1976 Tom Boy Boat, 1976 40 HP Johnson Outboard and who knows what Trailer

[gm280]

Re: 1976 Tom Boy Boat, 1976 40 HP Johnson Outboard and who knows what Trailer

Okay after a long time of zero posts and comments, I'm starting the actual boat portion of this total refurbishing package...finally! I've finished rebuilding the '76 Johnson 40HP Outboard and the Motor Guide III trolling motor and even the trailer now. All those sub-projects are documented with pictures on these forums if anybody cares to view them. And since the weather around here has finally got into the 70's I can now start the actual Tom Boy boat itself. So I will need much help with all the fiberglass and resin (probably polyester type) for getting this boat back in the water...and safe! I have the tri-hull gutted out of all the water soaked wood and foam and it is off the trailer sitting in my breezeway. I need to turn it upside down and make a cradle to hold it from twisting and flexing as I start the grinding portion. Since this is a 14' 2" hull, I was planning to use 6 ribs spaced 2' apart to stabilize the sides of the boat. Does that sound about right? I figured 2' back from the very front for the first one and every 2' there after with the transom being the end and really not needing a stabilizing rib... Sound good?

Here is the trolling motor:



Here is the Johnson OB:



And here is the trailer:



And finally the boat (as it sits now):

 

[gm280]

Re: 1976 Tom Boy Boat, 1976 40 HP Johnson Outboard and who knows what Trailer

Okay folks I need some advice. Seems our Lowes and HD stores don't carry marine plywood OR that Aruco (sic) type plywood either. I asked, they don't! But they now have a new product that's called "white board". It is a multi-layered plywood with 9 or more plies. They told me that was their replacement for Aruco plywood. But I don't know if it is weather resistant or glued with weather-proof type glues. I can't find anything about. And sad to say, I honestly can't take the usual help in these store to know any more info about that new product or not. It look amazing with the numerous plies but that question is still there. It comes white primed... I also looked for standard weather-proof outside plywood but their offerings looks really pathetic being few plies and warped for the most part! And suggestions?

Also, what sizes would any of you use for rod boxes and seat boxes as well. I was thinking rod boxes using 3/8" or 1/2" and the seat boxes 3/4". Of course everything will be covers with resin and fabric as well for both structural strength and water proofing. Any ideas or suggestions. It is getting to that point now...finally. :watermelon:

 

[gm280]

Re: 1976 Tom Boy Boat, 1976 40 HP Johnson Outboard and who knows what Trailer

So once again I started on the last segment of this entire project. That being the actual boat itself. I started to build a hull cradle of it now and here is what I've done so far with that effort.

 

[gm280]

Re: 1976 Tom Boy Boat, 1976 40 HP Johnson Outboard and who knows what Trailer

(Continued)

 

[gm280]

Re: 1976 Tom Boy Boat, 1976 40 HP Johnson Outboard and who knows what Trailer

(And continued some more)





I still have to install the side supports to keep the sides from splaying out as I work inside. But it is close now to start the grinding process. Of course I will be posting questions for some needed advice as well...

 

[gm280]

After read some suggestions from experienced knowledgeable posters, I will continue with the remainder of this project from this original write up. I've already finished the completely rebuilt Trailer, the 1976 Johnson 40HP Out Board Engine the Motor Guide Trolling motor and the Johnson control system. But I am on hopefully the last stretch of the actual1976 Tom Boy tri-haul boat itself now.

As you can see, I've finished up the fiberglass grinding to remove the old delaminates surface to the subsurface that will allow the new build to bond too.

 

[sphelps]

Wow gm, motors and trailer turned out incredible ! Nice work !

 

[gm280]

Wow gm, motors and trailer turned out incredible ! Nice work !

Thanks very much there sphelps. Yes, now comes the part that I really don't have as much experience with. But I'm hoping to reread many projects again on these forums to regain some better ideas as to what I seriously need to do next. I'm near the point of purchase the polyester resin and the fiberglass clothes and such. So with all the ideas on paper and in my head (probably forget the "in the head" ideas though). I guess next is to jump in...sort a speak. Wish me luck. I honestly need to finish this project before the spring spawning fishing season for next year. I've missed two years now, and somehow I plan on hitting it in the spring one way or the other... I hope to lay this boat out very similar to a Bass Pro Pan Fish Special design... We'll see...

 

[Rickmerrill]

That's some mighty fine grinding on a bumpy road,

 

[Tnstratofam]

I followed along on your trailer rebuild, and I'm looking forward to your boat resto. If your boat turns out half as good as your trailer you'll have a winner.

