Here We Go Again

[Yamtt125]

Strick, its great to see some more progress from you.
The boat is lookin great. I understand how slow it can go. I am doing the same thing to my 71 20' and things always interupt me from working on it.
Its interesting to compare yours to mine. For some reason, there was absolutly no foam in mine. I have yet to see one on this board with no foam except for mine.
I do have a couple questions on the build up of your transom...do you think that only 2 layers of 1708 is enough? I was working on mine this weekend, and was able to get the cabosil mixture under and around the wood, and I also laid up one sheet of 1708 on it. I was thinking of doing 2 layers of 1708, then 2 more of a 6oz cloth or something like that. Do you think this is overkill?
What do you plan on doing with the floor? Are you going to reuse the old floor? If so, what are your going to do with the diamond pattern on it? I would like to reuse my floor, but there are many parts of the floor that iether have chips or scrathces in the diamond pattern, and it would just be a pain in the butt to fix it.
Once again, great progress and i look forward to seeing more great work.

-Andrew

[strick]

Andrew-

Interesting that there was no foam. They just poured foam in my boat kinda in a random manner I'm guessing just to meet coast guard requirements?

An ex boat builder once told me that standard lay up or a transom going from outside to inside the transom consisted of 3/8 inch thick outerlayer glass, 1 1/2 inch core material (plywood, coosa, whatever) then 1/4 inch inner layer of glass. Each layer of 1708 will give you about 1/16 inch thickness. That being said I'm only putting the 1 layer of 1708 and the woven roving. The corners of the transom and around the stringers will get beefed up with 3-4 layers. The transom on my boat had 1 layer of woven roving and matt and it lasted 37 years. As for the floor, I'm planning on re using the skin and for simplicity I will probably go with a new plywood core. I will fix the cracks in the skin but I'll have to see how that goes once I dive into it. It is going to be a big PITA to fix. Hope some of this helps.

strick

[hermco]

The laminate should be equal on both sides of the core for maximum strength.

[strick]

I wont argue with that Hermco. Progress has been slow for various reasons, work, kids, fishing and not excluding my lacking in motivation. At any rate I'll show what little I have completed in the last week.

I took some left over 5/8" core cell that I had laying around and ripped some 2" strips. Note the SeaCrafts in the background.



I beveled the top edge to meet with the same plane as the top of the stringers and the bottom edge just has a 45 angle on it so the glass will roll over it easy. These strips will get laminated to the side of the hull and the edge of the floor will rest on them. I then took some 5 minute epoxy and ran a line the length of the piece. I used a level on top of the stringers and drew a mark were the top of the core cell should be and then glued them to the side of the hull. I cut some sticks to help wedge the piece to the hull while the 5 minute epoxy dried. It took longer then 5 minutes so I'm planning to write a letter to the company.




I also cut some pieces of 1708 so I could tab the stringers to the transom.




Here is a shot of the floor support laminated tot he side of the hull and stringers tabbed in place.



I will have to do the same thing for the upper deck but I'm going to have to do a test fit to see were the deck sits so I can get my mark for the core cell.

Till next time.

strick

[strick]

I decided that instead of coring the underside of the gunnel cap all the way around I would instead put down two layers of 1708 to help firm it up. After the cap is installed I will put some backing plates for rod holders etc...




I flipped over the old floor/liner.



It looked like the old fiberglass liner was glued to the plywood floor with liquid nails.



I had expected it to be cabosiled to the wood. Here was a delima. Liquid nails is extremly tough to break free. Cabosil would have been easier. There was one layer of cloth glassed to the underside of the wood core. I cut the seems with a die grinder and proceeded to remove the wood core with some hand tools.



It came apart OK but is very lumpy due to the wood fibers stuck to the fiberglass. There will be a lot of sanding involved to get this smooth enough to re-install therefore I'm considering scrapping the old laminate to save some time and grinding. I have another plan in the works already.

Limber holes made from PVC. Note the extra resin that I forgot to wipe away.



Cutting notches in the stringers for the fuel tank fill and vent hoses.



couple of 20 footers



1/2 inch plywood floor cut for a trial fit. This is not marine ply. The only place i've put marine ply so far is in the transom.



I poured what was left of my foam in between the stringers to make the Coast Guard happy. Along with whats inside the stringers this will hopefully keep her floating.



1 1/2 ounce cloth glassed to the underside of the plywood floor.



Cabosil on the stringers and side supports making it ready for the floor.



Floor screwed down to the stringers.



There will be no rigging tubes thru the stringers. The gas tank (Thanks Tim) has a channel down the side for all my rigging which will go strait back to the transom. I got my order of balsa core in. I also have 8 2x4 sheets of 5/8 inch Elastifoam.




Test fitting the front deck



I got it level and made some measurements. I needed to extend the sides out so they could sit on some side supports. Bigshrimpin helped me make a template and I cut some plywood for this.




I finished glassing over the wood and did a test fit. close enough for the girls I go out with.




I made some marks and 5 minute epoxied some core cell to the sides of the hull like I did for the sides of the deck.



They then got laminated to the hull.




And another test fit once everything had set up.



I'm happy with the way things are going so far. Starting to feel like I'm making a little progress.

strick

[Yamtt125]

Strick, your makin some great progress...it is actually starting to look like something now...hahaha. Just wondering what type of wood you used for the floor?
-andrew

[Snookerd]

Strick- Man, you are doing a great job. The photos and explanations are greatly appreciated. There is more than one way to skin a SeaCraft, but your route and effort to document the job really opens the door to many of us who want to be more hands on with rebuilds. Since the gunnel liner has been cut out below the deck lip(beginning of the job), what are you doing for finish work(besides rod hoder/deck supports) to cover the exposed hull sides from the inside?

[JW-Tex]

Strick,

What are you doing with the balsa core?

Your work is exceptional as usual...helps keep me motivated.

JW

[Ed]

Hmmm....is anyone else getting red x's where the pictures should be?

[Snookerd]

nope, the photos are there on my end.