1977 Cruise Boats Restore

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Greetings to everyone in this forum.

Well I have finally decided to start a thread on my boat restoration project. But first I want to say thanks to everyone here for all of the helpful posts and pics on every aspect of boat rebuilding. This is truly an amazing site, packed full of expertise from all around the world.

I picked-up a 1977 Cruise Boats 17? fiberglass runabout with a 1983 115 Hp Johnson outboard last summer. I wished that I had read more here before buying but I was looking for a project boat and I sure found one. The plus side was the trailer was fairly new and in great shape. Also the outboard runs very well and I sorted out what few problems it had before starting the rebuild. I did run the boat a few times last summer and it seemed to run pretty good but I could tell that it was probably water logged so I decided to take the plunge and started the rebuild back in March of this year. My plan was to finish by September but I am only a little more than halfway there which is okay because I will definitely have this baby complete by next spring. So, here we go:

Here are some of the before shots. (I took many photos with my cell phone when I originally got the boat and through part of the rebuild process, but I proceeded to drop said cell phone into my glass of ice tea earlier this summer thus eliminating those photos?mainly of the interior layout and the grinding phase.)

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The inside is a basic dual console layout with twin back-to-back lounge seats and nasty ugly brown carpet.

One of the original owners of the boat replaced the floor at one point along with the console supports. The rebuild plan is as follows:

1. Completely gut the boat
2. Install new stringers, transom, floor and console supports
3. Paint exterior and interior
4. Install new steering system and steering wheel
5. Install engine and controls
6. Install windshield, bow rail and new deck hardware
7. Install all new wiring

Wow, is that all. Piece of cake. ;)
 
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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Okay the first step in this project was to remove the deck and check out what was what. I fully expected there to be some rot for sure. I first removed the console supports. Then I pried up the deck. The deck came up pretty easy since the screws holding it down where put into rotted stringers and only calking around the edges. The deck was heavy and made from ?? PT ply.

Here is what was underneath?nastiness!
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You can see here in the stern where the original floor was cut to put in the new floor.
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As usual around this place, lots of water logged foam and rotted stringers. Notice the sistered 2?x6? screwed to the rotted port stringer (top pic). I also found various other small pieces of wood jammed under the deck to shore it up whenever the original owner put the new deck in. Obviously he knew then the guts were bad.

The port stringer was completely rotten in several places (notice the holes through the roven). The starboard stringer was very wet and rotten in spots. I am sure the transom is gonzo for sure.

That big triangular shaped piece of fiberglass in the bow was only epoxied in place to the hull. It mostly contained floataion foam and a small cooler box in the front. It was also used as a step to climb up through the windshield. Of course the lid was buckled from all the stepping on and the cooler had a drain tube out of the bottom and ran down the keel and into the bidge area. Good idea however the tube was cracked and broken in several places as well it was completely disconnected under the box. I wonder how many years it held ice which melted and rain straight into the foam. Nice!

Time to clean everything up and remove the remaining pieces.
 
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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

It was very apparent that everything inside was going to be mush and that I was looking at a complete rebuild of this boat. So, off to Harbor Freight for a bunch of tools. I purchased their heavy duty 4.5? grinder, oscillating multifunction power tool, a small shop blower, several 36 grit flapper discs, and some other miscellaneous stuff.
On to the next step?finish clearing out the inside. I used a shovel to remove most of the foam. The foam was waterlogged and heavy. What I couldn?t get out with the shovel, I used a stiff scraping blade to clear the foam away from the stringers and such. After all of the foam was removed (at least ten 30 gal trash bags full), I started work on the bow piece of fiberglass (floatation and cooler). I used a small chisel following behind it with wedges and letting the force of the wedge do most of the work. I just slowly work the chisel around breaking the epoxy glue holding it in place. Once all that was done I pulled the entire piece back and lifted it out (with lots of help). This piece alone weighed over 250lbs. What a beast!

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After that was out of the way I work on ripping out the stringers. I used my new multifunction tool with the half moon saw blade and cut along the bottoms of the stringers. This tool worked very well but the fiberglass will eat the blade up quick. The metal cutting blades lasted longer. Once each stringer was freed I lifted them out in whole pieces. The original manufacturer used what appeared to be 2?x6?x 12? for the stringers. They were soaking wet and heavy as all get out. Between the wet foam and the stringers I know I removed about 175lbs of wet crap. Add to that the bow fiberglass piece and wow! That is A LOT of extra weight!

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Now that the basic guts were out I started stripping down the boat. First, I took off the engine and placed it on an engine stand and set it aside. Next the controls came out. Careful attention to the throttle linkages/cable adjustment ends will prevent set-up problems when re-installing everything. I then removed the steering cable. The steering was well worn out in this boat and I plan on replacing it with a new system. I used the old cable to measure for the new steering cable to be installed later. Also I noticed on this boat that the steering hub had a 20 degree trim bezel and mount. I kept all these pieces to be reused on the new unit since the new steering unit only comes with a 90 degree mount and bezel. I then proceeded to remove the bow rail and remaining deck hardware and trim pieces. I plan on painting this boat so I also removed the rub rail to facilitate the painting later on.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Now that everything was stripped off I needed to attack the transom. In order to get to the transom I either needed to separate the cap or cut out the splash well. I really didn?t want to lift the cap off the boat for a couple of reasons?I am working by myself and lifting the cap could be a little unwieldy for one person and no real access advantage is gained by doing so. Also I didn?t want to deal with a possible misshapen hull during reconstruction. So I decided to cut out the splash well instead. This gave me very good access to the transom and the future bilge area. So, I cut out the splash well following natural lines of the gunwales. Once the cuts were made on each side, it was easy to separate the well from the transom since the transom was wet and rotted.

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After the splashwell was cut out I carefully cut the caps that transition the gunwale to the transom. I will reuse these when I re-install everything back in.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

The next step in the process was to remove the transom wood from the outer skin. You can notice in the pictures that someone previously scabbed in new wood (light colored) along the top of transom.

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Lots of rot.

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I use a small pry bar and a hammer to gently wedge the bar in between the outer skin and the wood breaking the bond as it went. It didn't take very long to have the transom completely dislodged and separated. Luckily I was able to save enough pieces to reconsruct the basic shape of the transom for the rebuild process.

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Here she all ready for the grinding phase to begin.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Alright, so now I am on to the grinding/cleaning phase of the project. In my first post above I mentioned my cell phone taking a dive into my ice tea. Well unfortunately my photos of the grinding part were on the phone. So, I lost those pictures. The only positive thing about this is there isn't much to look at while or immediately after grinding. But I will point out a few interesting things.

First off let's talk safety. Please heed the warnings of fellow senior posters about using the proper safety gear when you grind fiberglass. The amount of itchiness afterwards is much reduced by the amount of coverage of your body before hand. I wore a long sleeve shirt, long pants, socks and sturdy shoes. Over that I wore a full hooded tyvek coverall (get a size that is twice your normal size shirt), goggles, gloves and a particulate filtering respirator (NOT a cheap dusk mask). Besides the proper clothing here are a few additional tricks to aid in post grinding comfort. Apply baby powder around your calves, ankles and wrists before you suit up. These are generally the entry point of glass dust when you move around working. In addition to the powder you can also duct tape the suit closed at your ankles and wrists. I also used a shop blower to help blow the air away from me carrying the dust with it so I wasn?t constantly working in a cloud of crap. Some other obvious things are start early in the morning when it is coolest and plan your grinding so you can get all done in one outing. No sense in having to suit up three or four times. It?s a PITA! One final note on safety?be careful when using the grinder. I accidently brushed against my legs in two spots while the grinder was running and it sliced through all my clothing and took a chunk out of my skin in a split second?like a severe road rash. Very painful and takes a long time to heal.

