72 Thunderbird Formula w/twin 165hp Mercs

[Mark72233]

Just got kcassells picture of a properly connect tank. Thanks I like pictures. I am a draw me a picture with crayons kind of guy.

 

[kcassells]

Me too lol!

 

[Mark72233]

Cleaned out the garage and sorted through my engines getting geared up to start working on those. I pulled the heads off the 2 donor engines I got last year so I can rebuild them. On one of the engines I pulled the manifold off and hiding behind it was a 12" long crack in the block with JB weld not holding it together. No big deal I have 2 more blocks I can use and everything off that engine looks great (Elbow, Manifold, head, carb, oil pan, fuel pump, alternator, starter, distributor, stern drive, trim pump, crankshaft, cam shaft and on and on) so it was still a great deal on the package. Stripped everything off of it and know have a 150 paperweight waiting to go to the scrap yard. I still have the donor boat and trailer I have to sell as well.

 

[WOEISMEIGOTTA470]

Not much to say other than keep doin what your doin, photos look great. Looking forward to seeing those engines get built!

 

[Mark72233]

Making a list of supplies I ordered, used and wish I would have gotten more or less of. Back in September last year I placed my order of fiberglass supplies at US Composites. Now this is for my 23 foot boat. Complete restoration of deck, stringers, transom. Also the first time ever fiberglassing anything so there was wasting at first and still is a little.

50" wide 50 yards of 1.5oz Chopped Strand Mat (CSM) I have used about 25 yards of it. Should have ordered 30 yards
50" wide 30 yards of 1708. I have used all of it and picked up 10 more yards at my local place
Resin 20 gallons used it all and have since picked up 15 more gallons from my local place, used 7 of that so far
Epoxy 1 gallon kit have not used it yet
2lb flotation foam. 1 gallon of each "A" "B" mix. I wont be using
3m Glass bubbles 2.5 quarts. I have not used them yet
Fairing compound 2.5 quart I have not used it yet
4 gallons of Acetone I bought from HD or Lowes. Used that and bought 1 more gallon
2" chip brushes. Bought 24 which I have used. Got about 15 more and used most of them.
2 tubes of 3m 5200. Used 1 so far
Cabosil. 4 gallons used that. Ordered 5 more quarts used that. I picked up 2 more gallons from local place and have about 1.5 gallons left
1/4" chopped strands. 4lbs I have 1/4 pound left
Stir sticks. ordered pack of 50 used most of them
Tongue depressors ordered 50 pack and have used about 15 of them
Plastic 1 quart mix cup. Ordered 50 used about 25
Plastic 2.5 quart mix cup. Ordered 25 used all of them. I have probably picked up 20 more and used them
Plastic 5 quart mix cups. Ordered 25 used all of them. I have probably used 10 more
Gloves. 100 per box and I have used 5 boxes
Tyvek suits for when I was grinding at least 4. I ordered them on line. I liked the yellow suits with the hood and booties. Order the biggest size they have.
Full face mask I had one but went through several sets of the high dollar charcoal filters. Finally started using the cheaper filters I pulled off of the mask I got at HD. They have cotton pads that come off and can be cleaned easy so I was able to use those filters a lot longer before I had to replace
4" roller handles. Went through at least 20 of these. Really started trying to clean them after each use and am able to use them several times before I have to toss them
4" rollers. I ordered 36 which are gone. I have since started buying the large packs of 9" rollers and cutting them done to two 4" rollers using my chop saw.

I should have ordered a little more 1708. Less 1.5oz CSM. I should have ordered some 8oz clothe. I needed a lot more of the mixing cups. I started cleaning out used cups and reuse them to mix the PB in. Hindsight on the Cabisol I made a lot of PB so I used a lot of Cabisol. Should have ordered more. The foam I ordered before I tore out the deck and found out the only place Thunderbird used foam in these Formula 233 was around the fuel tank and I decided not to repeat that mistake so I don't need the foam. Anyway just a rundown of what I have used. May help someone out when they plan their orders.

 

[archbuilder]

Mark, one thing I do with the mixing cups is leave the left over resin in them. Once if fires off, you can usually peel it right out. I also uselly leave the brush or mixing stick in there, a lot of times it works as a handle to pop out the resin. seems like I can use the same one 10 or 15 times before it cracks. You maybe doing this already sounds like you have gone through a lot of resin!

