Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

[rickryder]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

You are flying through the stringer assembly. Nice work

I have just started to dig the rotted wood out of my boat and it looks like it won't be warm enough around here to do fiberglass work for a few more weeks.

Ha! I glassed my boat in February in 25 degree weather

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Thanks tpenfield Its plenty warm here, 86 out in the sun. will be in the 90's before long. i should be glassin by monday but i think the fillets are going to use up the last of my resin... man this stuff uses up ALOT of resin

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Good news, i finished my fillets with about a gallon of resin to spare. I finished the port side yesterday and the starboard today so i thought hey why not jump in and try and tackle this fiberglassing, gonna have to learn sooner or later. I originally was going to goo with wood's plan thats on his signature but after watching frisco's videos numerous times i went with his plan of laying down two layers of 1708 in 1 layup. it worked flawlessly and for my first time glassing something i don't think its too bad at all.

My dad is going to order 5 more gallons of resin tomorrow and get a fiberglass roller. i think that would help get the bubbles out easier. Any tips or criticism???

 

[rickryder]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

A bubble buster roller will make it much easier.....bubbles in the glass are the enemy!! They will trap and hold water... The good thing is that they can be ground off and some glass laid back in Looks like your doing a good job.

Only tip I can give you is to start at the bottom and work up.... Don't forget to cap the stringers with some glass

 

[fat fanny]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

So far so good to my un-educated eye. The best way to learn is to jump in and do it your making great progress if you keep at it you'll be in the water in no time!!!!

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Thanks for the tips guys! I'm thinking a "bubble buster" lol will do the trick nicely. Jumping in and doing it myself was exactly how it was fat fanny. My dad hung around and cut glass for me when i needed it. It was nice to finally have some company out there it was getting lonely

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

went out and checked my layup. Its starting to get tacking and pretty much bubble free! I will check it in the morning to see how it looks but man it already seems so strong. the boat feels really solid!!

 

[rickryder]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Thanks for the link! I was looking for some of that stuff

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Were Making headway!!!

Everything is glassed except for the middle where the gas tank goes and the boxes in the rear. shouldn't be but a couple hours more glassing and all the stringers will be glassed. Then all thats left is to cap them. Hoping to be pouring foam by this weekend, and 10 gallons of resin should be at my doorstep tomorrow or wednesday.

Im also pretty proud of my pvc pipes that i pb'ed in, they look pretty slick

 

[rickryder]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

That thing is built like a tank! Nice work!

 

[Captain Shikaboo]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Lookin good T.

 

[oops!]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

yeah....looking really good...

just a bit more and you are ready for foam and decks

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Very nice work. This is a great example of how if you take the time to do the rebuild right, you can easily build it better than it ever was from the factory.

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Thanks guys! Its amazing how stiff the hull is now, a tank it is. It means a lot hearing my work looks good from you guys!

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Well I'm still waiting on my resin so i can finish glassing, so I've just been tinkering for the past two days (this is not a good thing:facepalm i decided that some floor in the back port side should be replaced since I've torn out this much, why not do it right. Well it took me two hours and I'm still not done tearing out this two foot section. Half rotten wood is a lot harder to tear out then fully rotten wood. My second harbor freight grinder ( yes my second grinder:facepalm bit the dust today (pun intended haha) ,it caught on fire and I've only used it for probably 15 hours, so work slowed to a crawl. It never fails, something will go wrong when you need it the most. Maybe i will just fork up the money and buy a dewalt, these chinese tools are just plain junk.

 

[rickryder]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Wrap a coffee filter around the air intake on the grinder.....it will help to keep some of the glass dust out of the brushes

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

I blew it out and took it all apart and it limped along long enough to finish my grinding today. My resin is here!!! maybe tonight i can do a few layups. trying to be able to foam this weekend if all goes to plan

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Its like christmas around here!

well i wasn't able to do any layups tonight, had a family dinner since my sister is in town but here is some of the stuff i did earlier today:

Finished tearing out the last of the rotted deck

i cleaned it up better after i took the pic but tearing out that small piece was a real pain. I finished cutting out my carpet and ground out the carpet glue and it wasn't as bad as most say it is. About 15 min and it was done.

This is my plan for keeping the tank off the bottom of the boat. These pieces should allow water to flow underneath the tank and down the sides without any blockage. i cut some rubber strips out to lay on top of them. Do you guys think this is a good plan? will it give the tank enough support?

Also was at the hardware store yesterday and i thought about picking up a tube of 5200 until i saw the prices!!! YIKES!

Since I didn't get to glass tonight I'm thinking about waking up at the crack of dawn to do a few layups. This is the plan hopefully i can get myself up

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Thank you for stimulating our economy.

Looks like you'll be having fun with it all. I am looking forward to reading your updates . . (actually, I mostly look at the pictures).

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Im having fun with it constantly! Thanks for following the thread. i may complain, gripe, and get stressed out about it but I'm still out there everyday working on it. My only stress is not having the time i want to spend out there in the boat. I stimulated the economy! That resin aint cheap!!! Im sure i will be stimulating it a lot more before the end too! I also got my vinyl samples in from vaeda and they match pretty good. should have new captains chairs ordered next week! Im about to start glassing will post pics up later