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  1. Member
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    #21
    If you ever wonder why a black looking mold seem to appear on the gelcoat in under-deck, bilge areas and the like, it is mold. The wax used to fully cure gelcoat molds. If you wipe it with acetone and clean gelcoat is underneath it's moldy wax. Well I added Duratec's High Gloss Additive to the gelcoat in my floor storage boxes and the shine shown will look this way 10 years later. No wax, No Mold. This is getting SeaDek in the flat areas so I didn't kill myself fairing it out but still didn't want any wax.

    Gelcoated w Duratec.jpg

  2. Member
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    #22

    Creative Clamping

    Quick update, clamped the first layer of Coosa 26 into the transom with thickened West Systems Epoxy.

    Making the post to show using creative clamping, no holes are in the core. No big deal except to give example of thinking out of the box can help in clamping. The doubled 2x6's keep everything nice and square where it counts.

    I had to sit and watch for a hour after policing up excess epoxy that kept oozing out.

    Creative Clamping 1.jpgCreative Clamping 2.jpg

  3. Member paulrodbender's Avatar
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    #23
    Nice...... Yup, I sat there too babysitting the extra epoxy, just as I would turn away, here comes a little more. I agree with getting creative with the clamping. I know you can't see it in my pictures but I used clamps, boards, threaded rod and even a forklift to hold her together.

    I'm onto Vinylester, I like working with West much better.....

  4. Member
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    #24
    Vinylester allows you to keep working without sanding as long as you are laying up every day. I will be switching to Vinylester to finish transom. That bond between old stuff and core, I only trust that to epoxy.

  5. Member
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    #25

    Conduits & Flotation

    Got a bit more work done on the VL100. Ran a conduit for trolling motor wires, one for trim switch - Nav Lite - 12V Distribution - Baitwell pump, and one for battery charger leads. I hate trying to run wires without a raceway. Ran Cockpit drain hose. Cockpit Drain fitting has 1-1/8in 90deg hose barb. No water will run directly into the bilge. I have a SS 1-1/8in Thru-hull and plan on using a remote 3 way drain valve to drain deck with. That way if I have water in the Cockpit I can simply run it out. If I need to drain into the bilge to pump out I can do that too. Started filling all voids I can with flotation foam. Also epoxied a 3/16in Aluminum backing plate for the Bow Eye.

    Conduits 1.jpgConduits 2.jpgFlotation 1.jpg

  6. Member
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    #26

    Forward Progress

    Cold temps and other obstructions slowing down progress but not stopping it. After fitting a sheet of 1/4in Coosa Bluewater 26 I realized 2 wings would need to be added for proper hull attachment. Due to the cost of the core material, fitting longways allowed using 2 pieces of drop to complete core. After adding wings and final fitting core it was laminated on the shop floor using HDPE sheeting to keep from sticking to concrete. A peanut butter consistency Epoxy was mixed and troweled onto the previously prepped stringers before laying down deck. I have found the easiest way to install a deck is to stand it up in the boat so after the epoxy is placed you just lay the deck down on top. It keeps the deck from sliding, moving the epoxy, making a poor lamination. Now since the deck will have a floor hatch the stringer were pre-prepped so I can also tab in the deck from the underside. After the deck was in I glassed the topside in with 1708, a layer of finish glass, and gelcoated with some left over from another job.

    The transom core was only 1in thick, and my final lamination is 1-1/4in thick so care had to be taken to not build up too much where the splash well will be epoxied back in place. The 1708 was dry formed & fitted ahead of time, also the inner core was dry fitted. A layer of 1708 & Heavy Mat was sandwiched in between the cores, all voids filled with Vinylester thickened with Talc, then 2 layers of 1708 was rolled down over the top. The bleeding black line seen under the glass work is the maximum height I can brace transom. Original transom had no transverse bracing like you see on bigger boats. Well, when I smoked a inverted cypress tree with my other VL100 the lack of bracing allowed the splash well to collapse a bit fracturing the glass. I'm installing a brace system like in my ChampioN while doing the reconstruction.

    Fitting Deck Glass.jpgDeck Laminated.jpgFitting Deck to Stringers.jpgDeck Glassed In.jpgDry Fitting Transom Lamination.jpgTransom Core Laminated in.jpg

  7. Member
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    #27
    I've been enjoying this build - you got some major pieces in, keep on truckin'

  8. Member
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    #28
    Kinda like making sausage. It's not for the faint of heart.