 

[Mark72233]

Arch I finally started doing just that but still wasted a lot of supplies to begin with. I see why some folks on here restore 2nd and 3rd boats after their first one. It is a lot of fun and satisfaction doing it but you learn so much on the first one you are just dying to put all those new learned skills back to work on a second one that is going to be done faster and better. I think I will just stop at this one though. :fish2:

 

[WOEISMEIGOTTA470]

Wow you went through a lot of resin!! But you also have more area to cover than I ever did. It's amazing how much material and supplies you can go through. Over time you learn how to be a little more resourceful and create less waste. I like your idea on cutting down the rollers!

I second archbuilder's statement on the mixing cups, much easier to let the resin kick-off and clean it out once its hard as a rock. The shop vac helps too get all the little dried left overs that tend to statically cling to the sides of the cup.
I always struggle when it comes to sizing up my shopping list for materials. Lucky for me the local supplier has pretty good rates and it only 30 mins away, but in the end it's always nice to have extra on hand. I hate having to slow or stop progress because I ran short on some stupid thing.

 

[WOEISMEIGOTTA470]

Acetone, rags, and gloves. The top three materials I go through the quickest! I recently switched to slightly thicker mil on the gloves and they last me a bit longer. I think I use 7 mil from harbor freight. I get my chip brushes from them too.

 

[Mark72233]

Well this is why I Tell everyone I'm an Old Dumb Okie. Back when I used to Build Pools we used a similar product around the pools and it worked Great!! I'm wondering if I'm DUMB to suggest using it as a Boat Deck covering??? It's easy to cut and form to a shape, Drains water easily, anti skid, UV resistant, comes in a variety of colors and easily removed if needed kinda like snap in carpeting. Sooo tell me I'm crazy or Dumb or whatever. It's just a suggestion. Whatcha guys think???

http://www.amazon.com/BlockTile-B2US.../dp/B009RI6JWY

Wood I have thought about the deck and since I have extra 1708 I am thinking of putting that down on the deck for the texture. I also like the idea of these block tiles so I ordered 2 cases in the gray color. I am willing to give it a try. I think it will feel good under bare feet. The blood and fish guts hopefully will not be to messy and I don't think it will get to hot and I will have 4 hatches on the deck that stick up about 1/2 an inch and these tiles are 1/2 inch tall so once I cut out where the hatches are it will even the deck up. It should be easy to put down and take out for major cleaning or replacing. Once I get the deck done and put this stuff down I of course will post pics.

 

[Woodonglass]

I'm glad to hear you're gunna give em a try. I have 2 old Black ones in the BF back in the back and I like em. Wish they were White but.. it is what it is. Keep us posted.

 

[ShowMeGuy]

man... For a guy that has never glassed before you sure set the bar high for the rest of us... :shocked:

 

[Mark72233]

Thanks Showme. Fiberglass is a forgiving thing to work with. I also took everyone's advise to heart. Followed Woods recipes for mix rates, peanut butter and wetting out clothe and I haven't had any issues. Videos from Friscoboater and my favorite Goldie helped a lot. By the way has anyone heard from Goldie it's been months.

 

[Woodonglass]

By the way has anyone heard from Goldie it's been months.

I been wondering the same thing!! Kinda gettin worried!!

 

[tpenfield]

Yea, Goldie627 has not been on the forum since August (2014). So, something must be up.

 

[89 resorter]

I think that Goldie was from the Sacramento area which had some bad fires last fall which was about the same time he quit posting ..... hopefully he and his family are okay.

 

[Mark72233]

I have a battery and battery cable length question for you electrically minded folks out there. I have decided to move the batteries from beneath the deck just in front of the engines to a location about 6-7 feet towards the bow. I am trying to move a little weight forward since I am adding a much heavier swim platform to the boat along with the beefed up stringers and bulkheads. I am thinking about fabricating a box just in front of the port seat that would serve as a battery box, foot rest and step. The question is with the twin batteries sitting that far up front I will need battery cables at least 12 feet long. Is that going to be an issue having it run that length and if not what size cables, 6,4 or 2.

 

[Mark72233]

Did some more reading. It looks like if my run is 12 feet one way then that's a 24 foot total so I need to use at least a 2AWG

 

[Woodonglass]

For future reference this is a really good source for this kind of information...http://www.boatus.com/boattech/articles/choosing-cables-and-terminals.asp

 

[Mark72233]

Well as so often happens on here we cant spend all of our time off with the boat because the Admiral gets jealous and has other plans for us. Like make me a desk for my home office. So make a quick cheap desk.

Oh now make me a rustic head & footboard for the bed. Foot board is done so far.