 

[bonz_d]

It's come a long way. I really am impressed by that outboard. Looks terrific!

 

[gm280]

RIckmerrill: "That's some mighty fine grinding on a bumpy road,"

Yea a real bumpy road at that. That was the reason for the request about Flex-Seal in 55 gallon drums. I grinded through in so many places that I thought maybe a see-through design. While it would allow me to locate the fish better, it seems the water would come though as well and...not sure I could find enough batteries and pumps to work! :facepalm:

tnstratofam: "I followed along on your trailer rebuild, and I'm looking forward to your boat resto. If your boat turns out half as good as your trailer you'll have a winner."

Ha thanks for the compliment. All I can say is if the actual tri-haul doesn't come out equally well as the Trolling Motor, the Old Johnson Outboard engine and the Trailer, it won't be mine for very long. I have the vision in my head as to what I want it to look like. If I can't satisfy that vision, I won't be keeping it... I think it should, but we will see... :happy:

bonz_d: "It's come a long way. I really am impressed by that outboard. Looks terrific! "

Thanks for the reply and compliment too bonz_d. The OB was an eye opener for sure. IF I didn't decide to completely disassembly the entire OB, it would probably self-destructed once I started it. It was seriously trashed inside but didn't look it from the outside. I had a gut feeling that I needed to completely disassembly it for some strange reason. Glad I had that gut feeling now. It is like new everywhere now...

Thank you all for your likes and responses, I enjoy knowing others are interested and watching. Now on with the actual boat rebuild project...

Everybody, I think I will make some small patches of polyester resin and clothe to go over all the little Oh Uh's I grinded through before covering the entire inside of the haul completely with the poly and clothe. What do you all think? Yea? or Nea?

 

[gm280]

Question for the polyester experts out there. As luck would have it, I'm at the stage to start the rebuild effort for this tri-haul boat project now. But the weather here in middle Georgia has taken a turn for the cold already. I was really hoping for another nice month, but mother nature has her own ideas. That brings me to a good question. I know I'm going to need about 20 gallons of polyester or maybe more. And of course I can't use it all in a single week or so. How cold can the polyester resin take? I mean if it sits in my shop, how cold is too cold? And I think I know that the cure time could be effected as well with the colder temps. Understanding the polyester resin actually is a chemical reaction, and equally knowing that the percentage of MEKP can change the actual kick time, how much does the temp effect that also? Thanks in advance for any info... Proceeding on... :happy:

 

[sphelps]

60 deg is the coldest temp to glass in .. Is it in the garage or outside ? Most cover it with tarps and use heat lamps or heaters to keep the temps up during cure time ..Try and store your supply's inside somehow .. As long as it does not freeze I think the resin will be ok but you will need to warm it up some before you use it ..
I'm not an expert but this is how I have heard it dealt with from the guys up north . I live in Florida so not much of an issue down here ..

 

[Rickmerrill]

Yep ^^^^ what mr phelps said. I had just bought another 20Gal plus had to pour in the foam as it started to get cold.. Had to really hustle, and got real lucky with a few warm days, and used up most of the resin, poured the foam and now just have a few small jobs to do. Another problem is the resin has a guaranteed shelf life of 3 months and the MEKP is only 2 months, at least mine did. People have had it last longer but keep it in mind before you decide on one big order. I have an unseated garage so I actually have already had to bring my mekp and resin inside to keep from freezing. If you wrap it really good with cling wrap you won't smell anything. If you don't, even unopened stuff stinks up the house. I bought one of those propane heaters to help but found out they put out a lot of moisture so watch that too. Having to tent stuff and wait for it to come up to temp is a real pain and will slow you down but it can be done. The other thing that surprised me was even if the high is like 65 it might only be that high for two or three hours.

 

[gm280]

Thanks sphelps and Rickmerrill for your replies. I kind of thought it was something to think about. Maybe I shouldn't buy all the polyester at once either thinking about your replies. And since I do has an insulated and well lite shop, and my boat is sitting on a moveable stand type contraption I built, I should just roll it into the shop and finish it in there. The only problem is, I know the polyester smells up the area and that I have other things to do in there and really wasn't wanting to work in there afterwards with a vapor filtered 3M face mask. How long after the polyester cures is it relatively safe to work around the smell without a filtered mask? I know polyester can linger for a loonnngggg time having owned fiberglass boats in the past. But when is it basically safe to be around? I can easily heat my shop to keep any resin from freezing, but the smell goes on forever...

