1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

micks110

Master Chief Petty Officer
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879
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Skibum,
That's what I have been seeing alot on here when researching the two. So what is the difference in applying the two. Are they both roll and tip or spray?
Mick
 

tmcalavy

Rear Admiral
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Aug 29, 2001
Messages
4,005
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Nice pix of the Starflight...a 50 hp I believe. Good, strong motors but very thirsty at WOT. Nice progress on the boat, too. Keep the pix coming.
 

archbuilder

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Sep 12, 2009
Messages
5,697
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Here is my grinder, its a Mac, made by ingersal rand. I got the backing plate from a body shop supply.

grinder.jpg
 

SKIBUM1M

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Jul 17, 2009
Messages
604
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Either gelcoat or paint can be applied by roll and tip or sprayed on. I will be spraying gelcoat on mine as spraying will deliver a smoother more consistant finish in my opinion and it is what I am used to. I will have to buy a paint gun with a 2.0 mil tip and both paint and gelcoat would have to be thinned for spraying. If you are going to spray you need a good size compressor (I have a 60 gal), a paint resperator (about $25), a paint suit or long sleeve and pants which you dont mind destroying. and a gun ($50 to $200 depending on how much you plan to use it in the future). Of all this the resperator is most important, make sure it has good charcoal filters.
 

micks110

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Messages
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Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Thanks for the update. Yeh I have a 60 gallon compressor. Those would work for that gun?
Mick
 

micks110

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Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

OK- I got the stringers out tonight! I ended up scrapping the 50 tooth blade and going with my diamond blade for cutting tile. It cut like butter through the glass and it was alot quieter too so I was able to keep working.
I started by cutting the top of the stringers fiberglass, peeled it back, and pulled out the stringers. Then I went back and cut out all the glass and cleaned up. I'm gonna take the shop vac out tomorrow and clean it all up before I start grinding away!

Pics
One out! all in one piece so I can use it as a template
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Two out! this one was all messed up- rotten and very fragile
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A look at the diamond blade. You guys probably think I'm crazy not using a guard. Maybe I am a little but I didn't have either blades kick back on me once and you can get alot closer without the guard on there. I just kept a firm grip and made sure I was always aware that I didn't have a guard on it.
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A finished look after I swept everything up. Oh yeh, I cut out the bottom of the knee wall to so I can slide the deck under there. My seem for the deck will be right before the knee wall so I figured it would be best just to leave them and cut out a portion on the bottom and re-glass when the deck is in.
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Well I guess I'm ready for the infamous grinding now and prep work for the new stringers, transom, and glass!

I was at the boat place today asking alot of questions and getting prices. We were talking about the transom and the guy told me just to use exterior wood glue to join the two pieces of 3/4" together. He also told me not to worry about glassing the transom once I have the two pieces together just to poly them and glass around the edges.

He also told me just to poly the top and sides of the stringers and not the bottom so the glue adheres better. True or False?

1. What should I use to adhere the two pieces of the transom?
2. What should I use to adhere the transom to the exterior skin?
3. What should I use to adhere the stringers to the floor?
4. What kind of ply should I use for the deck?
5. Is it ok to not run my stringers under the transom like they were done before and just glass them to the inside of the transom? This way I can start work on the transom while the stringers dry out.

I was going to use pressure treated for the stringers cause that's what I had but he said I should use spruce from a lumber yard. So I guess I gotta run there pick up two 10 footers and let them sit for a while before I get to that.
Sorry for all the questions. I know I should just look them up but I just want to make sure since you guys have been following along since the beginning of my project.
Thanks,
Mick
 

BobsGlasstream

Commander
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Sep 11, 2009
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2,128
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Hey micks110,
I left you an answer on my thread to your question, but I'll give you a shorter version here.
Almost everyone here is just using exterior grade plywood for the stringer and some are using pressure treated. No Problem. The transom, laminate the ply using PL premium for Lowe's or HD, It works great and is very strong. Seal the stringers and transom on every side. Top, bottom, ends, and sides. any place that isn't sealed can start rotting if it gets wet.
That's my short version and my opinion. :p
good luck
Bob
 

micks110

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Messages
879
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Bob, Thanks for the info. I want to poly the two transom pieces as well before I glue them together right?

