1978 Ebbtide trihull restoration

[buxmj]

Looks like you are making great progress, hope the weather clears up and you can get back to the nasty stuff. Tyvek suits can get miserable, just take a break when you need to. I am starting to finally put new glass in, seemed like it would never happen. Keep plugging away and it will get there!

Buck

 

[caseywitherow]

Thank you Buck for your words of encouragement. I’m feeling a bit stuck and getting discouraged, but you are absolutely right, I just need to stay at it. I’ve started pecking away at the motor which needs re-wired and a new starter. I’m shocked at how expensive new parts are! I’m hopeful the motor fires up once I get it rewired. Everything looks clean and it’s not locked up, which I’m taking as a good sign.

 

[caseywitherow]

Quick question for the group. When grinding, what should I be looking for as my end result? I did some work last night and got down to the glass and it had a pinkish hue. Is that where I need to be, or do I need to go deeper? I was cautious about going too far.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

You are correct, just down to the fiberglass which in most cases is a pinkish hue. Wipe with acetone or MEK prior to your layups.

 

[caseywitherow]

IT’S ALIIIIIVE!!! I got the motor fired up yesterday and she ran like a top! I only ran it for a few minutes because I wasn’t getting much water out of the pee hole, so I’ll need to replace the impeller when the motor is back on the boat. I tried to tilt the motor up on the stand but it didn’t feel like it would hold, so I bailed before I broke something.
I’d like to start collecting my supplies over the winter for glassing everything in. How do you guys calculate your material need? Do you have a preferred layering schedule, (chopped/1708/chopped/1708, all chopped, etc.) and how many layers would you recommend.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

IT’S ALIIIIIVE!!! I got the motor fired up yesterday and she ran like a top! I only ran it for a few minutes because I wasn’t getting much water out of the pee hole, so I’ll need to replace the impeller when the motor is back on the boat. I tried to tilt the motor up on the stand but it didn’t feel like it would hold, so I bailed before I broke something.
I’d like to start collecting my supplies over the winter for glassing everything in. How do you guys calculate your material need? Do you have a preferred layering schedule, (chopped/1708/chopped/1708, all chopped, etc.) and how many layers would you recommend.

No need to use CSM before you use 1708. I use the CSM when I want to encapsulate and don’t necessarily need strength or build thickness. An example would be using CSM to waterproof your deck. I use 1708 for tabbing and building the thickness in the transom.

A single layer of CSM will be plenty of waterproofing, two layers of 1708 for strength. When tabbing, make sure the layers overlap each other.

You can estimate what you need by roughly measuring the wood you have and adding waste. It really depends on how much wood you have and no two projects are the same. You could start out with 5yds each, then order more when you need it. This is what I did.

 

[caseywitherow]

No need to use CSM before you use 1708. I use the CSM when I want to encapsulate and don’t necessarily need strength or build thickness. An example would be using CSM to waterproof your deck. I use 1708 for tabbing and building the thickness in the transom.

A single layer of CSM will be plenty of waterproofing, two layers of 1708 for strength. When tabbing, make sure the layers overlap each other.

You can estimate what you need by roughly measuring the wood you have and adding waste. It really depends on how much wood you have and no two projects are the same. You could start out with 5yds each, then order more when you need it. This is what I did.

Thanks for the advice!

Another quick question/concern. With the freezing temps upon us, is there any concern with me continuing to demo out the rotten stringers and old foam? I’m wondering if the freezing temps will have an impact on a bare hull. I want to keep this project moving and be ready to lay née glass when the weather will allow, but don’t want to do anything that could compromise the integrity of the hull by removing too much support structure. I’m doing all of my boat work under an open sided car port.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Thanks for the advice!

Another quick question/concern. With the freezing temps upon us, is there any concern with me continuing to demo out the rotten stringers and old foam? I’m wondering if the freezing temps will have an impact on a bare hull. I want to keep this project moving and be ready to lay née glass when the weather will allow, but don’t want to do anything that could compromise the integrity of the hull by removing too much support structure. I’m doing all of my boat work under an open sided car port.

Cold weather won’t hurt the bare hull. Just make sure it’s fully supported on a cradle or a bunk type trailer and keep it dry. You definitely don’t want water getting in it, then freezing.

 

[caseywitherow]

I’m looking for some old pics of ‘75-78 Ebbtide trihulls to get an idea f how the interior trim pieces should look like. I’m in the process of completely redoing the interior of my ‘76 and am clueless on how the side panels should be pieced together. They were completely gone when I bought the boat, and am trying to get a sense of what they should look like.

I have scoured the internet, and have yet to find an original photo, or a boat that hasn’t been totally gutted. I’m not trying to restore the boat to original, just trying to get a sense of how ol humpty should look when put back together again.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[caseywitherow]

The weather finally broke, so I could get back to the boat demo. I got all of the foam out and two of the stringers. They both came out in one piece, so I can use them as templates for the new ones I have a question about the middle stringer. There seems to be an area back by the bilge pump where there was about 4ft of glassed plywood that appears to be a chamber to hold water if it gets in the boat. I’m assuming that it’s designed to distribute the water from the bilge area as not to weigh the back end down when water gets in. Is this the purpose that it serves? There’s a small hole that goes from the bilge box directly to this area, so I presume that is what it’s for. I plan on building it back this way unless anyone suggests otherwise.

 

[caseywitherow]

 

[caseywitherow]

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[caseywitherow]

For those of you still following along, I finally started the rebuild process. I got my transom wood all cut and was able to lay my first piece of fiberglass. It went pretty well with one little oops. I realized as I was setting down the top piece, there was one edge that I cut the mat 1/4 short. Nothing major, but I’ll need to fill it in with some extra peanut butter when doing my fillets.

 

[caseywitherow]

My hull is nice and clean and ready for some new wood! I have measured, and re measured, and measured again to make sure my hill has not shifted. So far so good, and I’m hopeful to get some new wood glassed in here over the next week or two.

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[caseywitherow]

last one of the day, I promise! This is a pic of me dry fitting the transom with my clamps. It seems to fit pretty well and is sooo much better than what came out of there a few months back.

 

[caseywitherow]

I have been working my tail off the past couple of months and haven’t had a chance to post any progress. It’s stupid hot and muggy out, and I’m out of resin so I’ll take this opportunity to provide an update. Along the way, I have continued to ensure that my beam measurements stay intact. They are all within 1/2-3/4” of the original measurements (I think my helper may not exactly be hold in the tape measure correctly) Since this last post I have gotten the following done (pics to follow):

• Glassed in the transom
• Rebuilt and glassed the bilge box
• Cut and bedded all three stringers. Got two glassed before I ran out of resin
• Cut, bedded, and glassed half of my bulkheads
• Filled half of floor with 2 part closed cell foam.

 

[caseywitherow]

Progress!

 

[caseywitherow]

It’s been a long and twisty road, but I’m nearing completion of this project. I had to take several months off because I broke my foot and working on this in a boot was near impossible.

Fast forward to today and I’m in the process of patching some gelcoat. Color matching faded white has proven to be harder than I imagined!

I have gotten the floor all done and cap put back on. Re-did all of the wiring and added some fun stuff like light up cup holders and African mahogany wood trim.

The finish line seems to keep moving further and further away though because I keep finding “new” things to work on. My hope is to get it on the water this year, so I guess at some point I need to just mount the motor and run it, right??

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Looks really nice. Can’t wait to see her all finished up. Great job on the deck.

 

[Mahu24]

Looks awesome! I'm going to have to do the same to my Fiberform Surfrider. Unfortunately I probably won't get to tearing it apart until next week