Blazer VL100 The Forgotten Pocket Bass Boat

[doc201pro]

Thanks for the updates! A glass or two of wine in the evening is a great way to top off a busy day!!

[rojoguio]

So I'm breaking up the two posts so I can explain one at a time. Most marine trim is just the edging material itself. No Bulb seal is used. The standard marine edge material with or without the bulb seal is made the same. There are perpendicular aluminum, u-shaped, forms embedded in the vinyl material to maintain the tension on the edge grip. It is soft stuff the aluminum and generally won't damage a blade if you hit some. So I remove the last piece of aluminum with needle nose pliers so just vinyl is in the seam. This stuff shrinks so don't stretch it, if possible compress it while installing. I use a wooden block and plastic hammer to tap the trim securely in place.
Starting Hatch Trim Seal.jpg

In the hatch fabrication post I explained that this material does not like to turn sharp corners so I put a radius in the flange corners to make it easier to install the vinyl trim. I use a screwdriver to help spread the trim to allow it to slide over the flange but all the time I'm pushing the material to compress it while making the turn on the flange.
rounding Corner Hatch Trim Seal.jpgFinished Corner Hatch Trim Seal.jpg

Terminating the seal is another place attention to detail really helps. It helps prevent a shrinkage gap from developing. I Cut the material oversize then push the end of the trim down on the flange at the starting point leaving a hump behind the seam. Then I push the hump down compressing the trim eliminating the chance a gap develops later.
Terminating Hatch Trim Seal.jpgTerminating Hatch Trim Seal2.jpgFinished Termination Hatch Trim Seal.jpg

The next post I will show how I make hinges and set the timing on the hinges to the hatch so when it is closed the hatch is level with full contact evenly all the way around.

[bassboat1]

Hatch trim seals

Appreciate the post Rojo, replacing bulb seals is on my to-do list. I'm certain that your tip about compressing the seal is crucial. Do you use Trim-Lok products, and would you care to share your source for spooled/bulk material? Do you use and weatherstrip sealants at the ends or in any other conditions?

Thanks!

[rojoguio]

Trim-Lok is my go to brand. I do not use a sealant as you always throw your seam AFT-Center of your hatch. It allows wind driven water that passed under forward hatch seal area but remained in the "Channel" to drain out the back as you go down the road. One thing, it comes in 2 widths 1/8in and I think 3/32in. If you use 1/8in but really needed the wider I have found the trim will not stay on too well over time. Measure the flange edge width a 1/8in or so from the bottom edge especially if your hatches are fiberglass. If your hatch is really "V" shaped on the edge then 3M 8001 Trim Adhesive and the wide width trim is a good way to guarantee the edging material remains for the life of the product. I buy my supplies from 2 major marine wholesale supply warehouses that supply Boat Retailers & Repair Shops. I do not have a online resource to refer you to at this time. Have you measured how much you need yet.

[rojoguio]

Well I had this entire post finished but we lost power right before finishing. I decided to get a glass of homemade hooch to drink while typing again. Please keep a sense of humor, this batch of hooch is 18.91ABV but smooth as a $50 bottle of Pinot Noir.

As posted earlier I canned the fiberglass hatches for new custom aluminum ones. So you can't use the old mounting holes, hinges, layout, etc. My other VL100 came with aluminum hatches but also flimsy stainless hinges. They smile, distort, flex if not supported. So not being made to my satisfaction and me stocking Marine Aluminum Hinge in bulk here I made new hinges that will last forever. Bulk Aluminum Hinge is sold in 6ft lengths, sold by Pin size. The size I am using is 3/16 so it has a 3/16in pin diameter. Next to figure is where to position the hinges on the boat and hatch so the hatch closing timing is perfect. You want the hatch sitting all the way around so when walked on stress is not applied to the hinges and hinge mounting screws only the hatch. I could easily TIG welded the hinges on but then the pins would get contaminated with all the fluffed off grit from sanding, epoxy primer overspray, and 2K Urethane overspray. This is all bad for the pin. The pin floats so everything would be wearing prematurely.

