Bought my first boat to cut, gut and rebuild from bow to stern, including engine. Killed my back and suffered the wrath of the fiberglass demons

[TripleJGraffis]

Demolition and grinding are really tiring. Once you get all the garbage cleaned out and all the bad stuff ground away, it starts to get a lot more fun.

I can't wait for that to happen.... but I fear that that step is still a long ways away. Lol

 

[stresspoint]

you may want to go to the feed store and grab some hessian bags to cover the dash area, before you to get to fiber glassing, secure the bag with a couple of screws so as they are not falling down all the time "" you can fill the screw holes later "".
they usually give the bags away so you can grab as many as you want , they also come in handy for filling with scrap foam , wood and all the other stuff you cut out.

all good fun the stripping out , in fact i kind of enjoy the destruction process .
keep the PPc on at all times even when clearing up!.

 

[tpenfield]

Looks like good progress . . . this boat is certainly bringing "tinkering' to new level.

 

[TripleJGraffis]

you may want to go to the feed store and grab some hessian bags to cover the dash area, before you to get to fiber glassing, secure the bag with a couple of screws so as they are not falling down all the time "" you can fill the screw holes later "".
they usually give the bags away so you can grab as many as you want , they also come in handy for filling with scrap foam , wood and all the other stuff you cut out.

all good fun the stripping out , in fact i kind of enjoy the destruction process .
keep the PPc on at all times even when clearing up!.

Great idea!

 

[TripleJGraffis]

Looks like good progress . . . this boat is certainly bringing "tinkering' to new level.

Definitely keeping me away from my regular hobby... but that's ok....I have a very expensive hobby..... guess i have 2 now.

 

[TripleJGraffis]

So today I went out and get myself a dust separator..... and 16 feet of so vacation tubing.... and an oscillating multipurpose tool....i also found this really cool plug adapter that you can plug a main power tool like a grinder or multipurpose tool into along with 2 accessory tools such as a shop vac into so when you activate the main power tool...... the shop vac turns on automatically and shuts off automatically as soon as you shut the main power tool off. Will allow me to suck up dust while simultaneously using a power tool on the boat.....I can also flip a switch on it to just activate the shop vac alone without having to use said power tool.... and without having to have the shop vac up in the cramped boat with me! One thing I noticed recently is I have nowhere to rest my legs when crouched down in the boat so I went to goodwill and got a 2.00 pillow that I can kneel on while in there. That should really help me with not getting so winded. Might get back at it tomorrow

 

[stresspoint]

knee pads that floor tilers use are my go to when kneeling down in hulls.
i also nicked some arm pads that the missus uses in the garden.

ha ha , funny story , a mate come over and said i looked like a space man when i was deselecting (spell check) a hull.
i told him to get in there for 5 min and have a play with some tools , needless to say he soon realized what all the clobber was for.

good to read you are taking precautions with dust extraction , biggest issue is that there is not only fiberglass shards to be aware of , there is who knows what mixed in with that dust coming out of that old hull .you don't want to be breathing or getting that stuff on you.

 

[TripleJGraffis]

knee pads that floor tilers use are my go to when kneeling down in hulls.
i also nicked some arm pads that the missus uses in the garden.

ha ha , funny story , a mate come over and said i looked like a space man when i was deselecting (spell check) a hull.
i told him to get in there for 5 min and have a play with some tools , needless to say he soon realized what all the clobber was for.

good to read you are taking precautions with dust extraction , biggest issue is that there is not only fiberglass shards to be aware of , there is who knows what mixed in with that dust coming out of that old hull .you don't want to be breathing or getting that stuff on agreed

knee pads that floor tilers use are my go to when kneeling down in hulls.
i also nicked some arm pads that the missus uses in the garden.

ha ha , funny story , a mate come over and said i looked like a space man when i was deselecting (spell check) a hull.
i told him to get in there for 5 min and have a play with some tools , needless to say he soon realized what all the clobber was for.

good to read you are taking precautions with dust extraction , biggest issue is that there is not only fiberglass shards to be aware of , there is who knows what mixed in with that dust coming out of that old hull .you don't want to be breathing or getting that stuff on you.

Agreed. I keep finding more and more rot as I go. I'm using the respirator.. goggles and now the shop vac when cutting. Went back at it today. I'll be posting more shortly.

 

[TripleJGraffis]

Went back at it today. It was moreso a cleaning day than I cut and gut day.... but I did some of that as well. Most of the debris that was sitting inside was picked up... swept up or vacuumed out using my new diary separator attachment and power switch! It was a nice feeling seeing her a tad bit cleaner and able to see mostly just her bare bones instead of a bunch of crap... made it feel more like I was actually getting somewhere instead of just making a mess. I yanked some foam out.... but towards the hull where the foam is water logged.... it is also frozen.... so this meant that I had to chisel the icy foam out. That was very tedious work but the little pry bar that I bought last night made a decent tool to pull it up. I also was able to cut out one side of the bow seat base.... this was an absolute b@tch to get out as the void closest to the captain's seat was full of foam. I was not anticipating this. Does anyone know if when I rebuild it.... if I can get rid of the foam and use the space for extra storage or leg room? The wind is kicking up. I think there's a storm coming. It got cold quick so I called it a day. Maybe I'll get back at it tomorrow.

