Skeeter SK2000 Transom(and more) Replacement

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Trent_in_BG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How much additional weight do you think you put in your new boat? I say NEW b/c that is built better than from factory. You have done such a great job with your build. </TD></TR></TABLE>

You know, I dont know. But consider this: The new stringers and transom are the same thickness as the old ones. They are just made out of better quality wood than the originals, and they are protected better. Each stringer probably has 2lbs of resin on it for protection?

Where I removed the balsa core and made it a solid skin, I used 10 layers of 17oz cloth and I cant remember how much resin. But the cloth was maybe 20lbs? I dont know.

The extra bracing? They weigh about a pound each. The glass holding all of them in, maybe 10lbs.

Its hard to say how much I added total. Alot was removed as well, because the factory had a bad habit of letting resin pool in many sections. It wasn't strong because it had no more glass than anywhere else, just big puddles of resin everywhere doing nothing but add weight. I ground out alot of that, and the other thing was is so far I have used just shy of 20 gallons of resin, but alot of it ends up in the trash can. Its hard hitting the perfect amount, especially when making up putty for fillets and so forth. Plus, I hate working with wood so all my gaps are huge and took tons of putty to do the fillets.

But when its all said and done, I doubt this thing will weigh 60lbs more than it did from the factory. The factory used polyester resin and matt and woven, which has to be put on pretty thick to get the same strength as the biax and epoxy.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Skeet’r89 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I sure hope that the sides haven't sagged out of shape and that you can get then tucked back up under the top cap.</TD></TR></TABLE>

SHHHHHH!!!
That would be a bitch. But I guess I will find out in a few weeks.

Scott, it is alot stronger than the factory const. I was reading the other post about the 04 skeeter. That does not sound like the overall const. at the plant is getting better. I did not work on mine this weekend and am going to tonight. Holidays are keeping my progress slow. O well.
I am sure your cap will fit back on good.
Once i get the stringers in and before adding my cross memebers i'm going to take the hull home and prefit it just in case.
Keep me posted.
G.

I also meant to ask if your going to run the fiberglass cloth completely up the side of the stringers and also use cloth to cover the top of them?
G.

I been wanderin what you been up to G. I haven't let the holidays slow me down that much. On the other hand, I do have some shopping to do.

On the stringers, I talked to shine about "capping" the stringers, which is where you cover them. Im not sure what he used to make his determination, but it seemed that atleast partly it determines if there will be a sole on top of it or not. He said he would cap my bow stringer(free standing), but not my stringers unless they were free standing. I think maybe it has something to do with a sole preventing the laminations from seperating at the top?

When I glassed them in, I tried to simply follow the rule of thumb on their site, using the 12oz 6" biax tape with the first layer 4" on the stringer and 2" on the hull, then another layer with 2" on the stringer and 4" on the hull. Doesnt sound like alot of glass, but once it set up I can stand with one foot on the top of the stringer and bounce up and down and it doesnt go anywhere.
Thats one of the areas where my boat has less weight in it than the factory, since they slopped so much resin in so many places where the stringer met the hull.

Looks good so far. I'm still here. I worked somemore last night on the center stringers and hull bottom. I got the middle done and have an area of 2' w x 5' long to finish complete. I then will be working on the stringers and transom.
So your almost ready for the floor it looks like.
G.

Get your thread(s) updated G.

You boycotting bateau?

Hopefully I get a peice of 5/8 marine ply from 84 lumber today. Im going to do cleats then get started on fitting the soles.
Im so not looking forward to doing the rear sole by the bilge thats going to need cutouts for the knee braces...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SkeeterDD22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I saw this back on page 1. And I must say that's some really good insight. I just took 200lbs of stanky, saturated foam and rotten wood out of the rear 4ft of an 04 ZX250. (that's a boat advertised as no wood in it, and it's not four years old).
And this boat hasn't been under, or full of water.

Anything to churn out 100 boats a day and save a buck doing it is how most boats are built. Or, seems that's been the case with the ones I've taken apart.</TD></TR></TABLE>

DD22, You've found what we discovered several years ago and it still amazes me to this day. EVERY Skeeter we've worked on, including the brand new ones, has wood it in somewhere! 100% composite, ha!

Boostedone,

Good job. I can just count the hours you have in this thing and how many you have left to go! People do not realize how many hours it takes to do a total rebuild! My hat goes off to you!

Im glad you can count em.. I lost track... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/roll.gif

All I know is its gotta be hundreds.

Im about to start laying the plywood back down in the next few days. I think Im going to put it in with big holes in it and do the foam fill afterwards.. Then I will sand the foam smooth where it sticks out of the holes and glass over it with some 1700...

Ok, this is a late post, I should have got this up on Weds or Thursday:

Ok! I went over Tuesday night and I started fitting the soles. I made the long center peice and the one up in the front... Got them where they tied in perfectly with the factory tape job...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0001Medium.jpg

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After that, I made up my cleats for the center stringers where they came up a little short.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0004Medium.jpg

I didnt make it over Wednesday, but tonight(thursday) I went over and ground out the old tape job for those sole panels. From there I debated the foam fill. I was thinking I would put the soles down, and put big holes in it with a holesaw and fill it that way. Tonight I decided against it. I figure I will just fill it as close to the top as I can, then grind the excess..

