85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

By the way, I've been over your tri hull restoration too. Lots of good ideas to go by. I really like the LED lighting!

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

Given a hectic Easter schedule, I've not had much time to work on the boat. But I got in there today and did a fair bit of cutting and grinding on the stringers. I got the bulk of the stringers from the console back to the stern. I got the hull stiffener cut out from the hull. That turns out to have been about four square feet of 1/2" plywood glassed down to the hull (with no drainage).

Here's my plan. I'm going to replace this wood and glass it down as it was before. But, in order that there is some drainage, I thought of ripping a short length of pvc in half and placing it open face down to the hull, laying the wood around it, and glassing the whole thing down. I'll let the pvc run just shy of the bilge so water has way to get out so I don't get myself back into this mess again. I'm on sort of a mission to keep water on the outside of the boat. I'm getting closer to that goal.

I have to ask this though. I've priced marine grade wood and exterior treated ply. My finances dictate I don't use marine grade. No worries. But I have to ask... Does anyone know of any sort of suitable composite equivalent to using plywood?? It seems to me if I put something in there that doesn't rot in the first place I'd likely be better off. I ran into an employee at Home Depot the other day who decked his boat with composite deck material. Does anyone have any opinions on this?? I can say with some confidence I don't want to have to do this again...

 

[rickryder]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

IMO composite deck material will be too heavy.... Go to the local lumber yard and ask if they have underlayment plywood. No voids between the plys and exterior grade glue. A coat of resin then a layer of 1.5oz csm will seal it up.

You have to understand that a properly sealed piece of ply will last many years if it's not left sitting in water..... Our boats get in this condition from neglect and I know that after a full blown restoration you will be keeping her covered and dry

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

http://www.coosacomposites.com/ Check this out for your deck....now it's expensive, but lighter than plywood and the rot situation isn't there, plus there is no need to cover the back side with CSM before you install it. Really it's only big drawback is PRICE. I'll let you decide, just thought I'd give you the option since you asked.

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

Ok. After a year and a half of working two jobs, I?ve stepped down from one and will hopefully have more time to work on this. I can?t say I regret not having it ready right now since the heat index has been 110+ all week!

I have a design question. Have a look at these pics from Triton and Tracker. Note the folding jump seats in the rear deck. This is how I want to design my casting deck. It is the best way I can see to keep such a small boat versatile.

Here?s the problem. Every time I look up a jump seat, I get results for pontoon furniture. I?ve not been able to find these sorts of seats prefabricated anywhere.

Does anyone know where I can find them? Does anyone know what the technical term is I need to search to look for them? I suppose I can fabricate some on my own, but I?m hoping to find them prebuilt. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

They don't exist. Best you could do is buy a folding seat, and turn it into something like that. I wanted to do the same thing but went with regular jump seats instead of fabricating.

Here's mine:

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

It seems like a pretty cool idea. I'm a little disappointed that they are not readily available. But that's ok. I'm up for the challenge. I'm willing to bet I can build something.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

I'd start with a cheapie folding seat (like the wal-mart ones) since they'd be thinner, and mount them on a hinged platform of some kind and I'm sure you could fabricate something similar to the new boat setups. I'll be interested to see that you come up with.

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

I'll keep you posted. I'm interested to see what I come up with too!

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

Alright, here's where I am...

Ezmobee, I have a plan. I actually have four of the original seats from the boat. Being 26 years old, they have seen their better days. The upholstery is falling apart and the foam is old. That said, the hinges are ok. So, I'll pull the thick seats off of those and use the hinges to build out some better and thinner seats. Those should work for the jump seats. At least it sounds ok in my head. We'll see how it works out...

Apart from that, the project on the whole is moving along. Today I managed to strip out almost all of the remaining wet and rotted wood. I tore out and roughly ground the last of the glass that needed to go. I only have one piece of wood left to remove from the bow. That will be a good job for tomorrow, hopefully.

I made a fun discovery a few minutes ago. Though I have no idea how in the world I got it, it turns out I own a 6 inch pneumatic sander!! Who knew?? I never bought one and have never borrowed one. I don't know where it came from, but I aint complaining!! That means tomorrow I will begin sanding down and smoothing out the last of the rough edges to get her ready for the first layer of glass.

I had one mishap while chipping up a stubborn piece of resin. The result was a 1 inch chisel going in the right side of the hull and coming out the wrong side. DOH! No biggie. I don't figure that's a big deal considering the few hundred other projects I have going on in there. That said, I think I will follow the sanding with some filiting of the weak inside edges. I'll patch the outside when I get there.

It's a slow project but it's coming along. I'm making efforts to keep working on it and to keep updating this thread in the process. More pics coming soon...

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

I got my first shipment in from US Composites the other day. The first step in my rebuilding plan once I've done some sanding and filliting is to put down an initial layer of glass to essentially waterproof the hull and reinforce it a bit now that so much has been ground and sanded.

I decided on 3/4 OZ CSM. I figure this way I won't add too much weight but I will add a reasonable amount of resin for water proofing. It comes in 38 inch widths and the boat has about a 54 inch beam. With a little overlap in the middle to eliminate a seam, I should be able to cover the bottom of the hull and tab it up the sides a few inches. I decided to use polyester resin as strength is not the main focus. I will likely go ahead and replace the hull stiffener at this point too and glass it down under this first layer.

The plan after that is to place the new stringers and bulkheads and glass over them. I will order 1708 BIAX and vinyl ester resin for that. My understanding is vinyl ester resin out performs polyester in most all respects and is cheaper, easier to work with, and is similar in strength to epoxy. That gives me new stringers set with some strength in both resin and glass.

The deck will obviously follow, but my head hurts too bad to think that far ahead right now? 

Does this plan make sense to all of you? Will it be a problem to put down a layer of CSM and then bed the new stringers on top of that? Should I install the stringers first and then start laying the glass for waterproofing?

Your thoughts and expertise are always welcome!

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

Today's update...

I did a ton of sanding today to prep for the new stringers and the first layer of glass. I'm glad I live alone. If anyone else lived here, I'd be getting yelled at from now till Saturday for the mess I made! I figured a few things out in the process.

1. In the Texas heat, a box fan and water are your most important tools.
2. A pneumatic sander sounds great in theory, but is outclassed by a good electric grinder.
3. A 40 grit flap style sanding wheel makes short work of old glass and resin without getting away from you.
4. An air compressor with a blow gun is great for clearing your work area between shop vac cleanings.
5. A shop vac filter can hold 243 times it's own weight in fiberglass dust.
6. That same compressor and blow gun make short work of cleaning that filter.
7. SAFETY CANNOT BE OVERSTATED!
8. I need a new camera.

For all you guys who advocate safety and proper gear, keep it up! Safety cannot be overstated. Make good decisions and understand that fiberglass dust will show you no mercy. Get the gear and be safe! You can't see me but I'm smiling...

Considering the 105 heat index which is cooler than it has been in a while, I'm trying to stay ventilated and cool...

It's kinda hard to see since my camera is getting a little old, but I'll try to do some before and after... Before...

And after...

I admit the pics are not great, but the boat is coming along. I think I may spend one more day with a finer grit paper and do some more sanding and smoothing. Once that's done, I plan to use some West System 404 filler to fill some gaps and shape some parts of the hull. I've noticed where there are some folds in the hull the hull is weak. I figure the filler will help with that. Then I'll start with the stringers and the first layer of glass. I haven't determined the exact order I want to do all that in, but I'm getting there.

She's coming along!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

If you're feeling week spots in the hull, I'd recommend laying some CSM and not using filler.

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

My plan was to do both. Originally I had not planned to do any sort of filler. but there are some corners that I was afraid were a little weak. My thought was to put in some filler along those areas. I figured I'd fill it much like filliting a wood boat. I'd run filler along the entire seam to reinforce it. At that point I was planning one of two things.

1. I would lay a layer of CSM over the entire hull. So much has been sanded and ground I thought a base layer of CSM would reinforce it and help waterproof it. I have 30 feet of 38 inch wide 3/4 oz CSM. I can run two strips side by side from transom to bow and it would be wide enough to run it up the sides enough to extend above the deck. At that point, I'd set the new stringers in on top of that layer and start building everything up from there.

Or...

2. I would set the stringers in the hull as it is. I would then go around the stringers and the bulkheads and one compartment at at time I would lay the same layer of CSM over the hull. I'd then go over the stringers with 1708 and build up from there.

Option 1 means I have a solid layer of glass and resin over the hull but may not give me the support I'm looking for to set the stringers. Option 2 gives me the support to set the stringers directly to the hull but doesn't give me that solid base layer.

What are your thoughts? Should I go ahead with one of these options or should I bark up a different tree altogether?

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 85 VIP Tri Hull - First Restoration

Well, tomorrow morning I'm planning to move a few big pieces of junk out of the garage so I can actually free up the room to work on the stringers and such. Does anyone have any thoughts on my questions above?

What takes priority when it comes to the order of things? Should the stringers go down before a layer of waterproofing? Or should the waterproofing go down and first and the stringers on top of it?

Any input is appreciated.