Restoring childhood boat. A 1972 Ranger. Help needed (pictures).

[gm280]

My wife just came up with a good idea. She suggested I try swimming goggles. Not the full face mask but the little goggles that have two eye pieces on a strap. I know that won't work as eye protection but it should keep dust out and I can put the big plastic safety glasses over them for added protection if needed.
Since the fogging is caused by heat, sweat and/or breathing, this would eliminate it I think. They just surround each eye and don't include your forehead and dust mask. Might work. As soon as I can find some I will try it. Of course, the swimming season is over so they might not be easy to find. Walmart surely has some though.

And I might try to build this over the winter. DIY Powered Respirator . For future grinding.

Ha art that is a good idea. Tell her thanks for that idea as well. Why not go for the full goggle for SCUBA diving or snorkeling and those should work as well and allow you more visibility also. Let us know how they work out! :thumb:

 

[sphelps]

I get the wrap around safety glasses that have the foam around the edges for the guys at work .. It does help some with the fogging on the inside ...

 

[MTboatguy]

If you are in a warm and humid environment the only way to keep the glasses from fogging is to have some type of air flow over the lenses, when I was stationed in Hawaii as well as Central American, that was a constant problem, we eventually had custom combat google' built for us by a local company that specializes in hot humid climates and eye glasses, they had little 1 in fans in them, that blew air through the goggles. Worked good, but still not perfect. I have also used thin screen protectors like they sell for tablets and phones, stacked on each other like a tear off on a race car, worked good because they didn't have a problem with much static on the outside of them and as they got dirty you could simply tear them off. Other than that, I have never been real successful with cat crap, I did use it for ski goggles, but never had it work on my safety goggles.

Just know, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and about all of the good times you will once again have in your "new" boat!

 

[Kiloecho]

My wife just came up with a good idea. She suggested I try swimming goggles. Not the full face mask but the little goggles that have two eye pieces on a strap. I know that won't work as eye protection but it should keep dust out and I can put the big plastic safety glasses over them for added protection if needed.
Since the fogging is caused by heat, sweat and/or breathing, this would eliminate it I think. They just surround e

ach eye and don't include your forehead and dust mask. Might work. As soon as I can find some I will try it. Of course, the swimming season is over so they might not be easy to find. Walmart surely has some though.

And I might try to build this over the winter. DIY Powered Respirator[/URL] . For future grinding.

I think She is on to something. I found my ski goggles would stay clear if I keep them on my face at an even temperature rather than on for downhill and on my forehead for uphill.

I use to swim a lot and good swim goggles will scratch very easily. So much so you can't see.

Kevin

 

[artfan1]

I know I have a lot more to do but here is an update on my progress so far. I have removed 35 pounds of material during the grinding so far. I captured most of the dust with my large shopvac using dust filter bags and those now weigh in at 35 pounds. So, not too bad really.

Here are some shots showing the before and during, in some areas.

I still have the floor and lots of corners yet to do. Also the top edge where the cap was tabbed on.
I decided to remove all the plastic sheeting that I used to contain the dust and power wash the whole thing down so I could get a good look at my work.

As predicted, I do have a couple of areas that go all the way through the hull. This happened at the very beginning.
In the corner where the transom meets the side, there were large air pockets that, once ground away, exposed the gelcoat.

My only concern is that the gelcoat is brittle and the holes will open up larger as I work on things, but I know that once I install the new transom, that area will be filled in.

Also, I originally thought that I would be able to keep the front deck attached and a just grind it clean. It felt solid and there are no stringers under it. The stringers stopped at the deck. Even the underside looks really good. I have a borescope and I examined the entire area underneath and was surprised to see what appeared to be clean, pinkish fiberglass everywhere. However, during the grinding of the deck, I encountered air pockets between the glass and the wood. I kept grinding hoping I would come to the end of the air pockets but they just keep going. So now I know it has to come out.

Im going to remove this deck and get back to grinding.

Oh, one other thing I should mention. The swimming goggles did not work as well as we had hoped. They did last longer before fogging up, but once they did, it was impossible to see. I am looking for the foam lined wrap around type mentioned earlier. Ill give them a try.

 

[gm280]

Art I can't see anything you're do wrong. Your work looks very nice indeed. Glad you kept up with the weight of the grinded out material. I suspected the same but didn't actually know how much. You are proceeding along very well and you are doing the job perfectly. Keep the pictures flowing. I am excited for you as well. You will forget all about his part after it is finished and you move on to better parts of the rebuild. JMHO! :thumb:

 

[DeepBlue2010]

If the wood is not rotten, why the deck needs to come out just because of the air pockets as opposed to regalssing and calling it good?! I am just wondering what are your thoughts behind this decision.


Try to spit in the goggles and spread it around with your fingers as we do when we dive, it works the best. If you find that effy for whatever reason, mix a drop or two of dish soap in an ounce or two of water and use it instead. I will work also but not as effective.

 

[Woodonglass]

I agree ^^^. It there is NO rotten wood involved then I'm not so sure I'd be worrying about it. As long as it's not spongy or bouncy or anything else and seams to be totally structurally sound then I see no reason to be tearing it out. Bubbles sure do LOOK bad but aren't necessarily a show stopper in all cases. The rest of your work is looking good. You're getting close to being done with the YUCKY stuff and then you can move on to the Constructive stuff which is WAY more Fun!!!! Every time I see this mustard yellow boat it brings back a lot of memories.!!! I'm really looking forward to this build!!!!:whoo:

 

[artfan1]

First of all, thanks again for the help and encouragement everyone.