As far as tools go, almost all of grinding can be accomplished with a 4?? angle grinder with 36 grit flapper wheels. You can use finer grits but it makes the process slower. Don?t use anything finer than 60 grit. Home Depot also carries some 20 grit silicone grinding discs at a good price. Just be careful because those babies will chew through anything pretty quick. What you cannot get with the grinder you will have to use coarse sand papers and your hands or a specialty tool. In the end tools are a personal choice.

Here is what I started with.

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Now imagine this all clean and smooth. I have photos coming up that will show the cleaned out hull with the new stringers and transom installed. The grinding goes easily and you will eat up flapper discs quickly so have about 8 or so available.

One interesting thing I found was that there were two strips of ?? x1? ply laid flat under the glass in this section. This is where a second chine is located in the hull bottom. So that had to come out as well since the wood was wet.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Okay now onto the next step?building the transom. I used exterior grade ?? plywood to construct my transom. I use two pieces laminated together using PL premium and 1 ?? deck screws. I was able to salvage enough pieces of the old transom to piece together a template. I also took measurements of the inside of the outer skin to confirm and tweak the final tracing to ensure a good fit. So I traced the template onto one piece of ply and cut it out. I test fitted this piece first to make sure it fit well. I then tweaked the areas that need sanding to optimize the fit. Once that was done, I used that piece of ply as a pattern for the next piece to ensure exact matching of the first. I thoroughly coarse sanded each piece and applied the PL premium to one side of one piece. When using the PL premium you need to slightly dampen the surfaces being glued first with water to promote curing. I use a ?? notched trowel to spread the PL evenly all over the surface. I then placed the second piece over that and pressed together, carefully maintaining alignment of each piece. I then used the deck screws to screw the two pieces together. I evenly placed screws every eight inches or so to create a uniform clamping action of the two pieces together. I wiped off the excess glue. Once that was complete, I cleaned the inside of the ground clean transom skin with acetone. Since the skin surface to be glued was a little uneven/rough I applied the PL to both the skin and the new transom piece. Again I trowel out the PL evenly across all surfaces. One note, I applied the PL to the side of the transom with the screw heads. That way the heads would be facing the inside of the outer skin so they didn?t show and would be sealed in. I then slid the new transom in place and firmly pressed it to the inside of the outer skin. To clamp the transom in place and draw it up tight, I used pieces of scrap 2?x 2? running along the outside of the outer skin. I predrilled and screwed these pieces into the transom from the outside. The screw went into the new transom and drew against these pieces of 2?x 2? clamping the transom against the inside of the outer skin. The small holes in the outer skin would be filled with a PB mix prior to finishing. I then wiped off any excess glue. I had about a 1/8? gap all around the transom between the new wood and the fiberglass hull sides and bottom. I used the PL to fill that gap and to create a filet for laying in the glass. I know a lot of folks here don?t like this method but it is quicker and easier than mixing up a large amount of PB mix. The only caution in using the PL this way is it generates small air bubbles as it cures. The bubbles can rise to the surface making for a slightly uneven filet.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Next step?stringers. Looking at the hull of this boat I noticed that where the hull sides meet the hull bottom is a flat spot. That is where the deck will rest at the edges.

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This makes for a little simpler rebuild in that I have fix points for measuring and referencing. Since the stringers were unusable as a pattern for the new stringers I had to take measurements to reconstruct them. So the first thing I did was to place marks on the hull along the keel from the stern to the bow every 12?. These will be the measuring points for the stringer heights.

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Also in looking at the hull bottom I decided to add an additional set of small stringers where those flat pieces of ply where imbedded in the glass (top pic). This will allow the stringers to run along the chine areas of the hull bottom as such giving a nice flat spot to bed the stringers. I use a straight flat piece of scrap wood and cut it to the width of the hull. I then positioned the piece across the hull (to simulate the deck) and take measurements from the bottom of that piece to the hull where the stringers will rest. So I would have four measurements (one for each stringer) every 12? all the way down the length of the boat giving a rough profile of each stringer. This worked well because it helped to compensate for variations in the hull bottom, thickness of the glass in the stringer area, etc.

