My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

[Corjen1]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Sooner!!!!!

Question for you guys.....I was reading another restoration (trooper82''s EBCO) he asked early on in the thread:

"Have a question for the pros....once I sand the resin layer off the fiberglass in prep for the new glass, I need to keep that free from water until I get the new glass in place, correct?

Everybody said yes, but why?..... Just trying to learn here, cuz after my grinding the other day, I rinsed the boat out with the hose.....did I screw something up here????

 

[archbuilder]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Hmmm.....sanding creates a rough surface for the fiberglass to mechanically bond. Sort of like the old glass is the threads on a bolt and the new glass is the threads on the nut. I'm not sure what the context was on the water comment, but I disagree. water will have no effect on the mechanical bond, which I believe is the primary bond glassing old glass to new (assuming the surface to be glassed is dry) A lot of folks on here wipe down the surface to be glassed with acetone prior to laying up the new glass. Acetone does "melt" the old glass, but I wonder if the chemical bond from "melting" the old glass is equivalent to the mechanical bond. Personally I think that you should clean the repair area and remove all grease, dirt and wax first. This can be done by cleaning with acetone, pressure washer at the carwash or just dish soap and elbow grease. The key is that the surface is clean and free of contaminates. Once it is clean, grind it down to provided tooth for the new glass and glass away. Maybe I'm missing something, I guess the chlorine in the water could cause and issue? But I have never read anything on here about a clean well ground fiberglass repair failing for any reason other than the reinforcing wasn't adequate or the surface wasn't clean or ground propperly

 

[Corjen1]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Thanks Arch, I have been pondering it a bit, we use a water break test on the airplanes to check for surface cleanliness when bonding. I agree that chemically weakening the old glass surface with acetone, would create a better bond when reapplying fresh resin/glass right away.

I dont understand why water would be bad for exposed fiberglass/resin, unless its the mineral deposits left after evaporation. Maybe those deposits compromise the the bond......

Guess maybe Im over thinking it.....

By the way.... I think Bell might be OK this year.......

 

[archbuilder]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

We are fixing to find out. You many have point on minerals in the water, but I would think they would be insignificant in tap water. I just don't see it, I wet sand my primer with water, no problems on bonding.

 

[Trooper82]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Agreed....wiping with acetone will flash off any water...early on with my Ebko i was working under the stars...was thinking i had to keep it covered...so I was worried about rain getting soaked into the exposed glass...i thought it could migrate into it....don't think that anymore...

 

[Corjen1]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Did you guys order your glass supplies? if so from where? I talking glass, Poly resin, catalyst....

 

[Trooper82]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

I got mine local when down in Louisiana, place is online composites one....i have used us composites too since the move north...

 

[Corjen1]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Thanks Troop!

 

[Trooper82]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Thanks Troop!

Any time...check the composites one website, they may have a distributer close to you...

 

[archbuilder]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

I use fiberglasssite.com Excellent products, very reasonable pricing, nice people. For foam I used areomarine, mom and pop operation. The owner answered all of my questions personally. Great product, and being able to ask someone questions who actually knew what I was talking about is priceless! I think Bell answered your question by the way.

 

[Corjen1]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

OK Gents, need some guidance here......was poking around at the lid tonight and noticed that it seems to be sagging in the middle.....









When the lid was on the hull, the middle window fit perfectly.....now seems to be ~ 3/8th inch overlapped. Obviously is from not being supported properly. Do you think I should flip it upside down? Currently it is sitting on saw horses, one in the front and one in the back, under what appeared to be the strongest areas. Ive seen one other restore of these and that one was upside down....?????

What do you think, flip it or try to figure out some better places to support the middle (keel wise direction)

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

REMOVE the windshield.

Having that weight over the somewhat narrow gunwales fore & aft of the console can cause cracking at the vertical gunwales.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

I agree, take the weight off. I would also re think the shoring, and try to support it more evenly.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Hi Corjen,
Been following along and just got all caught up with your goings on...
I'd Like to come aboard and see you bring this Glastron back to life...really nice lines on those hulls.
You have scored some excellent guides on your restoration journey so I'll just "ditto" what advice they have given you so far...
My 2? on the sagging windshield is to first support the cap in the right spot to align the windshield, then remove the weight of the windshield...
Definitely add at least some of the structure back into the hull before flipping...
I installed the transom and stringers then I built a support frame for the big flip, which basically tied the hull together to prevent any unwanted flexing of the gunwales, since I did a roll on the ground flip, instead of a mid air flip...

Here is a pic of the "frame"...


Keep up the great progress.
Best regards,
GT1M

 

[Corjen1]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Arch, Troop and GT, god knows I need the help....thanks for your input so far. I guess I will come up with a support design for the lid this weekend.

 

[Corjen1]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Hey Gents, when fabbing stringers, is it ok to half lap a joint to get the required length? 2 of mine are 12-13 ft long

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Yep, but I'd make it at least 12". You can "Sister" them to. Perfectly acceptable.

 

[friderday]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Thanks Gents, stringers, transom and deck it is..... I was very surprised at how thin the side walls really are, maybe 1/8 inch max!!!

Jen (the real boss) got into me pretty solid about using a respirator and better safety glasses......so now, I think the boat will be my weight loss program as well........Full respirator , goggles, completely covered up skin......guess she is already tired of me complaining about itching to death. God help her, she has put up with my crap for 11 years, sounds like she wants a few more....

What a great old restore this will be. You are making progress that makes this old girl jealous!!! Just wanted to point out the similarities to my boat. After I completely gutted it, the hull was shockingly thin-on outer skin of transom, bottom, sides, you name it. I actually put 2 layers of 1708 on inner side of outer skin of transom BEFORE I put the wood transom in. In addition, when I did demo on seats, floor, stringers, deck, I found a virtual tin beer can feeling to my naked fiberglass hull. It was scary how thin & fragile it felt. Well, I reinforced the hull with a layer of 1708 before stringers, installed transom, stringers, & now deck with 2 layers of tabbing, & almost ready for the flip. Let me assure you Corjen1-it flexes no more!!! It is F-I-R-M!!! and will improve even more when I put the foam in this wknd & later on in the build, install a couple of bench seats. So have no fear..tread carefully on her until you begin to put her back together, but know with each layer of glass or tabbing or stringer or deck that you add, the stability will return twice as good as it was before. Keep the pace in the direction of a future splash date!! Here's to itching....

 

[Corjen1]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Yep, but I'd make it at least 12". You can "Sister" them to. Perfectly acceptable.

Thanks Wood, are you saying 12 inches tall? then cut them down in place?

Friderday, thanks for the encouragement!!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: My 1968 Glastron GT160 rebuild......

Thanks Wood, are you saying 12 inches tall? then cut them down in place?

No make the halflap 12" long...

If I had to make 12 ft stringers, I'd probably use 3/8" ply and make the stringers a double lamination. GT1M did.
2 4X8 sheets of 3/8" will make 2 12ft stringers &leave you a 2X8 scrap