Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

Sorry for the late reply ( last minute Jobby Nooners came out of the wood works lol ) ( ITS a MI thing folks ) .

Anyways..If someone else could give you an option for a pourable trans .. that may help.

Aside from that.. I can shoot up there mebbe this weekend ( If we are not going camping ) ( PM me with your contact info ).

For now .. hold off on the sawzaw thing please..

YD.

 

[joshvette001]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

Haha gotta love them Jobby Nooners lmao that festival can be so crazy. Well the only reason why I think a pourable tran's doesnt really matter is because I Have to replace the floor anyway which cant be done without taking the top cap off... So a pourable is basically useless cause I still gotta get the top off. Well wish I woulda saw this about a hour earlier lol I already used the SawZaw it seems to have worked a bit but honestly the top cap is still stuck... I tried pullling it up and the whole corner basically snapped a bit on the left so it is sticking on the two inside corners right by the splashwell... Not exactly sure what the hell is holding it at this point.... I think its just overlap or something but it really is getting old.... I am to the point of saying **** this boat because I don't wanna damage it but I also don't wanna spend the next 3 months trying to get the damn top cap off lol il pm you over the contact info

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

In my opinion, pourable transoms are great for one specific scenario.....and otherwise good condition you don't want to be tearing apart. For others, a typical plywood transom is more than adequate.

 

[joshvette001]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

Well guy's I have been busy and didn't have a chance to really work on the boat for a while... Anyways I have now gotten the top cap off - A few weeks ago and today I have decided to break out the good old grinder saw and Respirator and go at it... I have been working on this puppy from about 10 oclock this morning till now 4:30... I can tell you this the wood is definitely rotten but it is a ***** to actually get up... No way in hell your pulling it up as a full piece haha once I got the fiberglass coat over the top off it seem's that the wood is just falling apart as im trying to pull it up... It seems the stringers are fine as of now but I am going to do a few test drill holes in certain area's that I knew water was pooling to make sure there isn't any bad areas I need to replace/repair. I have found areas that I know will need some touch ups to the fiberglass etc as they are either thin or look like the factory missed a gap etc.. Attached is the un organized chaos that I call my repair haha... And for everyone that hasn't really read this I do realize this boat isn't fully worth the work that I have to put into it but it was my grandfathers and really meant alot to him... Another family member took the boat and wouldn't give it back for years and we got it back basically ruined and it really hurt him.

Anyways my question is for the people that have done fiberglass before I know I Have read that I must sand every surface where I plan to reapply fiberglass to is this correct? I then know that I have to clean it off with acetone to get rid of any extra dust before applying anything to existing fiberglass. I Just want to make sure when I do start glassing in a few day's that I am doing it properly.

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

Well partly right..it's grinding not sanding....and yes clean with acetone good and when you're sure it's dust free...wipe it down again and start glassing.

 

[joshvette001]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

Hey Cad thanks for the last reply. So I know you have done a resto on a cajun boat... I am wondering if you have ever seen what is going on with this glass? I am going to ask Yacht Dr as he actually lives by me and I have visited him once already to speak about how to do glass correctly... Btw hes a great dude extremely nice and very knowledgeable... anyways take a look at the pictures below. I dry fitted my new transom first sheet cut as I have to glue two sheets together... Thing is once I got the wood out I realized that the stringers had rot in them... Wohoo more work haha it didnt seem to bad which it really isnt until I realized this boat which hasn't been in the water in almost 4 years and was in a enclosed garage still has water logged chemical pour in foam... That **** is a ***** to get out... anyways look at the actual glass on the bottom... its like the water has caused the resin to start to dissolve or something. I am finding this on the edges of the inside of the boat and other places where it looks like glass fibers coming apart.... Was wondering if anyone knows what causes this other then water and how I should fix the actual glass. I am going to PM Yacht Dr but I just wanted to post pictures and progress... Gotta get this puppy done before winter in michigan.



As you can see the fibers are coming up etc...

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

Not unusual what your seeing, the wet foam has caused it...once you get all the foam out and it can dry out good, you'll be able to start grinding. I sort of let this go, because I thought YD had you under control.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

I dont know why this thread didnt appear on my Settings list ?? I was also wondering why you have not called for updates .. ( you can call me anytime after 9 and before 6 ).

Ok..now then .. You Need to remove all wet foam.

As far as that CSM thats all yellow and crappy looking .. your ok. IMO its just from improper bubble rolling/resin ratio on the top layer of mat.

Surface mat that has failed really poses no problem. .. you should grind that layer of crap CSM off so it will not hold anymore water underside of that lam ( its not structural ).

So .. bad foam out .. bad crap CSM ground off ( easy grind out ) and replace with new.

