After the cover was fully prepped for size, shape, and screws, it was painted as it will be exposed during any servicing of the cable channel. The cable channel, its flange, and the floor surrounding it were also painted for the same reason. The rest of the floor in the cockpit area was left...
Continuing the build of the floor structure, the forward floor panels were bonded into place in the same manner as the rear panels. Then a single strip of woven fiberglass was laid along the floor edge to hull chine joint and wetted into place.
Because the helm station is quite constricted on the right side, the motor control was never mounted there. Instead, it was mounted on the starboard side of the center console near the front. The original control cable routing had them lying on the floor angling toward the starboard rear...
Continuing work on the bottom structure was interrupted by the move to the new residence and the project was delayed for about a year. To aid in the move, the floor was temporarily installed and the boat was used to carry a wide variety of items to the new location.
Picking up the story line...
As originally built, the interior side panels were terminated near the instrument panel at the front and near the rear of the open area at the rear. This left some of the hull interior exposed at the front and left the entire rear area open. The boat ran most of the time with the tonneau...
Instrument Panel - Part 2
The fully formed panel being trial fitted into the hull.
It was desired to attach the new panel to the existing panel surface with hidden fasteners. Prior to adding the face veneer to the panel, flat head screws were installed in the panel with washers and nuts on...
NEW INSTRUMENT PANEL - Posted in two parts due to length.
The original instrument panel was plain with the steering wheel mount and a small push-pull two position switch for the anchor and navigation lights. The top of the panel had a cover that was a plywood board trimmed in vinyl that...
The rebuild of this boat with its many changes is adding weight to the hull so various ways of taking off weight are being considered. The steering assembly was surprisingly heavy so lightening some of the parts was desired. The rear mounting bracket needed refinishing and it was decided to...
Foredeck structure and flotation continued.
After the grid was completed, the first layer of foam blocks was inserted into the grid voids and bonded into place. Access holes were left in the foam for deck hardware installation and notches were cut around the edges for rub rail hardware...
This information about the foredeck improvements is rather long, so will be posted in two parts.
The foredeck was made of relatively thin fiberglass and tended to flex when crawling on it to board, paddle, or retrieve the anchor. This flexing produced spider cracking in the gel coat.
The...
The site would not let me post the complete story of the transom rebuild so this is part 2.
There was no room to caption the previous picture and it was posted without caption. The picture shows the removal of the bottom transom board with the boat upside down on the rotisserie. The new...
The original transom board was full height in the center and tapered down at each side to a height of about six inches. The outer skin of the hull angled rearward at the outboard ends so the outer portions of the transom board did not bear directly on the skin. During early usage, cracks...
As shown on the pre-restoration picture, the console originally had a gold mylar waffle pattern trim on the front and rear sections. This trim could not be saved, was probably not available, and looked rather cheap. The original lid and hinge were crudely made and the hinge was visible and not...
While hull work was active, the seat shells and console were also being restored. These items were fiberglass moldings with a leather like texture pattern on the outside surfaces. Starboard had painted both the seats and console but had not addressed the seat shell stress cracks that had...
After the hull was mounted on the rotisserie, it was rotated so it was at about a 45 degree angle. Then the lower side of the stringer to hull joint was closed with masking tape. Then epoxy resin was flowed into the joint by gravity and a generous radius was formed between the side of the...
