Need Your Help!

[SHEP#1]

Ok - In another thread about fiberglassing some questions came up and there was a suggestion to start one asking for help - here it is:

The below pictures give you a BEFORE and AFTER perspective - the boat had some wood rot in it - I stripped it down to just the stringers which appear to be in good health. I want to restore the boat back to its original layout. My question is:

How would you do it?

My questions are as follows:

1) The thickness of the fiberglass appears to be about.25" -
a) Is that one thick cloth that has resin on it?
b) Are there different types of cloth?
c) If so which should I use?

2) The wood that forms the support and decking Appears to be about 0.5" in thickness -
a) It looks like plywood is that correct?
b) Is it a special type?

3) The Grey surface in the boat -
a) What is that - paint?
b) Special type?
c) Where do I buy it?

4) The Foam that I removed -
a) Where do I buy it?

So my plan is to:
- Make templates from cardboard
- Use resin and cloth at the bottom (of the boat), place the wood on top to create a water proof seal (rather than wood to the base of the boat)
- Place all the wood in place in the same manner to create a waterproof seal.
- In the cavities, spray foam and cut the excess before placing top pieces.
- Secure top pieces and glass in place.
- Glass over top of the wood decking to the boat (sides) - creating a bond of the two as well as finishing of the boat.

Am I on the right track?

WHEN PURCHASED:

TODAY:

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Need Your Help!

Shep, The pictures did not appear.

The hull could very well be 1/4 inch like you estimate. It will be made of cloth and mat combination, impregnated with polyester resin. The exterior will have a sprayed gel coat (thickened poly resin), with a color mixed into it.

A lot of boats have a 1/2" plywood floor as original. Older ones are standard CDX plywood. Newer boats may have pressure treated plywood. I recommend you replace yours with dry 1/2 pressure treated CDX. You must fasten the plywood floor to the stringers with stainless screws and cover the upper surface with two layers of glass cloth, saturated with poly resin. Ialos recommend you put some strips of saturated cloth on top of the stringers before screwing the floor down.

Most small boats have two part poured in foam under the floor. The plywood floor sits on top of the foam. I recommend you replace the foam since it provides floatation and may also provide support to the hull.

 

[Stenella]

Re: Need Your Help!

Wow, thats a really nice boat. Cant wait to see it when it is complete!

You seem to be on the right track. Chris summed things up nicely in the last post about the construction.

You can find the foam at: http://www.jgreer.com/Foam Page.htm. Its two parts liquid you mix together and pour into the bottom of the boat.

You want to use thin cloth and layer it to achieve the desired thickness. There are many tutorials in the forums here, and on http://boatdesign.net/ that go into much more detail.