1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of questions!

[Roadblock]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

Took an air grinder with a stainless steel wire brush to the area with sealant. No pitting, just jacked up holes from those big ares bolts posted above.

OK well that is what I've found so far. The sun is pretty much down so I'm going to go finish removing the splashwell. I want to try to get the transom out tonight or tomorrow.

The transom definitely has a lot of rot BUT enough of it is there that I think I can use it as a rough pattern for my new wood.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

Use thru bolts not screws when you put the OB back on. I suspect the lower holes that were filled, were either in error or the OB was raised the 1"+/- difference between the filled holes & the ones w/ screws.

Good news on the exterior skin being unaffected by the exterior wood. That is fairly rare. Even when the wood's not PT, there's usually some damage from the wet wood.

When you install the new transom ply, the transom skin will likely conform to fairly flat w/out you making any changes to it.

Hope the inner transom skin is in as good a shape as the exterior. Good luck w/ the splashwell.

 

[Roadblock]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

I've got my fingers crossed on the inside. I see the inside was sprayed with some type of black spray on sealant under the wood so hopefully that protected the inside like the outside was.

 

[Roadblock]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

Man I don't know what they used for sealant to seal the splashwell up but GOOD GOD this stuff is hard. I'm practically having to grind it away.

The splashwell was constructed using closed head style rivets so I ended up using a Dremel cut off wheel to cut a line threw the center of the heads and then a BIG ares flat head to shatter the heads by twisting them. Then I ground what was left flat and they pretty much just fall out. However this sealant is holding everything there like I never touched the rivets!

Base on what I'm seeing it fits the product description of the 3M 5200 sealant.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

Base on what I'm seeing it fits the product description of the 3M 5200 sealant.

Yup!... Adhesive sealant!

 

[Roadblock]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

Man I'm beat! Been a long day but I'm making progress!

 

[Roadblock]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

OK! So here is what I found on the inside of the splashwell where it touched the transom wood.

Has a discoloration that almost looked like rust. I hit it with the air grinder and wire wheel and I do see some pitting. Also due to the motor being cranked down so hard and the transom being soft, it actually pressed/cut threw the splashwell.

No big deal, most boats don't even have those. Gives me a reason to put a metal motor pad on both sides.

I assume I'm going to find some of the same pitting on the boat itself. What is the process for filling it? I assume epoxy resin with some type of powdered metal additive such as West System 420 powdered aluminum?

 

[Roadblock]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

One last picture just because!

 

[Roadblock]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

OK I've got a new question. So lets say I do not want to go with wood for the outside of the boat. Does anyone sell a pre-made aluminum motor pad? I do not have the tools to cut and shape something like that.

Also would you have to have some type of sealer between the two layers?

I think due to my picture above where the motor screw down actually punched threw the back of the splash-well into the transom, I need to put a layer of aluminum on both sides of the transom, the splash-well side and the outside on the hull.

That or I'm going to need some thinner marine grade plywood so I can put a layer on each side. I don't really want to get into having the aluminum repaired (welded) on the splash-well.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1960~70 Mirrocraft Ski 'N Troll Restore, First boat and I've got tons of question

All you really need is a patch on the outside of the transom after you get the transom wood installed, you can do this with 0.063 or 0.125 gauge aluminum.

Aluminum is easy to cut with a jigsaw or Skillsaw, if you use the Skillsaw use a 48 tooth carbide tipped blade. I have a 12" 96 tooth carbide tipped blade for my miter saw I cut aluminum angle with. These blades are rated wood/bi-metal.

Sheet and angle aluminum is cheap to buy at scrap yards and recycle centers, much cheaper than new aluminum at retail stores.

Here's a thread on patching aluminum, it's not hard to do and you just need a minimum of tools that you're going to need for your resto anyway:
http://forums.iboats.com/boat-restoration-building-hull-repair/tracker-hull-damage-lots-536250.html

 

[Roadblock]

So the deck wood all says APA rated on it... That is good to go for marine projects isn't it? Sigh... Yea so the reason it looked green is because apprently a light dusting of green spray paint got on it when whomever painted the inside of the boat.

 

[jigngrub]

Pressure treated wood is APA too, American Plywood Association. What else does the stamp say, can you read it or maybe post a pic of it?

 

[jigngrub]

double post

 

[Roadblock]

Wow this thread lost a few posts didn't it? I'm getting there!

 

[Roadblock]

Well I got it back out on the water this weekend! Will post an update soon!

Little video of me opening it up on Green Lake here in Michigan yesterday. My 4 year old daughter LOVED IT!

 

[Roadblock]

Wow well this has been a hell of a project but I'm back in the water and after a day on the lake, I have NO water that I can see in my deck pan or under the wood.

I still haven't gotten my pour in foam yet but after I pulled the boat out of lake I put the boat as an angle and tapped on the hull where the foam is missing to see if I could hear that tinging sound you get when water is sitting in the bottom of a boat. NOTHING! It sounds completely dry. Might be damp but there is no standing water. When I got home I cranked the boat all all the way up in the front and nothing ran back around the area where the foam is missing either. Not a single drip around the transom either!

I think I might still pour in some foam but I'm done with the boat til we start getting some of that lovely cold Michigan weather. At that point ALL of the foam comes out and I'm going to:

1. Rip up the deck
2. Rip out the foam
3. Gluvit
4. Paint inside of boat
5. Repour foam
6. Replace deck with Marine AB 1/2 inch and relay my carpet.

I did a very light tacking job with Marine grade stainless staples so the carpet can be move easily and reused.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmLvQt74ofY

Recap of the project.

 

[Woodonglass]

It's always "Good Times" when you're on the water with your kids!!! Congrats on "Gettin er Dun!!!!" Have fun this season, and we'll be lookin for the "Next Session" in the Fall!!!!

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