1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

[micks110]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Hey guys thanks again for the input. The tool I had in the picture is a makita angle grinder. I just took the shield off for the picture. I went out after dinner to start my fire and I cut a small section of the deck out with it. It worked fine- I just scored through the fiberglass and peeled it back. I'll post some pics when I come in later.

How bout the air sander and sandpaper grit question. Will it be a usefull tool? And what different grit disks should I get and about how many will I go through?
Thanks,
Mick

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

micks110,
Use your 4 1/2" angle grinder with flap disk. They work great.
I used 36, 60, and 80 grit. They make short work of the grinding.
You can also get them at HF.
I like the 3X type, Norton.
Sorry I missed the question before.
Bob

 

[micks110]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Bob,
Thanks for the answer on the sanding question. I will stick with the grinder and the flap disk for grinding.
OK, my night- I had intentions on just finishing the other side supports for the cradle since it was very cold and wind gust of 35 mph outside. So I went out to the garage, added some more wood to the stove and figured its late, the wind is blowing(so the neighbors really won't be able to hear anything)- hey I can probably use the grinder and cut some more of the deck out and see what its like to do a bigger section! So before I started I had cut out a small section earlier in the afternoon when I went out to start the fire. Here is what I did in the afternoon.

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It was just a small section just to see what it was like to run the grinder with the cutoff wheel. It was load and dusty and smelly.
When I went back out later and decided to try it again so I put on the mask and goggles and started.

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AFter some scraping off the old wood...

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This is what it looked like

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to be continued...

 

[micks110]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

A look from the other side.

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This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it only took me a couple minutes to do that 4' section. But it did make me look around and I have a few more questions.

1. Do I need to remove the rear supports when I remove the rest of the deck?

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2. Do I need to remove the front triangle section(sorry, I don't know the name for it) and support for the cap, or can I just cut up to the foot rest area that I cut up to so far?

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footrest area

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3. What should I use for the support going between the stringers? 3/4" pt ply or a 2x8" cut to size?

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I will probably wait to the weekend to cut out the rest of the deck so I can do it during the day and not at night. Thanks for all the support. I've been having a blast so far!
Mick

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Nice looking project Mick, that should be a very cool boat! Glad to see you got the "heater" working, I did the install on my new one last month.....noting like freezing while you are trying to work. It was 14 and 20mph winds the other night when I was working on my seats......but a nice 65 in the shop! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

By the way, the futher I get in my project, the happier I am that I went with seacast.....as far as I am concerned, if you are planning on keeping it a long time...it's the way to go.

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

I agree Archbuilder. I cant see any reason to use wood for a transom.
For cross supports I used 1x6 fir strips with 3/4 plywood deck.

 

[micks110]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Archbuilder and skibum,
ok the debate on seacast is still open. How much would it cost me for seacast stringers and transom vs. pt and matte? Archbuilder- I saw your heater in you post- those are nice and your boat is coming along nice too. My garage get to about 58-60. Yeserday it was about 50 because it was 25 out and windy. Can't wait to here the advice and price on seacast- also let me know about labor difference and time difference on both.
Thanks,
Mick

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

in order to figure out a price you have to measure the transom and stringers. They have tools on the seacast website to calculate the amount and cost of the project. Even if you cant afford both I would suggest at least the transom. check out their website then measure the boat and go back to the site and calculate what you need

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

The plywood is going to be hands down cheaper. I would bet the seacast is 3 or 4 times as much. I can't say about the labor, I have only used Seacast. If I was going to guess, I would think they are about equal labor wise. The advantage of course is the fact that seacast will never rot. It is also incredibly strong. I used it because:

1. I plan on keeping this boat long term.
2. I'm picky about details....seems like when I have cut corners I have always regretted it later.

