1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

I would love to comment on this- will have to look later as no matter how many "reloads" no photos are being displayed this morning... Related to iBoats being down yesterday (got the 'shipwreck' under maintenance page yesterday...)

And then I see this tonight: Please note: We are working on a few maintenance items that will prevent you from viewing any uploaded elements (including: avatars, attachments, etc.). We appreciate your patience. Patience. OK. Can't wait!

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

The weather is warming up and it's back to work on the Oxford! Today it came off the trailer. Now I need some strong bodies to help me flip it over.

Once the stern was on the ground I pulled the trailer out to where the bow was barely supported by the trailer. I set up some blocks and 2 x 4s to drop it onto then used a floor jack to lower it to ground level.

Now that the boat is off the trailer I can work on the wiring and fix the rollers. Maybe some painting too.

Tried to roll the boat by hand but couldn't do it. Transferring all the 400# onto the rubrail was not so good and I didn't want to break anything so I stopped. Guess I have to try the tree technique.

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Nice weather Steve! You know if you flip it your gunna have to sand it. Kinda like watering the lawn . Makes it grow so you have to mow it!
I used a saw hoarse and a long 2x6 to flip mine. I made a video and posted it on my rebuild thread. If you can get a few buddies together you can use the grab and growl method .

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Saw your video on page 18 ... what a great set up! It looked so easy! Lots of lumber involved though.

I'm re-posting the location for the convenience of readers: http://youtu.be/Y-flVea1QwA

My boat is smaller. I hope I can line up some help to manhandle it over.

I'm thinking do doing a bit of internal bracing to help carry the load as it rolls up onto the rubrail. It's easy to see how the "old time" wood seats that spanned across the beam would have stiffened the boat. I was a little surprised at how flexible the FG sides seemed to be.

I expected it to be a bit stiffer.

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

SUCCESS!! The deed is done!!

Additional photos:http://s399.photobucket.com/albums/pp76/SLHPHOTO1/MFG Boats 1959 - 61/

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Nice job ! Looks like she took it real well!

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Now that it's upside down, more questions!

All around the underside of the to cap (deck) there is a type of goop that appears poured into the cavity. This goop is cracked at what appears to be every screw that holds the rubrail onto the deck and some of it is loose. Anybody seen this??

Here is a piece that fell out. It's very hard, dense and obviously kind of brittle. What is it? It has the general feel like plaster of paris (which I know it isn't) but much denser and harder.

Anyone know what this mystery material is??

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

That's the ? that every MFG owner wants to know! The same stuff on my 64 but the cap had no screws holding it to the hull.I just PB'ed mine back in.

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

What is your PB formula? What do you use?

Did you re-glue the old ? material back in place or totally replace it with your PB mixture?

I was thinking of using Bondo Glass ... with short strand, to replace or re-stick the mystery material. I also considered using 3M 5200 adhesive on the inside joint where the deck and hull meet to create a nice fillet. That could also be done with something like System Three Gel Magic epoxy (comes in tubes). The hold would be far more powerful than what's there now, which is almost nothing!

Any thoughts on gluing the joint? Pros & Cons??

Right now my deck is not really "attached" to the hull. The lip of the hull (shown previously) sort of "floats" underneath the mystery material. (The deck kinda rattles on the water) There are no fastenings at all! Seems to me these two pieces should be bound together. The rubrail screws are holding the cracked mystery material in place right now. If the mystery goop were all removed, the deck would lift right off, no problem.

Comments please!

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

...Comments please!

White polyester filler. Basically bondo... it was what they use to glue the two moulded halves together.

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

The pb mixture I used is poly resin with 1/4 " milled fibers then mix in some cabosil untill you get the thickness you want . You can make it alittle runny so it will seep down into all the cracks. I then used the bondo-glass to kinda dress it up for paint. I also glassed the cap to the hull from the inside before I pb'ed the outside. Hope I never have to pull the cap . It would be a big PITA if I needed to!
5200 dry's pretty strong that may work also..

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Thanks for the formula!

While the boat was upside down I wanted to take a look at the "stringer supports" under the deck. I had noticed that they weren't as solid as I expected when I squeezed them. My assumption was (wrong) that they covered bits of wood and figured that the wood had turned to mush.