  9. Member paulrodbender's Avatar
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    #29
    Looking good.....

  10. Member
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    #30

    Additional Transverse Bracing

    This boat had no transverse bracing to the transom. In a earlier post I explain why I feel the addition is necessary. Using 1-3/8in Coosa 26 I table sawed out the reinforcement piece in the pictures. Also sawed the bevels to make the glass conform a bit better. After epoxy gluing the piece in, I made a pattern for the tie pieces to the stringers. Drop Coosa 26 was used (I don't throw anything away in this material) to make the connecting braces. The last pictures is of the additions glassed in. Next is the aft flooring to tie the back the rest of the way in.

    Coosa Transverse Reinforcement1.jpgTransverse to Stringer.jpgTransom Bracing 1.jpg

  11. Member
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    #31

    Lightbulb More Traction On Project

    The inner decking had raw wood, paneling thickness sheeting, again just stapled to the stringers to hold in place. Afterwards it was just glassed over, roughly, with chop. Of course the wood rotted, had to be replaced, so I cleaned the undersides of the skins real good with the grinder then used them for a pattern for new cores cut from 1/4in Coosa 26. After the new cores were epoxied the the undersides of the skins a layer of 1708 & Chop was added to arrest stretch flexing as much as possible. A peanut butter consistency epoxy was troweled over the stringers, the mid hull stiffeners added earlier, and the beveled seam against sides. Since the new deck was much thicker it didn't line up perfectly, well it is a 15ft bass boat so I just put extra taping on the side seams to create a new "Bridge" to the side. I've hit a design block so to speak and stopped early, fixed a Turkey & Coke, and decided to update this post. See the other little boat sits with the rubrail aft, almost in the water, so my plan is to redesign the corners so as to allow the installation of the baitwell pump where it can easily be replaced by a older man. Reaching to the bottom of the bilge is going to be more problematic due to the added transom bracing. A few pictures are attached to keep up visually.

    It amazes me, look at the other full restoration threads on this page and see if you agree with me,

    "You can't tell the brand of the boat from the insides, they all look the same". Name Branded boats of the era were just slapped together. Kinda like RV's today.

    Unsealed Under Deck Wood.jpgAft Inner Deck Skin Cleaned.jpgAft Inner Deck Epoxied In.jpgAft Inner Deck Epoxied In 2.jpgAft Inner Deck Glassed Over.jpg

  12. Member paulrodbender's Avatar
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    #32
    Nice and I agree on them being slapped together.... I find things and scratch my head and say, what were they thinking? I've come to the conclusion that they did it to stump guys like you and me but mostly me....

  13. Member
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    #33
    I Certainly agree when it would take very little at the time of construction to do a better job. Do you really think profit was that tight? I never worked in a actual fiberglass boat building facility so from the outside I wonder. When the floorplan providing banks pulled the programs I would say 75% of the manufacturers went out of business. Dealers didn't have the money to buy their inventory as I understand it. Builders could not floorplan on their own.

  14. Member paulrodbender's Avatar
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    #34
    My guess would be money and time. Guys like you and me working on one boat at a time look at like, what's another 100 dollars or another couple of hours, it's well worth it. Now multiply that by 500 or 1,000 boats and it adds up quick. I mean, really, 4 stainless 10/24 screws with steel nuts...... how much extra for 4 S.S. or brass 10/24 nuts?

  15. Member
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    #35

    Finally Flipped for Blueprinting (Re-design?)

    Finally reached a point to flip boat over to see what will be required to Blueprint. As posted in a earlier post both boats have a 18in Hook in front of a Transom wedge so when you plane off the bow is shoved into the water. A massive Rocker is forward of the 2 Hooks & Wedges, Rockers give Bow Lift so you can see the drag being generated here. I have to trim past the gauge with 8in of setback to get the boat up. Also included is a picture of the blocking supporting the boat in the back, the front is sitting on a stack of trailer tires, the top one with 5psi to help conform to the boat. In the Pad area it is fairly straight, both strakes are tapered to the back, your supposed to leave since designed into the hull. Usually for turning. These boats turn like #@%&!, fill in what you wish as long as it is negative. I'm going to have to venture into Un-Charted waters here to see if we can't get the hull to work for us instead of against us. This is a new 6ft straight edge. I saw the repair while working on the inside, the flake matches on the outside and I think it was done in the factory. Maybe they hit the boat with something. One of my Vendors stopped by and we were talking about Blazer and he said they were just bought by maybe L&M a boat yard south of Mobile, AL. Something like that.
    Aft Hook and Wedge combined.jpgBrace to trailer.jpgPrevious Hull Repair.jpgStraight Edge 1.jpgStraight Edge 2.jpgStraight Edge 3.jpgStraight Edge 4.jpgStraight Edge 5.jpg

