1972 Glastron GT-160

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

Shucks, I thought it was always nice n' cool in Cornhuskerville!!!!
The trouble with the Cheapo grinders is usually the brushes and the connectors. I took my "Smoked" HF Grinder appart only to find the brushes wire was fried. It came with another set of brushes. I wrapped the new ones with Electrical tape, lubed the connectors with vaseline, reinstalled, and it's been working great ever since. My $80 Porter Cable sees very limited Glass Dust but it worked great on the trailer.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

Shucks, I thought it was always nice n' cool in Cornhuskerville!!!!

You must be mistaking us for Oklahoma

I took about an hour tonight and did some grinding. This is going to be a very long process due to the previous repairs that were made. There are piles of resin everywhere. I think when they got done with a layup they just dumped the leftover resin in the hull. There is also a bunch of unsaturated glass everywhere, especially where they bridged between the deck and hull. I would guess I'm looking at around 25 hours to get the hull ground out. While I was grinding tonight I also hit gelcoat in a few spots. I was working in the strakes and with the previous repairs it was hard to see where to grind. I think I will put a layer of csm all the way along in the strakes just for a little added strength.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

The extra layer of CSM sounds like a good idea.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

I hope everyone had a happy 4th. We spent some time on the lake yesterday and spent some time with family and friends, lots of good food to

The weather is supposed to cool down some this weekend so hopefully I can get some more grinding done.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

I hope everyone had a happy 4th. We spent some time on the lake yesterday and spent some time with family and friends, lots of good food to

The weather is supposed to cool down some this weekend so hopefully I can get some more grinding done.

Glad to hear you got to spend some quality time with the Family Units!

Hope you get your wish and it cools down enough to grind...

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

Glad to hear you got to spend some quality time with the Family Units!

Hope you get your wish and it cools down enough to grind...

I do hope it cools down, but I' not looking forward to grinding. I guess it has to be done though.

One thing I'm a little concerned about is the PO used epoxy when they made the repairs. I am going to be using poly. I will be grinding everything out as good as I can but I'm sure there will be some epoxy left. I am a little concerned about the bonding. I think I read somewhere at one time that if you get the "flash" ground off the epoxy the poly will stick. I'm just looking for a little insight from the pros on this.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

I just came in from doing a little grinding. It isn't very fun when it's 90 degrees out and I'm wearing the tyvek sweatsuit. I made a little more progress bt it's going slow. It is kind of hard to tell what is original from the factory and what the previous repairs are so I am grinding down until I get to the roving. Some of the tabbing for the stringers looks original but I'm unsure and since I will be using poly and the previous repairs were epoxy it is all getting ground out.

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

i feel your pain...we set all-time record highs here, including 9 straight days of triple digit temps.....

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

i feel your pain...we set all-time record highs here, including 9 straight days of triple digit temps.....

We have had the same streak here with triple digit temps. This week cooled down into the 90's and they are talking in the 60's for lows. I'll just have to do some early morning grinding.

I went back out to do some more grinding and my new Kawasaki grinder just couldn't handle it. It was starting to run really slow. Once it cools down I'll take it apart to see what happened. It might just have a bunch of glass dust on the magnets and needs cleaned. Hopefully I can get it running again. If not I'm only out 16 bucks

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

I got the grinder tore apart and the brushes are shot. I guess I will have to make a trip to harbor freight for a new one. I have a nice Dewalt but I would rather not use it for grinding glass as it cost 5x as much as the Harbor Freight ones do.

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

yeah, i like the HF tools...cheap enough to use a few times and pitch when they go bad

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

yeah, i like the HF tools...cheap enough to use a few times and pitch when they go bad

I have actually had pretty good luck with the HF stuff. It seems to last about as long as the more expensive stuff but at a fraction of the cost.

I hopped over to the classic glastron site and was looking at some of the GT 160 restos. I have some stringer tabbing I wasn't sure if it was original or not but it appears to be there on other rebuilds so that will save me a ton of headache and grinding. If I could stand a full day in the sweatsuit I think I could get the rest of the demo done in a day.

