I bought a project. On purpose.

[bakerjw]

At least part of your boat will be fire retardant.

 

[PatinIdaho]

On my transom, there was no fillet seal between the wood and floor. It had a 1/4 inch gap where i would think a fillet could have been used.
Is there any reason not to add one on a new transom or should i put it back as Sea Ray had it?
Also i work with a guy that was a manager at Sea Ray in the late 80s up to the buyout.
I showed him pics of my bilge and he told me all the structure in the bilge was built outside of the boat.
Before the cap was put on the structure was installed and glued to the hull.

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

Probably just a way to save time. We usually like to fill the gaps with putty.

 

[bakerjw]

Personally, I do not like gaps.

 

[Scott Danforth]

regarding the fairing compound. I used long-strand fiberglass where there was a repair (tiger hair)

then a micro-glass bead filled filler from my local fiberglass shop for the final fairing. it had the consistency of drywall spackle.

they also have all the fixins needed to make your own filler. resin, cabosil, chopped fibers, fumed silica, glass micro-beads, etc.

the price was about 50% more than automotive filler. but from a whole restoration standpoint the fairing compound portion of the bill was less than 1%

 

[PatinIdaho]

Fillet seal it is! I did not know if there was a legitimate reason for not having one or if it was a cost cutting decission.
Using AdTech is not so much about saving money. More, it's available and free. Also, there is not a single piece of fiberglass available within 60 miles of me.
Now, if i could just get work to turn loose of about 5 gallons of Hydrex resin that would be great. Won't ever happen but a guy can daydream.

 

[PatinIdaho]

At work on all aircraft composite repairs,
When replacing plies, we always start small and work up in size, using a 1/2-inch overlap, with the final ply having a 1-inch overlap and usually vacuum bag it all down.
When watching videos, some people start with the large ply working to the smallest. That just seems so wrong to me.
I asked a couple of engineers at work, and they said largest to smallest is not the proper way to repair fiberglass.
One video from i think West Marine said to go from largest to smallest.
That is just so wrong from what i know and that's not much
Are boats really that different that most of my fiberglass knowledge does not apply?

 

[MikeSchinlaub]

Depends on the shape. If you're trying to make a strake, or radius on a body line, then larger to smaller is best. That way, your base layers are covering a bigger area of the damage, and you're just building out the shape with smaller pieces. Basically structural repair first, then shaping the bodyline.

 

[PatinIdaho]

Thanks for the layup info!

 

[PatinIdaho]

Here are a few more interesting things i have found while tearing this boat apart.
Tabing the transom was pretty thin and porous.


The only place that i would call a stringer is the engine mounts. Very sparse bedding.

Not complaining. Just posting for future info

 

[tphoyt]

If your interested fishbump Tv on YouTube has some great tips and tricks for fiberglass repairs.

 

[PatinIdaho]

If your interested fishbump Tv on YouTube has some great tips and tricks for fiberglass repairs.

Ohya. I have watched the majority of his vids, actually.
Odd but on YT there are a ton of outboard transoms done but not many inboard ones. Frisco Boater has a good series though.
I tried but just not my thing + i seem to be a moron trying to video.

 

[PatinIdaho]

Here is a question i can't find a definitive answer to about stringers.
What is the best height to space them off the hull to not create a hard spot?
I read that 1/8 in to 1/4 in is good.
It seems to me that if the stringer is bedded in with PB and a generous fillet seal, 1/8 in would be good.

 

[bakerjw]

On my Stratos, they were in contact with the hull and no bedding involved. They were just tabbed with heavy roving.
When I replaced them, one corner was in contact with the hull and thickened resin with cut glass was pressed under with a mile fillet on the inner side.

 

[PatinIdaho]

So far i have not minded doing this job at all.
Demolition wasn't bad, and i think rebuilding will be fun.
The two things i do hate so far is sanding epoxy bilge paint.
That stuff is thick and solid. The only way i seem to be able to get through it using a belt sander with 36 grit belt. Im tempted to scuff it real good and glass over it. It is tougher than fiberglass. Can't do that though no matter how tempting.


The other thing that is the absoulte worst is sanding 1/2 inch thick putty stuff off the swim deck. I have it about 97% done after about 7 hours of the dusty junk. And naturally, using a 36 grit flapper wheel on a angle grinder i did burn through a couple place.

 

[tphoyt]

A good sharp scraper could be handy for the heavy removal and a heat gun will help as well.
The prep is always the worst part of the job but the most important.

 

[Chris1956]

You can put poly resin and cloth over epoxy. The epoxy just needs to be sanded to remove the gloss.

When I have a serious structural repair, I often use epoxy due to it's strength. Over it, I use poly putty or fairing material, to smooth for painting.

 

[PatinIdaho]

It's far to lumpy and bumpy for a scraper to be useful.
A heat gun and a wire brush might get it.

I don't know if i would trust putting fiberglass over epoxy paint.

 

[tphoyt]

Agreed on going over the paint. The bond to the structure won’t be there. Only the paint which will fail at some point.

 

[PatinIdaho]

This little sander is the bomb for sanding off the bilge paint.


Kind of hard to tell, but i did get about 1/4 of the sanding done.


I really want to take the two engine stringers out but i don't know how much they are actually supporting the hull. As it is right now it is sitting on a roller trailer and holding a 4 foot level against the hull on the outside it is still flat.
The hull is 1/2 inch thick, as far as i can tell and the small center section area is close to an inch altogether.