All I can say is 8:1 expansion my rear end! Its gotta be more like 50:1, haha.. I laid a trail about 4" wide and 1/2" tall and almost filled a cavity 11" wide and about 6" tall on one side and 3" tall on the other. A little goes a long way. If you see all the foam in there, thats ALMOST one two gallon kit. I could probably squeze foaming all my stringers out of two kits.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0006Medium.jpg

I got progress, I got progress :D :D

I was going to go over the shop last night(Friday) but ended up going out for a bit after work and wasn't in any shape to do anything that required any skill or precision. :lol:

Soo anyhow, tonight I got over there and got to it.

First thing I did was get out the 7" sander with 80 grit and knock all the excess flotation foam down, then I coated the bottom of the soles with resin..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0001Medium.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0002Medium.jpg

After that, I mixed up about 50 gallons of putty(Haha) to bed the soles to the stringers. Then set the soles in place!!(well two of them)...

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Then I coated the top side of the soles...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0007Medium.jpg


After that I mixed up MORE putty and filleted the edge of the soles to the hull, and put down two layers of 12oz tape. I need to go review the tutorial, I couldn't remember if I was supposed to use one or two layers, but in question I went with two....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0013Medium.jpg

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(lots of dust in the air up there)...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0012Medium.jpg

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

Your almost there Scott

Man, taht is starting to look like a boat! Very nice...bet you are lookign forward to warm weather to get it out and test drive it huh??

LOL... Im looking forward to it being out of my shop actually...LOL.. Using it will just be a side benefit at this point. I'm just sick of thinking of all the things that space could be used for...And all that I could be doing on my nights and weekends....*sigh*

Scott a member is looking for a good supplier for his materials. I asked him to get with you since you have right much flotation foam left over.
G.

Playing with foam is the best part of a build! It is some neat stuff. You did it the smart way by putting the foam in, prior to putting the floor down.

I've seen too many boats blown apart when the foam doesn't have any vent holes to release the pressure.

To give you an idea of how strong this stuff is, we fill 3'X3' cardboard boxes up with this foam, and use them to place 30-35 foot boats that weigh up to 15,000 on them. The foam does not have a problem supporting that much weight!

Cripe! Yeah, it seems like some pretty strong stuff if its contained....

I mentioned doing the fill after setting the ply on another forum, and guys said not to for the same reasons you did.. I figured even still, I would just put in large vent holes. Looking back, Im glad I didnt. Once it gets to about 65-70% expansion, it already starts to set. I can see how some would make it to the vents, the rest would sit there and simply continue to grow until equilibrium set in or the glue/glass bonds were exceeded. Even if that didnt happen, I would probably have bubbles all over the hull and you would be able to see the grid pattern of my stringers and frames on the underside.

And NTF, replied to your IM. Interested to hear your thoughts.

And Garland, are you stil coming to Orlando this Jan? I'll hook you up on my leftovers of foam. You're gonna need it anyhow, and I should have my pours done maybe by the end of this weekend if I can keep from getting distracted. Looks like my truck(97 F150 2wd) is getting a 4wd conversion and a straight axle. I just picked up the donor vehicle today. If I keep the tires that are on the donor truck(32", I doubt they will be big enough) the resutant lift is going to be about 13-14" :) But I will probably need 35's or so to make it look right. The donor is a 79 Bronco with 4 or 6" of suspension lift with a 3" body lift, and they look a tad on the small side on it. My rockers will be 3-4" higher than whats on the bronco :)

Yeah, I can't leave well enough alone!

I spoke with Michael at North Texas Fiberglass and learned what not to do with foam and having proper vents. :)
I'm not coming down next month. My brother in law is not finalizing his move until almost Feb. It will give me the time to get my legacy/lifetime project wrapped up hopefully by spring...............

Which foam did you like the best? Thought i read you liked the one from Joel and them better and that you got better expansion? I read the warmer the temperature the greater expansion rate you achieve.
I have been looking at seats,trolling motors, and depth finder/gps.
I saw bass pro has custom seats for $264 each. I am pondering on what kind of newer used trolling motor to get-thrust and such. My 85 Ranger had a 42lb motorguide and it pulled the 17'-10" nicely against the tidal currents on the james river and debating on which Gps depth finder is good to get????? All things been looking at...LOL
I saw the Lowrance 113c finder is very nice but comes with a nice price also....
LOL
Look forward to seeing more pictures of progress.
G.

O, i understand tackling more projects.... I am guessing the truck will be your tow vehicle? I had a chance to buy a 97 seadoo for the wife. Not running but was $750 jetskie and trailer. Then after calling couple of seadoo service centers was told the older years will break down even sitting in the garage. So, i'm only tackling the boat right now........
I thought you might be putting a turbo cummins diesel in that thing to pull your boat with the dual 250hps....LOL
G.