 

[Woodonglass]

Unless you just Want to cover the entire inside of your hull with glass because it's very thin and flimsy, there's really no need to do so. You can just patch the "OOPS" areas and move forward. Transom and stringer replacement will take approx 8 gallons of resin so, based on that, I'd buy 10 gallons to start. It'll go pretty quick. I'd mix @ 1.5% mekp in the winter. Propane heat WILL create some moisture but you can use it to get the temps up then shut it down and then tent your boat and use Halogen lights or Heat lamps to keep the substrate and resin up to temps during the initial cure. You only need to keep them at temp for the first hour or two. After that as long as they don't get a hard freeze for the first 24 hours you're fine. As for the smell, double bag the pails in trash bags and sprinkle some baby powder in em to absorb the smell. It'll help some. When you're glassin in the shop, Set some box fans under the door and then tape plastic across the rest of the opening to keep the heat in.

 

[Rickmerrill]

Gm when it comes to safety I'm scared to say anything so this is just my opinion based on what I experienced. When I did most of my glassing it was hot so the cure times were quick and I could open a garage door on each end so ventilation was pretty good to. Usually the next day I didn't smell much if anything so after two days I felt it was safe to work out there, all closed up but no insulation, without the mask. You might want to wait longer but once it cures the vapors go way down and how warm you get it in the shop will really change the cure time. I was surprised how I didn't smell that new boat smell for too long, many it's my old nose or maybe we're smelling paint or adhesives or something else in a new boat, I don't know. Short of having a meter to measure PPM and knowing the permissible levels of each chemical I guess we all have to use our own judgement. This is just something to think about please be very skeptical.

Another thing that surprised me was how much I ended up trying to avoid gummy sanding - the idea being you should sand after 16 hours of curing if you are going to put another layer on. The amount of time is debated here so some think it is ok to go longer. Anyway, say you are going to do a big layup on a stringer, 2 layers of 1708, but you only have time to get one layer down and then you'll be going out of town for a week (whatever reason). If you do that when you get back you'll have to sand the whole stringer before you lay the second layer. Gummy sanding to me is no fun, it clogs up the sandpaper and it's real tough to get every nook and cranny so you end up planning what to glass next. So that layup schedule tends to drive you and you end up working on manageable sections at a time and that ties into when you'll have time and what the weather will be like... So what I'm saying is there can be periods when you haven't done any glassing and you can work in the shop safely without the mask. Anyway, in the winter I'd much rather work in a warm dry shop if at all possible and in GA there should be days when you can roll it out into the sun so you might not always have to fume the shop up. If it still bothers you maybe you can roll the boat outside and cover it (once it's cured), ventilate the shop, close it up, warm it up and you're back in business!

Sorry this got so long.

 

[gm280]

WOG, Thanks for your reply. And I do plan on covering the entire haul before installing the stringers and transom and then the floor, rod boxes and seat compartments. WHY? because this haul really feels thin and very flexible, like you made mention of. What I thought was to go over all the Ooops with a single resin/ clothe patch mainly to get me back to a contoured shape so the total glass covering would go a lot easier. I realize it may be over kill, but I would rather make it solid and safe for a fishing setup. With my wife and I getting older and her stroke she recently had makes me lean towards solid over anything else. Speed is really not that big of an issue, but being solid and safe is. So I appreciate your input... I do also understand your MEKP percentages as well and I can easily make the initial covering in my shop with heat applied if need be. The cradle I made has solid sides on it and even my wife can push it around it moves that easy when not blocked up. So I can move it in and out of the shop as needed. Thanks!

Rickmerrill, yes I do need to reread many glassing projects here on these forums as well. I am hoping to make the small individual patches and feather them out after curing before covering the entire inside and then do the transom stringers, followed with floor, side rod boxes, live well and seat boxes and such. So more reading before I venture into buying the supplies yet... Thanks again for your reply and info. I read everyone of them and learn from anybody and everybody.

I think once I get a break from these literally freezing temps here in middle Georgia, I'll fix all the Uh Oh's with poly patches and then feather them out and move on from there...

 

[Woodonglass]

That sounds like a Really good plan. Just tape of the outside and patch em up on the inside. I think with laying the glass on the hull you should order 15 gallons on your initial order and you'll use it faster than you think. 20 yds of 50" CSM and 10 yds of 1708 4 gals of cabosil and 2 lbs of 1/4" chopped strand and you'll be on your way.