1972 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

[Tnstratofam]

I think the paint turned out good. Nice to see you're still at it.

 

[smevil]

Its been a while but still working,here went for the floor and the wet expanding foam,Hoping to put in a belly tank and replace the floor, was able to get the pieces out for temple's for the new wood.

 

[Watermann]

Nice forward progress, tough work doing the clean up and repairs. Nice to see all those beefy hull stiffeners under the ribs. :thumb:

 

[Tnstratofam]

Don't you just love wet foam.

Looks like you're well on your way. Nice looking cleanup.:thumb:

 

[Brackett221]

Permission to come aboard Smevil? I just finished reading the entire post! Not sure how I missed this rebuild. Nice boat! And nice rebuild ya got going on! Can't wait to see more!

 

[oldhaven]

Still here watching. Nice to see progress but wasn't the wet foam frozen?

Ron

 

[smevil]

Again, thanks to everyone. Question Does anyone have any issues with using the old standard white Styrofoam? VS. the blue\pink 3/4 foam. also I was going up to 5/8 plywood for floor from 1/2. the old floor was "old" but seemed a little weak for the span. And the fuel cell still hoping to find one in the boat yard, So I am going to start up front and work my way back and figure it out when I get I guess.

 

[smevil]

Still here watching. Nice to see progress but wasn't the wet foam frozen?

Ron

Not frozen but really really cold, Was a long night.

 

[jbcurt00]

The styro beads can get loose below decks and can plug the limber holes. Plenty of posted projects had plenty of loose beads in the bilge....

 

[ezmobee]

The white styro was factory so I guess it isn't the worst thing to use but does have the issue jb mentioned above and it will also absorb water if soaked in it for a while. The pink/blue/green EXTRUDED (versus expanded) polystyrene will not absorb water.

 

[Watermann]

I wouldn't recommend using Styrofoam, lots of work, time and money goes into a boat rebuild so I can't see a reason to go cheap on flotation foam.

 

[smevil]

Dug in deep and scrubbed the belly for hours, Got some loose rivets and and light surface corrosion down the middle stiffeners.. The belly was really good except I got three pits (looked like stainless sat) but really happy.

 

[smevil]

Was pretty happy with the back deck, Also added extra supports under the top deck for extra support.

 

[Watermann]

Sounds like you should have an easy go of the hull repairs, that's always one of the steps that takes up the most time and effort on my rebuilds.

 

[smevil]

Tonight I was hoping to get my three aluminium patches down and look at replacing a dozen plus rivets on the stiffeners. Or not just because when floor goes back down that will tie it all back together. not 100% sure on that one yet. And make me some angles to go under the wood that supports the splices between the plywood seams, the spray foam was the only thing holding up them supports. Anybody spray in Corrosion X before the floor goes back down?

 

[Watermann]

The Corrosion X stuff is very interesting, I've not seen anyone use it on their boats. Are you going to use it?

Personally I would replace any loose, leaky or damaged solid rivets.

 

[smevil]

I went with a reverse leak check, I lowered the nose all the way down and filled the belly up to bottom of transom for about an hour, I see no leaks. After hand scrubbing the inside I got no loose rivets. Next on list was this corrosion, I am very impressed with the aluminium that was used, I have worked on allot of planes from 60s 70s and 80s and this boat is in better condition than all of them put together. The 80s aluminium is by far the worst. Maybe because as they flew they built up static electricity and in turn just exfoliate the thicker parts to pretty much flaky layers. So either these boats dont go fast enough or high enough to corrode. I will lightly spray the belly with corrosion x before the pink foam goes down, just because it is military/aviation standard now a days. Also I am hoping not to pull that floor up for years to come.

 

[GA_Boater]

Up in post #115. you mentioned making some aluminum angles to tie the deck wood together. Originally there were aluminum strips the same width of the plywood riveted as joiners. The joiners kept the deck even with no height changes between deck sheets. Nice thing about the strips is they sit on top of the stringers and make it easy to tie the deck together and easier than fabbing angles.

 

[oldhaven]

I used an extrusion called a division bar between the deck panels. It has a small low face above the deck that will not trip or hurt bare feet and the lower flange is wide enough to rivet through. I got the 3/4" but it is available in 1/2" . It is not that much more expensive compared to the angle you can use to make something that works, but it is so ideal for the purpose and needs no fabrication.. The place I got it has a lot of other extrusions that I used so I combined the different types to reduce total shipping, which is the really pricey problem. I see nothing that iboats offers like this so:

http://www.brunnerent.com/Tools/Port...?iPageNumber=1

 

[smevil]

Still pecking around here, Was able to rough in the floor today, I have the worlds slowest internet so I was hoping if somebody had a part number on the fuel cell that would go under the floor I would appreciate.