Seal Compression Even Across Hatch.jpgHinge Heights Perfect.jpgBlueberry Plum Lemon Wine.jpg

First things first is to set the hatches in place to see where they want to rest naturally. After that I put just a small amount of forward pressure to each hatch one at a time till the bulb seal has conformed to the fiberglass for a good seal. You have to compress enough to allow for shrinkage. Once the width of each hinge is determined I cut 4 and drop in place to make sure the mounting screw heads will clear the hinge body when closed. While laying out where to drill the mounting holes I keep a 1/2 in offset to ensure clearance is kept. I like to mount the hinges as far apart as I can but not too close to the hatch edges. So 2 inches from the edges is a good distance. Using these hinges and this spacing, keeping in mind I want the pin high enough the hatch can open fully, not much deck here so they need to open fully too. I mark the hinge location on the hatches and measure how much excess height the hinge pin is over the deck. Higher the pin is greater tripping hazard to worry about creating. The Seadek will prevent hatch finish damage should I step on a open hatch resting on the other.

Bulk Hinge Resizing.jpgCenter Punching Holes in Hinge.jpgDrilling and Installing Hinges.jpg

The hinge was sitting on the edge of the Edge Trim and needed trimming down. Also I measure, mark, and center punch the hole locations even though I'm using a serious drill press to drill the holes. Reason, the punched marks will help me see the mistake. If you know there is a area you have problems with, then insulate yourself against the mistake. I've seen so many sharpie marks I tend to think a piece of dirt is a sharpie mark. Especially without my reading glasses. So I feel the punch mark with the tip of a finger while positioning the hinge in the drill press, no mistaken holes that way. All holes were camfered after drilling then the hinges were clamped in place on the hatch with 2 clamps, one can allow the hinge to rotate if the bit walks, use 2 clamps. An old saying "A lazy man does the most work".

Hatch Spacing Tools.jpgPaint Sticks Taped for Holding Hatch Weight.jpgTrimmed Extra Length from Paint Sticks.jpgSupported Hatch to Ease Hole Drilling.jpgExtra Long Bit Makes Drilling Easier.jpgGood No 2 Phillips Tip Hold Screw for Install.jpg

After mounting both sets of hinges I set the hatches back on the boat but now the timing has to be figured out. I start out by looking in the crack of the hinge with a flashlight to see about where the hinge is resting. From there I lift the hatch up vertical and rest it on something thin. I increase the thickness till the hinge is resting close to where I saw it. Here it took 2 paint mixing sticks to hit the right "Timing" of the hatch. First try was with one stick and the hatch made contact on the hinge side before the opposing side. So after taping them to the boat where the aft stick also was locating the aft hinge all I had to do was trim the excess wood so it didn't interfere with the install, slide the hinge against the paint stick and drill one center hole in each hinge. I buy these long, extra long, and super long drill bits in sizes need for this type of mounting and mounting T-Tops to stringers. It also helps to have extra long Phillips screwdrivers with very good tips. The tip will hold even stainless screws as long as you don't try to angle too far.

Hinge Heights Perfect.jpg

Another issue I have with my other Blazer is while the Aft hatch height matches the center seat area you can't place tall drink coolers in the storage area. This is corrected on this boat. I raised the Aft hatch height enough to fit a monster Plano Crappie Tackle Box in the Aft storage and close the hatch.

Raised Aft Hatch Height.jpg

I hope y'all find this useful................P.S. Proof reading I had a truck load of errors. Wonder how many would have scratch their heads reading the typing mistakes. Good thing I married a Librarian.

[doc201pro]

Thanks for the updates!! When I did the Trim-lok replacement on my triton I also put a short piece of tygon tubing with sealant inside the bulb at the joint to stop minor water leakage thru the joint. I also had to run a small bead of silicone all along the joint between the bulb and the flange to keep the bulb from separating from the flange with extended use....

