1989 Chaparral Transom Repair

[alldodge]

okay, that's good news. I can save some money then. Does the epoxy respond similar to the poly in mixing up putty and hardener %?

It does some what..... after mix the epoxy and then when adding cabosil it starts to heat up. I've had it get so hot it started to melt the plastic container. What I've found is don't use as much cabosil with epoxy

 

[rad1026]

I have been doing some test mixes with epoxy before I start on the boat. The epoxy and hardener I have says a 40% mix of hardener to epoxy. That is a HUGE difference from poly. I went to the US Composite web site and it looks like their mix ratios are similar. So I have two gallons of epoxy resin and a gallon and a half of hardener. Should be enough. I'm going to do another test this weekend and try the 40% mixture and see what kind of cure time I get. The first test I did was a 2% mix like for poly, and I got no curing at all. I put a lamp on it because it was probably only about 65 degrees in my garage and added some more hardener and got a pretty good cure. This weekend it is supposed to be in the high 70's so we will see how this epoxy stuff works.

 

[Woodonglass]

The ratio for Hardener in an Epoxy mix is MUCH higher than that for Poly. My USC epoxy is a 3-1 mix. One Part Hardener for 3 parts resin. Some epoxies use a 1 to 1 mix. What brand and type of epoxy are you using?

 

[rad1026]

I will have to look at the brand when I get home tonight and see if they have a web site that might give me some ratios, but on the hardener bottles it says use a 40
% hardener to epoxy ratio.

 

[rad1026]

No Title

This is what I have in the epoxy resin and hardener. Looking at their web site this epoxy is described as: water clear epoxy, great for clear castings.
The hardener is: Use for castings 1/4" to 4" thick, Long work time for bubble free casting 2-4 hours. Cure 48 hours

The mixing directions say to mix by weight. 40% hardener by weight not volume.

Is this something I should not be using?

 

[Woodonglass]

Uhhmmm No!!! This is NOT for marine use. As it states its used for casting items made from epoxy resin. Not for encapsulating boat parts. Boat epoxy has High UV protection and High Strength formulation. It runs from $80 to $120 per gallon.

 

[tpenfield]

Just go back to using the poly resin, as you will have to buy more anyway, since this epoxy is not going to work out.

 

[rad1026]

Yeah, that's what I decided too. I had enough polyester to mix up some PB and edge in the decks I installed last year. I wanted to post some pics but I don't have any way of resizing on my computer at home so I will post them on Monday from my work computer. I appreciate the consensus. I'm pretty much ready to pour two part foam and then fiberglass the decks. After that I'm ready for bilge paint, wow!

 

[rad1026]

No Title

I went out this morning and all the epoxy tests I did yesterday hardened completely solid. I mixed up some PB and I also wet out a piece of chop strand. Wow, it took overnight but that stuff is really amazingly hard. Anyway I still think I'm going to finish up with the polyester and not mix the two, just in case. It was just too cold yesterday to pour the foam, so I worked on a bracket for my remote oil filter and washed my wife's car. I'm going to do one more PB mix on the deck to smooth the edges, then a couple layers of 1708 around the corners down to the engine mounts and even things out with chop strand, whoops, need to pour the foam first. And there is a picture of the old girl just so we don't forget. Getting there. Sure wish I could just take a week and finish this up. Working only on weekends sure makes this a long project.

 

[rad1026]

A friend of mine works at a place here in Albuquerque that manufactures specific airplane parts for Boeing. They use an industrial toe part epoxy paint coating specified by Boeing that is "Designed to provide maximum protection from various chemicals, hydraulic fluids, aviation fuels, phosphate ester (Skydrol?) fluids and corrosion causing media". He says its super impact resistant and lasts forever. He brought me a gallon of gloss white for my bilge. I'm super excited. Its manufactured by Akzo Nobel Aerospace Coatings. I think its going to work well. I'm sure there will be enough to do my deck also, with some aggregate for non-slip.

 

[alldodge]

Should work fine, I bought some from Sherman Williams two part epoxy

 

[rad1026]

Ha, I put "toe part epoxy". Meant two part epoxy. There are no toe parts in the epoxy, I promise.

 

[alldodge]

Ha, I put "toe part epoxy". Meant two part epoxy. There are no toe parts in the epoxy, I promise.

We fat finger type all the time and are use to seeing it

 

[rad1026]

No Title

OOPS! I had a minor set back this weekend. I was looking at some pictures and noticed the original starboard engine mount had a notch in the stern end. I didn't think about that when I built the new mounts. I did some measuring and sure enough I could tell my engine starter motor was going to hit the corner of the engine mount. Dang it. I really had no choice but to cut the back corner of my starboard engine mount. After I cut the corner out I was going to reinforce the edge of the mount somehow, but I got to looking at things and decided I was not going to do any reinforcement. The way these mounts are built I think this is going to work fine. So I glassed the edges that I cut and poured two part foam under the deck and glassed the deck.

 

[alldodge]

Looks good, and sure good to find the issue now

 

[rad1026]

Oh, I would have been bummed if I had finished everything and then went to drop the engine in and made this discovery. I should have seen it from the very beginning, but if that's the biggest mistake I make in this project I will be happy.

 

[ripazka]

Hmm. I think the epoxy doesnt have to have any UV protection added to it because youre going to paint over it anyways (paint takes care of the UV). However its true that its better to choose marine grade epoxy to make sure it has been tested in boat use.

 

[alldodge]

Epoxy paint may or may not have UV protectant. Exp: Interlux VC performance is a bottom paint epoxy and has no UV, while Interlux Brightside is a top side epoxy and does have UV

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Just read over your post this morning. I found myself wanting to answer the questions you were asking a year ago. My Chap rebuild is way more extensive than yours. Glad to see another Chap similar to mine on here. Congrats on being close to completion. I'll be following along for the big splash!! Good work.

 

[rad1026]

No Title

Life has been pulling me away from the boat the past few weeks. My 23 year old son bought a house. We have been painting. When I first walked in to the house and looked at the high vaulted ceilings I told him hire a painter. There is no way we are going to be able to paint those high areas. Well, my brothers next door neighbor had a nice scaffold. He told us we could use it for as long as we needed. My son and I have been on scaffolding for two weeks now. Saturday we were doing the most difficult part of the job and I was just getting vertigo. I had to get down. He took over and I will be happy when we can take down the scaffolding. Any way, we celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday which meant yesterday was dedicated to my mistress. Doesn't she look pretty.

So now its time to get the transom assembly back in place. I have seen some people use sealant on the transom gasket. I know the manual does not show using sealant but is it a good idea to do that? What sealant would be recommended if I decide to do that?