I just ordered my wood from the lumber yard today. I will be picking up 2- spruce 2"X4"X10''s for my stringers, 1- spruce 2"X8"X10" for the cross braces, and 2- 4'X8' sheets of pressure treated ply for the deck and transom. I asked about drying time for the spruce and he told me they are kiln dried from the factory and they are stored in the facility to prevent them from any other moisture.

I will be picking them up prob. on Friday.

So tonight I am going to start grinding!
Mick
 

BobsGlasstream

Commander
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Sep 11, 2009
Messages
2,128
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

micks110,
I did not resin my ply for the transom before I laminated them together with the PL. I will before laminate it in the boat.
Bob
 

micks110

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Sep 14, 2009
Messages
879
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

BAD NEWS???

I got the high spots that were left over from yesterday cut down closer to the floor- ready to be sanded now.

Then I saw a part of the wood from the keel where the fiberglass was shot while I was sweeping up. I put a screwdriver to it and it was soft about an 1/8" down. If you remember back to a posting a while ago I questioned why the fiberglass was pulled up down the center- well now I know why- cause water was in there.

I got a bunch of pics and two videos(one is posted here- the other is on my photobucket) http://s816.photobucket.com/albums/zz86/micks110/ on the the keel issue- I need your help with what to do next with this. There is no way I am going to replace the keel- simple as that. I figure I have a couple options:
1. remove the fiberglass over it and replace with new fiberglass (simplest option)
2. option 1, plus add a new stringer over the keel the same length as the other stringers for extra support
3. remove the fiberglass and scrape out the rot and fill with poly or some other kind of filler and then re-glass.

Please check out the pics and vids and let me know what you think. If I have to put a bandade on the keel then so be it. I inspected the keel from underneath the boat and it is solid from front to back.

All cut down and prepped for sanding
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Spot where the fiberglass was missing and was soft 1/8" deep
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You can see where the cracked fiberglass is- the keel is soft all along that line
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Here is the video. If the link doesn't work you can type in "soft boat keel" on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZX3G0gulEE
Let me know your thoughts on how you think I should approach this.
Thanks guys,
Mick
 

archbuilder

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Sep 12, 2009
Messages
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Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Micks, what does the bottom side of it look like? Do you have a pic of that? Is there wood under the glass skin or just a void in the fiberglass?
 

micks110

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Messages
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Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

archbuilder,
I'm not sure I understand what you are asking? Are you referring to were I had the scraper pushed under in the video? If that is what you are referring to then yes there is wood under where the fiberglass is pushed up.
Mick
 

BobsGlasstream

Commander
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Sep 11, 2009
Messages
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Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

micks110,
Hey no time to panic.
I think arch is asking if the outside of the boat looks OK along the keel.
First things first. Remove the bad glass an look at what you have under it.
I'll bet that it is either just like a stringer or a piece of wood covered in glass bridging the keel.
Mine had the wood /glass bridging the keel, just bigger then yours.
I don't think it is going to be anything you can't handle. :D
Bob
 

archbuilder

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Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

What Bob said! Peel some back and get us some shots of the patient! Its always fixable!
 

micks110

Master Chief Petty Officer
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Messages
879
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Thanks guys for the posts. The outside of the boat keel looks good and is solid everywhere. There are obviously some nicks and scratches but even those there is no soft spot on the exterior.

I pulled a piece back tonight towards the middle of the boat and took some pics. It was soft there as well. I pushed the screwdriver with force about a quarter of an inch deep.