Thanks again - its always great to see your posts!!

[bassboat1]

Trim-Lok is my go to brand. . Have you measured how much you need yet.

All the original trim is trashed. The bulb on the original trim is bonded to the U channel and has peeled off. Trim Lok advertises "co-extruded", so hopefully it won't suffer the same fate (probably outlast me either way...). I haven't measured yet... probably in the neighborhood of 70'. If I buy shorter lengths, I imagine I'd lose 30% to waste one-piecing everything.

[rojoguio]

The newer product is made better than the old stuff. I can't say how long I have installed Trim-Lok on customer's boats but I have not gotten any complaints either. My guess 10 years of installs when needed. I was either replacing Coastal Boat transoms or Fabricating a custom T-Top, 1/2 Top, poling Platform, etc. for my customers. Most of the time the jobs grew when my customers saw the quality I produced so they just ask for more, constantly. Replacing hatch latches, repairing holes in the gelcoat, and wheel bearings, lots & lots of wheel bearings. I checked every trailer that came in, like a restaurant leaving their patrons at the bar a bit before seating them. Being in business any job that I could do expertly & quickly and make good money on I pointed out the deficiency. They would come in and ask me to "Put the evil eye on their boat". That meant when they came to pick it up they expected me to fix anything and everything. Needless to say all my customers were "recession proof". Out here there is no money, everyone I did work for owned property here but lived in New Orleans.

[rojoguio]

So I'm still working the aluminum boat for a friend, converting it to a center console Flounder Gigging Boat. Here are a few pictures and description.

Old Console.jpgOne Piece Center.jpg

I came up with this console about 12 years ago. Experimenting with the backrest angle, steering wheel angle, area for electronics mounting, overall stiffness, and drop-in livewell room if desired. In the first picture you can see the original side console. My console design a fuel tank can be added inside or a livewell & 2 batteries.
The second picture, that is a one piece body in my console. This one has 2 extra inches added to the forward stiffener in case we want to slide it forward 2 inches to give more leg room between the planned aft deck and the console.

Drop In Under Seat 13gal Livewell.jpgTIG Welds.jpg

This drop-in livewell will be under the seat, it will have 1 inch of insulation between it and the insides of the console for radiated heat from the console body.

Last picture is a shot of the TIG weld I do. I tack the edges together then TIG weld the gap watching the aluminum flow the both panel edges simultaneously. Welding a vessel this way is the only way to guarantee a bulletproof joint. I will post pictures of the finished product.

[rojoguio]

Managed to work on the main 4 hatches in between steps fabricating the aft enclosed casting deck section on the aluminum boat in my shop.

Labeling Stripping Bagging Hatches.jpg220 Grit Tooth Applied.jpgWiped Down Ready to Spray Epoxy.jpg

First thing was to strip the hatches. Since I made the hinges out of 6ft bulk hinge strip each hinge had to be marked to it's respective location. So a gallon ziploc bag was marked for each hatch then one at a time I stripped the hatches into the bags. Sanding with a tight radius DA sander I put a 220 grit tooth on the substrate so the Epoxy would stick very well. After moving the hatches outside to spray everything got a triple Acryliclean bath to remove all aluminum residue and any processing oils that may be present.

PPG Shopline Epoxy I Use for Aluminum.jpgPainted Hinges W VHT Epoxy.jpgEpoxy Primer Applied.jpg

Pictured is my favorite PPG Refinish Epoxy for these kinds of projects. It sticks very well, sprays smooth without reducing (out of a 2.5 HVLP), and has fantastic millage per coat. The hinges don't get a heavy coat of paint and the paint you use has to be good with oil periodically. I like VHT Epoxy Black for this task, it covers well, has great adhesion, but not a lot of millage. I spray the epoxy with the intention of not scuffing much (only remove knats, etc) before topcoating. The 377 can go 3 days/72hrs then it has to be sanded before topcoating. PPG Refinish's website has a download for application and topcoating.

