden over quickly and may not fully cure inside since it needs air to do so. I like Woodonglass strategy of loading PB in pastry bags, and squirting it under the stringer to bed. I may try adding 1/4" chop to the PB when bedding stringers for more structural integrity. Might be more of a pain than its worth though.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Thanks for the reply Chuck. I did some searching of the forum too and based on what you and others have said I'll stick with peanut butter over PL

 

[Woodonglass]

There's no need for milled fibers in bedding material

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Thanks for the reply Chuck. I did some searching of the forum too and based on what you and others have said I'll stick with peanut butter over PL

Right on!!

 

[F14CRAZY]

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days.

Day 8 (Feb. 9): my best man (Brian) came over again and helped me glass the transom. One layer of CSM and two layers of 18 oz roving.

The new 35 gallon Moeller tank arrived and we wanted to figure out where it was going to sit in the boat. The strip of plywood simulates the level of the new deck so no issues with vertical clearance (we measured before ordering the tank but just had to make sure). It's sitting on the new core of the tank platform, or whatever it should be called. I liked this tank since the fuel fill is horizontal like the old one was and not vertical or at an angle.

For strength and moisture resistance we glassed the bottom (one layer of CSM, one layer of 18 oz), peanut buttered it down, then glassed over with one layer of CSM and one layer of 18 oz.

Day 9 (Feb. 10): we trimmed the stringers to get them touching the hull as much as possible, leveled them out in relation to each other (PITA to do but thankfully Brian was there to assist), then wet out and peanut buttered those to the hull and transom. Not pictured but we notched weep holes in the stringers at the transom. I'll add more as needed with the bulkheads.

We've used up the 5 gallon bucket of 435 resin, some of a 1 gallon bucket, and most of the cabosil which was like a 3 gallon bucket. Most of the 50''x30' piece of 18 oz has been used up too. I'm placing another order with US Composites for 10 more gallons of resin and like 50 yards of roving. And more CSM. With having to encapsulate the stringers with two layers of 18 oz, then having to do the deck later and other stuff (like the console supports and front seat bases) I'm sure I'm going to use up the material. I'm also ordering a sheet of neoprene rubber to set the tank on.

The 3M chemical and particulate respirator I got doesn't seem to have the best organic vapor cartridges. Brian had like an old 3M respirator with cartridges dated from '87 so I picked him up some new ones from Home Depot (the "occupational use only ones") and he said he can't smell a thing but once in a while I get a whiff of resin. So with that I'm going to pick up new cartridges for mine. Kudos to 3M for long term product compatibility though. We have a box fan in the boat while working with resin and cross ventilate the shop (front and back doors open) but it's amazing how awful that smell is. I don't think a cockroach would last long in there.

I'll be back at it Monday. More to come. I suppose the bulkheads and engine bases are next.

 

[devildogae]

Sub'd!! Awesome work, I'm going to be following you soon. Just have to get it warm up because my work will be outside.

 

[ondarvr]

I thought it had been mentioned before, but you shouldn't use the 18oz roving without a CSM between them, the bond can be poor and fail between the two. CSM always needs to be used as the first layer too.

 

[F14CRAZY]

I thought it had been mentioned before, but you shouldn't use the 18oz roving without a CSM between them, the bond can be poor and fail between the two. CSM always needs to be used as the first layer too.

Yeah that was left out somewhere. I know you have to put down CSM first but didn't know it had to be in between layers of roving. I placed another US Composites order earlier tonight but will call them in the morning and just change the order of CSM and roving to 1808 biax then.

It seems I actually asked about this here in 2011 when working on Brian's boat. I read up on why as well. Oooops.

 

[F14CRAZY]

I've been slacking off on posting updates but I've been at it over the past week:

Fitting the deck supports over the new tank

Forward stringers and bulkheads ready

Made the engine mount bases

Replaced the cartridges of my respirator.

I forgot how much of a mess glassing is. Note that I rounded off the edges of the stringers and bulkheads.

And today's progress. 3/4 oz CSM, 18 oz roving, CSM, roving, CSM. Tomorrow I'm going to precut all the glass before laying it. I forgot how slow going glassing can be.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Wow, some good progress there. I am so glad I didn't have all that wood in my Chaparral. I've seen a lot of restorations like yours where there is that much wood. It's just crazy to me. Mine had two stringers and two bulkheads. I added an extra bulkhead. My point in all this is how rigid my hull is now that it's PB'd in. Yours has got to be like a tank.

I did the CSM layups on my bulkheads while they were out of the boat. Way easier. And yes....tabbing everything is really SLOW!!!

 

[F14CRAZY]

Wow, some good progress there. I am so glad I didn't have all that wood in my Chaparral. I've seen a lot of restorations like yours where there is that much wood. It's just crazy to me. Mine had two stringers and two bulkheads. I added an extra bulkhead. My point in all this is how rigid my hull is now that it's PB'd in. Yours has got to be like a tank.

I did the CSM layups on my bulkheads while they were out of the boat. Way easier. And yes....tabbing everything is really SLOW!!!

Yeah I'm not really sure why the Calae has so much damn wood. I don't seem to have any better photos in my Google account right now but this was my Capri. Not a whole lot in there in comparison

 

[F14CRAZY]

From last week:

I finally got all the forward stringers and bulkheads glassed. I won't have to be ducking under the consoles anymore. Is that why most people remove the cap when redoing bowriders? I wish I didn't lay CSM over glass that's still tacky so the new stringers wouldn't have this scruffy look.

I stopped here last Friday. I precut all the glass for the rest of the stringers to make sure I didn't have to add any to the latest US Composites order. I had to stop because I ran out of resin, again. My measurements and calculations say that I've glassed about 360 running inches of stringers and bulkheads so far, which has used 9-10 gallons of resin. With 500 inches of stringers and bulkheads left to do, plus the deck and other things (such as the console bases and bow seating bases), I decided to order another 20 gallons of US Composites 435 polyester resin. I talked with Steve as US-C and shipping via UPS for that runs about $202. Shipping it by freight runs like $192. The big savings is that UPS charges a $25 or so hazardous fee per bucket so shipping by freight saves about $100. Although I'm working at a commercial address there isn't a dock there so I'm having them ship it to a terminal in Lansing for us to pick up. I should have thought to ask about shipping via freight for our last order which was pretty heavy with all the glass we ordered.

US Composites really is the best deal out there and I've wasted too much time trying to find a better deals. Even with having to ship from Florida they're still far cheaper. With my best man's employee discount at a major retailer, their resin is around $48/gal versus $25 for US-C (when purchased in 5 gallon buckets).

So I'm waiting on the resin to arrive. Work has been going well otherwise.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I found a place that is fairly close to me that sells resin and supplies direct, kind of like a USC. I can pick it up and save the shipping costs. My last order saved me $150.00 by picking it up which is awesome. Crazy what this stuff costs to ship. I'm getting polyester resin at $175 per 5 gallons. CSM, cloth, thickeners etc are very comparable to USC. It's also insane what local boat shops and stores sell this stuff for....

Nice progress by the way!!!!.