1987 Power Play XLT-185 - floors, stringers, and upholstery

[todhunter]

I was wondering why I couldn't get a good handle on using the trim tabs so I watched a video. I had the port tab wired to the port switch and the starboard tab wired to the starboard switch...no wonder! Got the wiring swapped and hoping to get a better feel for them this weekend.

 

[kcassells]

After you get them trimmed out what let me know the benefits of them. I have the old set off the boat and need to wire and place in addition to the control pad.
I know they are for plaining and getting out of the "HOLE" faster. Just looking forward to your opinion.

 

[todhunter]

Learned today that having the trailer in deeper is not better when trying to put thr boat back on. I'll have a project over the next couple of weeks to knock down the sharp edges on the trailer between the rollers and to fix this 8" long gouge. I'm finally going to try my hard at spraying gelcoat, I guess.

@Scott Danforth , I've got a spray gun with. 1.8mm tip...will that be big enough for spraying gelcoat with Duratec additive, or do I need a bigger tip?

 

[Scott Danforth]

@Scott Danforth , I've got a spray gun with. 1.8mm tip...will that be big enough for spraying gelcoat with Duratec additive, or do I need a bigger tip?

that may be a bit small. I sprayed with a 2.3 tip however for that small area, I would simply roll it on, wet sand it and buff to blend. no need for duratec then

 

[todhunter]

that may be a bit small. I sprayed with a 2.3 tip however for that small area, I would simply roll it on, wet sand it and buff to blend. no need for duratec then

Thanks, that will save some money. Any tips for taping and pulling tape timing? I'll go back and re-read your thread.

And any issues with filling thr gouge with hairy PB instead of layers of CSM?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Thanks, that will save some money. Any tips for taping and pulling tape timing? I'll go back and re-read your thread.

And any issues with filling thr gouge with hairy PB instead of layers of CSM?

get a roll of green fine-line tape

https://www.amazon.com/3M-6306-Scotch-Fine-Green/dp/B00CEHUK0W

and your favorite painters tape.

I would tape off and build up the black first. make it a bit heavy/thick the consistency of pudding (adding fumed silica)

about 5 minutes after it starts to kick, peel the painters tape off, and peel the fine-line tape back on itself. this will leave a good crisp edge

if you need to tweek the edge a bit, use a razor blade while the gel is still soft

do a rough wet-sand with 150 grit to knock the repair down a bit, however not all the way to the level of the rest of surface

then mix up the white., fill the void. the natural edge of the black you just did will work like a coffer dam.

fill the area, build up just a little

then wet sand, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800 then buff

 

[todhunter]

Just out of curiosity I sent the picture to a local fiberglass repair shop to see what they would charge. I was expecting a few hundred...was surprised when he came back with $2,550. Not saying his time isn't worth that, but that's about 5 to 10 times what I was expecting. It's definitely going to be a DIY repair!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Ouch. $50 worth of materials and 2 hours of labor.

 

[todhunter]

Today I built some cribbing under the keel and weighted down the tongue of the trailer to make some room to work on the trailer.





Then I ground down the sharp corners on the bow roller supports which caused the gouge. Hopefully if I miss the center roller again, the boat won't hit the supports. Before grinding, the corner of the steel was about 1/16" from the edge of the roller, now it's about 1/2".

 

[chevymaher]

I gently pull the boat on the trailer by hand with a rope.

 

[Reserector_]

I gently pull the boat on the trailer by hand with a rope.

I pull mine with a rope as well, but what do you do when there is no courtesy dock alongside the ramp. How would you avoid driving it on in that situation?

 

[Scott Danforth]

I pull mine with a rope as well, but what do you do when there is no courtesy dock alongside the ramp. How would you avoid driving it on in that situation?

I get my feet wet..... and if the ramp is full of slime, sometimes I slip and fall on my butt, then swear....

 

[chevymaher]

I pull mine with a rope as well, but what do you do when there is no courtesy dock alongside the ramp. How would you avoid driving it on in that situation?

Pretty simple I don't go there. Once in the river I can get anywhere I care to go. It is all the same water.

My brother does that. Got to have 2 people to load and unload the boat. One in the truck one in the boat.

Hell just seeing what happens driving onto the trailer made sure I will never even attempt to do it,

 

[chevymaher]

I get my feet wet..... and if the ramp is full of slime, sometimes I slip and fall on my butt, then swear....

You made me laugh pretty good on that one, I tore my shin up once pretty good slipping.

 

[mickyryan]

i walk my boat on with a rope i never power on because of that exact thing and don't wanna ruin ramp , takes me less then 5 minutes to load my boat if someone bitches about that well they can pack sand!

 

[briangcc]

Pull it on to the trailer as far as I can with one of the dock lines. Connect the strap and winch it the rest of the way. Maybe 5 minutes start to finish. Yes my feet get wet, I wear Tvas to avoid slipping on the ramp and doing my impersonation of a sitzspin.

Only power loaded 1x in my boat owning life...that's when my boss snapped the gear on the winch and I had no other choice to get the boat on the trailer. **This was back in the 90's where stores like Harbor Freight were non-existent.

 

[Reserector_]

I didn't mean to threadjack, but I'm glad I asked.

 

[todhunter]

Worked on fixing the scratch today. I didn't finish, but I'd say today was mostly a success, being that I should be good enough to get the boat on the water the rest of the weekend.

Here's the gouge before I started. I pulled the bow eye off for the repair.



I used a 1/2" sanding drum on a pencil grinder to knock down the jagged chipped areas.



I mixed up some polyester resin, chopped fibers, and glass bubbles, and filled the deep parts of the gouge.



I knocked it down with sand paper and made sure it was lower than the final surface, and blended the repair area into the surrounding area some.



I followed Scott Danforth's recommendation and taped off the black/white line with fine-line tape, then masking tape. I bought natural gelcoat and the US Composites sample pack of tints. I made some black gelcoat, thickened it with cabosil, then rolled and brushed it on.



I pulled the tape as it was kicking and got a pretty crisp line.





Next I tried mixing up some white gelcoat to match. I threw my first batch out because it was way off. I went with my 2nd batch, thickened it, and applied it.



After sanding with 150, 220, and 320, I'm calling it good for today. There are some low spots in both black and white I'm going to have to fill again, so I didn't keep progressing with sand paper grits. Also, my white is way off. I'm probably going to sand it down and try again in the next couple of weeks, as I want it to match. I put the bow eye back on (crawling up into the bow under the dash sucks!) and put 4200 around it to seal it. All-in-all, I'm pleased enough with how my first gelcoat repair went, but I need to figure out the color matching thing.

 

[chevymaher]

Looks good.

 

[zool]

Thats coming along good Tod. Looks like you need just a little black mixed in the white to get it "grayer". I had the reverse problem, too gray of a mix on a whiter hull, adding white back got me close. Just a dab will do, its easier to go from white to gray, than back whiter from gray. Get your color close ist, then add the Cat.