Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Here is my wax paper method: lay down a sheet of wax paper in the area you are pouring and lay down boards big enough to cover the area and stand on top of them. It pushes the foam out instead of up and it works nicely. There is still some excess but not nearly as much.

Got a little excited on the amount, went a little over

Also took apart my trim pump and started working on the bracket that was rusted. Im going to bolt a piece of stainless angle to the bottom to hold it to the deck. I couldn't find any black paint to keep it original but i thought since the boat was blue, blue would look nice and it does!!

Pic was after the first coat, i put another one on later and its starting to look better, I will probably end up up putting at least two more and a coat of clear to keep it rust proof.

Finished up the foam and decided to go with my original plan with the gas tank spacers to keep it off the hull. Here is my finished product for the day. Im really proud, it looks fantastic

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Also changed the oil in the motor, i ended up putting rotella in it since i had a gallon of it laying around. I overfilled it a little so i guess i will have to drain some out but oh well...Picked up some goodies as well while i was at dinner tonight

Bought a new 800 gph automatic bilge pump and a switch to power my amp. I wasn't sure whether to get a 6 prong switch or a 3 prong switch so i would have auto/ off/ on capabilities for my bilge pump so if anyone has any suggestions I need some help. Im clueless with wiring.

Shot of the pump mounted

After undoing the zip ties on the wiring i found out that the wiring in this boat is a mess, at least in the bilge area... theres a wire thats just cut in half that goes to the gas tank where the fuel pump and sender are and i have no idea why...

Well thats all that i have for todays update, If anyone has any help for my wiring please let me know, the cut wire and switch have my mind going crazy

 

[rickryder]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Are they factory wires? In a loom? Colors?..... On the switch for bilge.... how I did mine... I tied in the auto/float switch to constant 12+
then wired straight power to the pump up to a toggle switch on the dash....Now if the boat takes rain water it will pump out or I can manually over ride the float switch and turn it on at will..

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

I like that bilge pump, I've used the same one in both my projects. You can just 4200 the cartridge base to the hull. You only need an on/off switch because you're going to hook the auto lead up right to the battery. You'd never want a complete off setting. Your foam job looks really good, one of the best I've seen.

I friggin' hate hail. Last year I had to get a whole new roof on my house and over $5000 worth of damage to our vehicles.

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

I called my dad and told him it was hailing and he was concerned about his barn being dented :facepalm: He loves his barn(man cave) like i love my boat. After thinking about it I'm just going to wire it like it was with just an on/ off switch, that one no one can start playing with the switches and burn up my pump.

Now onto the wiring... I went out and snapped some pictures of the loose ended wires...

The wires run here:

The green wire shown in the background also runs to this spot on the tank too.

Im thinking this is the other end of the cut wire but i could be wrong:

Also found this wire floating around in the back of the bite and i have no idea what it goes to

Maybe these pics can give y'all an idea at what I'm looking at. Its a mess and i need help!

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Okay well the electrical gremlins are sort of figured out... I'm almost ashamed to post this but i found out green is ground... imagine that :facepalm: i tracked the pink wire back to the gauge so I'm pretty sure of how to fix it, but the red or brown wire (not sure of the true color) is proving hard to trace. I will continue the hunt for where it goes, but in the meantime, i got the bilge pump wired in for just an auto on/ off setup and i capped the wire that gives me the capabilities to just turn it on, so i may play around with that option later, and the biggest news.... I got a deck piece cut out! working on my second one right now.. If it all plays out right i might be able to get by with 2 sheets of plywood, we will see. pics should be up tonight

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Deck is halfway in!

 

[fat fanny]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Man if you keep up @ this pace you'll be in the water in no time. What are your plans for deck coverings? I hope after all your hard work you plan on painting that bilge everything you have done looks great glad to see your not taking short cuts and doing it right. Been following since you started and I do admire your work ethic it's something you can be proud of your whole life.

 

[rickryder]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

If it's a brown wire it might be for bilge pump.

The deck looks real good! nice job

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Thanks so much guys! Okay to be honest i can't take credit for the deck. i woke up this morning and couldn't find my dad anywhere, so i went out in the boat to get to work and there he was sitting in it taking measurements and getting wood cut. thanks dad Carpentry is his specialty and he loves it so i just let him do his thing. it gave me time to figure out wiring and tie up all the loose ends.

i think the wire may be from an old float switch, I'm not too concerned about it, i capped it so if i do trace it down and figure out what its for i can use it

As for the deck. I'm going to coat it in resin and let it cure good during the day tomorrow, maybe go play 18 holes and lay down 1 layer of csm on the bottom then pl it down, screw it in, pb the sides, tab it in with 2 layers of 1708 (6 inch and then 12) and finally 3 layers of csm on the topside. This seems to be the average method that everyone uses so thats what I'm going with. For some reason after typing all this out its making me think that i wont have her splashed next weekend, but only time will tell. Im going to have to hit it hard these next few days and make one big final push so i can knock this project out. All the finishing touches will have to come in the next few weeks, but there is no reason to not splash her without the carpet and new seats and vinyl installed

Oh and as for the bilge, I may paint it but i do have something in mind for the back end of the boat next summer Y'all just thought i was almost done