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Using a sharpie I wrote the stringer height for each stringer every 12? on the hull bottom. I then built each stringer using its corresponding set of dimensions. The two stringers that I removed were made of 2?x6? dimension lumber of some sort. The new replacement stringers were made from ?? exterior ply glued and screwed together just like the transom. Since I needed a stringer 12? feet long I used two pieces that were 8? and two pieces that were 4? long. When I assembled them together I placed the joint at opposite ends of the stringers. For the secondary smaller stringers that I was adding I used a single piece of ?? ply with a 12?? overlap joint. I also rounded the tops of the stringers slightly to ease the laying of the glass over them. When I installed the stringers, I cut the transom ends to match the transom angle to ensure a snug fit. Once the stringers were bedded in with PL premium I left them cure over night. I screwed scrap wood across the tops of the stringers to hold them in place while the PL cured. The next day I came back with more PL and added in filets just like the transom. I let all of the PL premium cure at least 72 hours or longer before proceeding with the glass work.

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You can also see here the resuts of the grinding and cleaning.
 
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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Now onto the fiberglass work. I had never done fiberglass work before. I am however very handy, crafty, works well with tools and unafraid to tackle DIY project like this. (I am not humble though ;) ) So I broke down the different parts of the boat that would need to be glassed ? transom, stringers and deck. After much reading, researching and talking to the pros, I decided to go with one layer of 1.5oz CSM over the transom and stringers followed by a layer of 1708 biaxial cloth. The deck would get a layer of 2oz CSM on the bottom and the top. The original manufacturer only used a layer of CSM and some woven roven over the stringers. The 1708 will be much stronger and easier to apply. The transom is roughly 3? x 6? and the boat is roughly 17? long. So here is what I calculated;

Transom:
1.5 CSM - 6 ft x 1yd/3ft = 2yds + 1yd (fudge factor) = 3yds
1708 - 3yds + 1yd (fudge factor) = 4 yds

Stringers:
1.5 CSM ? 12ft (stringer length) x 1yd/3ft = 4yds x 2yds/stringer = 8yds
(Since I cover two stringers with one piece by splitting down the middle I only
need a total of 8yds)
1708 ? 8yds + 4yds (extra width for tabbing) = 12yds

Deck:
The 2oz CSM is 50 inches wide. The pieces will run crosswise or abeam so the linear length off the roll will run port to starboard and the 50? wide part will be running for and aft. - 17? (boat length) x 12in/ft / 50in = 4 pieces needed on each side of the deck running stern to bow. Since the deck is approximately 6ft wide that makes 6 ft x 4 pieces = 24 ft x 2 (top and bottom) = 48ft x1yd/3ft = 16yds + 2yds (fudge factor) = 18yds ( I know I could have used less here since the bow tapers and is not a full 6?, but for simplicity purposes I used an equal width)

So the totals:
1.5 CSM = 3+8 = 11yds
2oz CSM = 18yds
1708 = 4+12 = 16yds

Polyester Resin: I took a guess based upon threads that I read and figured 8gal would be a good starting point. (I actually used about 13 gal total.)

Other stuff: Cabosil ? 2 ea of the 5qt containers
Microspheres ? 1 ea of the 5qt container
Milled Fibers ? 1 ea of the 5qt container
1/4" chopped strands ? 1 ea of the 5qt container
MEKP ? 16oz
1Qt containers ? 5
2.5Qt containers ? 5
5Qt containers ? 2
2 ea of the fiberglass rollers (3/8?)

I got all of my supplies from US Composite and it ran around $650.00 including shipping. I also bought some additional resin (5 gals) for another $150.00.


