Idea's - How To close in a bow

[81 Checkmate]

Need some info, idea's - how tooo's

Wanting to close up the bow and make it a cuddy.
Pics-

 

[Alwhite00]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

Might be easier to sell it and get what you want.

LK

 

[QC]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

Funny, I see a lot go the other way here and in AZ. Don't recall this direction.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

Alwhite thanks for the sugestion.... Already have two other boats......but this is my resto project and wanting to minimize the interier work + i like the looks of the closed bow on this type of boat.

Doing the work is no problem...

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

OK, here are some ideas and things to consider . . .

1) It looks like you could build a 'cap' for the current bow opening to get you an enclosed bow. Your choice on if you want to glass over plywood, or build a mold and make a fully glass cap.

2) Second thing to consider is that a cuddy usually has a sunken floor that you step down into . . . a bowrider has its floor at the same level as the main cockpit floor. So, to make the cuddy useable, you will want to sink the floor down into the "V" of the hull, which will make it smaller, etc.

3) Then there are considerations for storage and lighting in the cuddy.

Slightly ambitious project, so consider if it is something that you really want to do, versus LK's suggestion of buying a cuddy.

 

[matt167]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

I would raise the roof to the top of the dash. Build it out of 1/4" plywood. You can get some brown wrapping paper, figure out your contours and then you could use a stitch and glue method to assemble it and get the contours right. You can angle the cabin walls to the front and it could look similar to many cuddies from the 80's. Plywood would need to be 'glassed and painted

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow




Ok keepem coming...... I already have my resto thread on this boat, but it is 2 yrs old (LOL) when i started it and i have a hard time getting some answers.

Let me claify....what im wanting is just a closed bow for the looks... but strong enough to walk/sit on.... No need for sleeping quarters..just some stroage space up front. This is gona be our Go - fast... Fun.....Blast around the lake kinda project.

Some more pics.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

View attachment 175271View attachment 175272


Ok keepem coming...... I already have my resto thread on this boat, but it is 2 yrs old (LOL) when i started it and i have a hard time getting some answers.

Let me claify....what im wanting is just a closed bow for the looks... but strong enough to walk/sit on.... No need for sleeping quarters..just some stroage space up front. This is gona be our Go - fast... Fun.....Blast around the lake kinda project.

Some more pics.

 

[Rmoore45]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

I would get a couple of pieces of 1/4" plywood and use that to keep the same contour of the boat that is on the bow. Make a jig to hold the plywood the same shape as the boat, just use a few 1x4s on the bottom, cut the ends at and angle and screw the 1/4" to that. Once that is done fiberglass the plywood so it retains its shape. If you're worried about strength you could double up the 1/4" ply so that is 1/2". Build a wooden frame out of 1x4s on the bottom side of the plywood so that you could secure it to the boat. This will also make it easy to build a storage compartment underneath it since you have something to secure it to on the top.

Now when it comes to blending it into the boat so that you can't see that you made that piece you can either try to do exactly what I just mentioned. OR you could have it stand out, maybe paint it a different color and have some cool looking trim around the edges of the cover.

That's just the way I would do it, Hope this gives you some ideas.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

Rmoore - I like your idea.

Something like this?

View attachment 201211201443.pdf

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

Auh...So your saying make a removable cover that fits inside the opening!

I like it........ no haveing to body work on the boat itself.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

Just a suggestion on how to work out your design...cut strips of heavy cardboard and create cheap, easy to reconfigure mock-ups using a hot glue gun...that way you can try out several designs and figure out how to go about building it before you ever cut your first piece of wood...then when you have the design finalized, you can go to town with little or no wasted time and materials...

Looks like a cool project, have fun!
GT1M

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

You could close the bow pretty quickly and easily with some vinyl and snaps...

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

From your resto thread:

81 Checkmate Restoration!

As the last progress pix:

And the only listed treatment of the deck & stringers indicates you coated them w:

I have to ask, did you fiberglass the stringers & bulkheads to the deck after using PL to attach them to the hull?

It looks like you used white PL, which PL did you use?

The pix you posted today of the bow enclosure plan, show an unglassed deck too:

BTW: 2 hours during the business day (EST just before lunch) isn't a very long time to wait to try & get some advice from people that likely work during the day...... Might give some guys some time to answer your question in your resto thread before starting a new thread. Keeping it all together, helps keep everyone on track w/ what has been asked, answered & etc....

Best of luck w/ your modification to the bow & the rest of your resto project. Sounds like you've gotten quite a few suggestions of how to proceed.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: Idea's - How To close in a bow

jbcurt00 - Yea after i posted i thought about it and should keep it all together. Its just sometime people look at the date and see 2010 and pass over it, i know i do sometimes when lurking.

Maybe a mod can put this in my resto thread.

To answer your question - I did not glass in the stringer. I used PL-400 to glue and then coated ( Painted ) 3 coats of the tile clad Epoxy white paint on everything under the deck. That is the way the factory had it done it when i took it apart.

Under the origanal deck Checkmate puts a Balsa wood core about a 1/2" thick, then they used fiberglass matt 1/8" thick or so.... then the decking off that.

I used 3/4" ply for the deck and also going with 4lb pour in foam under deck for support.

Im not finshed with the top of the deck - I used short strand body filler to fill 3/4s of the side transition gap and then used reg bondo to flush it up with the sides. This weekend i should be starting with the glass tabing around the edges - then going with mat and cloth over the whole deck.

I am trying to keep this on a low budget! I no, I no...... Thats not the correct way.... But it's already done.

Hope someone (Mod) can merge this.

Happy Boating!