Barracuda Restoration

[fuzzeywiggler]

Well its been a few years since any major work and now it's boat repair season and it looks like a long one.

I've been going at it for the past month and I think it's time to re-start this thread.

My choice of interlux marine paint really dissapointed me. I kept it in the water for a couple weeks over the last few years and got a lot of real bad blisters.

I started by flipping the boat on the trailer

Lots of blisters

I stripped all the paint and primer lots of hand work here.

 

[Woodonglass]

Welcome Back!!! Soooo, what paint are you gunna try this time???

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

I found the original stamp on the hull faded into the gelcoat I don't know how I missed it the first but I did!

It's a NOVA CRAFT made right here in Ontario

sorry it's upside down

I decided to add a setback plate to the transom
It is about a two inch set back with a little steeper rake angle and a flat mounting surface for the motor
I started by laminating 3/8" plywood with csm adding strip of woven to the top to make the angle

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Thank you, i going back to factory and plan on gelling it that should solve all paint game. I had the transom done with awl grip and it bubbled in a few places too.
Next up was prep the transom for glassing

lay out and prepare



1.5 quarts of pb we're used to fill the curve between transom and plate

Everything went well during the dry run.


Should be no problem with all the extra weight in resin eh?

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

I kept having the plate fall drop and slip once I had everything wet out and slicked up. I squeegeed the filler off fixed up the glass and slammed a lag into the top I managed to get the bottom tabbed in and fillets on the side before it all kicked off.




Trimmed up with a razor blade ground and ready to carry

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Next up glassin time five layers of glass were used alternating csm and woven. I'm using unwaxed resin at this point to save a bit of grinding. Because of all the tabbing the Centre was all low so I mixed up a batch of filler and slicked it wet on wet.





Pics got a little out of order there second one is underneath I used a 2x4 to hold up the glass

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Next up was sand fill repeat, some of the edges got quite thick with filler so I decided to glass over all of it.



Getting closer all the time.
next I layed out the motor mounts and drilled in some 1 3/8" holes

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Packed in those holes with a mix of chopped strands milled fibers and colodial silica. Drilled out my clearance size capped them with glass. flattened out the transom again and layer three fulllayers of glass on the transom plate to sand flat and give a really hard mounting surface. I should be close to 1/2" of glass on the outside of the transom.

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Because I'm using unwaxed I have to seal with poly fair. 1 quick coat then time to sand.




This bring you up to date on transom progress. I got kicked outside (-15....) during the transom sanding. i couldent see my camera because of the reflection off the snow but you can still see how nice and flat it is against the ruler.

While I was doing the transom I worked the hull during drying times lots of little repairs had to be done

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Lots o body work but I figure I am 50% closer to gel than I was last year

 

[Woodonglass]

If you're planning on Gelcoating the entire hull, then you'll need to sand off ALL the paint and get the entire hull back down the bare fiberglass. Gelcoat will NOT adhere to the Interlux paint.

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Yup I agree


It's prudent to remove all gel before gel coating but condition dependant final thickness is the key

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Headed up to the barn this afternoon to pull the boat inside brush off the snow and get the hull up to temp. I was hoping to hammer out the final body work this weekend.


But no hydro... which means no heat, no lights and most importantly no compressor... bumber

I got a generator jury rigged in to run some lights and get some heat pumping overnight, but its a little low on wattage to run the compressor. Most likely won't get hydro back until Monday. I have some other projects I was saving until after the hull was shiny again but now I'm jumping the gun and going for it.hand sanding is far to tedious once you get spoiled with air boards.

It's time for a livewell (pretty popular subject on here these days) I should be able to plumb it up no problem. Any recommendations on pumps? The cartridge style seem slick (the big plants around here do that with the monster pumps they run)

It is going to be tied into the cooler in the stern and fit into the space underneath. I was hoping to make a mold out of foam but have got real bulky in the past doing this. Any ideas?

 

[Woodonglass]

Yup I agree


It's prudent to remove all gel before gel coating but condition dependant final thickness is the key

Uhmm, Hopefully you understand the difference between Paint and Gelcoat. I didn't say you had to remove all the GELCOAT, You said you PAINTED the boat previously with INTERLUX paint. That is NOT Gelcoat. Gelcoat is basically Polyester Resin with Color Tint and other additives. That's what was originally put in the mold and then fiberglass when it was made at the factory. If you plan on Gelcoating the hull and NOT PAINTING it this time then you will have to remove the INTERLUX paint and get back down to the Gelcoat and or Fresh Factory Polyester Resin/Glass surface in order for the NEW Gelcoat to adhere properly Any remaining PAINT will cause the Gelcoat to fail to adhere to the hull.

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Yup no problems recognizing gel or paint. The very first thing I did was sand off the intercrap. Original gel is white.

Any mold making ideas?

This pic should clear things up a bit☺

 

[Woodonglass]

You don't need a mold to reapply gelcoat. You'll spray it on and then do a LOT of sanding.

 

[Willyclay]

One of my favorite threads of all time! Glad to see you back Fuzzy, but not happy that you are having to perform a "REDO". Sorry that tashasdaddy is not still with us but I know he is watching. Good luck!

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

One of my favorite threads of all time! Glad to see you back Fuzzy, but not happy that you are having to perform a "REDO". Sorry that tashasdaddy is not still with us but I know he is watching. Good luck!

Thanks Willy, i am sure Bob Is watching out for all of us.

You don't need a mold to reapply gelcoat. You'll spray it on and then do a LOT of sanding.

Mold was for a live well not the hull, i went with a foam mold wrapped in duct tape. It will be hidden so I am satisfied with the finish. What have you used for thinning gel before?


Red Green should be proud of this mold

 

[Woodonglass]

Ahh Sorry, Old Dumb Okie and slow to follow sometimes!!!:facepalm: The limited experience I've had with Moulds/molds or however you spell it I used Cardboard and Packing tape and modeling clay to make some motorcyle Saddle bags. They turned out "So-So" !!! To thin gelcoat, use styrene. It is possible to use acetone to thin gelcoat, but there is a chance the gelcoat will be rubbery or soft. Styrene, on the other hand will promote cross-linking of the resin and catalyst. Do not add more than 10% styrene or acetone. Using acetone can cause problems in the cure. A lot of people use "Patch Booster" to thin gelcoat. Patch Booster is made by several mfgs and is a basically low viscosity poly resin with additional additives to enhance the curing process. You don't want to add more than 15%- 20% if you use it.

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

I did one layer of glass first just incase the heat melted the foam and collapsed the mold.

I did two more full wraps and doubled up the corners and edges. To add strength to the sides without adding much weight I laminated thin wood strips from edge to edge.


I finished the outside with gel, once it is fully glassed in I'll gel the inside