18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

[Rick-101]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

I will do it once I have cut my center stringer that goes furthest up the bow. You can see that the front seating area on the cap sits up against the deck.

We had a wooden structure separate from the deck and could adjust both sides so there would be no stress on the cap, avoiding gel-coat spider cracks... Installing stringers, deck, glassing will require some care. You could aim for deck height just a bit bellow the height of the cap's natural resting height and once the deck in, shim it up, better be a little to low than high. When you re-install the cap, if you didn't take off or reposition the window, i might give you a good idea to how it was before. My $.02.

Carpet or vinyl might be your friend for inside, to save time and get the best results. You might want to spend your time on the cap and outside with regards to finish. Our boats were far from perfectly made, i noticed this while measuring for the carpets...

 

[mwe-maxxowner]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

I wasn't sure why you were asking about primer over fiberglass, I just knew primer can be applied to it. But no definitely not needed for gelcoat!

To prep the glass well and make it purdy it would need to be sanded before the primer, and while waxed resin sands better than unwaxed, you can sand the unwaxed. All I was thinking is if you wax it, all the wax has to be good and gone before anything is applied over the glass.

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

We had a wooden structure separate from the deck and could adjust both sides so there would be no stress on the cap

Do you mean you had the cap resting on this wooden structure when it was off? I think my cap is pretty well supported in the front back and sides.

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

I think I would rather use vinyl than carpet if I do go that route, found a place online that has 6ftx1yard nautolex stuff for $13.95. I will have to think more about it, I think if i spent the time sanding the fiberglass it might really nice. Food for thought.

 

[Rick-101]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

For the wooden structure i was referring to the seating in the open bow, my cap dipped down then went horizontal and then rested on vertical wood to the deck. Yours the open bow-cap seating goes right to the floor supported by the deck.

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

Thanks for clarifying Rick. So I never ended up getting any grinding done yesterday. I got off work at 0730 and had to wait til 0900 for Harbor freight to open. By the time I got home I was just too tired to start sanding. This morning when i get off I will be able to get some grinding done if the weather permits. I can't believe I am on grinder #6, I think I paid $12.00 for the original, and $2.99 for each replacement with protection plan. Hopefully #6 works for more than 2 hours so I can finish up the sanding. I can't wait to get new materials in this thing. I would like to splash it before the end of summer if i can! On that note, I know that I don't want to rush this restoration and have a boat that looks like $hI+. Jig got me super interested in the nautolex but after further research it looks to me like the best application for it is on aluminum boats. I am curious if a little 4 gallon 150psi air compressor that puts out about 2.5 CFSM at 90psi would be powerful enough to spray gelcoat or paint on the boat when I get to that point. If I do go the sprayer route I still have to buy the sprayer at $11.99 and a ton of plastic to protect my garage. If anyone is confident that my little compressor is not big enough for the job I will probably have to go with the primer/paint via roll/tip method.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

No the compressor is NOT big enough to spray gelcoat an the $11.99 gun is not the gun to shoot gelcoat with. You really need to do a LOT more reading and research here on the forum to learn and understand what goes into a gelcoat job. There's a lot of examples for you to learn from if you take the time to research it. Soo... @ 12 bucks for the original and 3 buck per replacement x 6 yer @ $30 bucks...and running back and forth to HF... Hmmm sometimes HF makes sense and sometimes it does'nt.

Might want to consider getting a Hitachi @ Lowe's for $40 bucks.

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

Thanks Wood. I agree on doing more research and have been, so much my fianc? gets frustrated at me lol. Asking people like yourself pointed questions sometimes gets the answers more effectively and faster. That's one of the reasons for this forum right? Luckily I live 2 minutes from Harbor freight, but had I known that I would burn through so many grinders I would've went with a higher quality from the start. Everything is always clearer in hindsight. At this point I am almost finished grinding so I'll have to stick to the $3 replacement should I need another. Thanks again for the input.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

My best advice for you is to stay focused on the job at hand. Get te demo done and concentrate on getting the Stingers, Transom and Deck fabricated, glassed and re-installed. That's enuf to concentrate on for the moment. The first link in my signature should be enough to study and learn for the moment.