Hatches Topcoated W JAU Shopline 9700.jpgHatches Installed 1.jpgHatches Installed 2.jpg

The knats are not too bad in the morning but after the second knat landed on the lids I moved them inside. After reinstalling the hinges and edge trim I reinstalled each hatch back on the boat. These will get SeaDek but only after another week of curing.

I still have not decided what kind of seat I will make so the Livewell hatch will not be done till I figure it out.

[paulrodbender]

She is looking good........

[rojoguio]

Got the opportunity to scratch out a little more progress on the little Blazer. I'm getting tired, my other Blazer I just patched another little hole in the outer skin, I need to get this boat on the water. I started with masking off the areas I didn't want dust from sanding as well as overspray to contaminate.

Masking 1.jpgMasking 2.jpgMasking 3.jpgMasking 4.jpg

I like to use Autonet sanding gelcoat. It cuts well and really fluffs off the dust. The plastic masking material is not strudy enough or solvent proof enough to spray the gelcoat cocktail I'm shooting for "Shine" here so the heavy weight paper is mask over where I need to tear the edge cleanly when un-masking. After sanding out the imperfections remaining from the porosity issues I sanded all the masking tape edges with red scotchbrite to get no leakage under the tape. From there using the bobcat the boat was rolled to the spray area.

Ready to Shoot 1.jpgReady to Shoot 2.jpg

Here all the area to be sprayed got 2 washing, first with a rung out damp rag to pickup any remaining dust, then a solvent wash to remove any remaining oils (fingerprints). I used a Clear Gelcoat tinted black 50/50 with Duratec High Gloss Additive for a Jet Black Topcoat and shine. Little will need to be done now. The Black is super black to make it pop against the SeaDek that follows. We have black Vinylester primer, Duratec's VE Primer to be exact then 4 coats of black gelcoat on top for a substrate. If at some point my clear job gets a nick it's black all the way underneath, it will never show. No Love Bugs were flying around when I started spraying but man did they gather to the smell of the gelcoat. I had to hurry, spray hot, then roll it inside. They still managed to get 1 pair in each layer. Fortunately SeaDek will cover.

Inside Away From Love Bugs 1.jpgInside Away From Love Bugs 2.jpg

Always the best part, the un-masking. I really enjoy this part.

Unmasked 1.jpgUnmasked 2.jpg

I fried myself some Oysters as my wife is on Nutri-systems (Yuk) check out the size of the Pearl out of one of the big ones. It's so big I felt it in the oyster without biting down first. My dentist was very happy to hear that. They have the small fleet I take care of.

Look at The Size of This Pearl.jpg

Lastly if anyone here likes to Crappie Fish I shot another video with the Guy who owns Northshorefishingreport.com Here is a link if you are interested. May be the last one shot in the old Blazer.

[1Holeshot]

John, the crappie video is great!

Here we called them White Perch when I was young but most including me now call them crappie.

[rojoguio]

Thank you, Sac-a-lait is what you call them in Louisiana. Growing up in New Orleans that's what we called them but when I started down the road of Mastery in Crappie fishing if you searched by any other name than "Crappie" the results were poor. Today I say Crappie but try to adjust to the local names for the videos. We had a good day but really could have shot much better video in clean water. My Outdoor Writer has a gift for seeing the right graphics and knows well what he's looking for. He gets in the water with a underwater camera for the "Cool Shots". I hope to shoot one on Ross Barnett this fall, if He shoots & edits it will be worth watching.

I took a picture of the boat outside while swapping building with it.

Outside 3.jpg

[1Holeshot]

The boat is AWESOME!

Down in central Florida crappie are called speckled perch.

The Cajun name of Sac A Lait is really cool though.

I am really looking forward to your video on Ross Barnett .

[paulrodbender]

Excellent video along excellent work on the Blazer........ She's looking very close to being ready for the races. Nice work, John.

