1973 American 16 sailboat Restore

yonu

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
126
I have decided to simply reuse this post to show my restoration project on my 1973 American 16 sailboat

I started with the Centerboard trunk as it was the first major fiberglassing required

Since I am prepping my sailboat for a nice new coat of paint I decided to sand down and make the patch the previous owner had done on the centerboard trunk look nice. It didn't leak so I have never worried about it well While sanding it the whole patch came off. So what I need is some advice on the best method to patch it and keep that part of the floor solid

here is the before pic
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here is the after pic

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Here she is when I first brought her home
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she was in fairly good shape just need some TLC and only came with a mainsail.

I have only had her in the water twice since then and hope to correct that after i get the cosmetics done over the next couple of weeks

I will be trimming the sail this weekend as I had used the one that came with her but I have no idea what it is off of as it is about 4ft to long. Oh and before it comes up I own a industrial sewing machine and am a very good tailor.

More pics coming soon

Thanks,
yonu
 

BWT

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 30, 2011
Messages
363
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

Since the seam is opened up, you'll need to grind back/taper both faces (floor and trunk) to an edge (roughly 3-4" back on each face; I am guessing that the thickness is less than 1/4") and layup new glass. Typically on a clean separation it's best to layup glass on both the inside and outside faces, however I don't believe this particular repair allows that kind of access. So my general rule of thumb for something like this is to double the width of the taper if you can only get at one face. If you're painting either poyl resin or epoxy would be fine, and the glass layup that I would use would be to layup a single layer of csm and let it setup to give you a backer for the subsequent layers. Once set but still tacky, I would do a layer of 1708 biax and finish off with 2-3 layer of csm for finish thickness. *Hint: I like to tear the csm rather than cut so that the edges are whispy and inter-lock when wetted out. Helps in the tapering/tabbing onto the existing structure and getting glass to conform to hard edges.. After cured, sand flush, prep and finish with your fav color primer and paint.

Whenever working with glass and resins, please be sure to wear protective gear (respirator, tyvek suit and gloves). Also, all prep/cleaning is done with acetone. Hope this helps!
 

yonu

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
126
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

thanks that is extremely helpful way more detail than I was expecting. and yeah I wish I would get to the back but the centerboard trunk isn't large enough to get my hand in it.

Thanks again,
yonu
 

BWT

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 30, 2011
Messages
363
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

If you can, post pics as you progress; I am sure there will be others commenting on this that may have other suggestions. Good luck!
 

yonu

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
126
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

I will possibly start writing up a restore post this weekend
 

yonu

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
126
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

well I am holding off til the coming week on the centerboard trunk I was talking with a friend and come to find out they used to do marine fiberglassing so I am going to cheat and enlist their help. I did however start getting everything else prepped for paint. Hope everyone enjoys the pics

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Most of the hardware removed for sanding
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If anyone knows where to pickup a couple of marine window frames let me know I am going to add 2 to the front of the cuddy
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Basically everything is prepped for paint except the window frame as I have to scrape them down and the centerboard trunk
 

emoney

Commander
Joined
Jul 19, 2010
Messages
2,551
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

Boatersland and/or West Marine both carry porthole windows, but I'd scour both Ebay and Craigslist as you can usually find someone that's parting an old sailboat out. Since you can sew, you should also be able to find a cheap sail to make into your jib since the size isn't that big of an issue. Good luck, nothing beats having the wind at your back!

I just realized you said, "front of the cuddy"; you might want to think about something - most all of those portholes you install are prone to leaking. In front of the cuddy will be the most susceptible to water coming in. Have you thought about just adding two more to each side or making the ones you have twice as big? You'll see that the majority of sailboats don't have portholes in the front, usually for that reason.
 

yonu

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
126
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

I havn't had much luck on craigslist atleast not on the local one here. I am holding off on the jib for the time being as I figure I will go down home and see what I can find at one of the marine salvage yards.

Yeah I had thought about the leaking but figured I would just make sure I seal them extra good. To be honest the side is a good idea I hadn't thought about that.
 

emoney

Commander
Joined
Jul 19, 2010
Messages
2,551
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

In my humble opinion, they look better on the side too.
For the paint, if you have a Lowe's in the area, they're carrying "marine topside & bottom paint". It's a whole lot cheaper than going to a marina to get it.
 

yonu

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
126
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

I hadn't check lowes on the paint I had just planed on using regular epoxy paint for the top side but I will go by tomorrow and have a look at what they have
 

yonu

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
126
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

well since my friend is going to help me on the centerboard trunk I have started working on a couple of other things that needed to be done 1st was both mast spreaders were bent so I went ahead and replaced them but I went to something beefier 1/2in alum electrical conduit.
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Next was the outboard I had picked up about a month ago it is a 70ish Mercury 110 9.8hp
It has been rewired new plugs but havn't had a chance to test start it yet the gentleman I got it from said it ran so I hope to findout next weekend.
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I do plan to reinforce the transom on the inside before I use it just as a safety precaution.
1 question and I am sure someone can answer this one should it be safe leaving it on the transom when trailering or should I make a bracket on the trailer tongue and put it there
 

yonu

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
126
Re: need some fiberglass advise

Re: need some fiberglass advise

Well I finally Got to the centerboard trunk my friend that was suppose to be helping flaked on me. So I went with another method I decided to try Bondo-Glass I am going to fiberglass over it after I test for leaks this week(Hey is as good excuse as any to go out sailing) I figures I should have no strength issues from it after it had set for 24hrs I actually stood on the trunk and no cracking or creaking and I am not a light guy.

Here are a few pics will post more as I get it sanded down and the fiberglass over it

Here is the starboard side almost sanded down it was totally dark when I got done prepping and I forgot to take a pic
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Here is the same side after applying glass
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I hope to have it all sanded down tomorrow so I will have more pics posted soon
 
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