Call me so we can set up a date on when I can come out to the boat please ( 9-6 please ) . we will post some pics and get you on the road.

Any and all other Iboat members please do NOT stop posting with your help Its not a YD only thread .

YD.

 

[joshvette001]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

Hey Dave,

Thanks for replying I will definitely give you a call sooner or later this week.... was trying to get the new transom cut and glassed before the rain started kicking the end of this week... anyways what i did to prep and cut etc..

First step I took was to obviously trace the back of my transom... I tried a few different ways and finally just took two sheets of packaging paper taped em together then taped the paper on the back of the trans outer layer and traced. I then was able to cut out the wood and dry fit one piece. I then took the piece i just cut that fit put that onto the plywood again and retraced/cut. I was able to figoure out exactly how I needed the boards to be glued together and I then pulled them back out. I labeled the front and back sides of the boards so I knew which way they needed to go together.

I then decided it was time last night to play with glass and resin I measured out 2 cups of resin = 8oz each or 1/2 of a quart and then measured out 5cc mekp. mixed the resin up and started to saturate the wood.... Should of listened to YD on the fact that the wood was going to soak up more resin than anything.. I then had to mix another cup of resin and I threw down my CSM 1.5thick. I made sure that it was plenty saturated etc and then grabbed my other board and rolled out resin onto that until it wouldn't take anymore... I then took the two boards put em together and clamped them down. I sat a battery in the middle and clamped all around the edges.

Went to bed and wallah when I came back from work today I had a solid transom piece The picture I am posting now is the back of the transom that I just glassed... I first laid down 1 layer of CSM and then 2 layers of 1708 and then a final layer of csm... I believe that is what YD said to do I am going to feel real stupid if that isn't how I should of done it... I went through pretty close to a quart of resin... The board wasn't completely saturated on the other side so my guess is that's why it took so much.


I want to note that honestly I give the guy's like YD and oops and the other real deal glassers a round of applause as glassing looks easy but it sure as hell takes a bit of skill and getting use to... I went through about 15 pairs of rubber gloves because I kept getting little glass strands stuck all over the place... and let me tell you the tyvek suit I got has saved my ***... Please don't glass without one haha


Anyways I just wanted to give a small update and thank everyone for their inputs.

 

[joshvette001]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

Alright here is another update. Anyone that know's michigan weather let alone the North East know's just the little amount of time I am really working with... I am 19 own my own company plus running another so finding time to get this done has been a pain but I am making a final push for it...


Anyways I want to compliment any person that is in the Fiberglass business because let me tell you it's not just throwing down some glue and laying down layers of mat... I give all of you a round of applause for being as good as you are... I would honestly love to spend a week or so with someone that is highly experienced in the trade and learn from them because as easy as something looks to me a fiberglass guy see's it in a completely different angle at how to go at a issue...

I have personally met Yacht Dr and he is not only a great guy for taking the time out to help me but also knows his ****... anyone that is reading this thread please note that Yacht Dr. definitely is the real deal and knows exactly what he is doing... He makes doing glass look like a piece of cake lol.

Anyways onto the questions and update...

View attachment 115403

In this picture I have made notes... I did this yesterday and it seems that from 5P.M. to today at 10:30 AM the glass on some of it still hasn't dried... I actually bumped the MEKP up because of the colder weather.. Anyways the top of the stringer seems to be squishy and still wet... I do realize air is under the glass... My question to anyone that is actually experienced or has experience in doing this is do I need to regrind this down and try to get the glass to lay as flat as possible? Or once it dries will I be able to just glass over it one or two more times going partly down the actual stringer to secure to? I would truthfully like some advice in what you see I did wrong or what I did right as I am not a professional and I sure as hell don't plan on pulling this boat apart again.

View attachment 115404

This is a top view of the same stringer.

View attachment 115405

This is the side tabbing that I did... I ground down the sides and then cleaned twice with Acetone.. See how the white area's look... These spots or still wet and extremely soft... I am worried that either they wont dry or wont adhere properly... Glass expert this is where I need some serious advice as I haven't done this before and obviously you guys have...

View attachment 115406

Anyways I would appreciate everyone's opinions as I wan't to get the last layer's of glass on the stringer's where I had to replace pieces then I wan't to get the back decking cut and installed so I can get the main deck done and then Rewire the whole boat and get the top cap back on and reseal it and rivet it and hopefully be finally done :/ haha

Thank You to Yacht Dr and the other's that have given me advice and opinions.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Good Old 80's Cajun Espire.. Deck Repair

Your pics won't be working in an hour. Click the "Go Advanced" button when posting and upload them from there. It's a forum glitch they're working on.