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

Just a quick update. Almost done with the sanding, had to stop a little earlier than I wanted today because I could feel the grinder getting pretty hot and didn't want it to burn up. I gave the boat a quick spray with the garden hose which brought all the dust down toward the bilge area and made cleanup really easy to control with less dust. I just used a dustpan to scoop up the fiberglass mud and throw it out. To me this was easier than vacuuming, I will sweep my driveway up when its dry. Here are a few pics of my progress.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/dcsudnik03/c5610330-c473-4ec6-822e-181bf515b681.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/dcsudnik03/IMG_20130507_093929.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/dcsudnik03/IMG_20130507_175717.jpg

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

There are a couple of low spots from grinding. The outermost layer of the original layup seems to be CSM with woven roving underneath that. As I would grind away the old CSM I got down to the fresh layer of woven which sanded mostly smooth except for a couple areas where there must have been bubbles which I ground out smooth but created a few low spots where it seemed like I ground through the woven roving. Would anyone recommend filling these areas with fairing compound or anything or would i be able to get by with laying 1.5 oz CSM, then 18oz woven roving, and another layer of 1.5oz CSM as my layup schedule for covering the stringers?

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

Well I've finally finished grinding the entire inside of the hull to my satisfaction. I plan to glue the transom wood together today and let that cure for 2 days before I cut it out. In the meanwhile I am going to try to construct something to suspend my stringer template level with the plane of the deck and then use the scribe and post method to trace out the shape of my hull. I will update with some pics of my progress later.

 

[Jimmy H.]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

Good job with the grinding. Itchy? Looks like a nice clean hull to work with.

 

[rickryder]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

There are a couple of low spots from grinding. The outermost layer of the original layup seems to be CSM with woven roving underneath that. As I would grind away the old CSM I got down to the fresh layer of woven which sanded mostly smooth except for a couple areas where there must have been bubbles which I ground out smooth but created a few low spots where it seemed like I ground through the woven roving. Would anyone recommend filling these areas with fairing compound or anything or would i be able to get by with laying 1.5 oz CSM, then 18oz woven roving, and another layer of 1.5oz CSM as my layup schedule for covering the stringers?

I would mix up some PB and fill the low spots or you could lay up some csm start with small pieces and work your way up to larger ones....then grind smooth.

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

Thanks for the advice Rick. I didn't end up getting as much done as I wanted to over the past 2 days but did manage to get the transom wood glued together. I used titebond III and stainless steel screws that I countersank. I am considering keeping the screws and filling them over with PB. I need to wait for it to dry a little longer and will probably cut out the actual shape tomorrow morning. I am also debating on whether I want to put the metal plate, pictured below, back where it was on the stern. It will have to find someone who can re-weld the smaller piece that formed the angle that covered the transom. I figure it would add some reinforcement for my heavy motor, its a 1978 Mercury V1500 V6 outboard with a long shaft. The motor runs great, I put a rebored (.015) powerhead on it that really hauls @$$.

Here are some pics

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

The metal plate was on your boat as a Band Aid for a Weak Transom. If you put it back on it would be a RED Flag to a person In the Know that the transom on your boat was BAD. Even though you just replaced it!!!!! Your transom, once glassed and installed correctly will be plenty strong for your motor. If you want to BEEF IT UP just add another full layer of 1708 to it on the inside when you glass it in. I would strongly recommend NOT putting the plate back on the boat. It's your boat and you are free to do as you wish. Just my opinion.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

I totally agree with "WoG"...^^^^^...
If you really want to add extra strength, you could add knee braces or even a couple of these...

Transom Support Plate | Bass Pro Shops

to help distribute the load points of the motor bolts...
Or fabricate your own...

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

Thanks for the response fellas. I will not worry about that plate then. I would like to be able to sell the boat one day down the road. This project makes me want to look out for a steal on a bigger boat with a big enough transom space for twin engines. I would really like to own a boat that would ride safely across the gulfstream to the Bahamas from FL. For now I'll keep dreaming. Anyways, the original construction had a piece of angle iron that was glassed to the inner part of the transom to help support the weight. I thought it looked like crap and the piece of iron is pretty rusted. I was thinking of grinding/cleaning it up and use it again, but do not think I will try to glass it on unless someone can give me reason to. I bought the boat, motor, and trailer for $500, $800 for the rebuilt powerhead, and about $550 in materials so far to restore the boat, I plan on about another 500. That puts me at a total of $2350 or so I'll have spent for a solid running boat that I KNOW inside and out I think if I can keep my total costs below $2500 I will be damn happy just for the use of the thing, but I wonder what it would be worth should I ever decide to sell.

 

[Slacker411]

Re: 18ft Bonito Bowrider Restoration

If you want to BEEF IT UP just add another full layer of 1708 to it on the inside when you glass it in.

That sounds like a good idea Wood. I was thinking of grinding through the old gelcoat to fresh fiberglass in the entire back area here and fill and fair the rough spots then maybe do that layer of 1708. 2 yards of 38inch 1708 would fit the area well.