1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Epoxy has no UV protection. Albeit Transoms don't get that much exposure to the sun, but I would advise putting a coat or 2 of Rustoleum Pro Oil Based paint on it to protect the epoxy too! Just my 2? worth. The edges of the plywood is where you need the most protection so make sure and get them well coated. You might thin the first coat of epoxy for the edges 30% with Acetone to get deeper penetration into the edges and then a couple of more full strength just on the edges. One good full strength coat on the rest followed by the paint should yield a great transom. If you maintain and care for it properly, always pre-drilling and coating any holes with epoxy or 3M 5200 sealant, it should last for decades.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Will go the thinned out route and paint. Thanks for the input guys. Sometimes more is better and sometimes it is just more. Tend to error on the side of more when un-sure of what is exactly needed. Glad I asked. At the cost of the epoxy don't want to waste it if not needed.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Just thin enuf to do the edges. Use full strength on the flat parts and the final coats of the edges.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

My plan was to mix up epoxy as per manufacturer and apply to one side, thin out remainder of that batch for edges. After that cures I would then be using ''full strength'' mix for 1st coat on other side and second coats all the way around. Am I picking up what you are putting down?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

You got it!!!!

 

[64osby]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Where the trailer tongue pivots on tilting has cracked where the tongue channel meets the rear half of the trailer. PO had taken a plate and ubolts and bound the two parts of the trailer together so no more pivoting. Tilt trailers...are they a plus or minus?

If you look at keeping this, the tongue could be shortened. Cut off a few inches to remove the crack. Redrill the pivot holes.

Tilt trailers are great for shallow water launches or even beach launches.

Weekend plan sounds great, have fun.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Not having worked with fiberglas/epoxy much, I have a couple of questions. If we are going to be putting 3 coats on the transom how much would that typically increase overall size? Plywood fits well currently and I didn't want to be sanding off layers of epoxy to get it to fit later. Would seem to defeat some of the purpose of the 3 coats. If I need to belt sand down plywood now would be the time. Also, do I want to add glass fabric(?) to the mix? My understanding is it will provide strength, obviously not required as original did not have it, but is it a good idea if I have the glass anyway? Thanks.

If you use the USComposites 635 thin epoxy it will take many coats to build up enough to even measure. This epoxy doesn't need to be thinned or diluted, it's designed to be a penetrating runny epoxy and is difficult to apply to vertical surfaces because it is so thin and runny.

I really like the 635 thin, it penetrates deeply on the first coat and every coat after that is self leveling when used on a horizontal surface. You don't have to worry about brush marks or high and low spots, everything levels out and it fills any pores or voids nicely.

How many coats depends on how thirsty your wood is, I like to apply it until the whole piece of wood has a nice even shine to it and 4 coats is like a very thin sheet of glass between the plywood and whatever you're going to cover it with.

This is my largest piece of decking after 4 coats:


I can't say enough good things about this epoxy to truly express my feelings, but I will say that any wood that goes into a boat I work on will be sealed with this epoxy.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

If you look at keeping this, the tongue could be shortened. Cut off a few inches to remove the crack. Redrill the pivot holes.

Tilt trailers are great for shallow water launches or even beach launches.

Weekend plan sounds great, have fun.

That is what I thought the purpose of the tilt was. Where the trailer is cracked is where tongue becomes two side rails. I'm thinking of vee grinding cracks and welding to keep it usable as opposed to welding it solid. We do fish some shallow waters with not the best ramps. May come in handy. Don't know the process of using a tilt trailer but I'm sure somebody here has knowlege of do's and don'ts. Thanks for keeping me in your peripheral.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

If you use the USComposites 635 thin epoxy it will take many coats to build up enough to even measure. This epoxy doesn't need to be thinned or diluted, it's designed to be a penetrating runny epoxy and is difficult to apply to vertical surfaces because it is so thin and runny.

I really like the 635 thin, it penetrates deeply on the first coat and every coat after that is self leveling when used on a horizontal surface. You don't have to worry about brush marks or high and low spots, everything levels out and it fills any pores or voids nicely.

How many coats depends on how thirsty your wood is, I like to apply it until the whole the plywood and whatever you're going to cover it with.

This is my largest piece of decking after 4 coats:


I can't say enough good things about this epoxy to truly express my feelings, but I will say that any wood that goes into a boat I work on will be sealed with this epoxy.

That is what i am using. Put first coat on side one this a.m. at 6. Thought iI would be ready to re-coat when I got home tonite. Not just yet! Am using medium catalyst, doing work in basement... does cure time seem right. Has been colder here as of late prolly 55 degrees today. I think it was one of your posts that showed hallogen light on piece in order to speed up curing? Tried to fire mine up but bulb is shot. Will check on transom in a.m. and during running around tomorrow will get bulbs. Epoxy does look like glass on that wood. Did you have to rough it up for contact adhesive for vinyl application? Thinking about going that route. Thanks

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

55*F is the bare minimum for the 635 medium, maybe even a little too cold. Try to get some heat on it, if you have a warm sunny day tomorrow stick it outside. Trying to epoxy inside in too cool of temps can cause an amine blush, nothing seriously bad... but it'll require some cleanup or warm temps and a breeze. Don't apply a second coat until the first is cured and dry to the touch so you can sand it a little.