I got out my trusty Dremel Multi-tool and cut off the top (when it's upside down) in a 3 inch section in order to look inside. Boy was I surprised!! The fiberglass cloth and resin was applied over ... are you ready for this ??? ... a a corregated cardboard form!

Yes !! Ordinary, plain ole brown box cardboard. Whooda thunk ???

My solution was to drill 3/8" inch holes every 8 inches in squirt in Great Stuff expanding foam into each the cavities (4). The foam went in nicely and some squirted out the small gaps. After cure, the excess globs were chunked off with a putty knife. One can did good on my little Oxford. It stiffened the deck and added miniscule floatation. (about 1 cu.ft. of foam) Now the stringers are no longer "mushy".

Next project ...

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

I have seen on some of the threads basically the same thing . The fiberglass and mat was the main strength of the stringers. Are those the ones the run from port to starboard or the length of the hull?

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

No .. No ... there are four "stiffeners" under the foredeck running bow to dashboard. Two larger towards the center and two smaller outboard. All are fairly evenly spaced. The center ones run from the dashboard foreword to about 8 inches from the bow curve. The outboard two are a little shorter and not as wide. All are full rigid foam now.

The cardboard was simply used as a form to drape the wet cloth over, providing a hollow "box shape" until the resin cured. I really expected it to be wood!

Today I used 3M 4200 Fast Cure to attach the deck to the hull and eliminate the "deck rattle" I experienced on my leak test run. In several spots I used West System Six10 epoxy for additional "tacking". I took my time and tried hard to squeeze it into the joint crack and form a small fillet. Between the two products, the rattle should disappear and the whole boat should gain some rigidity.

The aluminum pipe running behind the dash, port to starboard, was broken loose on one end. For this I used Bondo Glass on each end and at the points it passed through the dash at rear. Feels pretty solid now!

Tomorrow its supposed to be 70 degrees here. Maybe I can finish painting the interior hull.

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Sorry I miss understood :facepalm: I get it now my 64 has the same hollow ribs. The foam sounds like a good idea! I think I'll do the same.

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

It was real easy to foam. The fiberglass was pretty weak ... no problem drilling. Drill your holes between 6-8 inches apart and they will fill up nicely. At any gap you'll get a "balloon" pushing out. Just let it dry 24 hrs and they break off easily with a sharp putty knife.

Took 20 minutes to clean mine up and vacuum the debris. Worth the effort.

Here is a view of the wire guides I installed in the raised gunnel. When I brought the boat home wires were dangling at the gunnel, the dash and in the bow. What a mess!

I took PVC plastic water pipe and bedded it into as dollop of Bondo Glass. Now the stern light and engine wires will be supported up out of sight. I also placed some in the bow and dash area.

You can also see below the 3M 4200 joining the hull & deck.

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Looks good you shouldn't get any gunnel rattle now!

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Good Grief ! I started to remove the old bottom paint today. Couldn't wait around for the soda blaster so I went chemical stripper.

WHAT A B****H ! Messy, and sloppy and downright nasty! Most of the paint is now off and the sanding has begun ... ugh ... sanding is not fun.

All you guys that have restored your boats and stripped your bottoms, my hat is off to you! You tackled and won a heck of a battle. Those strakes, as beautiful as they are, are a real PITA to sand and clean up!

This is one part of the rehab I'll be overjoyed to finally finish...

Did I say sanding is not fun?

Here you can see the paint removal progressing

Sometimes when paint stripping you find things you'd rather not. Here is a very big repair. You can only see about half of it!. None to neatly done either. I also found some smaller repairs and and a few big gouges I didn't notice before.

 

[Jon Sob]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Hey Steve ..... I was sanding the hull and found an old patch that didn't look good so I removed it to replace it and found this:

The entire keel was rotted and I had to replace it ....... that was an unexpected surprise .... lol.

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Jon ... I'm afraid to remove my floor for fear of what I might find. I just want to go boating this year. If I discover a problem I'll deal with it but I'm not going looking for trouble!

My hours are racking up and patience is thinning. I need to make some "visible" progress. I've done an awful lot of work on this little boat but none of it shows!

Soon the butterfly will emerge ...