1980's Hydro Glass Restoration Project

[Woodonglass]

Epoxy is a much better adhesive and water proofing resin. I'd just put one layer of 17oz over the whole stringer and call it good. She'll be plenty strong and sealed.

 

[kcon]

Looks like a nice layout to me. Good work. :thumb:

Thanks!

Epoxy is a much better adhesive and water proofing resin. I'd just put one layer of 17oz over the whole stringer and call it good. She'll be plenty strong and sealed.

Awesome! That eases my mind, I was ready to make this much harder than it needs to be! Thanks much.

 

[kcon]

Stringers are all in, spent this past weekend tabbing some parts in and glassing some other parts in with 17oz, this process ain't fun or easy but it's coming along! Videos are from last weekend so I'm actually much further along as of today.

Two questions;

The previous deck appeared to be 2 sheets of half inch, should I make the new deck exactly that, or would one sheet 3/4 inch work fine?

I intend to follow Woodonglass tractor paint method via HPLV spray, is this an appropriate primer for spraying over 85% 220 grit sanded old gelcoat, with some exposed smoothed fiberglass, and some sanded epoxy resin / sanded epoxy fairing/filler compound? (For top cap and entire hull)

P.S. - Updated the trailer with some new bolts, bearings, hubs, leaf springs, lights, wires, and hardware.

Always had issues getting the boat on/off the trailer with the old bunks it had, usually had to get my rear and sometimes front wheels of my car into the water, really excited to launch with these rollers and not get my car wet

 

[Dennischaves]

Nope wrong primer thats acid based for bare metal what you want is a primer/surfacer or a primer sealer also for a few more dollars buy a gallon of imron industrial paint with hardner
I usually buy a gallon of imron and the hardner fir under $100 and once dry you can throw a rock at it without chipping

 

[jbcurt00]

Check WOGs paint link again, read thru it. You picked the SE primary for aluminum boats. His link clearly lists his recommended primer, directly below the image of a spray can of the same SE peimer you posted a pix of.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

To answer you first question: 3/4" exterior grade plywood, properly encapsulated will work well. It'll be good and solid.

 

[jbcurt00]

Given the structure layout, I'd bet the original deck was 1/2 and a 2nd 1/2 deck was overlaid at some point.....

IMO, 1 layer of 1/2 glassed 2sides and tabbed in would be sufficient. 5/8 might be slightly more substantial, 3/4 likely much more then needed.

Little weight savings using 5/8 instead of 3/4, even more using 1/2.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I used 5/8" on my build, but my wood was fiberglassed and gel coated both sides before I put it in. My stringers were spaced pretty wide, and mine is solid. 3/4" would certainly be beefy.

 

[kcon]

Check WOGs paint link again, read thru it. You picked the SE primary for aluminum boats. His link clearly lists his recommended primer, directly below the image of a spray can of the same SE peimer you posted a pix of.

You're right! Whoops, I'm a bad reader


For the deck my local lumber place has 1/2 and 3/4 marine grade, I'll reach out and see if they can get me 5/8. Thanks for the input!

 

[kcon]

Looks like they only have 1/2 and 3/4 on hand, should I be concerned at all about 1/2 not being strong enough? I sort of want to go with better than just sufficient. I do have enough epoxy and 6 / 8 oz glass to give it a coat top / bottom.

 

[jbcurt00]

IMO, it was built w a single layer of 1/2, and sort of sealed at the factory, like most mass produced boats. Coated top and bottom w epoxy and glass, 1/2 should be more then sufficient.

You know epoxy and gelcoat arent easily compatible? So once the interior glass work is done, you plan to paint the epoxy or cover w vinyl/carpet? It typically isnt UV stable so all epoxy must be covered.

 

[kcon]

I'll do that, your info certainly helps with assurance! As for gelcoat, I don't intend to use, I'm going to be carpeting the whole interior, and painting the whole exterior.

I don't see why anyone would have "restored" (or tried to) this boat in the past, but the condition of the stringers when I had opened it back in October was pretty amateur (included the use of various types of screws and nails to hold the deck down) as shown here:

Anyway, I'll go with 1/2. Thanks much for the info!

 

[gm280]

I would certainly remove all that stuff and then grind everything to fresh glass. Then use plywood to make your new stingers. Most laminate two pieces of 3/4" exterior plywood together to make their new stringers. It will tons better and stronger then any standard 2 x ? wood. And if you are looking for a really good glue to laminate the plywood together, TiteBond III is a good choice. But it has to be Titebond III because it is waterproof, and not the other Titebonds. JMHO

 

[kcon]

I would certainly remove all that stuff and then grind everything to fresh glass. Then use plywood to make your new stingers. Most laminate two pieces of 3/4" exterior plywood together to make their new stringers. It will tons better and stronger then any standard 2 x ? wood. And if you are looking for a really good glue to laminate the plywood together, TiteBond III is a good choice. But it has to be Titebond III because it is waterproof, and not the other Titebonds. JMHO

Sorry didn't mean to cause confusion! The above picture is from October, I was highlighting how terrible the structure was before I started. The whole interior hull was grinded smooth and the stingers are in, I used 1" white oak for my stringers.

 

[kcon]

Stringers are 100% tabbed in, this weekend I'm going to be putting down that sweet 17oz, and getting some deck in if I'm lucky.

Here's an up to date pic from tabbing the stringers to the transom. There's a thickened PB between the end of the stringers and the transom (West System 105, 206, 404 adhesive filler, and loose glass strands), two layers of 6oz on each side of each stringer, and now a layer of 17oz wrapped and tabbed.

I'm having an issue with laying glass on the stringers, perhaps someone has some tips or techniques I've missed. (Excuse my crude cutaway drawing) - Here is my common issue when laying the glass over my stringers so far, no matter how much I baby it the 17oz bubbles up at the corners and at the top a bit, I keep pressing the bubbles out but unless I'm there holding it down whilst it's in that final few minutes of tacking up, no luck. I've also tried to remedy this by attacking the glass with more and more resin, which I've learned (as I'm sure you already know) it just runs out and pools at the bottom. Any ideas? Or am I in for hours of babying the stringers? I'm using west marine 206 slow hardener, but for laying a large piece of glass like this it already tacks up too soon, I can't switch to 205, at the current temps it'll be hard before I even get all the glass down.

 

[kcassells]

It's the 90 degree angle on the top of the stringer. Glass up to the top, don't glass the top. You can top it off with csm.

 

[kcon]

I'm using all epoxy, round these parts I'll be crucified if I even utter the words chopped strand mat

 

[Woodonglass]

You're finding out the trouble with epoxy. Long work time is great on large flat areas, but not so desirable on verticals. For overlaying stringers, you should always kinda beat the glass into submission. What I mean is fold it at the mid point then hit it a bit with a rubber mallet to loosen the strands and make it more flexible. It'll lay down much better. Also USE YOUR HANDS,. Pull it down and rub it well. And yes you DO have to babysit it and when it finally starts to kick, you'll be able to get it to lay down and stay down. Learning curve for this is MUCH harder than when working with Poly. JMHO!!!

 

[Baylinerchuck]

A wise man told me to wet out the glass on the top of the stringer. Cover it in plastic, and clamp it. I was using poly, but the trick worked awesome. Very few bubbles if you pull it tight.

 

[kcon]

You're finding out the trouble with epoxy.

I can't say you didn't warn me! Haha

A wise man told me to wet out the glass on the top of the stringer. Cover it in plastic, and clamp it.

Awesome idea! You rock! Should I be concerned about the plastic bonding to the epoxy?