Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Thanks Guys!! this place is great to keeping you motivated and confident that the project is on track!

I am trying really hard to get her water ready by memorial day.

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Today i got the grinder out and smoothed out the between deck and hull filler.
I used PL.. took 3 days to dry (stupid cold nights ).. thats the downside.. the upside is that it was really easy to use and it sanded out real smooth and easy...

I then swept and shop vacced the entire deck and hull area and then acitoned it. I put down a strip of resin on the ply to soak in and let that sit for about 30 minutes. While it was curing i cut the biax into 2 foot long strips 8 inches wide. I used 16 of the to tab the deck. I cut them so that the stitching ran parallel to the deck. Now the deck is completly tabbed in!

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Great progress dude!

I itch just looking at everything! Love the dust! grind, grind, grind, Love it! live it.... But don't breathe it!

The water is callin brutha!

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

OHH yea , dont this weather just STINK , its snowing out there right now !!!! we got about 4 inchs here yesterday!!! and cold , it got in the 20's last night !!!!

Any way , lol , Good work there excel !!! keep it up we will be on the water soon !!!!!!! I just got some heat going in my garage , I will be primering TODAY !!! yeee Haaaa !!! John

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Great progress dude!
I itch just looking at everything! Love the dust! grind, grind, grind, Love it! live it.... But don't breathe it!
The water is callin brutha!

the itchy wasnt too bad (knock on wood) I wore long underwear under my grinding clothes and a full tvek suit and always blew my self clean with the air compressor and i never really had that problem

Yeah i cant wait to get onto the the water.. only one more big hurtle and thats getting the engine back in.. building the seats and interior im not too worried about.

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

hey john, we got about an inch of snow here.. i cant beleive it.. i just cut my grass on sunday in a tshirt.. crazyness..

looking forward to your primer pics... good luck. im sure the prep will pay off

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Today i ground the tabbing that i did yesterday to try to feather it out a bit and try to get it more smooth. then i began cutting out the csm for the complete deck layup

the deck now has a complete layer of csm over the entire area and overlapping the the tabbing from yesterday..

Next i will lay the 8oz cloth try for a nice smooth deck..
I was thinking after the 8 oz i wanted to paint the entire deck to protect it all before i add the interior.. i hear the oil rustoleum is pretty good for boats i think TD is a big fan of it..any thoughts??

bear_69cuda, will durabak stick to it?

 

[maxum247]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Nice look'n work 92!

max

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Thanks Max, I was originally going to do the csm and the 8 0z all at one time but being sick means less energy.. so the 8 oz should go on tonight!

I also heard from the upholstery guy and the interior should be done this weekend.. talk about good timing!

Any thoughts on painting the deck with rustoleum just to seal it all up before installing the interior?

 

[maxum247]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Have you thought about mixing color in your final coat of resin? There's coloring pigments made for adding to polyester resin I beleive but I'm not sure about epoxy. you might check into it though, color it once and your done.

max

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Brutha,

Wow... That looks awesome...

I know it's gonna be covered, but the wood grain looks cool under the glass...

Durabak will stick like nails... But you do need to rough up the surface. I think they recommend 40 grit. If I did it all over, I would do the first coat textured, laid on thick, then apply one or two coats of Durabak with no texture. If I used a paper towel to clean a spilled beer or something, the texture on my deck may rip/shred the paper towel. Don't get me wrong it's great stuff... But all 3 coats on my deck is mass traction for sure... If I ever re-coat, I'll use the non-textured Durabak.

Again great work!

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Have you thought about mixing color in your final coat of resin? There's coloring pigments made for adding to polyester resin I beleive but I'm not sure about epoxy. you might check into it though, color it once and your done.

Max , thats a cool thought.. where were you earlier today.. lol..
i just finished up the last deck layup.. but thats still good info!!

thanks

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

I know it's gonna be covered, but the wood grain looks cool under the glass...

i was thinking that it would be cool to have the wood grain stay .. i agree it looks pretty cool coming through the glass..

Thanks for the durabak advice.. and you better keep the beer off those new carpets!!

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Got off work a little early today, so i hit the entire deck with the grinder to get rid of any high spots.. then vaccumed and acitoned the entire deck (AGAIN.. lol) Tonight i put down another layer of csm followed right away with the 8oz cloth for a smooth finish.

here is the cloth:

Here is a close up of the deck..

I think thats going to leave me with a nice smooth deck.. the only unsmooth areas are going to be the seams.. but we will have to deal with those another day.

another shot of the deck, looks the same as the lastnight but a little darker:

the deck now has 2 layers of 1.5 oz csm and one 8 oz cloth.. total is 11 ozs

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Looks good there Excel !!!!! keep at her !!!!! John

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Thanks John!
been sick the last couple days.. got the bug
So between that and the holiday weekend not much will be accomplished before monday..

I can see the light though, Interior and engine, then buff and wax, then fix the trailer hubs.. soon... water.. soon..

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Wow being sick really slows down progress.. i was sick all last week so i got nothing done except for sleeping most of the week away.. but i felt better friday and hit her hard this weekend..

I painted the ski locker and bilge area with Billge Kote.. that stuff is nice and thick and leaves the work looking nice and smooth..

I also built all the bow area seating and storage. This includes the supports for the consoles.. Now the window shuts and lines up again.. It didnt before since the console support was rotted out and sagging:

Now going to watch the Penguins play some hockey!!

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

Looking great dude!

You decided on coating for the deck?

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

i have narrowed it down to durbak or Interlux Interdeck.
I like the durabak for the rubber that makes it non slip.. but price tag
is a little but of a killer.. so we will see!

If anyone has thoughts on Interlux Interdeck.. please share.

 

[92excel]

Re: Wellcraft Excel 1992 18sx

So i began wrapping all the wood section in he bow area in csm and then followed by 8 oz cloth.. so they will have the same waterproofing as the deck.

took a while but i got it all taken care of.

After that i built the back to back seat boxes. You can see in the photos that i drilled out drain holes.. I got them all lined up and then marked the deck for their position. then i applied a layer of resin to them and let them soak it up.. i hit them with csm and then will tab them to the deck probably tomorrow.
No screws through the deck!