1995 Larson 174 SEI Complete Rebuild

Mechanicalmike08

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
308
Got the first layer on the deck. What a pain, almost rolled an ankle. Not a whole lot of extra room when doing the entire deck. Ill be better prepped for the second layer now. Have a few spots ill need to touch before the second layer can go down.

 

dezmond

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 21, 2010
Messages
760
Looking good :) glad you didn’t bust something. You going with carpet or gel? Or?????
 

Mechanicalmike08

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
308
Looking good :) glad you didn’t bust something. You going with carpet or gel? Or?????

I will be gel coating the entire surface, but plan on making a snap in carpet or just a lay down carpet. I don't really wanna drill snaps into the new floor
 

dezmond

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 21, 2010
Messages
760
Cool.. I've been thinking carpet myself since using eeeeeepoxy.. If I seal everything up right, carpet should do just fine glued down.. And it's comfy on the feet too ;)
 

Mechanicalmike08

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
308
Did a little touch up this morning and then laid the second layer down. Very happy with how it came out. Shouldn't have to much to smooth out afterwards. I had to make love to the gas tank edges for probably 35 minutes after glassing them to get the mat to stay down and smooth. I should have enough resin left to finish all the sacrificial parts as well as glass the side walls of the hull.

 

chevymaher

Commander
Joined
Mar 29, 2017
Messages
2,914
Cool.. I've been thinking carpet myself since using eeeeeepoxy.. If I seal everything up right, carpet should do just fine glued down.. And it's comfy on the feet too ;)

My original floor lasted 30 years and was solid. What killed under the deck was poor sealing/open wood and squirrels. They blocked the drain holes. Water ran in between the cockpit and bow covers. Filled the skii locker. It has water standing in all compartments when I got it. Ice actually.

So far it hasn't had wet feet in it after the rebuild. I did spill a glass of water in there.
 

Chris51280

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 24, 2018
Messages
897
Looking good. Want to see how the gelcoat will look like and your bench build. how will you finish the deck? you have 2 layers of csm down now! Will you make the tank hatch removable?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around a latch system for the sun pad. Don't want to go down the highway and the deck lifting off.
 

Mechanicalmike08

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
308
Looking good. Want to see how the gelcoat will look like and your bench build. how will you finish the deck? you have 2 layers of csm down now! Will you make the tank hatch removable?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around a latch system for the sun pad. Don't want to go down the highway and the deck lifting off.

The 2 layers of csm is all I'm doing. It will get 3 layers of gel coat. Fuel hatch is staying removable because I will be doing a snap in carpet to hide it so might as well keep the accessibility. Most of the factory sun decks have a small strap with a snap to hold it down. The weight should be plenty the strap is just a precaution
 

Broaters

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 31, 2017
Messages
139
Hey Mike very good progress there ! keep it going.

about the gelcoat we discussed, i ended up buying soem unwaxed to use it a a first coat. how many did you used in the end 2 or 3?
also doing some research I read that most comon mistake is to apply it like a paint rather than thick layers. may try that last time. My supplier tells me to aim for a 600-800 microns coat but with a paint roller I barely reach 100 microns.

How do you guys apply gelcoat ?
 

Broaters

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 31, 2017
Messages
139
also about the tank compartment do you plan on leaving it with a removable cover?
We are windering the same on our project howeve we lean towards sealing it under the deck following the different advice we got.
 

Mechanicalmike08

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
308
also about the tank compartment do you plan on leaving it with a removable cover?
We are windering the same on our project howeve we lean towards sealing it under the deck following the different advice we got.

For the gel coat the thing I read and did was to to apply it but do not roll it as much as you would like painting. Slap it on so its flat and walk away from that area. The more you work it the thinner it will be. I have not measured mine but with the 3 layers I did I'm well over 600 micron.

as for the gas tank, I planned the whole time to leave it accessible so my construction was such to make it water proof enough that the water will run down under the tank and out the bilge. Obviously no water would be best but there's no way water can get under my stringer now. Especially after the gel coat is done because it will be continuous layers up and into the gas tank area.
 

Mechanicalmike08

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
308
Big day today, I was on company shut down but the wife had to work so I had plenty of time out in the garage. Started working on the bench conversion.

First I cut my new sheet of plywood to make the fuel tank cap. The left over would be the sun deck.

Then I deconstructed the old tiny sun deck to get the pattern for the back end, then traced that onto the leftover 3/4 ACX. Measured the width at the front of the piece and cut it out. Next I got some cardboard and traced the hull shape and transferred it to a sheet of 1/2 ACX for the back of the seat. This took a bit of time, little cut here little cut there. Probably would have been easier but I also cut it on a 5° angle so your not sitting so up right. Put a stripe of 1x2 on both top and bottom for support. Then cut the seat boxes out of the left over 1/2". the fronts are square but the back is angled to match.


Then I had to get my side panels and cut them down to match. Came out very nice.



The seat box construction is such that the top 1x2 pieces is glued and screwed to the seat back, so that they can always be put back in the same place. I made them so the seat boxes can come off to make it easier to remove/ assemble. Not sure if the seat back will be able to be removed with the side panels in and the motor. It will be close.



Lastly shaped the top hang over lip to the side panels. I wanted the gas tank to be accessible without removing the entire seat and also wanted somewhere for a cooler and other stuff to be stuffed which makes the middle blank under seat nice. The two other storage compartments ended up nice size as well. So the middle seat will be permanent and outside two removable.



I am very happy with the result. Probably going to have to remake the middle seat as it was a little small. Next is mounting points and then a little of finish like relief for water to run.
 

Mad Props

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 8, 2016
Messages
1,766
Looks good! I like the black spot for the cooler.. I considered that on mine but was afraid to not put it back the way it was but now that I think of it, the are models of my boat that didnt have the wood running the full span.

Oh well... more beer for you :laugh:
 

Chris51280

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 24, 2018
Messages
897
How are the side panels mounted? Mine were screwed on with a cap over it which I don't like. Planning on doing the beau clips from sailrite that are blind and you can pull it off without tools
 
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