Now that the math drill is over, let?s get to work. I first started with the transom and laid out a piece of CSM and used a Sharpie to mark the cut out pattern. Once that was done I mixed up about a quart of resin. I used short nap 6? paint rollers to apply the resin and wet out the glass. Chip brushes also work well in small areas or in corners and such. I applied a coat of the resin first to the wood and the hull around the transom where the glass would be. I let the wood soak up the resin for a few minutes and applied some more to the transom wood. I then placed the pre-cut piece of CSM on the transom. The tackiness of the resin will hold it in place. I then used the roller to apply more resin to the glass until fully wetted out. Make sure you keep your roller wet with resin because if not it will draw resin back out of the glass as you go along. Once you are done, wait and monitor the curing of the resin. If you mix the resin according to the US Composites instructions you will have a good 20 minutes of work time. Make sure no dry spots form under the glass as it starts to cure. If you see some drying add a little more resin to that spot. Continue to do so until the resin starts to ?kick? and then let it go. Key areas to focus on are the edges and inside corners and to make sure those areas stay firmly down and fully contacted. I then moved right onto the 1708 layer. If you have multiple layers you can go one after the other while the first one is still tacky. This is actually preferred but not always doable depending on the orientation of the lay-up.

This is the general pattern I used for the CSM and 1708 on the transom. It extended beyond the edge of the transom and I cut out where the stringer were to create a tabbing to the hull.

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Here is a pic of the transom all glassed in. Notice the tabbing onto the hull side and bottom.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Once the transom was totally glassed, I moved on to the stringers. I cut the CSM so that it would lie completely over the stringer and out about 6?-7? on the hull bottom. I first wiped everything down with acetone. I then mixed up some resin and coated the stringer and a portion of the hull. I let that tack up some and then recoated the stringer. I then laid a strip of the CSM down the full length of the stringer. Where the stringer met the transom I cut the CSM so that the glass would tab onto the transom. Again using a short nap roller I wetted the glass completely. Even though I rounded the top of the stringer slightly I had difficulty getting the CSM to lay flat on the tops of the stringers. When you wet out CSM it tends to stretch a little as the binding material dissolves, creating some extra loose material to deal with. I worked and worked to get everything to lay flat but it just wouldn?t go. So I just made sure I had good contact with the sides of the stringers, the filet and the hull. The extra CSM that gathered at the top I would leave and just come back and cut it off before I placed the deck down. After I got all of the CSM laid down, I came back and repeated the process with the 1708 with the exception of going over the top of the stringers. With the 1708, I just applied it to the sides of the stringers and out on to the hull bottom. This all worked out well since there was not only overlap of the CSM and 1708 but also I made sure there was over lap between the stringers effectively covering the hull bottom with several layers of CSM and 1708. Once the stringers were finished I laid a single layer of 1708 down the middle of the keel area to provide some additional reinforcement. Here is the finished product:

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Glass supplies on top of the boat.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

The next step in this process is to cut and install the deck. I am not sure what the thickness of the original deck was since the original deck was replaced by some god-awful heavy ?? PT ply. I wanted to keep weight down so I planned on using ?? exterior ply that will be glassed on both sides. Since I know the ?? ply will flex quite a bit across a span of 14? or more, I decided to add 2?x 4? cross members every 12? between the two main stringers to give maximum support in the heavy traffic area in the center of the boat. The main stringers were about 23" apart and the secondary stringers were only about 11" from them. The first piece was fully glassed and inserted downward to form the front of the bilge area. The remaining pieces were placed flat wise, from there forward. I coated these 2?x 4?s with poly resin before gluing and screwing them in place. I don't have pics of this but here are a few illustrations.

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There was a large rectangular piece of fiberglass in the bow of this boat when it was originally built (See first set of pics in this thread). It contained floatation foam and a small built in cooler box. I removed this when I did the demo part and my plan is not to replace it but rather just run the deck all the way up to the bow. I will probably custom build a bow box sometime in the future but not right now. Anyway, I measured the deck similar to how I measured the stringers. I took width measurements every 12" from the stern to the bow to get a profile for marking and cutting the deck. I then took a piece of 1/2" ply and oriented as it would be installed, length wise across the boat so that the factiory cut edges on the 8' long sides would be at the stern and the other facing the bow. I marked a center line down the middle and transferred the dimensions to the plywood marking half the dimension on each side of the center line.

