1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

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Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Started the grinding today and got a good amount done Ina nd around the transom. Got an issue though. Noticed a pretty good crack in the transom from the top extending to one of the through hull bolt holes.
This from the outside

This is from the inside

How would I go about fixing this??

Also, after grinding the transom, I noticed its not flat and undulates all over. I'm assuming the PB between the skin and transom will fill this in?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

That crack can be repaired on the inside just before application of the transom plywood, the outside just after. No problem. This is 1 of the 'good' things about working w/ a fiberglass boat. A crack like that would be more problematic to repair on an aluminum boat, IMHO.

It will mean painting the exterior of the transom or re-applying gelcoat on it.

I can't see the undulation your talking about on the fiberglass skin, but if it's from the grinder removing old material down to good glass, yes, the PB & transom plywood install will resolve it.

 

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Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Thanks JB. So I should grind on the inside and outside around the crack and build back up with 1708 until level with the surrounding material? Or I could grind out the crack on the inside, tape the outside, fill with PB then 1708 till level with surrounding material?

The undulations are from both grinding and scraping the old wood out. The skin at the bottom looks kinda hairy, like he glass is rotten. Ill post a pic in a bit.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

I could grind out the crack on the inside, tape the outside, fill with PB then 1708 till level with surrounding material.

Tape the outside, it'll help keep both sides of the crack close to where their supposed to be while you grind a taper (4-6") on either side of the crack, wipe down w/ acetone, alternate CSM & 1708 until just flush on the interior, using patches that start smaller & get larger w/ each layer.

After you PB the transom ply in place (use WOG's transom clamps), you can taper the exterior edges of the crack & alternate the CSM & 1708 until about flush w/ the surrounding unground area.

Then fill & fair, coat w/ gel or paint...

Roughly....

 

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Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Got to do a little more grinding today. Went at the area around the crack in my transom skin but not sure I'm grinding it down far enough around the crack and should I cut the crack so it's straight? This area seems tricky cause its not flat. Just second guessing myself. What ya'll think?

Here's a pic of the inside. Crack is on the top port side

Here's a close up...

Here's the outside

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Yep, nothin to it...
JC has you on the right track...
Mix up a bit of resin and cut out 3-4 pieces of CSM/1708, each one a bit larger/smaller, lay down the first smallest piece and continue building it up with each progressive piece...make sure you get good wet, clear laminations with no bubbles...then walk away...
When you are ready to install the transom, if you have to, sand the repair flush with the surrounding area, apply your PB glue for the transom and install...once every thing is set up, the you can do a bit of grinding on the outside, create a taper, and fill with resin and CSM/1708...
Here is a little sketch that might help clear it up...



BTW, nice looking build you got yourself, should be real nice when done...
Keep up the good work and have fun!
GT1M

 

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Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Thanks for the reassurance GT1M and thanks a ton for the drawing... Definitely clears it up! Taking the day off on Friday and planning on getting a good amount of grinding done, hopefully... I think I'll take care of this crack along with the other slices I made in the hull:facepalm: on friday as well...

 

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Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Holy grinding!!! Seems like I'm never gonna finish. 5 hours straight and only got about 1/3 done. Couple questions:
I'm vacuuming the dust as I go but there is a lot. I sort of makeshift tented to keep dust in the boat and off my neighbors car. Clipped plastic off the canopy and taped to boat but the stuff still gets out and gets everywhere. I don't see how I'm ever gonna get it clean. Should I be washing it out with a hose/water as I go? The tenting worked for a bit until it got windy then not so much. Any ideas for dust containment and cleaning is appreciated.
Also I'm still on the fence about what to go back with; carpet or gel so I'm grinding every thing down to fresh glass all the way up the gunwales. Question is, if I gel won't the grinding marks/swirls show through?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

I did mostly water wash downs...still do whenever I need to grind back any areas...vacuuming tends to clog the filter in no time and can lead to motor melt down [ don't ask...:facepalm:]...blowing with compressed air is also a no-no [ again, don't ask...]...
And yes, grinding does seem to take forever...

 

[britisher]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Welcome to the wonderful world of grinding!! Did that all last year.
After grinding sessions I would sweep up the bulk with a small hand brush and tray. Then go over the area again with the vacuum. I'd then give it a swill with the hosepipe, so it was nice and clean and sparkly in time to do it all over again!
What are using for grinding? I bought the usual grinding wheels and also a couple a flapper discs. Woodonglass recommended getting the plastic backer pad and some heavy duty sanding discs from Harbor Freight. I followed his suggestion and found the discs were by far the mos effective way of cutting back the glass fiber. I also went through 2 HF grinders as well. The dust clogs them up quickly but their brushes are not very good and wear out fast. When you are grinding stage, you are the bottom of the demo curve and it's all a cleaner down hill run after that.
Happy Grindings

 

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Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

OK will try the wash down... Hopefully it won't make too much of a mess of the driveway and grass. Oh the joys of living in suburbia. Wish I was back in the country with no worries bout the dust or where it went. Britisher, I'm using a 4-1/2" grinding wheel with rubber backup pad and 24 grit disks as wood recommended. I used some flap disks when I started but they don't nearly hold up as well as the resin coated disks. Went through 3 flap disks in the same time as 1 resin coated disk. Eats the tabs up pretty good too. Had a concern though bout all the grinding marks, etc showing up through the gel coat (if that's the route I decide to go vs carpet) or am I over thinking it and its not a concern?
Some pics:

Here you can see where I cut through the hull (ugghh). Ground out around them for patching.

