'76 MFG Fishin Caprice II Center Console Rebuild

[Woodonglass]

SDS, They don't have to be perfect on the bottom. You'll be bedding them in 1/2" of PB and that will take care of any discrepencies!!!

 

[Mud Puppy]

Kool Project! Permission to come aboard?

You got a good start on it it looks like and these guys and gals know their stuff!

 

[BajaRon]

What a project! But...it looks like you are determined. My first post after about 5 hours of lurking and learning. Excellent site. My project? Similar in that I want a center console for fishing. Difference? My 3 week old project is a 1970 19ft aluminum Starcraft. I will start posting pictures with my effort and follow your progress. Good luck, Ron

 

[Shakedownscott]

Thanks for the tip WOG. Trying to put things back the way I found them but seems like they did a pretty sloppy job in some areas. I cut the middle stringer to match the one I took out of the boat, only to find a 2" gap with the hull at the front. Do you think I should re-cut this to fit closer? I checked on the other side of the boat and the tabbing just kinda holds it floating above the hull :noidea:.


Welcome aboard Mud Puppy and Welcome to Iboats BajaRon. Looking forward to seeing your project. This is definitely a great site with a lot of knowledgeable and helpful folks

I was able to get the decks all cut and ready for glassing. Nice to sit on the floor and dream of getting her on the water again.




Fiberglass and resin are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow and I took Friday off so that I can work on the boat.

Next planning on removing all the new wood and coat it with resin. Gonna try and get most of the grinding done too this weekend. Probably wont get everything done, but will try my best. Standing in the boat bent over has been killing my already bad back. Going to try and alternate between coating the wood and grinding to mix things up.

 

[Woodonglass]

Yeah, I'd prolly suggest making the stringers about 1/4 to 1/2" shy of the hull. Like I said, the bedding material will take care of the rest and you'll be leveling the tops so they don't have to be perfect and you DON'T want them resting on the hull.

 

[Shakedownscott]

I was able to get a lot of the grinding done over the weekend. Nice to have a lot of the dirty work behind me. I really wasn't too bad except for sweatin my but off in the tyvek suit.





There was a small amount of rot in the front of the starboard main stringer so that came out too. I also removed any dry or rotted looking fiberglass from the main and middle stringer.







I ground back the wood just to clean it off a bit and give the resin a good bonding surface. Do you think the poly will stick well to the cleaned wood surface or should I use epoxy for re-tabbing these stringers?

 

[Woodonglass]

Sand em well and clean em with Acetone and it'll stick. Is your Keel Hollow (Center Stringer)?

 

[Shakedownscott]

The keel is hollow. Here is a picture of what it looked like before disassembly.

 

[Shakedownscott]

Someone has to take my sawzall away from me . I found some rot at the bottom of the main stringer. It was under the fiberglass, so I never saw it until I ground the fiberglass away. I was going to harden the wood with some magic rot fixing epoxy. When I opened the container it was hardened solid. I took this as a sign not to skimp out on repairing it right. So out came the sawzall and the stringer. A bit more grinding now added to the project but I will feel better knowing its replaced.





Weather is looking really good for the long weekend coming up. Should be able to finish grinding the hull after a few more days of work. If I get it done early I hope to get out and do some fishing :fish2: .

Hope everyone can get out and enjoy the last official weekend of summer, hard to believe its here already.

 

[Shakedownscott]

Before I put the stringers in should I lay down any CSM or 1708 on the hull? Most places cleaned up pretty good, in some places had to grind down past the tabbing to get it clean.

There are some low spots in the original hull. There are only a few but they about the size of a half dollar and maybe 1/8 - 1/16" deep. Should I fill these with PB before putting the stringers down? looks like they could leave a gap or bubble under the glass.

 

[sphelps]

You can if you want to but you will be filling that stuff in when you bed/fillet the stringers in before glass tabbing ..
Making good progress!

 

[Shakedownscott]

Thanks sphelps, its getting there slowly but surely. I should be able to finish grinding the hull this morning, it will be nice to have that behind me. Was able to start coating the wood with resign yesterday. It was my first attempt at mixing up a batch of resin. Everything went pretty good. After going through about a pint of resin I noticed my lips felt like they were burning. I didn't smell the resin through my respirator but thinking maybe I need a new cartridge. Is it normal to have some irritation even with a respirator? I do have a beard, which I know is a no-no with a respirator.

 

[sphelps]

You are using the filters for fumes and not the ones for particulates right ? Been using any acetone that could have splashed onto some thing then ended up on your face ?

 

[Shakedownscott]

I have been using the VOC cartridges, which I believe are the right ones for poly. I finished the grinding this morning and at the end I could hardly breath through the respirator because the cartridges were clogged. I am gonna get some new ones before I do anymore work on the boat.

Now that the grinding is done on the hull should I wipe it down with acetone or wash it somehow?

 

[Shakedownscott]

I have been coating all of the decks and stringers with resin. Next I am going to attempt to make PB to fill voids in the deck. I switched out the cartridges in my respirator and that made a huge difference. I forgot how easy it was to breath with the respirator on, it was totally clogged with dust.. Glad I don't have to spend the day today in that dust storm.


When I cover the bottom side of the decks with CSM should I wrap it around the edges before installing it?

 

[Shakedownscott]

Made a couple of batches of PB yesterday. I think I have the hang of it now.

Do I need to wipe down the deck with acetone before putting the CSM layer on the bottom? I coated it with resin a few days ago and it is all cured.

 

[sphelps]

It wouldn't hurt to give it a quick wipe down with acetone ... It kinda re-actives it a bit and makes it sticky ... Just pull the csm down around the edges a bit then clean it up after cure with a grinder.. When you fillet in around the outside edges during installation that should seal up any exposed raw edges ..

 

[Shakedownscott]

Thanks sphelps, that makes sense to me. I wasn't sure if acetone only cleaned the surface or was needed for a good bond. I will wipe any cured surfaces before glassing.

The hull on the boat had become real flexible after removing the stringers. I added some extra supports under where the stringers run. I attached them to the trailer, so I can still move it around if I have to.





She is nice and sturdy now. I re-checked all of my measurements, everything checks out ok. Ready to start putting the bones back in her.


I took out some of the pieces that I previously cut out of the boat. The fuel tank storage area is quite a mess. Needs lots of cleaning and tlc.





I notice when I picked this up it seemed heavier than when I put it away. Found out that there is some kind of core material between two layers of fiberglass. It had become water logged after the tarp failed. I drilled some holes in the bottom layer of glass and water is now dripping out of it.

Most places I drilled had no core in it, not sure exactly what I am dealing with here. Thinking about cutting out some sections of the skin to see what is inside. Any ideas on how to address this?

 

[Shakedownscott]

I have a question about the tube running down the center of the hull. I am not sure if its there to drain water from the front of the boat or is it to stiffen the keel area. My thoughts are that if is was to drain everything to the sump, why not just have cutouts in the bulkheads and let the water go freely front to back?

I am trying to decide if I should fill in the gap under the rear bulkhead and glass the tube to the bulkhead or leave this open so it can drain the middle section back to the sump. The same with the front bulkhead, originally it was foamed and sealed in the front and that trapped water in there.









Working on getting the stringers and bulkheads bedded in with PB. Its been taking some practice to get the fillets right. I have found it easier to push the PB under the stringers with a plastic spreader and then come back later to add the fillet. I had a hard time doing both at the same time, I am sure more practice will help.

 

[Shakedownscott]

Still not sure what to do about this tube. So far I covered it with CSM and 1708 to fix some cracks in it.