1987 Larson DC-215 restoration

[Chris51280]

look at dezmond since he does his with epoxy.

 

[sms986]

I'll check it out, thanks!

I still have a small amount of touch up grinding and cleanup to do, but we had a break in the weather and I got the shop warm enough to start using resin. I just got done cutting my transom out and I'll be laminating it shortly.

After 40+ hours of grinding, I can not, can not, tell you how good it felt when I dropped my transom in and saw that it fit like a glove!

My tablet is on the charger and I have a note to get you guys some pictures tonight.

 

[Chris51280]

I will be getting my resin on monday but I will try to work as much ahead as possible to start tabbing as soon as I get my stuff.
I think I had about 20 hours of constant grinding. with cleanup and prep each time probably close to 30. I could have spend alot more but enough is enough. Still have to do the deck lip after I have my stringers in.

 

[sms986]

Stupid question time!

So I have been reading and watching videos for a half hour or so on laminating the transom. I have two questions.

1. Do I just use the epoxy resin or do I add hardener? Seems simple and straightforward but no where have I seen anyone specifically mixing resin and hardener.


2. I'm going to use PL to bond the two 3/4" slabs together. Should I do this before or after laminating? Thinking of all of the fun stuff that I have to screw into the transom when I'm done makes me cringe and I want this as waterproof as possible. Ex: the rot on my old transom originated in a few spots. One was the screws holding in the starboard trim tab. I do not want to make that mistake.
​​​​​​
I have 1/4" thick outer skin to work with, so I'm doing 2 3/4" sheets on top of that followed by 1/4" of inner skin, which will get me in the ballpark of 2". I'll lb the wood to the outer skin once laminated, then tab it in followed by the final layers of skin.

 

[oldrem]

Stupid question time!

So I have been reading and watching videos for a half hour or so on laminating the transom. I have two questions.

1. Do I just use the epoxy resin or do I add hardener? Seems simple and straightforward but no where have I seen anyone specifically mixing resin and hardener.


2. I'm going to use PL to bond the two 3/4" slabs together. Should I do this before or after laminating? Thinking of all of the fun stuff that I have to screw into the transom when I'm done makes me cringe and I want this as waterproof as possible. Ex: the rot on my old transom originated in a few spots. One was the screws holding in the starboard trim tab. I do not want to make that mistake.
​​​​​​
I have 1/4" thick outer skin to work with, so I'm doing 2 3/4" sheets on top of that followed by 1/4" of inner skin, which will get me in the ballpark of 2". I'll lb the wood to the outer skin once laminated, then tab it in followed by the final layers of skin.

Definitely need the hardener or it's not epoxy.

 

[sms986]

So I just got done grinding away half of the transom. When I sprayed it down this evening, I noticed huge bulges in the CSM that were a light green (opposed to the dark green fiberglass) color. I'm not talking bubbles, I mean HUGE blobs. So, I ground the transom down to the woven. Still have the port side to go, but the thing I noticed is that my transom is now 1/8" thick. Should I lay up some glass before putting the wood in? If so, I have 30 yards of 1708 on hand. Can I bulk up the skin with poly, then use epoxy for the pb (to glue the wood transom to the 1708?)

 

[Chris51280]

Mine is the same way. I have about 1/4 on the bottom and 1/8 on top. I will put a little of the 1708 on top to level it out. As long as you get your thickness overall

 

[kcassells]

So you can always beef up your glass. Keep in mind average transom for out board is @ 21/2"+-. I/O 2 something I think. but that needs to be pretty close on the money.
So poly does no adhere to EEpppoooxxxyy but EEEpppooxxxyy adheres to poly. You should start with whatever you begin with to the end to eliminate AArrgghh problems is as simple as I can put it.

 

[kcassells]

On another note the adhesives you are using to bond the woods together need time to GAS OFF. You should not glass over freshly glued wood for that reason. Look into it. It'll save ya some headaches. ARGHHHHHHHHH. SAYS I.

 

[tpenfield]

Definitely use hardner . . . or else it will not harden I can not think of any instance where you would not activate the resin . . . any resin.

You could use a layer (or 2) of 1708 to build up the thickness of the hull at the transom back to about 1/4". if you want.