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Well today didn't go as planned. Dad was busy chopping away at the last few pieces when i went out to the boat this morning and we fitted the last pieces a little later than i though. I finished up my tank setup and dropped the gas tank in but My tee time was quickly approaching so i went to lowes to get some 2x4's to hold the tank in and for some support pieces under the deck near the bow, so i didn't get a coat of resin on the deck till tonight. Tomorrow i will flip them and resin the other side and lay down some csm to cover the bottom. I was wishing i could get this done today but it didn't quite work out :facepalm:

Oh well I'm still making headway heres a pic update:

It sooo nice to have a deck in the boat to stand on

Oh and here is how the wiring is supposed to look

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Still not where i wanted to be progress wise today but I'm doing good. I layer down my first ever csm and i like it but it soaks up a ton of resin. is this normal? I'm talking like 150 oz to do a little over half of my one layup on the bottom of the deck, it just seemed like a bunch. Maybe it was just the speed at which i was going. Im not used to glassing big pieces and i was racing through them. Im also thinking that a paint roller would be an easier method of wetting out this stuff. any suggestions??

since we all like pics i snapped a few during my wet out

This is how far 32 oz got me.. I just thought for sure that would be enough to cover this piece

A few more pieces. I really like the way this stuff lays down. bubbles are non existent

Heres my tank in its final resting place. it took me a while to get it how i liked it but I'm happy with the way its sitting now.

Thats todays work, but tomorrow is another day. should be able to get all the deck pl'ed and screwed down tomorrow and start on pb'ing the sides of the hull. Will give another update tomorrow

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Ran out of screws today while putting my deck in but i got the first two pieces in. Its looking good and I should be able to pb the gaps nicely. I will pick up some more tomorrow and finish putting the pieces in and then i will pb and tab it all in. With as much sun as we've been getting here it should dry enough by the afternoon to where i might be able to lay down some csm as well. All i know is these first two pieces i put in are sturdy as a rock! Its looking great

First deck pieces in their final resting place:

Also found some cool stuff in an old ammo can we took out of the boat, I now have a spare for every brass part that goes on the end of the prop shaft and a coupled of the snap ring washers.


I also found a piece of an anode... do y'all think it possibly went here???

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Deck is in!!! half of it is pb'ed. didn't have time to finish it up due to some family stuff i had going on tonight but it looks good so far

Also got my stereo today and it seems pretty nice. I wont be testing it out until the boat is complete though, i don't want to get it dusty and ruin it.

These screws are awesome by the way, self tapping, stainless, and they're a star drive which doesn't strip like stainless phillips head screws tend to do. The pack even comes with a free bit! 7 bucks for 35 screws at lowes.

Of course my hole for my stereo is to big so i need some ideas on how to make a plate that matches the dash that i can put the stereo in. I might even start a new thread in the electronics section to get some more ideas

I went and ate dinner tonight with my aunt who gave me the boat and while we were talking about the boat she mentioned a that she thought she had a top for it. She went home and dug it out of the attic and i stopped by and picked it up. Theres not a single rip on it and it looks pretty good! Score!!!

 

[rickryder]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

It sure has come a long way! Look great T.... great score on the bimini top too

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Thanks ricky! I'm getting to the point where i want to work on it nonstop until the splash... I want to enjoy this thing and maybe even sit in the shade with my new bimini

 

[Captain Shikaboo]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Fancy fancy Big T! Let me know how you like that kenwood. I'm in the market for an upgrade too.

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Will do! it had good reviews on amazon so i went for it. Im pairing it up with some polk speakers ( i was bored while waiting on my pb to cure so i just bought two more:facepalm i know they sound good so we will have to see. Im having a scary moment right now realizing my fiberglass supplies are running thin. i have enough 1708 to tab the sides of my deck in but would it be alright to tab around the transom with csm? i have plenty of that

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

Fancy fancy Big T! Let me know how you like that kenwood. I'm in the market for an upgrade too.

If you regularly will use an ipod or iphone as your music source, I highly recommend the Sony marine units with Tune-Dock. The ipod actually goes inside the unit. I had one in my car and thought it was great and thought it would be ideal for a boat. Then they came out with the marine version.

Tt, I'm sure the Kenwood will serve you well also. Their stuff is pretty bulletproof in my experience.

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: Wellcraft 186 eclipse stringer and deck restore

I heard that with ken wood/pioneer/ sony you can't go wrong. this one just happened to have all the right options for the right price. I looked at the tune dock models and i really liked them but most of the prices were out of reach and my phone has a life proof case on it so water isn't usually a worry today i came to the realization that i could finish the deck today or tomorrow so i settled for tomorrow didn't want to have too much excitement for tonight or run out of things to do this weekend so i got all my csm cut and ready to be laid down and my 1708 (what i had left of it) cut for my tabbing. i have just enough to do one layer on both sides of the deck so I'm happy with just one layer.

I finished my pb mid day and pulled the boat out in the sun for the first time in a while. Did a little more grinding and now I'm ready for layup. Am i understanding my research correctly that i should lay down my first layer, tab it in and then do my second and third layups all at once? I've seen oops say this multiple times but i just want to hear it for reassurance. I came to the realization tonight that glassing around the motor is going to be a PITA, maybe the motor won't end up cover in resin, fingers crossed!

A few pics of my fancy pb job (not too much eye candy but its something to look at)

Theres a lot of fibers from the csm left from laying it down to cut it, thats not a layup