  16. Member
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    #36

    Blueprinting

    Started on the port side, prepped the gelcoat for blueprinting so all the work would stick. I took my time plotting out on the hull the low spots to get my glass cut and shred the edges. No high spots to deal with on this section. I just rolled the vinylester on wetting the chop out until it was done.

    After setting up but a little tacky I skimmed with the Rage/Vinylester mixture. Cutting the skimming revealed high & low spots. They were dealt with my Air File then vinylester was rolled again to fill holes and after curing it was skimmed again. Second cutting revealed the little low spots left. I'm posting this update for one reason.

    For those who decide to do this, look at the pictures carefully, use sharp sandpaper and once the sandpaper is leaving scratches all the way across - level - Stop sanding. Too many people continue to sand and the paper is digging a hole in what you just filled in. The low spots are very clear, if I kept sanding until the low spots were cut I would have a Hook. Anyway the adjacent lifting strake has a high spot to sand out, nothing to fill.

    1ST Layup.jpg1ST Layup Cut.jpg1ST Layup Cut then Wetout.jpg1ST Layup Cut Wetout then Skimmed.jpgSkim cut w air file showing low spots.jpgSkim cut w air file showing low spots2.jpg

  17. Member
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    #37

    Blueprinting Progress Well Along....................

    it has been a everyday thing adding glass, removing glass, grinding high spots, filling very low spots. You can see the different layers from the pictures. Almost have it level, the outside port section is last and if you have ever done anything it's always the last part that's a pain. The Vinylester/Rage mixture keeps the grinding discs free from buildup so progress is quicker. The Pad tapers off to very little so I decided since I had a rocker & a hook to remove from it I would bring it up to the height of the pad on my buddies Skeeter. It is not as high as my Champ's pad but much higher than what came on the boat. The last picture is just for the "Oyster Lovers" in the crowd. A good customer dropped me off a gallon of hand shucked oysters as a "Tip". Well there is 20 on the plate plus Rally's Fries (Walmart freezer case has them if your interested). They are still too hot to pick up.

    Straight Edge 3.jpgStbd Blueprint layers.jpgPort Blueprint layers.jpgPad Buildup.jpg2 doz and fries.jpg

  18. Member paulrodbender's Avatar
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    #38
    Very nice. I would stop working on the boat real quick and eat if someone brought me a plate like that......

  19. Member wmitch2's Avatar
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    #39
    WOW !! That's quite an undertaking !! Very impressed by your knowledge of what to use and how to use it !! This will be one to be very proud of !! Are you going to somehow tie the stringers to the transom ? You mentioned "Blueprinting" the hull, can you explain what that entails and what it accomplishes ? Sounds like this is not your fires Rodeo, lol !! Outstanding job !!!
    Ranger Boats / Mercury Motors
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  20. Member
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    #40
    wmitch2, check further up the post to "More Traction on the Project" the last picture shows the upgraded tie in, stringers to transom. Blazer did not tie in like this originally. I hit a Cypress tree with my other VL100 and the engine pushed in crushing part of the splashwell. Of course the transom was jello. Give it to Blazer, their laminated, layered transom core broke but didn't even allow the engine mounting washers to crack the skin of the glass. The engine fell off my Champion for lack of glass.

    The added tie in also has a flotation enclosure/bracing box that is beefed up from original. You can just make them out in the picture showing the 2x6 framing supporting the boat.

    Paul, The oysters was my lunch, inside my house I built a kitchen that looks like a "General Mills" test kitchen. While doing that project I wired the Island for 220V and bought a 15# 220V Commercial Deep Fryer to fry fish with. It came with 3 baskets, one full size & two half size. It stays setup ready to cook. I was only going to cook a dozen but could not stop dipping the slotted spoon into the oysters looking at them. Well I would see a big juicy one and toss it into the fish fry. Dropping both baskets oysters & fries, lunch was ready in 2-1/2 minutes. I may have ate them that fast as good as they are. I think the guys are going all the way to Leases they have in Texas for these oysters. (Fresh water here has killed all our oysters)

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