1979 McKee Craft 16' Waccamaw - restoration continues

djm3801

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Apr 12, 2014
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Tried to add this to an existing thread but getting "empty response" so starting a new one. A past thread was also deleted mysteriously. So..

McKee is similar in construction to whalers. No stringers, foam used as structural support. Have been in touch with Key McKee, the CEO of the original McKee company for tech support as well as a fellow who did a couple of McKee restorations from the THT web site, and using info from Continuous Wave forum. I find this site, however, has greater info and support for restorations in general. I plan to carry 4 people max on this 6 passenger boat in freshwater lakes and Florida intercoastal. I am not a speed demon and will use this for fishing and some cruising on nice days. It is 16' long and has a 78" beam.

Have the boat covered in clear plastic except when I work on it to try to evaporate the 120 extra pounds of water in the foam - only in some of the foam. Hull weight is about 1290 and the specs call for 1170. I have removed all hardware and re-drilled all screw holes in the deck in prep for reflling, and removed the centerboard which runs up the center section of the deck. The rear hole in the center tunnel is where the injected foam came out of the boat during manufacture - it is pumped in from the front - and I have opened this and hollowed it out and have some cloth in there to create a wicking action - hooking a 4" pvc pipe and muffin fan over that to get some vacuum and will vent that to the outside of the plastic "greenhouse" I have tented the boat in. When I opened this up as well as a site further forward, the top perhaps half inch of foam was wet but remaining 4 - 5" was perfectly dry and bright yellow in color. Have taken some of the foam I extracted and submerged it in water fr 2 days and when I took weight off it floated as well as it did initially which hopefully indicates that the closed cell structure is not compromised in the majority of this foam. I do NOT plan to cut any more areas for testing. Waterlogging was a major concern. While I was not happy with "some" water, this is not a show stopper.

Main culprit on this is transom, which I knew when I bought it. Seacast will be used to restore this. I have begun the hogging out work and more than half has been removed. The hefty glass is in good shape. The bad news is that the hard work will be getting to the rest of the wood in the lower transom. Using an electric chain saw and a variety of long drill bits. I have also gotten a couple of steel bars I have sharpened to clean it up. Wood is coming off he glass very readily in most spots. Will need to put braces on the transom to keep it flat during the pour but that is at least 2 weeks off - I need 8 gallons or 2 5 pound buckets of Seacast. They have been very helpful on the phone and this product is pricey but the support is worth it. They know this boat model and transom as well. I am figuring that the water that was soaking in this transom did not help the weight on the scales...

Planning to refill all holes with "PB", use fairing compound where needed - majority of the interior is in excellent shape with original gelcoat and very few spider web spaces - most near motor bolt hole on one side - and will prep, spray prime with Rustoleum marine primer then paint with Majic tractor paint. Then will flip it and do outside hull which has some ugly paint below waterline but no visible areas of patching or past damage. Still has original rub rails too.

So thanks to people who offered advice in past threads and I hope some of the forum issues are corrected.
 

djm3801

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djm3801

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Apr 12, 2014
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They say it takes a full day to hog out a transom. Have 4 hours invested thus far and I am about 2 - 4" from the bottom so far, trying to clean up wood from the glass skins as I go. My chain saw cannot get to last 2" in center of transom which may be just as well - I will go more slowly with a spade drill bit and my home made chisels. A couple of spots of glass inside seem to have separated from inner layer so I will likely slap some 1708 on that are for reinforcement. Got to finish getting the wood out. Seems the wood is no softer toward the bottom but just need to keep at it.
 

sphelps

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Nov 16, 2011
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Put a longer bar and chain on your chainsaw . Or maybe you could rent or borrow one ...
 

djm3801

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Apr 12, 2014
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I may just do that. I am using an electric one I got for $78 on Amazon. It is actually a decent tool. Plan to get as much as I can with this one for now. I need to cut the top left and right sides of transom - center is U shaped - and clean that up some more. I am getting quite a bit from center hole but want to do it right.
 
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djm3801

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Apr 12, 2014
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IN using Seacast I need to line some areas where foam meets the transom on inside of transom inner skin - carefully. I need to use Polyester resin for this. I assume I may also use poly with thickeners like microbubbles / Cabosil ./ chopped CSM fibers for hole filling on the deck area as effectively as Epoxy?
 
