Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

[stephentyler20]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Yeah I appreciate the analogy, but I have equally as much drywall experience as I do fiberglass experience (zero!), so I see what you mean, but it doesn't quite hit home.

Anyway, I think I have the idea. I'm going to do some more research on fiberglass work before I start this project (I have "Fiberglass Boat Repair Manual" and "Runabout Restoration" on the way - I'm a reading guy), and then I'll start with demo once I get my mechanical stuff out of the way for the season (separate post - have to rip apart my outdrive and either redo some seals or just get a new drive, depending on damage).

Oops... Can you recommend some essential tools to have on hand for this kind of work? I need to get a grinder/sander... Do you recommend a specific one? Angle grinder, right? I know I need fiberglass stuff - roller, squeegee, some putty knives, etc. Anything else?

 

[Nova II 260]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Tools are tools. Grinding glass will eventually ruin elec. power tools with the dust. I prefer air tools for grinding/sanding. If you are commencing with the FG job, the one thing you really need to spend money on is a good respirator and eye protection.

 

[stephentyler20]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Thanks - any tips on what's a good respirator? And does eye protection have to seal my eyes out or just cover them (like wraparound sunglasses)?

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Thanks - any tips on what's a good respirator? And does eye protection have to seal my eyes out or just cover them (like wraparound sunglasses)?

Most duel cartridge respirators should do the trick just make sure you get one for your application, I would recommend goggles for the eyes (recent bad experience with glasses )

Fuzzy

 

[stephentyler20]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

OK thanks I will keep an eye out for those things.

I just got and started reading "Runabout Renovation" by Jim Anderson... getting stoked!

 

[stephentyler20]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

By the way fuzzey, I'm following your barracuda restoration and learning a lot! nice work!

What do you intend to do with the floor surface - paint? Carpet?

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

By the way fuzzey, I'm following your barracuda restoration and learning a lot! nice work!

What do you intend to do with the floor surface - paint? Carpet?

Thanks im glad it helps, Ahhh im toying on what to do with the deck. Carpet is definetly not going on they deck because it dosent last long enough and can hold water which means rot... Im trying to go no carpet in the boat.

I would gel coat the deck (looks great in oops boat) but I don't have the money for it. So I plan on putting a few layers of glass down sanding it for days then painting it. I might add some fine sand for extra grip if it's too slippery.

Good luck on what your deck. Do you plan on gel coating it?

Fuzzy

 

[oops!]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

did you check the hull ext thread stephen.....its done.

one thing....a sanding on the veil layer WILL help....i dont have the same purpose for doing it that you do....but mine is not too bad.....you will need three thick coats to do what you want to do....a sprayer is better.....but add the non slip.

the fairing compound (poly fair) will help some.... but if you dont know how to use the stuff properly...and you dont have a 6 foot long board. it will take time......after its applied...i would use a spray bomb of black....(lightly)
and sand it off......that will instantly show you the highs and lows.....dont add more filler to the low areas if there is still highs left. sand the highs.

as far as the safety equip....read the saftey basics at the top of the forum.

let us know what you decide...

cheers
oops

 

[stephentyler20]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Oops - I did check, your boat is looking fantastic! I'm impressed with the amount of work you put into it...some day, I may tackle something similar.

I was actually starting to think I might do awlgrip for the floor surface instead, because my understanding is it's more durable, more flexible to apply, and cheaper! Am I wrong on these points? Or will it be more difficult to achieve a level surface without using a gelcoat product?

I think I'll try and avoid the whole fairing thing, as you suggest. I don't have any experience with it, so I'll probably just have a really hard time, and the floor isn't that bad as is. I'm thinking the veil layers will help flatten things, and I'm looking forward to using a grinder to get it flat too!

Also... Bit of a plan revision on this! I figure if I'm doing this, I should do it right. So here's what I'm thinking... On the fully assembled cockpit, both sides have a shelf unit. Each unit is one long piece of ply, covered in vinyl, that bolts onto the fiberglass visible in this picture, and the shelf extending down from that. This ultimately provides decent storage, but the shelves are falling apart despite some decent repairs I did last winter.