 

[stresspoint]

utilize storage where ever you feel its safe to do so.

foam where you feel its needed , keeping in mind where you are using the boat , for lakes and rivers you just want to have enough to keep the boat afloat long enough to beach it.
storage is more important IMHO on lake and river boats.

if your going deep water you want enough to save your life.
floatation is more important when you cant see land.

 

[tpenfield]

Does anyone know if when I rebuild it.... if I can get rid of the foam and use the space for extra storage or leg room?

I would put back as much foam as was there originally, if not a bit more. The ability for the boat to stay afloat in an 'unplanned event' is really important in just about any situation.

I also noted from the pictures that you have not cut out the main stringers that run either side of the keel. I might have missed any discussion on that, but wondering if you determined that the stringers are in good shape? or will you be cutting them out at some point?

 

[TripleJGraffis]

utilize storage where ever you feel its safe to do so.

foam where you feel its needed , keeping in mind where you are using the boat , for lakes and rivers you just want to have enough to keep the boat afloat long enough to beach it.
storage is more important IMHO on lake and river boats.

if your going deep water you want enough to save your life.
floatation is more important when you cant see land.

It would most likely be used in lakes and rivers..... being is Wisconsin and having access to the great lakes...I might want to travel those as well.

 

[TripleJGraffis]

I would put back as much foam as was there originally, if not a bit more. The ability for the boat to stay afloat in an 'unplanned event' is really important in just about any situation.

I also noted from the pictures that you have not cut out the main stringers that run either side of the keel. I might have missed any discussion on that, but wondering if you determined that the stringers are in good shape? or will you be cutting them out at some point?

I'm still cutting seats out yet. Eventually once they all come out and the boat is completely stripped of decking... seat bases and foam... then yes...I will get to the stringers and transom

 

[Scott Danforth]

It would most likely be used in lakes and rivers..... being is Wisconsin and having access to the great lakes...I might want to travel those as well.

Remember, the great lakes take no quarter and dont give up the dead.

The worst seas I have been in was deaths door (between the peninsula and Washington island) when the wind shifted.

 

[TripleJGraffis]

Remember, the great lakes take no quarter and dont give up the dead.

The worst seas I have been in was deaths door (between the peninsula and Washington island) when the wind shifted.

Been there many times. I'm from door county. I'm moreso thinking along the shorelines of green bay or lake Michigan just to travel to door county from green bay.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Personally, I wouldn't consider rebuilding a boat and not replacing foam. That stuff could literally save your life (and the lives of any guests) should things go south.

I never understand when people question the need for flotation foam when rebuilding.

 

[Chris51280]

its also sound dampening. if it sinks to the bottom vs floating, the retrieval cost is different. save money on other parts of the project.

 

[Lou C]

Agreed when we redid my 88 Four Winns about 18 years ago I replaced all the foam that had to be removed. If you’re not replacing foam which also stiffens the structure you’d have to add bulkheads to make up for the loss of rigidity with no foam. Boats that are built with no foam have a lot more structural reinforcement.

 

[stresspoint]

ahhh ,WTF on board my ski boat ,i just throw a heap of those old orange or yellow life jackets under the deck , serves 2 proposes , 1 , there is always enough jackets to go around ,2 , the buoyancy in the nose of the boat will help find it when 3/4 of the boat is under water.
no other buoyancy in that boat , however , its only used on inland lakes and rivers.it has never seen an ocean or salt water..
it does have a 500GPH bilge pump on a float switch that will get it too land before it fills with water enough to sink it.
the boat was never built with foam , it did have a sealed bulk head up front under the deck but i chopped a big hole to allow water skis and stuff to be stored out of the way.

now that being said : i have seen boats with full floatation foam gunwale deep in the water and still sinking , foam water logged , all the crap people carry aboard and compartments filled with sea water is no match for the foam that is still" buoyant".

 

[stresspoint]

continued from last post : there was an experiment done by one of the members on THT forum where they tested all grades of pourable foams V older foam that was exposed to UV ,V, waterlogged foam .

cant remember the exact outcome , but from memory all foams were found to be not that good respective of the weight /floatation expectations when exposed to water for longer periods IE: a few days was enough to absorb enough water to render most foam useless

OP choose wisely when using pourable foam , a little bit of water seepage and some of it is like a sponge.

this is what happens in most cases : someone drills a hole , water gets in , foam stays wet , foam deteriorates , foam becomes a sponge.