Blazer VL100 The Forgotten Pocket Bass Boat

I sprayed & polished the green first since it is higher up. The black was masked off to the green so the water spray line sprays over the seam instead of into the seam. If you plan on learning to use gelcoat, Duratec products are the easiest to use gelcoat with. No waxes are needed if Duratec High Gloss Additive is used. Also I use HVLP spray guns, the tip size is somewhere in my posts. Little MEK thinner is needed with the big tips but you have to have HVLP air fittings, air hose, & air volume to atomize the gelcoat properly.

Thanks, my understanding is there was an overlap of black onto the green. I am wanting to rebuild/ restore my 1988 Procraft 1950v and am trying to gain as much knowledge on the basics before diving into it as i know one stringer will need some repair, battery area, shoal damage on the hull and i want to lengthen the deck to the console. I have a fiberglass garage door i can practice on lol.

Yes, green was just allowed to go wherever within reason. The black break line was laid out first and everything inside the line was sanded to completely dull before spraying the black over the top.

IDA has caused a bit of a delay on progress. I just set the cap back on to see where I can and can't spray additional flotation when NHC said a storm would form. Anyway folks to our West deserve prayers, it's bad.

So I have the Center Console sitting on the deck, after lots of measuring, sitting with a folding seat on the Livewell, the final location is scribbed into the deck so no mistaking the location later. My plan is to thru bolt the Console to the deck so I never have to fix it later. Holding on in rough water the console could loosen over time.

Now that the Console location is fixed the Hydraulic Helm, controls, gauges, switches, etc have to be laid out. So I have room to step behind the console but not have to lean way forward to reach the steering wheel the Console layout has to be correct. The back of the Console has to be cut out also. The arrows indicate the cut location so the planned deck hatch has ample clearance to be opened enough to stay open on its' own.

The pictures show the good and bad for the conversion, a bass angler may not see the importance of opening up access to each side but the Crappie angler will know. I need to be able to stow 14ft jig poles inside a protected space. The STBD side inside gunnel will hold 3-4 7ft rods, then 3-4 12-14ft jig poles. Port rod box will have the little 5.5 Ugly Sticks for casting.

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Now that I have the hull marked up I can get ready to spray in additional flotation. Since I can only insure it as a 1995 boat which would never cover my work additional flotation will insure me of something to recover. I have fixed "Punch - Through" holes in the past so I do not see me dragging my boat to a Glass Shop if I sink it.

I've posted a picture of the cap before & after washing, to explain, simply wiping off the cap would leave traces of "Who Knows" what, accumulation built up in the past near 2 years. If I sand without a vigorous washing with lots of soap contaminants would get fully embedded into the substrate causing me grief later on. The cap was scrubbed with a stiff bristle brush and then a wash rag before double rinsing and allowing to dry.
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While the cap was upside down I glassed over the holes that are no longer needed. Now I can comfortably fill & plug those holes with the cap upright while prepping the cap for paint. You can see I save the waste holesaw plugs from other work. This really makes fixing and filling the holes that need filling easy. Some thickened epoxy will be used to set the "Filler Plugs" then the excess epoxy cleaned up before doing a 12X grind on the topside and fiberglassing back level. Gas Filler, Vent, Rigging, even the Seat Base will be relocated. The step by step process will be in my next post. I like to lay everything out and "make a plan of attack first".
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So I'm getting tired of this job's slow progress and a need for this to be finish and available for use is increasing. My other VL100 is rotten, I've put it in storage on a lake I fish to stretch it's lifespan out till my Champion is finished. I'm switching to a 2K Urethane on the cap. This will speed up the completion of the project. Properly applied 2K Urethane's can withstand 20 times the sunlight with minimum care compared to gelcoat. Since waterproofing the fiberglass is not my primary concern (gelcoat underneath) it will be easy for me to install the cap first then spray it not having to cut & buff the gelcoat later. Also the black gelcoat I was getting from Advanced Plastics is not available right now, the stuff I bought online just isn't "Black" enough. I can shoot clear over the Urethane with a shot of black tint added to it. This is an "Old School" trick to get the deepest black paint one can achieve. An example of how gelcoat sunburns is below. A good 2K Urethane won't do this.
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:thumb up2:..... I did my fiberglass trailer fenders years ago in 2K and to tell you the truth, I didn't think they would last this long but they still look great. I would have to problem doing a top cap in 2K.

