My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

[Corjen1]

Flip complete......Arch, was too early for beer....It actually went very well and easy....did it by my self.

Set an anchor in the wall stud and one in the cealing, used my overhead chain hoist...





Installed a couple supports for the floor to sit on

 

[Corjen1]

Sanded the hull with 80 grit on a orbital sander....(now I wish I had gotten the air driven one)

the keel









Thats it for today.....dammit Im tired!!!! have a good night all!!

 

[Woodonglass]

Ya got any Glass Bubbles to make fairing material out of? Looks like you're gunna be needing a bunch!!!

 

[Corjen1]

Ya got any Glass Bubbles to make fairing material out of? Looks like you're gunna be needing a bunch!!!

Nope, used the last making PB. Ordering more tomorrow.....

A few questions for you guys.....I was thnking of putting a layer of 1708 on the damaged keel area. To this, would I need to take the keel all the way to raw fiberglass? what about fairing that layer? does it need to be smoothed? ( if yu were OK

What grit level do I need to take the hull before fist coat of primer? (Understanding this is a sacrificial coat, to be mostly sanded off)

Is PB a good enough compound to be used for filler? Normal prep to use it vs anything else?

Also, want to say thank you guys for all the help so far.....some times it feels like you are in the shop with me.....

 

[archbuilder]

~~I'm sure I will get in trouble on here, but this is what I would do. Grind down the damaged area low enough for your glass to be mostly below the new finished surface. It mostly looks like abrasion damage. Is there any cracking or is the surface solid? If so I would just lay up your 1708 and be done with it, probably grinding it back 3" or so on the sides to tie in the new glass. If you can still get to it, I would put something on the back to reinforce it for belts and suspenders. If there is cracking or weakness, the you need to start grinding back till you find something solid and remove anything that is cracked. I like to use a course grinder when prepping, a 36 min, gives a nice toothy surface for the new glass to mechanically bond to the old glass.
After grinding the new glass to rough shape, I would use duraglass filler on the first round. This is where I get in trouble, I think the traditional fiberglass fairing methods are overkill for boats that are trailered. Duraglass is very rich in poly, but still sandable with courser grits. Its used mainly to fill larger voids and has the advantage of being very hard for an automotive type filler. Then I would finish it out with normal automotive filler. Easy to work with and economical. I can't tell you how many people told me that it would flake off Miss Morgan the first time I had it in the water. I have never had any type of failure with it. True it is softer, but if you are painting the bottom the weak link will always be the paint when it comes to abrasion.
As for primer, they come in a lot of flavors. I again used and automotive product, DuPont's Nason. I can get the name for you, but it is a urethane, two part high build primer. I took my hull down to 120, then followed up with it. The idea is that you build it up, then sand most of it off into the floor. It fills the low areas and imperfections....takes a lot of time, but totally worth it. It sands very easily by hand, I usually do it wet to eliminate the dust, you would be amazed at what it will fix. Then I used a DuPont urethane base clear system for the finish.....base color, then a clear to seal it. Again no problems what so ever, very pricey, but I would do it again. And you can pick any color in the rainbow including metallics.

 

[Woodonglass]

deleted

 

[Woodonglass]

I spent a LOT of time DETAILING the bottom of my Hull. 15 mins. after splashing the boat the first time I already scratch the hull and then when loading it on the trailer the first time totally destroyed the keel again!!! Morale of the story, Don't FUSS over the bottom of the hull TOO MUCH! IT"s NOT a show boat and ONLY YOU will know about the little blemishes that aren't perfect!!!:joyous:

PS. I KNOW you will ignore everything I just said!!!! AND...Thats OK:watermelon:

 

[Woodonglass]

Your hull and keel are in about the same shape as mine was. The first thing you'll want to do is wash her well with TSP and Acetone. Then I sanded her down using 60grit. Some areas were all the way to glass others were not. As long as the Gelcoat is cleaned well and acetone washed then the fairing material will adhere well. I Filled major gouges with 3M Premium filler thinned about 10% with acetone. On the keel I filled with PB and then a layer of CSM, 1708, and two layers of CSM. Final fairing was with 3M filler. When I primed it with 2 coats of primer, it was as smooth as a baby's bottom.

 

[archbuilder]

I actually his plywood floating in the water the first day I had mine out.....fortunately it didn't really do any damage.

 

[Corjen1]

Arch, WOG, exactly what I needed. Thanks Gents. There are no cracks in the keel, it is abrasion damage. I have toyed with th idea of putting one of those Keel protectors on it.....

 

[Woodonglass]

One of the members Taped of his keel after it was finished and then applied 3 coats of white Truck Bed liner in the shape of a keel guard. It looked Great! Have not heard from him how it's held up but...IMHO I think it's worth a try. As for Arch's techniques, my only worry is that the auto filler does use talc and therefore any breaches in the paint below the water line into the filler would be more likely to absorb water and cause issues. I'm NOT saying it will but there are plenty of examples of Bondo filler being used below the water line and causing problems. Having said all this...Arch's rebuild is one of the best on the forum and his paint job is possibly THE BEST!!! I learned a LOT from him having not painted anything for over 30 years helped bring me back up to speed on the new fangled paint systems etc...