I guess I just assumed it would have to come out. Here are a couple of closer photos of the areas I was concerned about. You can see that the glass is raised up from the wood creating the air space. Some of the areas I could find the end of it and then just feather the glass to the wood surface.

The larger areas, I kept grinding and yet the space keeps going. I dont know for sure how much of the glass is detached. Also the wood isnt as wide as the hull creating a large space where chopped strand was filled in. It almost looks like the plywood shrunk and pulled away. Wont that create a problem?

The wood seems to be solid although its dark and dirty. When I stand on it, there is no give other than what I have now created by grinding the seam along the right side and opening it up. The top deck is still solid looking all the way around the top edge.

Can I just fill the openings in once I begin reglassing? If I poor resin down into the cracks, will that be enough to preserve the structure as it is?

The underside of the deck has a 2x2 board attached to the plywood and its encased in resin and mat which gives it support. One runs left to right where the plywood meets. You can see the nail head attaching to them. Then there is one that runs front to back in the center. That all looked really good with my borescope.

You can also see dark shadows in the surface. Those seem to be where the wood is showing through and the wood has darkened. Im not sure if thats a problem either. Again, they are sold feeling. Do I need to grind off all the glass to expose all the wood in those areas?

Now that you can see close up shots, what are your thoughts?

 

[gm280]

I honestly don't know what others will say. But if I were doing that section, it all would come out. The fact that the wood is separated from the fiberglass means there is no real support from the wood anymore. It isn't a composition solid laminated now. So my own personal feelings is I would take it out and redo. I mean at this stage I would want it to be right going back together. But that is just my personal opinion. I also don't like that wood being discolored. That to me means water did get to it at one time. It may not be rotted, but it is discolored. With that said, whatever you do, I know you will make it work. IDK. :noidea:

 

[Woodonglass]

Well that's a whole different story!!! Sorry I jumped the Gun. I should have asked for pics in the first place!!!!:facepalm:

That's called delamination and THAT for sure is a problem!!! It needs to be removed and replaced. I didn't get the gist of what you were describing. This is a perfect example of why pictures are SOOOOO important. When we can SEE what you see it makes all the difference in the world!!! I'd be taking it out and making it ALL new!!!:nod:

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Did not mean to give you a bad advice m8, I drew my conclusions based on your story

That is no solid wood my friend, it seems that the rot has already started in some places where screws used to be. I also did not get that picture from whatever you were describing but this is a full blown delamination not just few air pockets here and there.


So, I 100% agree with gm and wood, This deck needs to go. For all practical purposes and given the vintage of the boat, don?t even bother evaluating the wood for replacement. In my project, I made a decision that every single piece of wood must be replaced. I think you should do the same. The outside glass layer can be very misleading and give you false since of rigidity.


Now you know why "Boat Porn" (a.k.a pictures) is very important around here

 

[kcassells]

The last pics make your questions alot more clearer. Yup....off with her head! keep up the good work Art.
On another note...eventually the rough work will be over and then the fun just begins.:joyous:

 

[sphelps]

Yep , opinion #4 ... When in doubt ... Rip it out ...
Good progress art !

 

[artfan1]

Agreed on all accounts. The additional photos do make things a bit clearer. I assumed the deck would be coming out anyway, once I saw that the glass had pulled way so I left those photos out. I'm learning the terminology and probably didn't use the correct description when I said air pockets. Sorry about that.

I'm cutting it out today and will use the wood only for a template.

Honestly, this is a good thing because I would like to make a couple of modifications. Although my goal is to restore this boat to as original as I can, I would like to clean a few lines up and maybe update the pedestal seat supports. Instead of the upside down cone support for the posts that the seat drops into, I would like to use a more flush mounted support so that I can remove the posts when not in use. Such as these. That would require a little more support under the floor so that it can be secured I think. So rebuilding this front deck will allow me to do that.

 

[gm280]

art, even with small changes, that boat will be original and still harbor many memories. But it is always a great idea to make thing better and supported better while rebuilding things. :thumb:

 

[artfan1]

Ok, its out. And a good thing for sure. The deck wood was in fact starting to rot.

As soon as I document the measurements, that block of wood will be removed as well.

I guess it was suppose to give support but it doesnt seem to make contact very well, if at all. It was crudely attached so I dont think it supports the bow in any waydoes it?

The underside was a little different than I had pictured it with my borescope.

The interesting thing is that the plywood pattern does not match this boats hull. The plywood in this photo is untouched. When I cut it out, I only cut the fiberglass. The plywood was cut like this by Ranger so I assume they were using supplies left over from models from previous years. The curves in the front edge had to be filled in to match the squared off bow of this boat. Ill use them as templates as starting point then refine the shape to match better.

As you can see here, the wood was breaking down.

Ok, now back to grinding. See you in a few days.

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

Cut it loosely to shape and spackle it to spec, saves time fitting. You're making good progress Art.

 

[Woodonglass]

Now you're beginning to see why we say you'll have a boat that's better than factory new when you are done. You will make improvements on what they "SHOULD HAVE DONE" at the factory back in the day!!!:facepalm: It WILL be better and more structurally sound. Your GrandKids will be able to enjoy this boat when the time comes. Keep on keepin on and you'll be on the water next season enjoying the fruits of your labor!!!

 

[gm280]

You now know more about your boat then you ever in your life thought you would. But just wait as you start building it back. You will feel pride in it like you never imagined. I think you are do a great job myself. I have nothing to suggest or add other then great job and keep the pictures flowing as well. :thumb: