19 Foot MFG Boat Restoration

[Shakedownscott]

My boat is a few years newer made in '76 I think yours s right around '71. Mine has a liner where yours doesn't seem to have one. I can see what looks like the lapstrake lines on the inside of the hull in the brochure. Are these the ribs you are talking about?

Your boat may have not had any other support. I have a runabout that just has some wood panels with fabric over them on the sides. I would put it back the way you found it unless it really looks like something has been cut out.

Here is a similar brochure page for the boat I am working on.

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Thanks gm280! I am trying my best. I will have pics up tomorow. I gotta say, I 100% underestimated how messy and difficult the glassing process was. Granted it was my first time ever but I am absolutly beat after today. I was able to glass in the front and back of the transom. I did the back first cause I knew if I messed up a bit and parts bubbled or delaminated it would be covered in PB anyway so as long as it was not that bad I should be fine. I thought initially I would leave overlap on the sides and bend it down to cover the sides but ultimatly it did not stick. Not too sure why but I let it dry, and then busted the grinder out and cleaned up the sides. I am going to do them with small strips tomorow. The back actually came out ok, but when I did the front it came out much better. Almost perfect. At the end my gloves had so many fibers on them I could hardly move my fingers.

It was for sure a learning day. Learned a ton.

Um. Well WOG and gm280. The blocks were sort of my way of improvising the clamps where i didnt understand how they worked. I decided to make them like chopsticks. Each block is 2.4" wide. My transom is 2" and the outershell is .3". I figured that by tightening the lower bolt and grinding it down, eventually the contact would move from the bottom of the clamps all the way up to the transom. It just kind of operates easier I guess. But I might take them out because now that I understand how they are meant to work i think that sounds better. But ultimatly I made them like chopsticks. At first when you tighten the bottom bolt only the bottoms of the clamps will contact the transom and theouter shell, but as you keep wrenching it, the contact surface moves up the clamp until the whole transom top and bottom is in contact with the clamp.

Will post pics tm! Wish me luck! This stuff is wild to me haha

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Ahhhhh SDS! Yours looks way more bad a** then mine haha. Put two outboards on there and you will be cruisin! Your probably right! I will try to leave it as I found it.

I for sure like the concept of I liner though. Was a good design element. Will probably also make it easier to clean the boat and all.
Thanks for sharing those pics. Cant wait to get on the water!

 

[Shakedownscott]

It is definitely a learning curve using fiberglass. One thing I found that helps with gloves is to put on two pairs of those thin vinyl gloves. When the resin on the gloves gets tacky take them off and put on a new outer pair. This way you can keep going and not get frustrated with everything sticking to you.

 

[sphelps]

The more glassing you do the better you will get .... What are you using to apply the resin ? I like these 4"rollers .
http://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of-six-4-inch-mini-paint-roller-covers-97810.html
That and the 2" chip brushes with the ends cut down about a half inch or so ...

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Thank you both.I just got those gloves SDS. Way better! And I was using my grooved roller sphelps untill it got gunked up haha. I was done at that point tho so it was fine.

So this is what I have acomplished

Got itall wrapped in glass and I cleaned up the bottom but dont have a pic of that hah.

I want to install it ASAP, but I made a little mistake. There is a little delamination on one of the inside cut out sides. Im not sure why it happened byt it looks pretty bad.

Can I just sand that part down and then after install make sure I cover it well with glass?

A few install q's. What types of glass should I sue and how many layers?
Also. I am struggling a lot with corners and wrapping the glass. Is there a way to do it efficiently without getting any delamination?

 

[sphelps]

looks good for the first time out ... Yep just grind the bad edge back down and re-glass later .. Woodonglass has a perfect glass layup schedule on the link in the bottom of his posts .. On the corners you kinda need to stretch the glass and loosen up the fibers with your hands ,, You can also tear/shred pieces of csm and make like little puffy bunny tails ... Use your chips brush with the ends of the bristles cut off about a half inch or so ... Just dab dab dab till you get the bunny tails the clear up .... You'll get the hang of it ..'

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Thanks Sphelps. I will try those methods next time!

I hate to say it but me eagerness to do this project and ignorance with glass got the best of me today. I had the transom all clamped in and ready to go, and realized all my pb had ran all the way to the bottom of the boat. I had 4 quarts at the ready and even with those the sides did not fill in and I decided to pull the plug before most of it kicked because I knew it was not right.



I am real bumbed about it because I am a college student and I have to go back soon and money is tight so I really dont have enough materials to continue right now. Mabey it was a good thing this happened. Better I learn not to rush it now then rush and have an incident on the water.

I am going to rest for today but tomorow I will go out and sand the transom down to wood on the bad side and clean up the inside of the boat and then I will have to pack it up for a few weeks untill my next school break, where I will give it a second whirl.

My pb was not thick enough and the certainly was not enough of it. I thought 4 quarts would be ok but it really didnt seem like enough now that I think of it. Guess I gotta take a few steps back to keep going forward. Will post pics as I get to cleaning the wood and back of the boat.

 

[sphelps]

Add more cabosil the next stab at it ... A helper would be good if you have a bud around to lend a hand ..

 

[Woodonglass]

Take a look at this. I'm sure it will help...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3kmr9ZctUo

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Thank you guys so much for the advise over the past weeks. Wouldnt have been able to even atempt this without your help. I have packed everything up for a few weeks because I have to head back to school. When I get my next break I will resume work and do the transom right. Will post then.

One quick question. My next break may be when It starts to get colder out. I have to work outside. Is 45-50 degrees F too cold to glass the transom in? I have read a bit about it but people seem to not really have a clue about what they are talking about haha! Too much conflicting info.

Again the most sincere thanks! Will keep intouch on this thread and will be watching your projects too over the next weeks - months.

 

[kcassells]

Doable but you need to make an enclosure and heat it. I end up doing alot during the winter season. Search around you will see how some enclosures are built and heated on a nickle budget. But since your off to school you prob. won't have time.
Get edumacated!
Boat will wait for you.
KC

 

[Woodonglass]

Study hard and when you get back to it we'll be there for ya!!!:thumb:

 

[gm280]

Chrismas Sko, There are no mistakes fiber-glassing, only lessons learned. You can grind off any questionable places and setup to do it again. However, I do like the fact that you are going to school and getting more education. That is one thing nobody can ever take from you. Everything else in life is up for grabs but knowledge.

When you get back, it will all look clearer as you contemplate how to redo it next time. And yes you can poly in colder weather (I wish we had some now ) if you build a little tent like structure to heat it up so the Poly kicks properly. Just follow WOG's and sphelp's instructions and you won't fail. JMHO

 

[sphelps]

Don,t leave your new transom out in the weather for the winter ... Stick it in the garage if you have one ... Like the others have said building a tent over and placing a heater in there will allow you to do some glassing if you want ..
Now go learn something and get real smart so you can just pay someone to get all itchy for you ..

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Thank you all for the support and input! As much as I had to leave the project alone for now I know school is more important. I am a bit in debt to my parents as school and the boat put me under haha, but over the course of the year im sure I will have worked enough to fund the full rebuild in the summer. I am not sure if i can do winter work, as my breaks are not really long enough. But as soon as spring hits I will be heading home from Boston to resume work on the weekends I am free.

I have been writting my self instructions based on the info you guys have given me, and i hope by the time I am back to work I have everything planned out and can succeed. I hope over the next months to post ocassionally when I finish personal instructions for each leg of the project, hopefully yall might be able to just give them a glance and let me know if the are reasonable.

Sphelps, I have moved toe wood to the bassment. Thanks for telling me! was about to leave it in the boat for the winter. And haha no way any one else does this for me. I gotta do it! Although getting itchy sucks so much haha

gm280, as sucky as it is somtimes to have to drop these things for school, I know it 100% more important and I hope to use the time to bring that clarity to the project. Cant wait to really get into it!

KC and WOG, off to the ejamacation center haha. Will be back soon to do this project and get in the water!

Again a huge thanks for the generosity yall have shown me here. I hope in a years time Ill be posting pictures of my fishing off my new boat.

Best!

 

[kcassells]

You college kids all gots computas so keep in touch and use the down time to keep investigating Iboats and all the questions you have, they can still be answered. Lots of good readings here.
Now go get em! And keep the grades up.