Most problems with 2K start with the pocket book. Higher quality paints cost due to the higher quality resins & solvents besides the pigment. There is one 2K job I did, one of the first 4 boats that started Hell's Bay Boats. It was laid up on a Dolphin Super Skiff mold by Chris Morjon (may have his name misspelled). Anyway it was crushed in Katrina and I repaired it. Today it still sits in a lift exposed, never, ever, had a coat of wax, still looks like the day it left my shop. The sinking of gloss that usually happens to 2K is because whoever applied it didn't do it right. 2K traps solvents worse than any other paint I've worked with. If it's full of solvents it's going to sink as the solvents finally get out. That last Hell's Bay Waterman that I did the primer alone was $800 but it sticks like epoxy, fills 40 grit scratches, and holds out gloss better than any other primer I've ever seen. BTW that Super Skiff gets foot traffic all the way around it by Saltwater Fly Anglers catching Redfish. A bass boat guy would cringe to see the abuse that paint gets. Resins & Solvents, top quality 2K, hit the pocket book hard. I just don't feel like fighting for a superb gelcoat finish when I can shoot it in 2K.

How much of a price difference/ labor intensity is 2k compared to shooting gel. I get the Good work aint cheap Cheap work aint good.

2K is low on labor high on material cost. Gelcoat is not a walk in the park. I decided to shoot gelcoat on the cap simply because I didn't want to pay $1K for materials to shoot a top quality 2K. I happen to be on the computer checking my shipment arrival date right now.
I ordered a gallon of Black Duratec VE Primer, a gallon of Duratec High Gloss Additive, & 2 - 2oz tubs Black Pigment to add to the Black gelcoat I have and to tint the Duratec High Gloss Additive. Out the door with shipping $311. Now I will need a full gallon of MEK to thin the gelcoat from the beginning till done. Spraying gel I will be spraying a good 4 hours to allow all the solvents to get out of each coat I spray. 2K I would be spraying 45 minutes max.

The Black primer is a adhesion promoter, tie coating, as well as filler for scratches. One good shot of that and some white guide coat for sanding and the cap will be ready for gelcoat. Yesterday and today I have been fitting & epoxying plugs in all the old rigging holes. tomorrow I can glass them up. When it's time to spray gelcoat if it orange peels in the beginning the peel is carried all the way through. It won't melt in like with 2K. You either live with it or sand it out. With gelcoat I can spray the entire cap off the boat, grind prep where the finish fiberglass tape will be going to tape the hull to the cap in the cockpit, do the glass work managing the repair area well, fair, and gelcoat. Sand and polish the overspray and be done.

So plugs are cut, glued in with thickened epoxy, ground down, glassed over, and skimmed.
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Afterwards when cured I grind a little below the surface then fiberglass over. Note I only put resin where needed. The stressed areas have 3 layers to reinforce the damage areas. I only grind the glass to feather edge the transition areas leaving as much new glass as possible.
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It looks like numerous impacts connecting the engine with something very solid judging from all the cracks in the glass. When exploratory grinding I found cracks in the fiberglass itself. So the splash well, rear area of back deck, are cracked too much to not repair. If I just sand and gelcoat all the cracks will resurface in the new gelcoat. If you go back in my post you will see I reinforced the transom the same as Champion built their boats. Blazer didn't reinforce the transom so the impacts pushed the splash well forward along with the center of the transom flexing and cracking up the cap in the process. These cracks are in a critical area and must be fixed. Energy travels in a straight line so the plane of the splash well transferred the energy forward around the center of the back deck. Since that area has a 1-1/2in thick plywood core the cap glass didn't have a chance. After all is repaired it will be skimmed with Gold Rage mixed with a little extra polyester resin.
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Also here is a picture of the Air Cleaner I run during sanding & grinding. It helps keep the "Corn Flakes" from building up in the nostrils.
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Isn't it funny that cracks and holes always seem to multiply from when you first start? I'm working on a Mack truck nose now and it looked great with only 3 small cracks, then 4, then 5, then etc, etc. Up to almost 20 spots now that I've fixed......

I totally agree, I'm use to jobs growing in scope. My customers were notorious for adding to a job after their boat was in the building. If you really look for stuff to fix there is always more than first thought.

That being said, take a look at the "Crow Foot" example here. It is all over the top cap. I'm having to grind 1/2 way through the gelcoat containing the flake before I get to good substrate. It's going to take me a week just to fix the cap before priming.

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So a picture is worth a 1000 words. Look at the Top Cap Gelcoat condition. I am receiving the Duratec VE Primer tomorrow. No way am I sanding all this off. Most primers have a maximum reduction percentage before the resins break down preventing proper adhesion or curing, or both. My thoughts is to reduce the VE Primer to the maximum "Non-Compliant" viscosity I can, spray is through an old HP1 clearcoat gun for maximum atomization, slowly building material, filling the pores on the first coats. Let that flash off the extra thinners and harden, scuff to dull with red scotch brite, then apply the proper millage coats with my primer gun. Of course I will have to call Duratec with my plans to see what they think. If in question I always call the manufacturer first.