On another note, the job I was supposed to start this week fell through so I am back to looking for a job. I have a few good leads so hopefully I will know something by the end of the week.

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

Hey Drew,
Been awhile since I stopped by... Hope you are well. Just going to let you know that I bought a porter cable grinder from Lowe's and bought the 1 year protection plan ($5.00) from Lowe's. So, when it crapped out, I brought it back to Lowe's covered in white dust and said "here's my receipt, I am here to pick up my new grinder." I'm now on my third one... To me, that was a better value that buying the cheaper HF that don't come with the same protection plan. Just my .02 FWIW.

So, what boat is the lead horse in the stable right now? This one or the metal boat or the big 'ol Grand Bahama? (or dare I say - Chocolate thunder?).

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

Hey Drew,
Been awhile since I stopped by... Hope you are well. Just going to let you know that I bought a porter cable grinder from Lowe's and bought the 1 year protection plan ($5.00) from Lowe's. So, when it crapped out, I brought it back to Lowe's covered in white dust and said "here's my receipt, I am here to pick up my new grinder." I'm now on my third one... To me, that was a better value that buying the cheaper HF that don't come with the same protection plan. Just my .02 FWIW.

So, what boat is the lead horse in the stable right now? This one or the metal boat or the big 'ol Grand Bahama? (or dare I say - Chocolate thunder?).

I actually think HF has a 1 year protection plan you can buy as well.

I think the Glastron and tinny are kind of tied right now. I ran out of funds so I can't do anymore on the tinny so I am grinding on the Glastron just so I have something to work on. Chocolate Thunder is sitting out at pasture right now. Literally, I pushed it off the trailer in the pasture

Temps were in the 70's this morning Perfect grinding weather.

 

[rrumba]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

I got the grinder tore apart and the brushes are shot. I guess I will have to make a trip to harbor freight for a new one. I have a nice Dewalt but I would rather not use it for grinding glass as it cost 5x as much as the Harbor Freight ones do.

Grinding bites no matter how you do it, the heat makes it worse, tripple digits really makes you want to quit but i do believe the rain after the heat then the new heat to give you that extra added humidity in our sweat boxes really makes one appreciate the jas kool aid.


one thing you could try is going to napa and buy some brushes from them for about $5 and shape to fit. have done this many times as it is closer and faster than my jaunt to HF. Usually the HF ones come with an extra set though and mine from there has not given up yet, but my older dewalt bit the dust. it was time for it though so no surprise there especially after the kids drop it a few times.

stay cool and hydrated....

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

I tried doing some more grinding today but my resin discs just wanted to gum up since there was some moisture inside from the morning dew. Once the sun hits it I should be good to go

One spot I found last night that I am unsure I need to grind out or not is on the inside strakes. There is matt and roving bridged over them. I do believe it is factory but I'm not sure if I should grind it all out or not.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

I'm getting ready to head back out in the heat for a litte more grinding.

Here is what I have done so far.

I found a flap disc works better inside the strakes than the resin disc because they don't cut as fast so i'm not apt to cut through the hull.

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

I tried doing some more grinding today but my resin discs just wanted to gum up since there was some moisture inside from the morning dew. Once the sun hits it I should be good to go

One spot I found last night that I am unsure I need to grind out or not is on the inside strakes. There is matt and roving bridged over them. I do believe it is factory but I'm not sure if I should grind it all out or not.

Hey Drew,

I'd hammer on it and grind that section down! Grinding in the heat is better than no progress at all! I'm trying to understand why my money tree isn't flowering $100 bills????? Dang tree anyhow! Take care brutha!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

Try an old tennis shoe with a rubber sole, or one of those giant erasers to get rid of the gummy stuff...you can also use a hand held wire brush, to clear them out and keep using them...

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Glastron GT-160

Well I made a little more work for myself by trying to get out of some grinding. On the edge of the deck there was this hard black "filler" I belive it is factory but I'm not 100% sure. I tried taking a chisel and breaking it away. It worked but, I ended up cracking the gel on the outside. It can be fixed but it's more work I would rather not to.

Edge of the eck where the "filler" is

Some of the chunks I pulled out

Cracks I put in the gel