Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

[shioner2001]

I have a 92 Galaxie 18.5' 4.3 Cobra that I am going to do some interior work to and would love to see some pictures if anyone has this or a similar model. I am mainly looking for pictures of the doghouse and jump seats. What is in there now is very shoddily done (imaging a bad upholstery job on a big flimsy plywood cube), so I want to replace it with something a little nicer. I would like to make the jumpseats that have the removable seat bottom that can be raised up to the same level as the top of the doghouse to make a sun deck the width of the interior of the boat (probably common on a lot of boats, I've recently seen a couple of older Four Winns like that).

So, if anyone has any photos that may give me some ideas, or any advice on do's and don'ts, I'd love to see/hear them. I'll be starting at the bottom with new carpet, so I'm pretty much going for a build up from the floor up.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

i built one several years ago. i used aluminum angle to make up the corner joints, use 3/8 plywood, and used the aluminum as cross support, to stiffen it. then padded and covered. it was much lighter that the previous dog house.

 

[shioner2001]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

If you have photos of that and possibly how the jump seats (if that's the way you're set up) tie in, I'd love to see them. If you can't post them here, feel free to email them to me directly. Hopefully you can put some on here for everyone to see. I'd love to see how some people have tackled this same project, I'm sure there have been plenty who have fabbed their own doghouses and seats.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

I've got a doghouse thread up here with pics... although I haven't quite finished it yet. I got sidetracked with my stringers and deck.

Construction was basically 3/8" ply, put together with temporary supports then filleted with wood flour "peanut butter" and fiberglassed together. It's very light.

Once I finish my new deck I'll see how it fits the boat, and finish the thread.

Erik

 

[oops!]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

eriks thread is really good....

i got one id give ya if shipping would'nt kill ya....(canada)

i found when i did mine ....doghouse with jumps......that the jumps were prone to fall a part unless glassed.....(the doghouse allyways pulled out and put back in)........fabbing glass from scratch isnt that hard....it will come out gellcoated and shiny new if you wax the mold good enough.

ill be doing a full sun pad/doghouse with bench seats on my thread in a week or two

but it will be a bulkhead/bench setup

 

[shioner2001]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

eriks thread is really good....

i got one id give ya if shipping would'nt kill ya....(canada)

i found when i did mine ....doghouse with jumps......that the jumps were prone to fall a part unless glassed.....(the doghouse allyways pulled out and put back in)........fabbing glass from scratch isnt that hard....it will come out gellcoated and shiny new if you wax the mold good enough.

ill be doing a full sun pad/doghouse with bench seats on my thread in a week or two

but it will be a bulkhead/bench setup

Any idea on what that would be to ship? I really appreciate the offer, like you said, the shipping may be a killer though!

I like the idea of the aluminum frame. I'll check out the rest of those threads and see what you guys have done. I appreciate it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

boats is long gone, pics lots in computer transfer. sorry.

 

[oops!]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

Any idea on what that would be to ship? I really appreciate the offer, like you said, the shipping may be a killer though!

prob $150 or so.....

its big and heavy...ill take picks of it today...and take mesurements.....

check out eriks thread......

if your intrested in fabbing a new one out of glass from scratch....just post back and ill give you the process......sounds difficult...but it isnt....can be done in 2 days....(one full day)

 

[shioner2001]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

Does anyone have the link to erik's thread? The only way I figured to search was to just search for every post he's made, which would be easy if it were me I was searching, but...

 

[oops!]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=231873&highlight=dog+house+from+scratch

 

[shioner2001]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

Thanks for the link, that looks great so far. As far as the materials (epoxy, glass, etc) that are used, are these Home Depot materials or something special? I have zero fiberglass experience, but am very experienced with wood and metal. Time to learn something new!

Any specifics on the materials would be helpful. Also any pics of finished setups, that I can kind of "work backwards" from would probably help me light up my idea light bulb.

 

[oops!]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

Thanks for the link, that looks great so far. As far as the materials (epoxy, glass, etc) that are used, are these Home Depot materials or something special? I have zero fiberglass experience, but am very experienced with wood and metal. Time to learn something new!

Any specifics on the materials would be helpful. Also any pics of finished setups, that I can kind of "work backwards" from would probably help me light up my idea light bulb.

im sorry....what materials or construction methods or materials are you refering to?

home depot sells glass and epoxy/poly resin...but youll find it cheeper elsewhere.....

as far as glass fabbing, if you can bang out a resemblance out of wood, lay in some arbourite, wax it....then its as simple as painting and laying some carpet........(a little more technical....but not that much)

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

The wood is home depot exterior grade ply. The epoxy is US Composites 635 thin resin with medium hardener. The glass is part of a big roll I bought on ebay a while back.

I got the wood flour to mix the putty from bateau.com, but there's a MAS product here on iboats' store that will work the same.

Doghouses are nice for experimenting... if you screw something up, usually the worst that happens is that they break earlier than you wanted them to. Feel free to experiment.

I pretty much did it without a plan except for a rough idea what shape I wanted. I was going to reinforce the top and corners with wood, but once the putty was in it stiffened up really nicely. I still haven't finished fairing out the surface, but I don't know that I will since I'm going to cover it with carpet.

Erik

 

[shioner2001]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

May be an elementary question (in fact, quite sure of it), but what is the point of going to all the work of epoxy and glassing instead of just sealing it, since it will ultimately be covered in carpet or vinyl?

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

How would you seal it without epoxy and glass?

Something like thompsons' water seal wouldn't last a year, nor would most polyurethane finishes.

Also, the glass and epoxy is a major part of the box's strength. I expect to let people sit on it when the boat's not moving.

Erik

 

[oops!]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

How would you seal it without epoxy and glass?

Something like thompsons' water seal wouldn't last a year, nor would most polyurethane finishes.

Also, the glass and epoxy is a major part of the box's strength. I expect to let people sit on it when the boat's not moving.

Erik

sit...stand...jump....mine has had three people standing on it whan skiers are climbing outta the water.......two were football players.

its gotta be strong.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

Maybe I should weld one up from 3/8" mild steel plate It'd be strong, that's for sure.

Fortunately I'm going to have a dive ladder that will let people climb over the transom instead of standing on it, so that'll help. But yeah, I am worried a bit if the thin ply will be strong enough.

Erik

 

[oops!]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

once you glassed that puppie....that was it !

that ply is really strong in the widths you made it.....the glass will allmost double its stregnth....and ....your an epoxy guy ! a sumo wrestler could probably have a mach on it and it would be ok......

.....disclaimer.....dont try this at home folks.....

 

[shioner2001]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

How would you seal it without epoxy and glass?

Something like thompsons' water seal wouldn't last a year, nor would most polyurethane finishes.

Also, the glass and epoxy is a major part of the box's strength. I expect to let people sit on it when the boat's not moving.

Erik

That's what I was talking about. Didn't know how something like that would endure. I also didn't realize that the glass provided that much structural integrity. Duly noted!

 

[oops!]

Re: Doghouse pictures? Rebuilding...

glass.....if properly applied..... can be allmost as strong as steel.