Restoring a 1990 Larson

[todhunter]

That it is, that it is.
My orange car I ran in X275, ran 4.68 @ 158 in the 1/8 and 7.20's @ 193 in the 1/4 all at 3,350 lbs due to race rules. All with a little home built 5.0 ltr mod motor

That is smoking. My best in my Civic is an 11.90 @ 120 in the 1/4. With a few small changes and more seat time I'm hoping to get down to 11.50's this season. Of course this is in a FWD 4-cylinder street car with AC, lol. Anyhow...very cool...back to boat building!

 

[JASinIL2006]

Getting to stand on a solid deck is a milestone! It also make subsequent work a lot easier! It's great to see this boat coming together!

 

[Meames1]

Floors all cut and fit. Resin and CSM on bottoms next. Adding a few supports on bottom also, plus cutting holes for foam.
You can also see the box I made as referenced earlier for the fuel fill hose and vent tube to go through the deck. I marked one picture up so you can see what's going on. Before the box the hole was just cut out between the hull-side and ski locker side. Any water that splashed on the deck not only went in ski locker but also the hull side where it just sat until the foam got saturated. The box now will be tabbed into the floor and any water here will drop into the ski locker.

 

[JASinIL2006]

That seems like a much more sensible arrangement. Deck is looking good!

 

[Meames1]

That seems like a much more sensible arrangement. Deck is looking good!

Thanks, I was dumbfounded when I saw how they did it.

 

[buxmj]

Great progress in such a short time, very impressive! Please keep the progress pics coming.

I am still waiting for someone to say "Yeah, it was built well at the boat factory and I want to rebuild just as strong." I guess if they were built better we wouldn't have this forum and most boats would be unaffordable.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Thanks, I was dumbfounded when I saw how they did it.

On mine, the drain in the carpeted ski locker was about 1” off the bottom, insuring the there always was water (and mold, eventually) in there. Not the cleverest of designs…

 

[Meames1]

Great progress in such a short time, very impressive! Please keep the progress pics coming.

I am still waiting for someone to say "Yeah, it was built well at the boat factory and I want to rebuild just as strong." I guess if they were built better we wouldn't have this forum and most boats would be unaffordable.

Yeah, I've found many things that I question why. But, then I realize the way it was built lasted

On mine, the drain in the carpeted ski locker was about 1” off the bottom, insuring the there always was water (and mold, eventually) in there. Not the cleverest of designs…

Even worse, my ski locker was carpet glued directly to the hull, no sub-floor. I'm currently building a ski locker floor, lol.

 

[Meames1]

Updates ! And a question for a confused member....
I got a layer of CSM on a few of the floor pieces and the ski locker floor after soaking them in resin last night. My boat only had carpet glued directly to the hull for a ski locker floor, so I spent Sunday building a floor as a last minute change. The resin kicked early enough tonight so I could flip the "new" ski locker floor over and get a layer of both CSM and 1708 on it.

Question, I've read many rebuild threads and it seems there are a lot of different approaches to what goes on top of the floor. So, now I'm confused as what to do. After my floor is installed, foam done, and two layers of 1708 tabbed to the hull, what should I cover the floor itself with ? I had originally planned CSM and 1708, but I see lot's of 6 oz ? two layers of 6 oz, CSM only...etc etc etc. Remember I want to smooth up reasonably and gel coat instead of carpet. I'm starting to get concerned with all the weight I'm adding as I'm half way through my 4th 5-gallon pail of resin. So, I expect at least on more pail which makes 25 gallons. So, if I don't need the added weight of all that resin plus 1708, maybe just a layer or two of 6 ox would be sufficient. As I said, confused. Any input would be appreciated. TIA !

 

[todhunter]

Yeah, I'm also slightly concerned about how much resin I'm using, but I guess it's too late on my project, as tonight I just finished my 25th gallon. Still, I'm planning on one layer of 1708 followed by one layer of CSM. I'm carpeting my interior, though. Gotta make my decision soon though, as I'm laying glass no later than this coming weekend. Maybe I should just do 2 layers of CSM? Heck, I don't know, lol.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I used two layers of CSM on the deck, then a layer of 6 oz. cloth. After that, I applied fairing compound and sanded it smooth.

