1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

Soooo, what did you do with the stringers that were not touching the floor etc. Post some pics so we can see how you remedied that situation. If you are goint to deck over the stringer layout that is currently in the boat, In my humble opinion that will be a big mistake. It appears to me, that two full lenght stringers are missing and the layout the PO used is totally insufficient to properly support the forces that will be place on your hull. You would be decking over a potentially dangerous situation.

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

i wasnt planing on touching the stringers they are very solid and have held up fine for the past 3 years of me using it and however many before i purchused it. i would have liked to do them but my budget just doesnt allow it. im in college and spending my last pennies on this. i have already got to 650 dollars with just the resin glass and plywood. the boat is being stored at my friends to work on in the garage and im only there on the weekend so im unable to get a good picture of it right now. the one i do have kinda shows it. the stringers are glassed on the sides but are completely off the floor in the center to allow water movement i guess.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

The Bulkheads don't necessarily need to be contacting the hull. If the Stringers Are Glassed to the hull then You should be fine. I misunderstood. Looking at the pic and the deck in front it appears what I thought were stringer channels are not. I believe you are good to go. Sorry for any confusion or anxiety I might have caused, just concerned that you were not going to make a mistake.

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

no thanks looking out for me , being a beginner ill take all the help i can get!

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

should i pl the top of the stringers bottom of the new floor?also i would like to make a peice of the floor side up so i can mount a bilge at the very bottom and still have access to it. has anyone tried this before? also how much resin do i precoat the wood?

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

ok so this weekend me managed to get the grinding done. we surrounded the entire boat with drop sheet to try and cutdown on dust getting everywhere and it worked pretty good. after cleaning all of the dust out of the boat we started measuring cutting and dry fitting the new floor into place and also cut the peices for the rear drain area. i then coated the rear drainage wood in resin and was able to do a bottom coat of fiberglass on one peice of plywood. i really thought we would get the floor glassed in but it is taking a little longer for prep then I anticipated. I attached a few picture to kinda show where i am at.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

should i pl the top of the stringers bottom of the new floor?also i would like to make a peice of the floor side up so i can mount a bilge at the very bottom and still have access to it. has anyone tried this before? also how much resin do i precoat the wood?

you can pl the deck to the stringers as well as pre drilling the holes...then filling with marine sealant and then inserting the screws.

as far as using resin to pre coat the wood....

do not let the resin cure when you pre coat the wood....
use enough resin to fully saturate the wood......let it get tacky then add more glass and resin.
the ifea here is to let the resin permeate the wood.....and before it cures....then add the glass....this will give you as close to a chemical bond with the wood as you can get with out making a brittle resin rich layer between the wood and glass.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

From the looks of it, you did not precoat the wood or edges. This should really be done and all voids in the edges and or top and bottom sides should be filled prior to laying the glass to avoid air pockets.

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

the only thing i had coated was a couple 2x4's for the rear drainage area and a couple small peices of plywood( thank god i didnt go with my origanally plan of coating the floor this weekend and glassing next!). should i toss these or are they salvageable? . the floor was just dry fit to check for size. all glassing is basically going to be done next weekend. how can i fill a chip out of the plywood? bondo?

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

does anyone have any idea if this trailer looks suitable for my boat and maybe any mods i can do to make launching and retriving easier?sorry bout the pics wasnt shot to show the trailer hopefully you can get an idea of what its like.

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

http://s1244.photobucket.com/albums/gg580/Rusty_Shackleford85/ there is a link to my photobucket!

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

ok so we didnt have alot of time this weekend but we managed to get most of the floor down and all glassed on one side. its starting to look like a boat again! im at the stage where i want to use some peanut butter to fill the gaps along the haul. i cant seem to find the tread describing how to make the peanut butter and how much material i should expect to use. can anyone help with this?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

Yup, Here ya go...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3kmr9ZctUo

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

thanks for that, How much does resin does a gallon of cabosil need for the peanut butter? and would a gallon be enough to do the haul floor gap?

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

ok we got the floor down and fiberglassed about 95 percent then ran out of resin, i should have known lol but it is my first time ever using fiberglass and i think i did pretty well. i plan on finishing it completely this weekend but its safe to say i hate csm lol. next will be time to frame in the decks. i have seen people use a few methods to do this( plywood ,2x2, aluminum) my options seem to be 2x2 or plywood . which is a better (lighter?) idea?

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

ok , well tons of progress, got the floor in and glassed. then built the front deck framing and dry fitted the deck plywood. also framed the sides and started fabricating a new gauge and steering wheel panels. starting to come together( and faster then i expected).

 

[Bigboyitm]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

Looks like it's coming along pretty good.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

I'm just a bit concerned with the use of the galvanized hangers and so many 2x4's. With this being a marine environment just not sure how the wood of choice and the joist hangars will hold up. Also that is a Lot of extra added weight. Not sure I understand the framing structure layout either. IMHO it could have been done with a lot less wood and added weight using glass and resin.

 

[tri-hull guy]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

thanks bigboyitm ,its my first go at redoing a boat.wood, i can understand you wondering about that, i only intend for this boat to last a few years until i can afford a new one. also the price of doing it with fiberglass i had might as well buy a different boat. as for the weight it is actually less then what was up there before just a little higher. the framing is for the battery box and livewell as well. this boat is only for fishing so speed isnt a huge factor. the is only 2 and a half 2x4s and a couple 2x2s. the boat is never in the water for longer then 12 hours and is covered and stored tight so the longevity of the boat should be ok

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1972 Signa Echo-teardown and rebuild

Well Alrighty Then!!!! Sounds like you're good to go. Get her rigged up and lets go Fishin!!!!!!!!!