1995 Larson 214 LXI... Floor and stringers

[Woodonglass]

Yup a Short Nap 4-5 inch roller will work nicely. Problem with epoxy is...it takes a LONG time to Kick and on Vertical surfaces this can be a problem. the Resin wants to sag to the bottom and you have to keep moving it back up.

 

[tpenfield]

Lay the 1708 cloth bottom side down in the resin for about a minute . . . set the cloth in place and use a resin roller to bring the resin through the cloth and to the top surface. The resin flowing up to the surface of the cloth brings all of the air out of the cloth.

It will be quick and effective.

 

[cup of Joe]

Your project is looking great.
Those stringers and bulkheads take a lot of layers.
I removed the top off of the hull,
this was my 1989 Rienell

 

[TRH299]

Interesting tip regarding pantyhose and fiberglass... have to remember that one. WOG, I have never had an issue with epoxy running out of wetted cloth on vertical surfaces. With that said, my past limited experience was with West System epoxy in the construction of a couple airplanes. In those instances I really made to sure leave only enough epoxy to wet out the glass.

Anyhow..... I stayed out late in the shop last night and finished laying my last layer over the stringer and bulkheads forming the starboard interior compartments. By doing it all in one day, I did not need to sand any of it between coats/layers. Next on the list is to cut/fit the 1/2 ply flooring.

 

[TRH299]

Got the rear bulkhead in and glued on some cleats etc to glue the floor down to. Rear floor piece is fit.... will cut/fit front piece this week.

 

[TRH299]

New starboard floor screwed down for test fit.... Will epoxy the bottom side then glue it down tonight!

 

[Bayou Dave]

Must be nice to have something to actually walk on again.

 

[TRH299]

It is indeed nice to have a floor again. Still many hours remain wetting out lots of glass with epoxy, but at least it feels as though the main original objective of replacing the soft floor is completed.

 

[71beepbeep]

Won't be long now

 

[TRH299]

New keel cap board replaced and got the floor tabbed to the hull with two layers of 17 Oz cloth.

 

[TRH299]

Ski locker floor and gaps filled in with PB then glassed in with 17 oz biax. This will get painted with Nason Fulthane.



Came up with a simple lever type jack system to lift the bow floor enough to remove the carpet that was trapped beneath it.


Used a sharpened steel strip and hammer to cut through the glue and then was able to yank out the carpet.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Very simple and effective methods. Are you putting carpet back down?

 

[TRH299]

At this point I am leaning towards carpet again. I should receive samples in mail soon. I was considering Deckadence mat, but the ski well and the transition to the bow floor do not lend themselves to the mat. (plus it is stupid expensive)
The carpet remaining on the sides should cleanup nicely so if I can find a match, I will likely just put down carpet again. I may however paint the under seat and rear storage areas and not use carpet back there.

 

[TRH299]

Finally got the fuel tank center bay glassed last night. New starboard stringer and bulkheads each got several overlapped 6" strips of 17 oz bias to the hull and all corners then I glassed over the entire bay with an additional layer of 17 oz bias. Ate up a bunch of epoxy in this session. It took me about 3.5 hrs to complete this layup. This sucker is sealed up good! My new keel cover board and limber holes going from ski well to fuel tank bay to bilge will allow much better drainage compared to the original factory sloppy transitions.

Front bulkhead between ski well and fuel tank bay

Fuel tank bay



Rear bulkhead between fuel tank bay and bilge. Will come back after cure and grind off edges of glass.

 

[Timr71]

that looks great!

 

[kcassells]

Oh come on...you done this before! Looks Great.

 

[mickyryan]

some purty work right there!

 

[TRH299]

Unfortunately I spread this boat repair out too long.... Racing season starts this coming Saturday and I now have to spend the next week getting my car ready instead of pouring foam and glassing my floor.



Hopefully the first few weeks will be drama free allowing me some free time from weekly damage repair thus allowing some time to finish the boat before summer arrives.

 

[Timr71]

I like your toy box...race car, MX bike, airplane, goat, etc. That's winning right there!

 

[TRH299]

Just lots of stuff to maintain and fix.... My wife and kids/grandkids do not care about any of "my" toys other than the boat.... In other words, I have to get the boat done by summer or I can forget about enjoying any of "my" toys. At the start of winter I had plans to put new graphics on it, build an extended swim deck, build a wake tower and to paint the trailer, but for now I better just get it usable.