If you want to laminate (bond) the 3/4" plywood sheets together, then shortly thereafter glass in the transom, I would do everything in resin (Poly or Epoxy, whatever you are using for the restoration.), both for the bonding and the glassing in, and avoid using PL adhesive.

If you put 1 layer of well wetted CSM in between the layers of 3/4" plywood and clamp it all together, it should do as well as PL adhesive, yet be readily usable for the next stage of glassing wood to the transom.

 

[sms986]

I'm going to ditch the PL glue. I'll use CSM to bulk up the transom and 'glue' the wood together. Essentially from what I understand, 1708 can be used with epoxy, but you're essentially wasting the resin to soak up the extra mat that doesn't dissolve.

I think 1708 is the best route to go for bulking up the transom. I don't think using a biaxial mat will really add bulk, because most are extremely thin.

 

[sms986]

I apologize for the quality, my tablet takes terrible pictures. Anyway, here are a few.

 

[sms986]

https://www.fibreglast.com/product/...PQXBaKtlWvzmLas5D-br6S6HytP9CRfxoCgLIQAvD_BwE

How's this for biaxial cloth?

 

[sms986]

So I'm done working for the week and I won't be able to work again until April. I got the hull ground out and cleaned up and got my transom done.

I have a few comments:
First, harbor freight tools have been great so far, but the drillmaster jigsaw-two thumbs down, zero stars, 0/10! That thing worked better as a jackhammer. I had very fine blades on it and it destroyed the wood. I got a Craftsman and everything was fine.

Tyvex were not worth it. Every one I had got a hole in it within 5 minutes of being in the boat. I ended up wearing a pair of Dickies work pants and a poncho followed by an old jacket. This worked well. When I got fiberglass all over myself with the suits, what I did when I got home was take a steaming hot shower, cover all affected areas with shampoo, and scrub with a scotch Brite pad. After rinsing, I washed myself with IC hand cleaner. No itch in bed!

The absolute worst part of this job was the goggles. Within one minute of grinding they would fog up. I found no solution for this.

To tear out all wood, grind the hull, remove carpet glue and foam, clean out the hull, and clean up the workplace it took me 48 hours total.

Thanks for all the help, and I'll be back in April for more!

 

[kcassells]

take a look at uscomposites website for price comparison, Are you using poly or EEepppoooxxxyy? I can't figure that out.If you're exppooxxxy then just use up the original 1708 you bought. It'll work fine.

 

[sms986]

Epoxy.

 

[kcassells]

Ok...cool. Just use up the 1708 then order up some 1700. I did the exact same thing when I started my boat. No sense not using it. It actually lays up well.

 

[AShipShow]

Like kcassells said... just use the 1708, and looking at the transom, I would definately add a layer... If anything, it will help stabilize the old glass in an area that gets a lot of stress. Just don't overdo it with multiple layers because you might end up too thick after the wood and the additional inside layers.

 

[sms986]

Ok cool!

I will probably only add one layer of 1708 to the transom.

 

[JonNmtJuliet]

So I'm done working for the week and I won't be able to work again until April. I got the hull ground out and cleaned up and got my transom done.

I have a few comments:
First, harbor freight tools have been great so far, but the drillmaster jigsaw-two thumbs down, zero stars, 0/10! That thing worked better as a jackhammer. I had very fine blades on it and it destroyed the wood. I got a Craftsman and everything was fine.

Tyvex were not worth it. Every one I had got a hole in it within 5 minutes of being in the boat. I ended up wearing a pair of Dickies work pants and a poncho followed by an old jacket. This worked well. When I got fiberglass all over myself with the suits, what I did when I got home was take a steaming hot shower, cover all affected areas with shampoo, and scrub with a scotch Brite pad. After rinsing, I washed myself with IC hand cleaner. No itch in bed!

The absolute worst part of this job was the goggles. Within one minute of grinding they would fog up. I found no solution for this.

To tear out all wood, grind the hull, remove carpet glue and foam, clean out the hull, and clean up the workplace it took me 48 hours total.

Thanks for all the help, and I'll be back in April for more!

The goggles fogging up was what slowed me down the most. One trick I used was to put a small dab of mild dish soft and rub it in and once it drys buff it out. it will keep it from fogging up "as bad". Just have to make sure you have a good sill otherwise your breath make it worse.