 

[Meames1]

Progress. Deciding to build the ski locker floor has slowed me down by a few days. Ski locker fully adhered, just need to tab it in tomorrow.
Installed the rear floor pieces and Bam! the first permanent installed floors are in ! Also cut the holes for the foam and routed the edges preparing for the tabbing.
Got most of the rest of the floor pieces soaked last night and a layer of CSM tonight. Also added a couple braces on the larger pieces as they have a pretty big span without support, figured it couldn't hurt. The braces received a good soak of resin and tomorrow will get a layer of 1708 to the bottom of the floor panel for strength.
Hope to have all the floors done, gel coat in ski locker, and hopefully foam in by the end of the weekend.

 

[todhunter]

You are about to eclipse me! Looking good. I'm trying to get the top layers of glass down on my deck this weekend too.

 

[kcassells]

Looking great Meames! Have you decided how you are going to finish your deck yet? In my build I left the glass, 1708 unfaired. Deck was primed, painted. So the texture came thru the paint and acts as a non-skid.
Afterwards I made areas outlined with painters tape and added rubber sand for more specific non skid and finished with paint.

 

[Meames1]

Looking great Meames! Have you decided how you are going to finish your deck yet? In my build I left the glass, 1708 unfaired. Deck was primed, painted. So the texture came thru the paint and acts as a non-skid.
Afterwards I made areas outlined with painters tape and added rubber sand for more specific non skid and finished with paint.

I have not decided yet, my original plan was to do gel coat with non slip added in areas. But, I'll have to see how the finish comes out with the glass. I'm resisting fairing the whole deck as I want to get this part of the build complete and start on the mechanical and assembly.
Yours looks fantastic, what type of paint ?

 

[Meames1]

You are about to eclipse me! Looking good. I'm trying to get the top layers of glass down on my deck this weekend too.

I had to order more resin so I went ahead and ordered some 6 oz glass too. My new thought is tab the floors with 2 layers 1708, add one layer of 1708 for strength but cut it out so it butts to the tabbing to reduce the thickness at the laps and cover the whole deck with 6 oz / or maybe CSM then 6 oz. It will be an experiment, so at least I'll have the material on hand.

 

[kcassells]

I have not decided yet, my original plan was to do gel coat with non slip added in areas. But, I'll have to see how the finish comes out with the glass. I'm resisting fairing the whole deck as I want to get this part of the build complete and start on the mechanical and assembly.
Yours looks fantastic, what type of paint ?

I have not decided yet, my original plan was to do gel coat with non slip added in areas. But, I'll have to see how the finish comes out with the glass. I'm resisting fairing the whole deck as I want to get this part of the build complete and start on the mechanical and assembly.
Yours looks fantastic, what type of paint ?

I used @Woodonglass rustoleum recipe. The paint I used is from

(1) George Kirby Jr. Paint Company (kirbypaint.com) if the link is deleted its called kirby paints. They custom matched my original gelcoat to a T. Add'l they have a vast color selection available that rustoleum does not have.
I also used @Woodonglass rustoleum formula. Very happy with the results and like most of us I'm on a budget. Hoping that the finish will last at least 2-5 seasons. So we'll see.

 

[Meames1]

Added the 1708 to the new floor braces and on the support for the cut out of the ski locker hatch. I wasn't concerned at all with trying to get all the air bubbles out of these, they are just added reinforcement, but they came out better than I expected as I didn't use any fillets etc.
Also got the ski locker floor tabbed.
I could really get rockin on this if it weren't for cure times

 

[todhunter]

I had to order more resin so I went ahead and ordered some 6 oz glass too. My new thought is tab the floors with 2 layers 1708, add one layer of 1708 for strength but cut it out so it butts to the tabbing to reduce the thickness at the laps and cover the whole deck with 6 oz / or maybe CSM then 6 oz. It will be an experiment, so at least I'll have the material on hand.

I decided to do similar to what you're doing - tab with 2 layers of 1708 and butt the 1708 on the deck up to the tabbing. I'm going to go over everything with CSM though...no 6oz woven on mine. Your ski locker stuff looks good. I feel your pain on waiting for cures. You can try mixing it hotter - I've gone up to 2% on some layups.

 

[Meames1]

A busy weekend, as in too busy to take in-progress pics.
I was able to get all the floors in, except a small piece I left out at the bow so I could reach in to gel-coat the ski locker. I also have the center floor piece to put in after the fuel tank is installed.
I got everything foamed. I was worried more about doing it then it turned out to be. Pretty easy and my calculations were pretty good, I had one over pour and that was because I was trying to make sure I had put in enough...I did, lol.
Tonight I PB'd the pucks back in the floor from pouring the foam.
I also put the last of 3 coats of Gel in the ski locker, 2 coats un-waxed and wax in the top coat.