Time for another update...

And at this point I can say "NEVER AF*CKINGGAIN"... I am so damned sick of this damned project Im losing my damned mind.. Damnit. My shop looks like sh*t, I can't get anything done because I have so much shop space taken up by this peice of crap and the associated peices of marine ply all over the damned place. And my wallet isnt enjoying it anymore either. If Eboat is open I gotta go down tomorrow AGAIN for more tape and resin. I was taping some stuff in tonight and ran out. Thats my THIRD 50 yard roll of biax tape! I had to look around the shop to make sure I didnt misplace one.
No wonder I am going through resin like theres no tomorrow. Oh, and I got back out of the car to make sure the shop door was locked and my blackberry for work(Im on call) flipped off the belt clip and landed on the ground.. Which I then proceeded to run over with the car!

This boat is just too big for a total rebuild. I dont even care to think how much resin I have used, but the fact that I gone through 10 or 15lbs of wood flour should give an idea..

Ok, rant mode off.. Id like to say I feel better, but I dont.

Ok, so on to the pretty pictures...
I went over Thursday night and did some work. I decided to make the rear two soles. The rear sole is 3/4" marine grade ply from a local builders supply. I made the 2nd to last sole out of two peices of 3/8s Meranti laminated together, since I had a full sheet laying there. 1/2 would have been better, but I didnt have any and Im tired of spending money.

I was worried as a whore in church about making this rear sole, since its shaped like a trapezoid and has to be cutout for the knee braces, then it has to be cut out for bilge access as well.

So I had this peice of Luan laying around and I worked with that. It was too small to make a full template, but I cut it to the overall width at the widest point(at the transom) and laid it across the taller knee braces and marked it on both ends for the stringer location and the narrow point of the trapezoid. I then cut it into a trapezoid and cut out the slots for the taller knee braces, and put it back in and marked for the shorter kneebraces. Once I notched it for those knee braces it actually fit pretty good.

I then transferred that to the 3/4 and extrapolated out the overall length, and made the cutout for the bilge.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0014Medium.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0015Medium.jpg

I then made up the second to last sole(two peices that will be laminated) and test fitted it all. It fit pretty well. I ground the fillets off the hull from the old soles. At that point, it was getting pretty late so I called it a night for Thursday...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0008Medium.jpg

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Went over Friday evening and got back on it. I made some cleat strips out of the 3/4" cutting them to 1" widths and 28" long to make cleats for the sides of the stringers where the knee braces are, so there would be something to rest the sole on.
I put some weight on the rear sole in front of the knee braces so I could be sure it was sitting where I wanted it, then ran a sharpie marker down the sides of the stringers to mark the height of the top of the soles on the stringer. From there, I took the sole back out and positioned a cleat sideways(3/4" tall) and then another one just under it in the standard configuration and positioned them where they fit right without interferring with any fillets on the transom and so forth. Then, holding the real cleat, I removed the top "cleat" that was simulating the soles and marked the stringers again for the location of the cleats with a sharpie. Got the cleats coated in resin, mixed up some glue, and clamped the cleats in place..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0011Medium.jpg

At this point it was still pretty early(about 9pm) and I noticed that since I made the cleats out of small strips(instead of those big honkin bastards I used on the center sole), that after the putty tacked up they werent going anywhere. So I decided to remove the clamps and get the foam fill out of the way, figuring if I let it set overnight it would be ready to trim on Saturday..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0012Medium.jpg

Hell, that didnt take long at all. And the foam sets up real quick. Within 30 mins, it was hardened, so I said "screw it" and decided to get the shaping of the foam knocked out. The I started by slicing and dicing it with a sharp putty knife like we did for removal, and after about 45 minutes I had the section for the small sole done. I decided to try this because the sander made a massive mess of dust that had to be cleaned up. Well, after wasting all that time I got over the dust mess issue and broke out the 7" sander with the 80 grit and in 15 minutes I had the area for under the rear sole shaped and ready to go.

I felt the cleats, they weren't going anywhere. Maybe all the heat from the foam fill accelerated their set further(it was actually hot in there). So I decided to slop up the bottom side and edges of the rear sole, as well as both sides of the bottom peice of the mid sole and the bottom of the top peice of the mid sole. I then mixed up some putty and bedded the rear sole in.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0013Medium.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0014Medium.jpg

I then bedded the mid sole's bottom layer, then put down a layer of putty with a notched spreader, and put in the top layer of the mid sole. I basically did the lamination in place. Put some weight on it and it was done.
Note, in the pics, the weights are on the rear sole. It was having a slight fitment issue due to some very slight curvature of the stringer top. so the weight was used to keep it bedded where I wanted it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0015Medium.jpg

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Well, I wasn't feeling up to working on the boat Saturday. I didnt finish Friday night until almost 3am, so by the time I got out of bed Saturday and did a few things it was already pretty late and I was unmotivated.

Today I wasnt feeling much better, but I forced myself to go over. I figured I would resin coat the top of the soles, do the putty at the edges and tape it all in... Then I ran out of damned tape.

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