I sand with 120 grit between coats of epoxy and before applying adhesive, not a lot... just enough to knock the shine off and give the next coat or adhesive something to grip. I just wipe the sanding dust off with a clean damp cloth.

It was someone else that used the light, I mainly epoxy outside with temps above 65*F for a quicker set and cure time... and it still takes at least 12 hrs. to cure. When epoxying outside I do bring my pieces inside the house before dark to prevent dew from forming on it.

Get some heat on your sealed wood, epoxy likes it nice and warm and toasty!

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Ive gotta say im with jigngrub on the epoxy stuff the 635 thin is great stuff i hit mine quickly at a 150 grit on the orvital sander between coats. I am using 4:1 and at 60 degrees it still took2 days to fully cure. Dont skimp on the hardener the ratios must be exact . Listen to jig he preaches one thing and that is a quality job

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Well epoxy was dry enoubh this morning for a second coat on side one. Went out and got new bulbs for the halogen lights. Set them up under the transom and let them heat things up. Proceeded to work on hull today but got messed up due to rain. Got splahwell out, side and bottom transom channel braces in, and replaced some solid rivets where PO had damaged port side rear corner. As it was raining decided to check our rivet installation with a water test. Ggood news is rivets we installed are holding tight...bad news is we found a couple others that weren't so tight. Will address later by drilling and replacing. Too cold and wet for gluvit application so that will have to wait till another time. Went to US Composites website and read that product should be warmed up for better/faster curing. Since lights were already going decided to set hardener and epoxy between lights. When I went to check on transom tonite found coat two dry and could flip transom over to put coat one on other side. Also seemed as if by the time I got done with that coat product was setting up. Will see what happens in the morning but expectations are high as of now. Supposed to rain all weekend so may be working on small stuff getting ready for good weather. Best laid plans...gone to carp. Gotta say that Jig was correct in that the epoxy likes to be warm and cozy.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Halogen lights are working great! Was able to get second coat on side two of transom this morning. Will be back at it after church.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

So...the plan that I had for the long weekend didn't exactly go the way I wanted. We made forward progress just not what I had hoped. Maybe the Guy with the master plans way of nudging me. It was a good weekend all in all, time with family, time with the boat, time to think about those that have protected the freedoms we enjoy, and an extra day off of work. We were able to get the splashwell out. That really made a difference working in the transom area. Should have thought about that earlier. Guess I was a little intimidated/scared about it coming out. It came out in one piece and made riveting and clean-up much easier. We were able to get both transom skins cleaned up, straightened, filled any voids and sanded down. We still have to prime and paint. We got the angle riveted back on that holds the transom.. . We also got the rivets back in that we had to drill out in order patch port stern corner. We need to gluvit the boat yet but are going to have to wait on weather for that.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Spent some time straightening, drilling out rivets, and cleaning up stringers. Bow cap had a lot of holes that needed to go away. They got patched/filled and sanded down. Knocked a bunch of rivet tails out of holes, cleaned up tools and made a dent in cleaning up basement workspace. Going to be working on little things during the week as rain is supposed to continue. May be time to try to get motor started? Hope everyone had a good weekend.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Question to you guys out there... I try to buy locally whenever possible. When I was trying to get Gluvit I went to local boat shop near home. He said he had never heard of it and wanted to sell me Marine tex. Next went to boat shop near work, 40 miles away, he said old technology and hasn't used it in years. Also said I could just use epoxy resin and get same result. Talked to US Composites they say ''no'' viscosities are too different, their product 635, what I have, is to thick. Ended up ordering on line but was wondering if anybody else has had same result. Is it just midwest lack of water issue or what. Both shops looked at me like I had bugs on my face. Any ideas? By the way I checked to make sure, there were no bugs on my face!

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

Today we got some suspect seams/rivets sealed in between the rain. Used G/Flex from West Marine. Bouncing around on line came across the stuff and it seemed like it was worth a try. 45min working time, cures in 7 to 12 hours. We'll see how it worked out tomorrow. Keptmoving a halogen light around to keep aluminum warm. Seemed to speed up curing. During rain rebuilt motor stand and got motor transferred over. Rigged up controls and battery. Got her to turn over by jumping out solenoid, but couldn't get her to fire. Will be checking some basics tomorrow. Did check compression and cyl's 1,2 and 4 were at 90, cyl 3 was at 83ish. Looking through the Seloc manual but not having any luck on what compression is supposed to be. Anybody have any info? Haven't had time to check in Force threads yet. Here is pic of new motor stand. Original stand was just a little to thrown together and made me a little nervous. Bigger casters with softer material on version 2 make it roll around a lot better. Hope everyone had a good Saturday.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

G-Flex is some really good stuff...West System G-Flex Epoxy! - YouTube

 

[Buckeyedude]

Re: 1987 Bluefin Sportsman 1900 - The Fun Begins

subscribed, looking good!