So i think I'm going to simplify things. When I gut the boat again, I think I'll fabricate some new sidewalls that will serve two functions: 1) to support the custom seats I plan to fabricate, which will be L-shaped from either side of the doghouse up to about midway up the cockpit on either side, and 2) to house recessed storage cabinets.

Of course, by simplify I mean it's going to be very complicated, but look simple in the end. The tricky things, I think, will be installing that plywood so that it's perpendicular to the floor, and then securing it that way (I assume fiberglass tabbing is the way to go?). Then I will have to finish that ply, and figure out how to do the recessed storage compartments/hatches.

The nice thing about this is it eliminates the need for painting the fiberglass side walls, which are much rougher/harder to deal with.

Here's the picture of the gutted interior to better illustrate. You can see that the gunwale extends into the cockpit, which is normally what creates the void beneath it for shelf storage. I'm simply going to extend that inner edge down to the floor.

 

[wewefirex2x]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Stephen,
I sent you a private message. Just curious if you had time to read?
Thanks Mike

 

[lucid484]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

I also was going to use the fairing technique and repaint my sidewalls....but had the same thoughts as you...I might just plywood a vertical surface from th rail to the deck and put shelving units in the empty space.....I found these at westmarine that I think I'll use.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?resultCt=1&jspStoreDir=wm51&catalogId=10001&productId=221744&keyword=6871222&y=8&x=21&storeId=10001&ddkey=SiteSearch

 

[stephentyler20]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Stephen,
I sent you a private message. Just curious if you had time to read?
Thanks Mike

Just replied, thanks!

I also was going to use the fairing technique and repaint my sidewalls....but had the same thoughts as you...I might just plywood a vertical surface from th rail to the deck and put shelving units in the empty space.....I found these at westmarine that I think I'll use.

Cool... that hatch is exactly what I had in mind. The only problem is the actual process of putting some vertical plywood up there and making it look flush. A friend of mine suggested putting a thicker (1/2") plywood backing up under the gunwale, then a thinner sheet on top of that to match the level of the gunwale... Then fiberglass and finish everything at once to get a fair, even surface. Thoughts on that?

 

[lucid484]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Yeah that would work....but I think it might be a bit much work to get it "just " right.

What my plan is (if you look at all my boat pics i've posted) to screw a fiberglass board behind the lip there and paint that but my boat had "plywood pads/rails that had vinyl stapled to them....I'm think the easiest and maybe best looking thing to do is remake those pads (which is VERY easy) that run the whole lengt of the gunwales....not only would it look sharp and complete imho but it would add some nice padding for leaning p on the sides of the boat.

hahah lemme know if you understand what I mean...if not ill edit some of my pics in paint to try to give you a visual example.

 

[stephentyler20]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Picking up on an old topic here, now that the time has come to hunker down on my boat!!!

I got a little sidetracked by some higher priority work (i.e., outdrive seal failure!). Now that this seems (fingers crossed) to be under control, I'm starting to turn back to my interior. I'm all over the place - leave the carpet, pull the carpet, leave it, pull it... On the one hand, I'd REALLY like that clean, gelcoated deck look with some no-slip gelcoat. On the other, the carpet is pretty new, and it'd be a lot of time and money saved just to leave it.

I think my plan is thus: I have two sections of my boat that I have yet to RE-carpet... The firewall and the area just aft of the firewall. Both of those would have been too time consuming last year, and were barely noticeable anyway, but this year I've already started attacking them. So I might try my hand at this fiberglass stuff with that, and see what I can get. That way, I'm approaching a much smaller area, which should be easier and give me an idea about whether I want to pursue the entire floor!

 

[wewefirex2x]

Re: Cockpit sole re-do - viable project? Tips?

Any new updates on progress?