It's like snow. I've emptied 3 full loads out of the shop vac

Got a lot more grinding to do...

 

[britisher]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

The last pic brings back so many memories! LOL. I wouldn't worry about the grinding marks at this stage as you are still at the bare hull stage. You can always smooth any rough spots with a finishing or rotary sander. My deck area was all carpet and I do plan on putting new carpet back in at some point (when $$'s allow). When you are re-decking you'll be laying CSM on top of your plywood and that in itself does not provide a billiard table smooth finish. BUT it does make it safer to walk on. The sloping sides where the hull meets the deck are only visible (certainly on mine) for a few inches and the rest is masked by the upholstered side panels. When you finish your redecking, you'll need to cover it with something. I never really had success in putting on gel coat in the bilge area and found it went off so quick, I could never get a smooth finish. Maybe I was just doing it wrong? So I moved off a gel coat finish and used Rustoleum Enamel for my bilge instead. The original Sea Ray finish was like a gray/blue color, so I used Royal Blue rather than White. It took a day or so for it to harden off, but has weathered well, it was easy to paint on and gave a nice smooth finish. After that, when I looked at the blank canvas of the new deck, I decided to use the Rustoleum there too. So I have a nice Royal Blue interior deck. The carpet was a Royal/Navy Blue mix, so not a million miles from the pure carpet. For the time being I'm happy as it does its job OK.

 

[centurycts]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

further. you have done a ton of work in a very short time! Great job!! You are going to have a fantastic boat when your finished. My thanks to Wood on the 24 grit paper.....John

 

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Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Hey all,
Figured I'd update a bit. Haven't had much time to get a whole lot done but plugging away on the grinding little by little.
Here's my tent setup - Keeping the dust contained for the most part... and making due with my limited space...


Here it is lit up for some night time work :laugh:


So I've got a little left of the starboard stringer and about 3/4 of the port stringer left and all the tabbing at the bow to grind and then the rest of the hull to get to fresh glass. Still a bunch to do. Also finding some pretty thin spots which I'm gonna have to build up.


I ground out the center bulkhead and it seems like it can go a lot deeper but the surrounding area is level. Kinda hard to describe so here's a pic. There's still wood in there from the bulkhead which I'll dig out.

The area adjacent where the stringer was is nice and flat.... If I continue to grind this area I'll be well below the adjacent area where the stringer was and I'm worried about going too deep. So what to do, should I grind down more?



Hope to get a good amount done this weekend, so hurry on up Friday and get here already...

Thanks for all the good advice so far!!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Making great progress...
I like the illuminated dust tent, very creative...with a couple strands of Christmas lights it would make a nice holiday decoration......uh, yeah, maybe not...:facepalm:...
As far as whether or not to grind the area you asked about...
The way I would go about it is to just use a rotary tool of some kind, like a carbide burr on a drill motor and dig out just the old wood that's left in the crevice...
When you start the put back, just fill the crevice level with some hairy PB or put several strips of CSM in there to fill it, then bed in your new bulkhead with PB and tabbing...

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Great job so far. Nice tent set-up. I will definitely use that idea on my next restoration.

 

[bakerjw]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

great progress and decent tarp setup. I feel your pain but I don't miss it in the least bit. Hang in there and you will see the end of the tunnel eventually.

 

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Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Thanks GT1M... Makes perfect sense.. Will do! Excellent idea on the xmas lights... I may just have to do that to spruce up the neighborhood a bit LOL :lol:

Thanks for the encouragement SD and Baker ... The tunnel is long and is difficult to motivate to get through. :frown-new:

 

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Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

Some more progress. Another 4 hour grinding session and got all of the old tabbing ground down and the hull is now nice and flat. Have a bit more to do to remove the old carpet glue and old gel coat from the bow area as well as the ski locker. I think one more session I should be done with the demo, clean up and can start on the build woohoo!!

 

[Noltz]

Re: 1988 Maxum 1700...There's no turning back now!

And I get ansy when someone asks me to do anything more than a brake job in the driveway, here's guys like yourself rebuilding an entire boat. My hat's off to you, sir... and tagged for following along.