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Using a straight piece of thin wood, I connected the dots adding curvature (bending the wood straight edge) as I needed to simulate the curvature of the hull side. I then cut the deck piece out and test fit the piece. I fine tuned each piece as I made it to ensure a nice tight fit between the pieces.

Here are the pieces test fitted in place but not yet installed.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Before installing the deck there are a few minor things to take care of. One is to drilled limber holes at key locations in the stringers in case if any water were to get in it has a place to drain through to the bilge area.

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The limber holes were about 3/4" in diameter and after I drilled them I coated the inside of the hole with a loose mix of resin and chopped strand. This is necessary to seal the exposed wood from any water.

Another thing to take care of is to cut out the bilge area in the stern piece. I measured and cut that out. Notice the 2"x 4" (fully glassed) that I installed to create the front part of the bilge area. The limber holes onto the bilge area are difficult to see.

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The underside of each piece of the deck was glassed with 1.5oz CSM. Once that was set I glued down the deck sections with PL preimum and screwed them down to the stringers.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

After I got the main parts of the deck down I had to make the final piece of deck to go into the bow area. This was the only somewhat tricky part. There are no stringers under the uppermost bow area to attach anything to. So I had to measure and cut out that final piece such that it was a snug fit. I planned on gluing it in place around its edges with some PB mix and then glassing it. I put a small piece of scrap wood that fit under the main deck and also extended out into this open area so that I could hold this piece of decking in place until I PBed in.

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With that final piece in place, I sealed the entire edge of the deck with a PB mixture and also created a filet for final glassing. Here is a pic after the PB was put in and tabbed with 1708. This pic also shows the front upper most bow area glassed in with 1708 as well.

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Once this was completed I proceeded to cover the entire deck with a layer of 2oz CSM.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

The next thing I wanted to do was to build the console supports. These are going to be made from 3/4" exterior ply and fully glassed on all sides. The first step in the process was to temporarily re-install the windshield. This has to be done because the height of the console dictates the alignment of the pass through door in the center of the windshield. I took a small hydraulic floor jack and placed some scrap wood across the opening in the front of the console and slowly raised it up. I closed the front windshield door and continued to raise the console until there was a good even clearance around the door opening and the door opened freely without binding on an edge. I then measure the height of the console at common points. I also took several measurements from the hull side out to where the support will end to get a rough profile on that edge. I cut these pieces out and test fitted them. When everything was good I completely glassed them with 2oz CSM. When everything cured well, I pre-sanded these panels before I installed them since it was easier to do it on a tabletop as opposed to when installed. These panels were mounted behind the console and are attached by screws through the front. I double checked the door opening again and installed the panels with the jack in place. I secured the panels with screws through the front and from behind at the bottom into the deck. The screws in the back where ?toe-nailed? from behind on an angle down into the deck so that the heads were flush with the panel.

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After the panels were in place, I removed the jack and made sure the door still opened and closed freely. I then mix up a batch of PB mix and applied all along the bottom and filled the gap between the hull side and the panels. Once this set, I ground smooth the fill to make everything nice and even for future painting.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

I used the 3/4" ply for the console supports for two reasons - (1) That's what I had readily available and (2) I will be mounting two switch panels in the driver's side panel. That will require me to cut two 3.5"x 5.5" holes into the panel. I figured the 3/4" would provide better strength with this material missing.

Here is a pic of one of the switch panels.

