here's a pic from last weekend that sealed the deal on stringer replacementnotice how the top is not glassed in but looks new, the bottom has rotted out completly. looks like the bottom glassed in portion acted like a cup for the water to rot out the wood..
Modified by sandbarDan at 7:31 AM 7/3/2011
Good luck with your project. It is better to do it right since you are in it this far. Take your time and get the right advise and you will get it finished. You will like the boat even better when it is finished.
You might think about tying some strings in a X across the top of the hull to help prevent it from spreading out or twisting while the inner structures are removed.
Would be a shame to do all this work and not have the cap fit when you are done
1994 Ranger 354XT
Mercury XR6 150HP
<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Dazed66 »</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">You might think about tying some strings in a X across the top of the hull to help prevent it from spreading out or twisting while the inner structures are removed.
Would be a shame to do all this work and not have the cap fit when you are done
thats a good idea, been reading about the tin can effect, thats one reason why I dont want to take everything out at once. also why I cut out the new deck before taking out the old one.
great work so far dan,,when ya get done with yours come do mine,,I will bye the beers.
did not accomplish much today due to overall fatigue (hangover) and family coming over for dinner. cut some more boards out 3/4 inch marine ply for the long ones and 1/2 marine ply for the shorter ones. have to glass these in before the transom because the transom tabbing will go over the ends.
laminated the transom together with four 1/2 inch marine ply layers and 1.5 ounce csm inbetween. Every other resto I've read has used either 2 layers of 3/4 or 3 layers of 1/2. The inside width of old transom was a little under 2 inches, new transom is 2 1/4 inch. I figured may as well add an extra layer just to say mines bigger
only problems I encountered with transom were the layers slid around a little when stacked up. I had to put two srews though the stack to keep it stable. I put weights on top of pile to press it all together. I've read that you dont want to put to much weight on the layers and sqeeze all the resin out. I used just enough weight until the resin started to ooze out the sides. Also I found the aluminum finned roller made a huge difference in the final look of the glasswork. My previous little glasswork expierience looked pretty sloppy just using a brush and squeege.
wow that looks all too familiar. I cant believe how fast youre progressing. good work man, keep it up, just dont make the same mistakes I made on my 84' Stratos restoration. dont set your stringer too high and build your deck at the original height as well as maintaining the hull shape with ratchet straps or something....
<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by westexasrepublic »</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">wow that looks all too familiar. I cant believe how fast youre progressing. good work man, keep it up, just dont make the same mistakes I made on my 84' Stratos restoration. dont set your stringer too high and build your deck at the original height as well as maintaining the hull shape with ratchet straps or something....</td></tr></table>
I'm a long way from cutting out the new stringers. If anybody has a good idea how to measure them I'm listening. Was thinking maybe run several strings across hull at floor level, measuring every foot or so, then connect the dots on a peice of plywood.....I hated to see your top cap not fit like that..there will be some wrenches and anything else near me flying down my driveway if that happens to me. At least after reading your resto I'll know hown to fix it.
sanding....vacuming
...sanding
I filled in the edges with the mush peanut butter mix and tabbed it in with 6 and 10 inch peices.
I covered the outer skin with a layer of 1708 then a layer of 1.5 mat then put the transom on.
I should have covered up the whole back transom because some resin squished out the top and ran down the back
I finished it off by first covering just the wood then working with wider overlapping pieces until it was four layers thick and covered an inch or two past where I tapped it in.
no advice, just keep it up. What kind of boat did you say you had? the design is almost the same as my Stratos... I also used 4 layers of 1/2" ply for my transom.
if you have any other questions let me know, Ill try to answer.
Also Im way jealouse of that jack plate! I want one!
<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by westexasrepublic »</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">no advice, just keep it up. What kind of boat did you say you had? the design is almost the same as my Stratos... I also used 4 layers of 1/2" ply for my transom.
if you have any other questions let me know, Ill try to answer.
Also Im way jealouse of that jack plate! I want one!</td></tr></table>
the boat is a 1990 vision 185t. Its a 18.5 footer rated for 175hp (I have a 150). According to iboats.com the hull weighs 1150 (20 yrs ago). Everybody I've talked to thats had one has liked them. Its sits low on the water which makes fishing off it easier. It runs pretty well accept a little wet ride on rough water. I was thinking of leaving that jackplate on there for additional setback and bracing..
next step in transom repair is grinding all the f@#$%! air pockets out in the last two layers while contemplating feeding the boat to a wood chipper
Forgot to take pic, nothing much to photo. Put another two layers of 1708 over transom to cover up the areas I grinded out small bubbles. Also glassed in the transom tiedowns and some small 4ft strakes that went along outside corners. I ran out of resin. Transom took about three gallons, then used about another half gallon to fix air pockets. Been mixing peanutbutter mush doodoo stuff myself which took 5 quarts with the aerosil-cabosil and shredded glass, used alot of that around transom and the tie down pieces. Also always seem to waste a little by mixing a little more than I need. This laying fiberglass really isnt super complicated but takes some patience to wet out and smooth out bubbles. I think I got a little overconfident after laminating transom, tabbing and covering it with first two layers. Its a breeze to lay glass over a smooth surface but larger peices and a lumpy or curved surface are alot more difficult and very frusterating sometimes. I kept a small amount of peanutbutter mix handy as well as a needle to poke a hole and jab with brush in small air pockets. Also its alot easier to lay glass than it is to sand and grind it out so I'll be sure to work a little slower with the glass from now on. Funny thing is I will have all the air worked out then I look at it 5min later and air pockets just sort of appear from nowhere, but I think I'm getting the hang of it...
When doing the glass work on my Skeeter I used no other method than using a 4" paint brush to TAP the entire surface to wet out and remove air pockets and such. It probably took me longer than using rollers and stuff but thats how someone showed me how to do it.
back in buisness for the weekend anyways. ordered 5gal resin last friday from uscomposites.com got it wed. going to try and replace or at least build and prep for a few stringers this weekend..think I might try some differnt glass technique paint rollers and a larger brush, been using 2 inch brushes from lowes 6 for 5.98 and 2 and 4 inch aluminum finned roller is useless on uneven surfaces but will use it later on deck peices...
You are making great progress! Keep up the good work!
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