This is after I vacuumed the inside of the boat. You can see the small piece of fiberglass that I pulled off in the middle of the boat where it is soft
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A closer look
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Closest look. You can see it is soft. I'm assuming it is like this from this point all the way to the back of the boat to the point I talked about yesterday. In this spot I can push a screw driver about 1/4" deep with force then it is solid
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I'm assuming you guys are going to say cut out all the bad fiberglass, scrape off the soft wood, load up with poly, and then re-glass?

Sound like a plan??????

It was after 9p.m. when I went out today so I didn't want to be too loud. But I put on the flap disk and ground a small section just to make sure I'm doing it correctly.
Is this enough grinding down to fresh stuff where I can now apply new poly and glass?????? I know I still have to grind the rest of the floor but I was just doing a snap shot tonight to see if I was going deep enough.
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Wow, the grinding kicks up some serious white dust. Definitely need the respirator, goggles, and suit for sanding. The flap disk works awesome. That section only took me about 30 seconds to do but kicked up about 2 lbs. of dust! I used a 4.5"X7/8" metal flap disk, type 29 ZA120. I'll take a pic tomorrow.

When I was done with that I scraped off all the silicone that was under the rub rail.
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So my 2 questions for tonight are:
1. Is my plan above for the keel area a good one?
and
2. Is the section where I sanded considered deep enough for appling new glass and poly?

Tomorrow I will try to get out there earlier and cut out the bad glass section of the keel area. Then hopefully do alot more sanding/grinding and prep work.

Thanks Again,
Mick
 

BobsGlasstream

Commander
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Messages
2,128
Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

micks110,
It's hard for me to tell from the pic's but as long as you get down to fresh glass you should get a good bond. Just get all the rotted material out, get it clean and rough the glass you should be fine.
See, that wasn't so bad. :D
It's hard to tell what they used to bridge across that small area. If you go to the pics in my thread and look at the center section the ares is about 10" across.
Keep rolling, you will be fine. :cool:
Bob
 

archbuilder

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Messages
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Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

That is a little different design than mine, so I don't have a good reference point. I think Bob is right, just some glass to stiffen it up. One other thought, if you are concerned about it, you could remove the wood and fill it with seacast, then glass it.

As for the glass prep, the surface just needs to be clean an have a tooth (roughed up). I usually wipe all the gunk off with some acetone, then rough it up with my air grinder and a 36 grit grinding disk. Keep the pics coming....after the grinding it will be down hill!
 

archbuilder

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Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Mick a couple thoughts on painting. I'm speaking from experience of working with automotive paints, which are a little different than what you are going to use?.so these are ?general comments?.

First, as Skibum said, make sure you hold the gun 90 degrees to the surface. (both horizontal and vertical) This takes some practice, you have a natural tendency to move it in an arc from left to right.

Automotive paint reducers (thinners) come in "temperatures". The correct thinner allows the paint to flow out (smooth out). If the thinner is to "hot" or "cold" you have a tendency to get orange peel or runs. Since what you are using is brushable, I suspect your problem will be with runs. You might ask if the thinners come in temperatures. By the way, runs can be wet sanded out and buffed a lot of times. Getting right amount of paint on takes practice....like ski bum said.

The automotive paints will "tack" in about 20 minutes. They can be recoated once they tack....which eliminates sanding between coats. "tacking" is when you can put your finger in the paint (on a taped off area, not what you are painting!) and pull it away without it sticking to your finger and coming off. It is still a little tacky, but it sticks to the surface not you. Again, since it is brush able, I suspect it will take forever to tack. In that case sanding the next day is probably the way to go. I would suggest wet sanding, it won't load up the paper like dry sanding it. Just make sure you wipe the "sludge" off and have a dry, clean surface before recoating. By the way, it can be cold on the fingers if it?s cold in your shop!

One last note, if the paint is two part, MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN OUT THE GUN. It will get hard and ruin your gun if you don't clean it out after painting.
 
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