Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

[86RajunCajun]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Long ago i began this boat remodel and since i started a lot has happened that kept me from making progress on it! I moved and started a new company and since then i have devoted all my energy to making my company prosper!

Well at long last i have done it and can now take some time to begin work on this boat again.

Sorry for the delay to those following the thread. The work will contenue very soon!


To start i have a question. Many of the strakes on the bottom of my boat were damaged with rock chips and cracks etc. I have sanded them down to remove the damaged areas. This of course has turned the sharp point of the strakes to a round depression. Whats the best way to re shape them to the correct form a strake should have? Can they simple be built back up with a compound like marine tex? Will the marine tex bond to the old faring compound they used and the old fiberglass under it? Any tricks to make the building compound stick better when re forming the strakes?

Thanks all!
RC

 

[86RajunCajun]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Did you use PL to attach the new transom to the skin of the hull??

Yessir i used PL spread with a trowel to evenly put a complete coat of PL on the boat skin between the transom and the hull skin, then i clamped it all together using the bolt through and clap method in the pics. The PL squished out from all around the transom wood and mated perfectly to the hull skin. It has been awhile since i did that but the transom is absolutely solidly mated to the hull skin and is remarkably strong! The bonding method really worked great. After i bonded the wood to the hull skin i filleted the transom with thickened poly resil and chopped fiber to smooth out the edges and then glassed over the transom with CSM and 1708. Very solidly built and i expect it to last many years longer than factory!

More to come, and thanks for the renewed interest in my project!

RC

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Yessir i used PL spread with a trowel to evenly put a complete coat of PL on the boat skin between the transom and the hull skin, then i clamped it all together using the bolt through and clap method in the pics. The PL squished out from all around the transom wood and mated perfectly to the hull skin. It has been awhile since i did that but the transom is absolutely solidly mated to the hull skin and is remarkably strong! The bonding method really worked great. After i bonded the wood to the hull skin i filleted the transom with thickened poly resil and chopped fiber to smooth out the edges and then glassed over the transom with CSM and 1708. Very solidly built and i expect it to last many years longer than factory!


More to come, and thanks for the renewed interest in my project!

RC

Wow very intresting....I've never used anything but resin and CSM to bond them together. Now as for the rest that's exactly how I've always done it too.

 

[86RajunCajun]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Yep im sure that resin and csm bonding would do a fine job as well. I was tryin to save the resin i had as much as possible for glassing and filling so i used the Pl i had on hand where i could. Im sure both methods would do a great job in bedding the transom. Pretty much a matter of what you have on hand and what kind of budget your working with. I was running low on resin and still had a lot of glassing to do so i used the PL to bed the transom and stringers down on this build. Seems to have worked really well and all the wood i put in the boat is glued down for good.

thanks for the comments!

RC

 

[AfterTithes]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

RC,

I have a few questions. How difficult was/is it to split the cap from the hull? What does PL and CSM stand for? I am in Co. for a class at the moment, I will post pics opf my project when I return.

Thanks in advance,

A.T.

 

[86RajunCajun]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

RC,

I have a few questions. How difficult was/is it to split the cap from the hull? What does PL and CSM stand for? I am in Co. for a class at the moment, I will post pics opf my project when I return.

Thanks in advance,

A.T.

The hull splitting process was pretty strait forward. I had to remove the side rub rail and drill out all the rivets holding the 2 pieces together, then i gutted the boat of all steering and electonics and wiring...then i just used wratches straps attached to my garage rafters to slowly and evenly pull the cap up and off the hull. As i pulled the cap upward, all the hoses for the livewells and all that were exposed and i disconnected them all and then just kept up the wratcheting till the cap came clear of the hull. It was a fairly easy and strait forward process and only took about an hour to get the cap completely removed from the hull.


PL stands for PL Premium construction adhesive, which can b e purchased from lowes or home depot etc. Its a heavy duty industrial glue.

CSM stands for Chopped Strand Matt, a form of fiberglass material commonly used in boat restoration.

If you do some searching and reading the stickie posts on this forum, there is plenty of detailed information about materials and even a guide to all the abbreviations used in describing the materials and processes used to restore fiberglass boats right here on the forum.

Good luck with your project!

RC

 

[86RajunCajun]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Ok, so i havnt worked much on this project in a couple years. Still super busy with business deadings and life in general. I feel it pulling me closer tho with this summer being as hot as it has been. I feel the need to be floating 20 feet off the shady side if a well stocked river casting top water baits and rubber crawlers!!

I will get back at this boat soon! I still have her and shes in half done condition but shes safe, dry and well stored.

RC

 

[86RajunCajun]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Work starting very soon on this project! Finally got a space situated fro it and a few buddies to help with moving it and flipping it etc. Going to start sanding and repairing the hull/chines very soon, then paint and prep for the top cap to go back on. Finally able to devote some time to this old boat again. Feels good.

 

[FloatingPhil]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Looking forward to see how your boat turns out, RC. I'm really interested in how you repair the side that goes in the water. I think my boat has been abused by its former owner and will get some attention this winter so give me pointers.