So I guess you have to look at the cost and decide if its worth it or not. At first I really didn't want to spend the money on it, but now I think it was the right decision.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

The plywood is going to be hands down cheaper. I would bet the seacast is 3 or 4 times as much. I can't say about the labor, I have only used Seacast. If I was going to guess, I would think they are about equal labor wise. The advantage of course is the fact that seacast will never rot. It is also incredibly strong. I used it because:

1. I plan on keeping this boat long term.
2. I'm picky about details....seems like when I have cut corners I have always regretted it later.

So I guess you have to look at the cost and decide if its worth it or not to you. At first I really didn't want to spend the money on it, but now I think it was the right decision.

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

I really think I made the right decision with seacast for the longevity. My transom is only 1 inch thick so the extra strength is a good bonus.

 

[micks110]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

OK- I figured out how much seacast I need. I need 3090 cubic inches- so that is 3- 5 gallon buckets, and 1- 1/2 gallon bucket, and 10 spacers. That is a grand total of $707.50 not including shipping Wow The price I would have to pay for not having to ever worry about replacing the transom

I'm gonna put this on the back burner for now and wait to see how much money I have left after the holidays and Christmas shopping. Archbuilder- like you I am picky and I tend to look at things after I'm done and say, "I wish I would have done that a little differently." So I am going to sleep on it for a while and wait to see how things are financially in a couple weeks. I am torn because I have two sheets of 3/4" ply sitting in my garage at the house for woodworking projects. I am also torn because I want to do the job one time and not have to worry about it. But on the same token I have to account for how often the boat is going to be used and what it is going to be used for. This topic is going on the back burner for a while

Tonight I threw up two more 9X12' tarps to divide my back garage in half. I am wasting wood everyday trying to heat an uninsulated, drafty garage when I am basically only using half of it for the boat. It is like night and day now the two sides and the temp difference! I also had a big piece(3X8') of galvanized that I put right behind the barrel stove to divert the heat back towards the garage side I'm working on, and to protect the plastic tarps from the heat a little. I found it when I was removing everything from the rafters that the previous homeowner left up there. I will post a pic tomorrow.
Tomorrow I plan on removing the deck during our little guys nap(if the wife lets me out!). Again, I will if I have to, but I'd rather do it during the day so I'm not waking up the neighborhood at night.
I will also try to start some grinding of the rough edges and some sanding down to clean fiberglass.
More pics to come tomorrow (hopefully)!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Yeah I about choked when I ran the numbers on it....They did give me $20 off a bucket for posting my project on their web site. Actually I tried, but they were having some technical issues....but they gave me the discount anyway. I did call them with a question, and to my surprise the owner of the company called me back!

Be careful with the plastic tarps, we wouldn't want you burning up your project!

 

[micks110]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

Lol. I was thinking the same thing when I contemplated putting the two sheets up. But they are close to 4 feet away from the stove and with that sheet of galvanized behind the stove they barely felt any heat at all. As long as I tend to the fire when I really have it going in there it will be fine.

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[micks110]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

archbuilder,
Maybe if I offer to advertise for them with a decal on the back of the boat, and put it on their website they can knock $50 off a bucket. If that were the case I would order right now! How much was the shipping cost for you?
Mick

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

They really are a great company. It is really nice to call witha question and actually get the owner of the company on the phone and he spoke english without an accent. I forgot what it was like to deal with a small business located in America. I am happy to see there are a few of these left. Let's all try to support them when we can afford it.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

I pulled open the file with the receipts in it....try not too look at that! lol! The 5 gallon buckets were shipped to OK via UPS at $29 each. By the way, make sure you have an air space between the galvanized panel and the tarp. It works as an insulator. Sheet rock works well for the same thing and is cheap...we use it for firewalls all the time.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

by the way I haven't seen that set up down here....what does the second barrel do? I'm assuming it creates a second large surface area to radiate heat into the space?

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: 1962 Arkansas Traveler restoration

the second barrel has an inlet in the back and outlet in the front this makes it so all your heat doesnt go streight up and out your chimney