Following his techniques would be highly advisable IMHO!!!:joyous:

 

[Corjen1]

Well, my week long boat rebuild vacation has come to a finally.....I managed to accomplish everything on the goal list and then some!! Also got to have an excuse to get my self early fathers-day gift.... I was at harbor freight this morning restocking supplies and they had HPLV spray guns on sale for 9 bucks.....couldnt resist

.

Started out the day filling the nicks and gouges with 3M Premium filler. then sanding the hull from 80 to 120 grit. Refillling and sanding, refilling then sanding.

here is a shot of the keel, it is a completely different thing after some sanding.....

 

[Corjen1]

As you can see frm the Spray gun px, I got to use it a bit today also!!!! I got to shoot my first sacrificial coat of primer....per Archbuilders instruction for a hibuild primer.... I used dupont 7704S chroma-surfacer, urethane primer filler

OK, in the next few pix, I welcome and appreciate comment and correction advise on technique....Just so we are all perfectly clear, I am not a painter, never have been and dont claim to be.......guidance is needed.









You can see every time I side stepped to start a new section an over lap line......How do I avoid the overlap lines?

 

[GT1000000]

Man, have I missed a lot of outstanding progress during these trying forum times...
You are doing a great job...the hull is gonna look real nice when you are done...
As far as the overlap lines on your primer, I wouldn't worry about those, since they will get sanded away...
What may be happening is it is drying too quickly...if available, get a "slower" reducer for higher temps from the same brand...
You could possibly lay down a slightly wetter coat, also...from the looks of the pic where you are shooting the primer, you need to do a couple of things...
Open up the fan pattern and get a lot more material flowing from the gun, keep your coats wet and overlap the previous pass by about 25-50%, check the paint manufacturers recommendation for overlaps...
What that will do is allow you to cover the area more quickly and uniformly and help prevent your stopping edge from drying before you get to the next pass...
By having the gun set up to shoot a narrow pattern, which is really there for spot touch use, the paint hits the surface very heavily in the center of the pattern and the outer edges of the pattern are almost dry, the Wider fan setting applies the paint much more evenly...
Another thing you could do is to spray from the center out to the edge and you should only end up with an overlap down the keel.
Keep up the awesome progress!

 

[archbuilder]

Cool progress! Like GT said work on your fan and laps. The gun should also have a volume control needle, you may need to open it up to let more material get shot on. keep the gun 90 degrees to the surface, looks like you are from the pic. Just remember, the key to good adhesion is making sure everything is sanded. Paint and primers use a mechanical bond, so they don't adhere to non sanded surfaces very well. What pressure are you shooting at? If you don't have one, get a pressure valve with a gauge for your gun. One other tip, not too important in priming, but you can buy cartridges that screw on the bottom of the gun. They soak up water that is in the air. If you get water shooting out when you paint it will leave bubbles......not pretty and you will be instantly mad, trust me :mad-new: When you sand, get I really strait paint paddle or a piece of wood similar in size. Wrap you sandpaper around it and used it for a sanding block....use both hands and put even pressure on it. Blocking it will help to flatten out things. Of course some places you cant use that, 3m makes some rubber (not foam) squeegees that you can use as a block for contours. So of course just has to be done with your fingers. (which will be sore by the way). I like to wet sand, paper last longer and no dust. Leaves a little mess, but nothing a squeegee won't fix.

 

[Corjen1]

Arch/GT, Thanks for the feed back!! Forward thinking question.......at some point I need to make a hatch cover for the ski locker. I am thinking a slat type access door, (similar in style to the swim platforms) what kind if wood would you suggest? and what to finish it with? Ive see where guys have coated bar tops with resin.....I love the natural wood grain look, Ideas????

 

[Corjen1]

Double Post.....any idea how to delete your own post???

 

[Woodonglass]

Teak would be good. Pricey but very water resistant. You can use about anything you want if you if you seal properly which I know you will. I'd recommend dyeing it with a water base dye then applying 2 coats of epoxy and then 3-4 coats of marine varnish. It'll last for decades an and look like a million bucks!!! You could use Oak or Walnut if you did it this way.

 

[Goldie627]

You're doing fantastic work over there! I had a busted day at my boat today, but when i came home and discovered your post, i got that "I can conquer the world" feeling all over again Keep up the good work

 

[archbuilder]

my swim platform is teak, very pricey but it holds up well. I just oil it once a year. The oil lets the wood breath, expand and contract. A lot of the other finishes crack when the wood expand, then de-laminate. You could use epoxy if you want a glossy finish, but you will need to put a varnish on top of it. The UV eats up the epoxy if its not protected.