1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

oops! Thanks for the kind words. I feel like a chump because half the time I'm on the boat I am staring aimlessly with no idea of what to do next.

Back to the stringers. I have some pictures. I have the boat supported on 2X8 adn 2X6 boards that are over the rollers on the trailer. The boat seems to have stayed where I originally set it up. Due to to the thickness of the boards it hasn't been sitting on the lower bow roller but I cranked the winch and it was firm on the upper one. I thought this may have been the problem after reading your post this morning. So I loosened the winch and pulled the boat back off the the trailer to see if that made a difference. It does not. There is still a pretty good gap between the stringer and the hull. As you can see.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Granted, my boat is bigger, and have a 454 in it, but I added bulkheads. Then again I overbuild everything

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Here are some more of the gap. I guess it is about the last 18 inches or so of the stringer that has this gap. I cut out a new middle stringer yesterday and really just made adjustments to make it fit. Bad idea I guess.



I am going to plead stupid and ask for some more detailed instructions on the string thing. I don't understand what you are suggesting. I have tried and it seems like I can make the string flat against the hull just by pulling it tight. And by the way. I really appreciate the help; this boat would have been at the dump by now if it weren't for oops!. It may still go but it will have a couple grand worth of wood and fiberglass and a ton of sweat when it does.
Chris

 

[oops!]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

thanks for the pics gator......but i can tell from them.

it kind of looks like a wave is going thru the hull....is the motor still in the boat? or any other weight? or are you at an empty hull?

lets go over the string line thing.....i see you had it out and were working it.

we are concerned about the plaining surface here.....the bottom of the boat.
you measure from the bottom of the transom to far up the keel. parelell with the keel

have someone hold the end of the string right at the end of the bottom of the transom.... on the keel.....the lowest part....and go forward with the string 3/4 of the boat.....(where the boat hull starts to curve up). place the string against the keel.
pull the string tight, and see if there is daylight between the string and hull.

then move to the lifting strakes....on both sides....and do the same. and finally at the chine. if there is space between the string and hull...
this way.....you will have 4 "readings" per side. and 8 for the total hull.

if there is dayllight between the string and hull....you need to adjust the boat.

if the string line touches the hull and bows......you might have a twist in the hull.

one way to tell....is to also stand back and look at the thing....make sure its straight on the trailer......remember you are looking at the plaining surface.

if you look at the top edges it can fool you because of a cad cut from the factory.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Nope, no motor in the boat really no weight at all. I am going to try the string test again tomorrow. I guess I was doing it right but wanted to make sure.
I'll update as soon as I can.
Thanks

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

So, I tried the string process again. I got no gap between string and hull on the strakes and chines. No such luck on the keel though. There is about an eight of an inch gap. What I think I have determined though is that the weight of the boat is on the boards I put under it boat and that is causing the hull to flex up where the boards are supporting it. So the string hits the transom, then misses the hull where my support boards are and then makes contact again at the bow because the hull is essentially drooping. Not good. As always, all suggestions, thoughts, prayers, and cash is welcome from you guys. I think that I may have an idea on how to get back on track but I am goign to have to think it through a while.
Happy thanksgiving.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

I have seen some of the other guys that started about the same time as me making some crazy progress. In man vs. boat, man is overcoming and winning the battle, Trooper82 is still flying through his work and the surprising timely demise of bear_69cuda's Imperial was one I never saw coming. It made me remember the good old days working on the Stingray and running upstairs to check the computer every five minutes.

At least one Iboater wondered what happened to that Gator guy and that POS Stingray he bought. Iboater, CILO PMed me back in June and we talked about what went wrong with the Stingray. He has one just like mine.

In any case, I guess I was not the first aspiring boat rebuilder to disappear and never be heard from again. Gone in a cloud of fiberglass dust. The story goes like this. Sometime around Thanksgiving 2011 I made the determination that I was a victim of internet induced over analysis. I had watched all of Frisco's videos more than once and spent more time waiting for oops! to answer a PM than I did working on the boat. I was crippled by the thing that had given me the confidence to take the project on on the first place.

So that day, I put down the mouse and let oops! live his life. Yes, I walked away from the Iboats restoration forum. I did not get back on the forum until about February. I check in now and again to see what new project is at the top of the page but no more answering myself on the forum. I have however made some progress. I will see if I can get everyone back up to speed. But one thing, if I ask a question, remind me that I have been to abyss and clawed my way out. Don't let me answer myself on the forum...Thanks to all.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

I got a bit ahead of myself in may last few posts. I had just chiseled out the rotten wood of the transom. This was my first chance to do some fiberglassing.