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Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Now that the boat has been refitted internally and is structurally sound it was time to lift the boat off the trailer to take a look at the under side of the hull and make changes to the trailer bunks as well. Since I will be using this boat mainly in the upper part of the Chesapeake Bay region and there is a good chance that it may sit in the water for a couple of weeks from time to time, I decided to bottom paint the hull. It currently has bottom paint on there already. I moved the boat into position and lifted it off the trailer and onto a pair of stands. Once it was up in the air, I carefully inspected the bottom for any signs of damage, gouges, etc. Guess what...the bottom was in GREAT shape! There were no dings, scratches, gouges whatsoever! UNBELIEVABLE! Man that just saved me a ton of work. So I proceeded to sand and clean the bottom up for a new coat of antifouling paint. I thoroughly sanded the old paint and removed nearly all of it. I then came back and wiped everything down with acetone. I taped off the water line on the hull and applied two coats of a water based ablative bottom paint?black in color.

Before:

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After:

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While the boat was off the trailer, I had a chance to make changes to the bunks. Originally there were only two bunks on the trailer. The original bunks were not located under the stringers. So I relocated the main bunks to line up on the main stringers. I also lengthened them to better support the stern of the boat. I then added two additional bunks on the outside to support the outer most chine area were the hull side meets the hull bottom. These bunks better stabilize the boat on the trailer. Finally I re-carpeted the bunks and added those plastic skid plates to them so the boat slides easier on and off the trailer. Sorry, not a great pic of this but it shows placement. When I get a chance I will take a few pics of the trailer and edit this post.

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Joined
Aug 17, 2009
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941
Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Now it was time to move on to the painting piece of this project. Now if you look at the previous pictures you can see that this boat was like a hunk of Swiss cheese ? full of holes. I swear some previous owner just sat around one day putting holes in this thing. So the prep starts. The first thing I had to do was to re-install the splash well. I cleaned up the areas to be glassed and proceed to glass in the rear of the well to the transom and then to apply two layers of 1708 behind the sides of the splash well and the gunwales. I also applied two layers of 1708 behind all gaps and larger holes. You can see here I use scraps of wood to hold the side in place while the 1708 set-up behid these areas. The main thing with this install was to keep the edges lined up as much as possible so that the filling and fairing would go smoother.

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Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Messages
941
Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

After the basic well was in, I added a piece of CSM along the inside rear edge of the well to re-enforce it and cover a few small cracks and such. I also re-attached those transition caps at the top of the transom as well as cover the top of the transom with two layers of 1708.

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Now once that was all done it was time to get serious on the prep. I first wiped the entire boat down real good with some de-waxer. After that I gave the entire boat a good sanding with 150 grit paper. After this I vacuumed off all the dust so I could better see where all nicks and gouges were. I mentioned before that all of the lager holes (greater than 1/8" dia) were glassed from behind to give the filler material something to hold onto and back against.
Here is a pic of the hull cleaned and first sanding. Those original decals were a total SOB to get off.

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There were also a lot of surface gouges in the hull at various spots above the water line. Once the hull was sanded, I wiped everything down with acetone and proceeded to fill all of the holes and scratches. For filling I used Evercoat Formula 27. I could have used a PB mix but honestly this stuff is very easy to work with and is ready for sanding in 10-15 minutes. You do have to work quickly but once you get the hang of it you roll right along. To make it a structural filler I added ?? chopped strands or milled fibers as necessary. The large gap along the splash well joint I used the chopped strands.

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One thing I do want to mention and that is this whole filling sanding and filling and sanding and sanding and filling and sanding and sanding...etc, etc,etc. is a process. Start with the spot filler first and use that until until there are fine lines or shallow scratches left to fill. Then switch to a glazing compound for the final fairing. Evercoat also makes a good glazing compound as well. Also as you sand between fills, use finer grits in the sand paper you use. Also don't just sand the fill area but rather the entire boat. Yes this means you WILL be sanding one heck of a lot. It is painful but necessary. Once everything was smooth and even, I vacuumed off all the dust, wiped the boat down with a tack cloth, wiped the boat down with actone and then once more with the tack cloth right before appling the primer.
 
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