1972 Chrysler Charger 118 conversion

[Arawak]

Re: 1972 Chrysler Charger 118 conversion

Got the first layer of the transom in last night:

Not the greatest photo, the light was poor.

There's an angle iron clamped across the top, and then three boards with true edges running horizontally, into which the first 1/2" sheet is screwed with deck screws to pull it tight and straight.

Tonight I'll put the next layer in. Will have to do a bit of sanding first to get the blush off -- although the EAST system with the slow hardener is not bad at all --- but then it should go a bit quicker.

 

[Arawak]

Re: 1972 Chrysler Charger 118 conversion

Second layer is in:

Nice and flat and no glue voids around the edges. This is the first time I have done the laminations in place rather than laminate up the whole thing and then put it in place. It's a little more work, especially with the three layers, but I'm much more confident with the fit and bond to the outer skin.

My dad managed to find some nice 1/2" exterior plywood that passed to boil test. Almost no voids, and although it says G1S, you can see the "bad" side in the photo above. 7 plies too, which means I'll have 21 plies, plus an inner skin (2 layers 12oz biaxial) that wasn't there from the factory.

One more to go, and I have to put the odd little triangular keel piece in, and glass over it. Then I'll do the stringer and bilge box. Thinking I'll increase the height of the stringer from 2" to 4".

 

[Arawak]

Re: 1972 Chrysler Charger 118 conversion

Got the transom laminated in place this weekend:

Pretty happy with the bond, here's what the edge looked like after I trimmed and sanded it down:

In case anyone cares, here's a shot of the edge fillet:

I also cut the cloth to cover it, but not sure I have enough epoxy on hand to do two layers in one go. Ordered another 2 gallons from Noah's in Toronto... hopefully will come tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1972 Chrysler Charger 118 conversion

Looks good Ar!

Looks like you'll be oot and aboot in the boot next spring eh?!

 

[Arawak]

Re: 1972 Chrysler Charger 118 conversion

Unfortunately the Long Dark Winter is aboot to descend upon me, so I'll have to move the boot to its own special igloo until the spring thaw in August, when I can start again

I'm hoping to get the transom glassed in, and the keelson and boxes tabbed in place before I have to put her away. Will probably work on the console over the winter.

 

[Arawak]

Re: 1972 Chrysler Charger 118 conversion

I have company for two weeks so work has slowed. I did manage to get the transom glassed over though.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1972 Chrysler Charger 118 conversion

Is that wrinkles and bubbles in the glass? How much of an overlap is on the sides and bottom?

 

[Arawak]

Re: 1972 Chrysler Charger 118 conversion

The wrinkles you see are cosmetic surface texture, from the vapour barrier I rolled on a few sections to see how it would affect the finish on the 1708. It always leaves a lot of texture when I lay it up on a vertical surface, so I was curious to see what the result would be. I've used this trick before on 12oz and lighter cloth to reduce fairing and sanding with good results. (No one will see this, except the bilge portion, it was just an experiment)

There are no bubbles (well maybe a couple very small ones) and no wrinkles in the glass.

The overlap is about 10" at the bottom, and around 6" at the very top. I have gone further than the original factory tabbing. There are two layers of biaxial there now at right angles. My plan was to do another two layers of the biaxial 1708 but I'm not sure if I really need to do this. Any advice on this?