Wow thats a lot of porosity I'm assuming that using a fairing compound to try and fill the porosity instead would be more time consuming and you would be running in circles trying to fill the voids

Your approach would get you there but a much longer trip. To explain, I can skim the entire top cap with Metal Glaze then sand it off. So I have to sand, skim, and sand, then prime. I can spray the primer level to begin with eliminating the "Sand to level" step. Also I eliminate the possibility of adding waves to the cap that would easily reveal themselves in the gloss. The VE Primer is harder than Metal Glaze and has greater adhesion properties.

I think the Duratec would take care of that.....

I spoke with Hawkeye Industries, they were very helpful. Figures, good product, good customer service. Anyway the Duratec VE Primer thinning is max 10% as a rule. Although further thinning for filling the porosity is acceptable as long as I cut to level and re-prime the tie-coat repair. So to be clear, after filling the pores a second coat of VE primer with a reduction rate no more than 10% is required. Other topcoats may be acceptable like gelcoat, I just didn't get the complete rundown of topcoat specifics during our conversation. The Duratec VE Primer success I have had is with some millage film build for substrate surface stability.

I originally was going to install a PVC rigging tube and had cut a hole for a 3in PVC pipe flange. The PVC was really adding weight unnecessarily. After thumbing through one of the warehouse's catalogs I remembered the TH Marine Rigging Tubes. So after ordering and receiving the Rigging Tube Kit I quickly realized the errors of my ways.

This post addresses the correction I had to do so the kit could be installed. I should say here that since the flotation is missing in the original location (the void directly under the console) I am spraying flotation under the livewell / fuel tank area to make up for it. I need the rigging tube to provide access from the void to the bilge.

As you can see in the pictures once again I'm using a saved holesaw disc to correct my mistake. It is the same one that came out of that spot to start with. Looking at it I realized it could use offsetting on the re-installation to better position the tube exit in the bulkhead. By screwing the disc to a block and clamping the block in the drill press it was easy to cut the filler piece. After cutting I buttered with thickened West Systems Epoxy and installed it. I bit of excess Epoxy squeezed out, that was skimmed flat with a bondo spreader.

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All this time I have been repairing cracks in the Cap. I plan to post the Cap progress up once it is in Prime.

3 solid 5/8in Coosa 26 transverse bulkheads and a double glassed 1/2in Cossa 26 deck was installed. These pictures here can help to understand why. If you turn your palm face up and curl your fingers in this is what your boat hull tries to do on impact of bow waves. The more the hull curls the more energy is absorbed into the hull instead of passing under (energy travels in a straight line). The backs of front decks on some very name brand boats crack at the back of the front deck because the energy is absorbed into the hull and the trailing edge of the front deck, where the vertical transverse bulkhead is, creates a compression point on each side of the boat. Also torsional stress is applied whenever the wave is not hit perfectly straight on.

By laminating the bulkheads in this little project boat, laminating the decking, and epoxying the deck, stringers, bulkheads, etc together the hull will not allow torsional stress to be absorbed. Even the fuel tank deck is laminated on both sides and epoxied and glassed in place. I will have a weak spot behind the deck but by laminating the Cap to the deck and adding the mahogany stripping where the Cap screws to the Hull, I won't have enough horsepower to flex the hull enough to affect where any give might be experienced.

Well another issue was realized. I needed to keep the rigging tube out of the bilge if possible and create a pathway for the Livewell drain hose from the Port rear of the livewell around the fuel tank to the remote drain valve. The rigging tube is routed around the back of the fuel tank now as well as stubbed up underneath the console providing a easy rigging route access. A path was needed where I could connect the drain hose to the drain fitting of the livewell after setting the cap but slide and secure the fuel tank when completed. With some creative thinking the console will be water tight if I don't cut a hole in the back. More than enough room is there for my feet behind the console so I decided to make the console completely dry inside.

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Since molded fiberglass products are tapered I use a sheet square to square up the gauge mounting holes for a cleaner install. Here the helm mounting holes are cut, gauge mounting holes are cut, side access hatch hole is cut, and the 703 Control is drilled and trial fitted.

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I provided a picture here to show how a jigsaw blade and tape makes it much easier to see the edge of the cut line. Using a Sharpie the lines are wide, your cuts stray more. With the fine tape line it is easy to see exactly where your cutting.

Nice...... I agree with the tape. I've gotten so use to it from fiberglass, pvc boards and even trex boards. Give me a tape line.