So the saga left off with my confusion and heartachebrought on by stringers that did mot make 100% contact with hull. As I mentioned in my post in November, I determined that the bow end of the hullmust be "sagging." I built a mini cradle for the last several feet ofthe boat, jacked up the bow and put it underneath and guess what? Problem solved, there was less than a 1/16th of an inch gap after the cradle so I pressed on. The stringers are looking a bit hairy. I wasn't totally pleased with my capping job so I got the grinder and touched up a few places. I then laid a narrow strip of glass on top and wet it out. The bottom of my deck was going to be glassed also but insurance is a good thing. Picture:

Another view:

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Looking good Gator! Welcome back.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

I mentioned that I had a couple of circular saw mistakes and also had one grinder mistake. I went ahead and patched these from the inside so I could move on to the deck. First was the starboard circ. saw injury.

And the grinder hole

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

So on the downhill run from the stringers, I went to work on the deck. The manufacturer had installed the deck in a manner that is not the normal look that I have seen on the forum but I was determined to put it back the same way. I made templates with foam and then took measurements from the center stringer to the hull every 6 inches. Surprisingly, I had very little trimming to do except on the very last piece in the bow.


This one took some time to fit

The final fitting with glass on the down side.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

The deck bedded in PB, SS screws sealed with 5200. These pictures were taken in Virginia on January 18th, 2012. I was not sure if I would get around to foaming and it was getting colder so I put a layer of glass on the deck and waited for a warm day.

From the stern:


Bilge area, still needing some cleanup but glass is down

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Flotation foam will not expand properly in colder temperatures so at the beginning of May, I had 70+ degrees and no rain for three days. I was working alone so no pictures of the foaming process but here is the deck post foam, tabbed in with CSM and 1708 and a full layer of 1708 on top of the original CSM and another CSM on top. The deck feels like concrete.

You can get a better look at the plugs in this one

Got a lounger seat and glassed in mounts so no drilling into the new deck

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

So deck is down and foam is in. I have no intention of painting the boat so it was time to put it back together. The plan is to get a professional to paint it in winter of 2012. So I decided to start working on some detail stuff while putting the cap back on etc.
I made a pass at a doghouse engine cover. It is covered in fiberglass, much lighter and stronger than the orginal.


This is the doghouse after a sanding

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Ok so around about the second week in June or so, I am talking to my wife about putting the cap back on permanently, dropping the motor in etc. She proceeds to sell me on the virtues of painting the boat myself. I had planned on gelcoating the deck and installing some kind of covering but never dreamed of doing the hull and cap.

The thought of all this brought my plans to a screeching halt. It almost brought me back to internet induced over anlaysis again. The pros and cons of gel vs. paint, roll and tip vs. spray you know the drill. I finally came to the conclusion that new gelcoat was going to be the best path for me. I bought a quart and started experimenting. From this research, I decided to roll the gel in the deck and spray on the hull. If you are curious about my reasoning, send me a PM and I will fill you in.

So making plans put me behind my original schedule so I worked to get ready to gel. I glassed the storage boxes back in and sanded/ground the bilge area to prep for sanding the entire deck. After cleaning the bilge area I could not stand to see it dirty again so:


I should have done this 6 months ago, dust just blows right off now and no worries about water in the bilge. Here is a picture of the port storage box. I gelcoated behind it before glassing it in so the area behind it would also have another layer of water proofing.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

So now back to prepping for gel. I wanted to complete any glassing I had to do in the interior before moving to the exterior. I created a cornerstone that is going to serve as a battery tray. My wife, son and I all signed it and I will glass it in for posterity. I also wanted to install bracket mounts for the jump seats in the stern.


I put the cap back on to measure out the seating, fuel tank, battery tray etc. I also had been working on removing hardware from the cap.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

So the ends to the means is just like in bear_cuda69's case the work, expense, heat etc. all got to me and I quit. All I have left is this



I realized it was just too much almost a full year's of work all for nothing really all the steps I took all lead me to this

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

The boat was flipped on Friday, Saturday was spent recuperating and I got back on it Sunday. Started with a nice washdown with the best stuff ever, barkeepers' friend. Marked some issues that need to be fixed while scrubbing

This was my grinder hole that was repaired from the inside

These were the two parts of the circular saw gash

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

I dished out all the cracks, gashes and holes with a dremel or grinder/sander. I mixed up some gel and cabosil to make a nice paste. I faired out all gouges and spider cracks with the paste and a plastic spreader. I had a hole around the bow eye and the grinder hole and saw gash that needed some glass so I made patches, the saw hole took three layers and the grinder two. these had both been repaired from the inside also. The bow eye took two layers and a good bit of paste. The majority of the cracks sanded right out with a pass or two of 120 grit.
This is the grinder hole


Part one and two of circ saw slices and the two together

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

I called it quits on Sunday afternoon after sanding the hull with 120 and then moving up to 220 to get the swirl marks as best as I could and still leave some teeth to the surface. I felt really good when I walked inside Sunday evening. The last picture I took and where it stands today (it has rained since Sunday night) was this one.


Oh by the way is a 220 profile to smooth to spray gel on? Anybody?...