[wgammill]

Great video, I really enjoyed it. The boat is looking very nice. Just out of curiosity are you going to put different wheels and tires on your trailer? Good job on this one !!

[rojoguio]

No, those tires lowers the sides of the boat to make it easier to work on. I have 2 sets as I usually have more than one boat in the shop at any one time. Glad y'all like the video and pictures. Hopefully this thread will help others in their Restoration jobs.

[rojoguio]

If anyone reading, following this thread has installed Rubrail getting it straight is a PITA! I really turned down anything but Semi-rigid or Rigid because the soft stuff is next to impossible to install straight for a beginner to intermediate level boat guy. Your have to set up a jig with the soft stuff or it's always with a wave of some sort. A couple of extra sets of hands are needed too to make it run straight.

Here I'm installing a Rubrail distributed thru Donovan Marine (Great People but Wholesale only) ask your local yard to order for you. This is made in Italy. You get a rigid mounting rail with a soft rubrail for ease of installation. A picture with the brand and style installed here is included.

Rubrail 1.jpgRubrail 2.jpgRubrail 3.jpgRubrail 4.jpg

To explain, I started the mounting rail right where I want the new Rubrail to terminate. If you have not installed Rubrail before your starting point has to be perfectly positioned. This mounting rail hand forms, I held it out to the beginning of the radius to make sure it was straight and screwed it in place before forming around the radius. You don't try to hold rubrail or the mounting rail right at your next screw location as it will be wavy all the way thru. I used a piece of plywood resting on a body & fender folding stand to keep the mounting rail managed.

Use a sharp drill bit spinning wide open with little pressure when starting each hole. Too slow, too much pressure and the bit will walk ever so slightly. After a few feet you will look up and have a wave started. I really take my time installing Rubrail. If you find yourself thinking of something else stop drilling holes and installing or you will have a wave in it. I grip the mounting rail 12-14 inches from my next screw location to drill the hole. Most Rubrails have a lower lip. It will help you run a straight install but only if you put no pressure up or down. It's kinda like installing Tile on the floor. Dips and High Spots in the concrete forces small corrections so the wave is hidden or masked. Gradual corrections are best. The mounting rail is long enough to do the complete install in one piece. In the pictures above I have wrapped the mounting rail around the bow already.

Rubrail 5.jpgRubrail 6.jpgRubrail 7.jpgRubrail 8.jpg

So as I'm approaching the Starboard Transom corner I cut off the excess with pvc pipe cutters. As seen here it is quite long but easier to handle than the balance of mounting rail length. I formed the mounting rail several times around the curve till I saw some memory of the bend before screwing in place. The gap on the backside is absolutely no sweat. Many a person would try a heat gun but in my test piece the locking lip of the mounting rail deformed. The way I have always delt with this is I bring the boat to a Automotive Windshield Replacement place. There they have the hot black mastic that is used to install windshields. We will pump the gaps full, wipe off the excess, and now I have to most durable Corner you can ask for. (FYI that stuff is great to inject into the motor mounts of front wheel drive cars to stiffen them up too) I trimmed it again right before installing the last screw. This cut I made sure was square. The Rubrail cover itself you just bend backwards to roll it on. I always have a rubber mallet to bump the rubber face making sure it is fully locked in.

Rubrail 9.jpgRubrail 10.jpgRubrail 11.jpgRubrail 12.jpg

I cut the Rubrail Cover long on both sides so they can be deflected if needed for the Cap install. A picture is included. Also a picture of the finished Rubrail, this is got to be the best Rubrail design I ever installed. And maybe the easiest too.

One thing I forgot to mention, by adjusting the mounting screw tension to keep the mounting rail straight in 2 planes I hid that wavy side of the boat. As it was I had to fill the entire joint with epoxy as the boat hull and cap was so wavy.

[Alex from GA]

After spending 2 days reading about your project I appreciate your knowledge, expertise and patience. You probably inspired many people on their own projects.
Thanks.