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djm3801

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Apr 12, 2014
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Thanks, WOG. Frankly all my searches have involved epoxy and West System...I did see a write-up on the Lonestar Flamingo thread that had separate instructions for Epoxy and poly using cloth. With illustrations! Very helpful. Getting down to the wire on this and hope to get transom done by end of Sept.
 

sphelps

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Nov 16, 2011
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djm , if your interested here is a video I made of my seacast pour .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPc7PQKohSc&feature=youtu.be
My transom was a curved one . That was the reason I made a plywood jig to make sure that it held the shape . Probably didn't need it but I thought it was a good idea at the time .. Sorry about the loud hammering but I could not find my rubber mallet until after i had poured ..
You will not be disappointed with the Seacast ! IMHO some really good stuff ..
 

djm3801

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Apr 12, 2014
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@sphelps - good video! Makes me glad I have a rubber mallet! The pouring jigs are going to be needed for me. I do have a flat transom but will be bracing it anyway so it STAYS flat. The outboard skin was bowed out a bit when I got started but since most of the transom innards have been removed, it has actually returned to its flat original shape. The inner skin, however, will need some shaping to get it flat - top end wants to curl in. I am going to use some plywood and bolts through the outboard motor mounts - with release material on them - and Seacast blocks inside to get it to shape. One thing I see... my 6 amp Ryobi drill will not be able to mix this stuff. I'd hate to get it half mixed and have the drill quit so will be renting a big one like you used. Will be going out today to see what I can get out of the bottom today. Thanks to you - and people like you - like @Woodonglass too - who post videos of your experience. I am making a photo journal of this which may be helpful to others.
 

Woodonglass

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Yeah, He's quite a craftsman!!! He's got a Pontoon Project that's gunna be sumthun to behold as well!!!!
 

djm3801

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Apr 12, 2014
Messages
64
I cut a couple of soda can sized holes into the center of my deck in the center trough of the McKee to see if I had any wet foam / rotted keel. One was about center of the boat and the other was about 2 feet from transom - this is actually a hole McKee used as an exit hole for the original foaming of the hull.

No water issues - the keel itself looked like new wood - very pleased. Now I need to fill these holes. I cannot see buying pourable foam as I only need a small amount and most of the time the quantities are large on this stuff. I also cannot see using spray in "great stuff" from Home Depot as I feel this is no way as robust as foam made for boats or the density of foam in the McKee as foam adds to structural support. I plan minimally to put some CSM and Poly resin in there. I can just keep filling it with CSM and poly unless there are better thoughts. Suggestions welcome.
 

Woodonglass

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You can buy 2 cubic feet of the pour in foam for $25 bucks. That's what I'd use.
 

stevecur

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Feb 22, 2012
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Glad to hear your boat is fairly dry. Rare find for these old McKees.
 

djm3801

Seaman
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Apr 12, 2014
Messages
64
Me too! I was pretty worried. Some dampness here and there but vast majority bone dry. The wood on the keel looked like new. Will feel better when I get past the Seacast Transom work. Leaving holes in deck for now as I have a muffin fan going under a clear plastic tarp to try to super dry everything before filling all deck holes in preparation for priming and painting.
 

djm3801

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Apr 12, 2014
Messages
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. .Well the work on the transom continues. Spoke to Sabina Unger from Seacast with some questions. She called me as a result of an e-mail question I sent, Her father invented the stuff. So gracious with her time on the phone. Their Tech Support has been a godsend and this I feel differentiates them from other similar products as I have stated.

I removed the side caps from the transom with jig saw and gutted most of the material there. Did a little more work gutting the bottom. Going to try a Forstner bit for the rest per Seacast folks. I got my poly resin from them and once I get it all cleaned out I need to glass over some stress points and any areas where foam is exposed to transom area, like sides of transom and areas where the well in the back meet the transom itself. Some of the old glass in there was cracked and I removed it while gutting the transom.

When I wrapped up today's transom gutting session, I tossed on a respirator and did my first sanding on hull. Not too bad.

The Seacast folks suggested I get some steel stock and sharpen one end which is working well as a sharp chisel. One thing I did was to bend the opposite end to get some leverage - I can shove the sharpened end down between the glass and the plywood and the twist the bar to pop the plywood off. Working pretty well. I have some thinner stock I have bent into a small hook to pull out large flakes of wood that the shop vac cannot get.

Decided on a name for the boat - the "Lady Jane". Since my wife - "the Admiral" as WOG calls his significant other - needs to listen to me droning on about the boat, it is only right. The original name was "She Hate Me".

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