Keep at it. It's looking good. The Floater

 

[86RajunCajun]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Looking forward to see how your boat turns out, RC. I'm really interested in how you repair the side that goes in the water. I think my boat has been abused by its former owner and will get some attention this winter so give me pointers.

Keep at it. It's looking good. The Floater

I am actually finishing up my research and refreshing my mind on how to repair and re fair the chines. So far i am on the sanding phase still. I am having to sand and grind every spot that the outer shell of the hull was cracked by impact causing the glass under it to go bad from water intrusion. So far none of them are bad enough to require patching from the inside because i already thickly enforced the hull from the inside with multiple layups of 1708 biax and CSM. Plenty thick, so its just a matter of grinding out the bad stuff on the outside, then re filling with the good stuff. I believe the best approach to rebuilding the chines where they are really badly damaged is with CSM. Layer it up to form the chine and then sand it smooth and contour it for fairing. Unless i find a better way, or hear some better ideas on how to rebuild the chines, i will let you guys know how it turns out. I will probably be starting on the the glassing portion of the repairs in a couple weeks. While it is great to be working on the boat again, I still only get a few hours a week for sanding :grumpy: so progress will be a little slow. I will have new pics also soon from our up coming boat night. Thius past boat night we accomplished rolling the hull back over onto a stand with wheels so we can move it around the shop easily. Then we went to sanding and got a good bit roughed up id say about 80% of the bottom is sanded to 100 grit. Next week we are going to get it sanded down to 220 and hopefully prep all the damaged areas for glassing. We will see how it goes with the cold coming tho, gonna need some heat in the shop for glassing. More to follow soon, and thanks for the interest. Its been a long road comin!

RC

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Nah, you didn't do Nuttin. I can't see a thing. I don't think you even have a boat. Do any of you other guys see anything. Maybe i's just by OLD Tired Eyes going bad on me but I swear I don't see nuttin.

Just yankin yer chain, but It's kinda an unwritten rule, if you don't post pics of your work, It never happened.!!!!:faint2:

 

[86RajunCajun]

Re: Diving in...Bass boat remodel!

Nah, you didn't do Nuttin. I can't see a thing. I don't think you even have a boat. Do any of you other guys see anything. Maybe i's just by OLD Tired Eyes going bad on me but I swear I don't see nuttin.

Just yankin yer chain, but It's kinda an unwritten rule, if you don't post pics of your work, It never happened.!!!!:faint2:

Very true! Not much work done yet, other than sanding. Were going to really get into it this coming week tho and i will get you guys some new pics of how the boat is now. It really hasnt changed much since i had to stop workin on it almost 4 years ago, but soon it will be changing rather dramatically.

 

[86RajunCajun]

No Title

After all these years I stil have this boat and it is still a work in progress. Life has a way of setting priorities, and unfortunately the boat resto got put aside for a while. I have been workin on it some lately. So right now I am sanding the hull and preparing to fix chine damage and all the little cracks and dings in the hull.

What would be the best way to repair this kind of damage to the chines and reshape them to their original shape. I was reading some and im thinking marine tex, or make some fairing compound with resin and filler? Thanks in advance.

 

[86RajunCajun]

The damaged chines are like this.

 

[Woodonglass]

Depends...If you're plannin on Paintin' then marine tex will work if Gelcoat is your choice then you'll need to use the polyresin filler cuz Gelcoat don't like Epoxy and Marine Tex is Epoxy based. Glad to see you're back at it.

 

[86RajunCajun]

Depends...If you're plannin on Paintin' then marine tex will work if Gelcoat is your choice then you'll need to use the polyresin filler cuz Gelcoat don't like Epoxy and Marine Tex is Epoxy based. Glad to see you're back at it.

I plan to paint the hull jet gloss black. I have Petit easypoxy paint and rapid build primer. So marine tex sounds like the direction ill be going. Sp its just a matter of mixing the marine tex and then troweling and shaping the chine correct? Then after it is cured sand to desired finish and paint? Sounds strait forward as i suspected it would be. Thanks for your reply, and I am glad to be back at it as well. I need my boat floating on a lake or river somewhere before this season is over. I havnt had the luxury of fishing on my own boat for almost 5 years due to the rigors of building a family life etc. All work and no play for the last 4 years strait!! Im ready to be fishin! Heres a few more pics of how it sits now.....sanding sanding sanding...more to come!

 

[Woodonglass]

Your pics are not posting. Best way now with the new Forum is to use Photobucket and copy and paste the IMG Code directly into your iBoats post

 

[86RajunCajun]

Pics should be posted now...forgot about my photobucket account lol....still has all my pics from the project. Good call Woodonglass! Thanks.

 

[86RajunCajun]

Need a little advice....im going to order some supplies, but i have never worked with fairing compounds before. Not sure how much i need and i hate to waste. How much Marine Tex do you guys think ill need to repair the hull based on the pictures above? Thanks in advance.