1970 Wellcraft Restoration

[electric603]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Hey Guys,
Sorry if I have a lot of questions and thoughts. I am rebuilding my first boat and don't have a really any friends into boating

Ben,
I live on Union St. I don't have a lot of experience this is my first rebuild too. But I can give some advice on what I have done so far. I did all the grinding and glassed in my new transom and one stringer that is where I had to stop for the winter. If you want to get together and talk boats let me know.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Sorry if I have a lot of questions and thoughts. I am rebuilding my first boat and don't have a really any friends into boating so this is my only source and place to bounce thoughts around.

Don't be surprised, you'll have significantly more 'friends' interested in boating then interested in boat work.......

Ask as many questions as you feel necessary.

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Ben,
I live on Union St. I don't have a lot of experience this is my first rebuild too. But I can give some advice on what I have done so far. I did all the grinding and glassed in my new transom and one stringer that is where I had to stop for the winter. If you want to get together and talk boats let me know.

Absolutely Electric,

That would be great, like I said very little experience and not going to turn down any advice. Right now I am working on the grinding, i am grinding the entire hull so I have a week or 2 of grinding probably, luckily my work schedule is light in the winter should be able to devote plenty of time to it, and seem to have a good process going now with the advice from you and the others. we should grab breakfast on weekend to talk shop @ the union grill or one of those good breakfast places in the oval.

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Don't be surprised, you'll have significantly more 'friends' interested in boating then interested in boat work.......

Ask as many questions as you feel necessary.

No doubt, I enjoyed boating my entire life up at like winni with my father, we never rebuilt one but I am really enjoying doing the work as much at this point. I have a serious case of ADD and lack the ability to sit still so projects like this are great.

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Hey guys,
I have been working on grinding probably total of 2 1/2 hrs of grinding in about 40% done the entire port side wall has been grind-ed down to fiberglass from the zolatone and I started to grind the bottom, I was messing around with how much to grind out and may of gone to far in a small area, I went down to the smooth part of the hull which wasn't very thick maybe I went through the fiberglass? I pushed on it with my thumb and it broke, small hole so from what I have read patching it up shouldn't be bad, the outside of the hull has a lot of grinding and patching and then a repaint anyway so not to worried about that. But how many layers of this fiberglass should I be grinding down?
I started grinding where the stringers were and got to a level were there was no evidence of stringer or wood, seems to be that might be my best and just grind down to that level set by the stringer?

Thanks Ben,
PS Sorry if this is hard to follow, my mind is going 100 mph right now.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Grind to good fresh glass. In some places that may be 1/32", barely scuffing it to get to good glass. In others you may need to grind more. Avoid making more work for yourself, but once you've added extra ventilation to the hull, it's official, your a back yard boat builder. So for that congrats.

Post up some pix of where you've put the thru hole (in & out) and some showing where you've ground some, it's usually not hard to see if you've gone too far, so you'll need to add a layer of glass to that part of the hull before doing the rest of the put back, or if you've not quite ground enough...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Yup, It's official...

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Hey Guys,
I have made a lot of progress with the grinding, Have all the zolatone removed, except where the cap is going to cover in those area's i just did an 8" trim to give the new fiberglass a place to hold too. I also have most of the bottom of the hull ground, The center stringer has a lot of peanut butter I assume? on the sides almost an inch... do I need to grind down that too the fiberglass or will that hold with the new glass? I will post some pictures sometime this week still have a lot of cleanup and to finish the floor.

Also looking into getting a new Shop Vac the one I have is not working that well, its a cheap one I have had for awhile tried new filter etc etc is just old. Anyone have advice on a new one not to expensive?

 

[electric603]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Lowes has a bucket top shopvac. 20$ for the vac and 3 something for a five gallon bucket. I have one of these and they have great suction but the fine dust from the fiberglass does clog the filter pretty quickly. These take paper filters which are washable and try are not too expensive.

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Update, Pictures.
Going to keep grinding today all most done grinding!
Here are my pictures before I started grinding today

First 4 pictures are just pictures to see the progress the 5th picture is the oops that I ground to far.

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

and this final picture is the best picture i could get off the center stringer.. Hopeing that is far enough you can still see an indent of the old stringer but its all peanut butter, i assume. is that ok? or do i need to grind the PB all the way down.. that stuff is brutal to grind down.

Also another smaller oops in this picture

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Hey Guys,
Got a lot of Garage cleaning done today and was able to wipe down the inside of the hull, really helped me asses the grinding and what else I need to do.. Took a lot of Pictures today!

This First two are just shots of the entire Hull(and my new car in the background(not my tow vehicle!))



Picture of the transom


Center Stringer, I assume what is left is PB? Need some help on this.. is it necessary I grind this down to the glass? It is very hard to grind down in a tight spot.


Similiar Picture but seems like some wood is left there definitely need to continue to grind here.


Picture of my garage in its current state! I missed in my research the importance of bracing the hull to protect from the hull expanding. I hope this is not a deal breaker, I did measure originally and luckily as you can see I can lower and raise the cap easiliy (pulley and chain fall) So worst case scenario when I am rebuilding stringers/deck just lower it to get it to correct dimensions?


Ben

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Re: 1970 Wellcraft rebuilding question

Also,
My next question would be where to head now? My plan is finish up the grinding, repair the mistakes(the garage is heated).Do I flip the boat and paint the bottom of the hull? or do I rebuild the infrastructure(deck, stringers)?

As always thanks for all the help!

 

[electric603]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft Restoration

The PB in the keel is ok to leave in but you need to grind out any loose fiberglass in the areas you will be laying new glass like in the second picture. As far as flipping the hull I was told by woodonglass to wait until the transom stringers and deck are back in to avoid cracking the hull. However, I have seen it done in another thread with a tri-hull before.

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft Restoration

Thank's Electric,
Did the final bit of grinding the other day, going down to Merton's in Springfield sometime this week to pick up fiber glassing supplies and then going to start rebuilding it finally. I decided to do the stringers/deck before I paint it, my goal is to have the boat put back together by boating season, maybe not completely finished. IE painting outboard etc etc. save that for the next winter but still would like to be able to use it this summer.

 

[electric603]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft Restoration

I am doing the same thing. I want to get the rebuild done this spring so I can use it this season and work on the cosmetics next year.
I just looked at Merton's website. I have been ordering from US composites. Merton's prices are comparable and would save a lot on shipping. I will need another bucket of resin when the weather warms up. Maybe I will get it from them.

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft Restoration

I've never used them, found them searching, I will let you know how it goes.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft Restoration

[h=1]Anyone use Mertons?[/h]Might PM Matt & see if he ever ordered material from them......

Prices may have gone up since they list:
Prices effective January 1, 2014

 

[Bnjmnbc8]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft Restoration

I did compare there current prices with others and they are equal or better. And like Electric said going to save a lot of money being within driving range for us.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1970 Wellcraft Restoration

great