1990 4.3 Century 2000 - Floor,Transom,Stringer,Upholstery Project

[dezmond]

My precut stringer boards are not 100% straight. Anybody else had these problems? I'd say about 1/4"-3/8 over 3-4 ft

I had the same problems with my stringers not conforming the way I wanted them to as well.. I found a solution and it worked Remember don't try to get it exact, you can fill gaps and make things straight as you go.

 

[Chris51280]

60% of the stringers are in. Some have abigger gap on the bottom. About 3/4 but are really close to the wall on the other side where the chines go up. I try to fill as much as I can with pl to keep the resin usage to a minimum. There will still be plenty on there to fill. Tomorrow I try to get the bow area cut and then Sunday set everything in pl. Then I will wait and let it dry. Still got upholstery work to do too. The stern area also needs attention. Trying to clean up the anti fouling.

 

[dezmond]

Hey Chris.. Did you not coat everything in resin before you did your final assembly? Not worried?? Looks good though.. Jigsaw puzzles are fun to put together...

 

[Chris51280]

dezmond Will get a drink of resin after everything is in place. Since it will be glassed over, no water intrusion. I know alot of people are glassing over individually to prohibit potential cross contamination if one stringer gets wet. Im not worried about this. Some things I think are a little overkill. It will still be better than as it came from the factory. And besides. Who knows how long I will have this boat. Not 20 years for sure and no body will ever pay me for what I have invested. The family will get its use out of it for the next 10 years or so and I will still be ahead.

 

[dezmond]

Very true. I wonder at times if I do too much. I hope to have mine for about 5 years. That should be enough time for the rehab of my next project I find already wanting bigger. Never ends.

 

[Chris51280]

All the stringers are in and bedded.,some are better than others but they should stay in place until I start with the PB and fill the rest voids. I will give it until Tuesday or Wednesday and then start with the PB.
Sanded the starboard side to remove the anti fouling paint. Not sure if I will get to the keel this year. Too many other things to do to get it ready in 2-3 months.

 

[Chris51280]

Is there a reason to gelcoat the tank coffin? I will close it up and nobody will ever see it. Since gelcoat is just pigmented resin, there is really no advantage to do it like that, right?

 

[Mechanicalmike08]

I would say no but you should wax the final layer then for a full cure.

 

[Chris51280]

I would say no but you should wax the final layer then for a full cure.

Will the neoprene stick to to a waxed layer? I assume you used PL for the strips?

 

[Mechanicalmike08]

I did not use neoprene as I have a plastic tank, Ithe wax comes to the surface and can be wiped away. I would just clean the area you are going to stick it to with acetone.

 

[Chris51280]

Thanks mike

 

[Chris51280]

My PL is still drying. There are some gobs of large amount of PL that just takes forever to cure out. I think I really have to wait that out, correct?
i started cutting my tabs for the stringers and noticed that I do not have enough 1708 to finish the job (one side is out of material). My stringers are quite tall and some tabs are 16" tall. I will work through 80% of my stringers and completely PB them in and see where I'm at with resin. Not sure but I might actually run out of resin before too.
I knew I needed another order from USC but I thought I jad enough to finish the stringers. Oh well, in about 2 weeks I will know more.
On a positive note, I got my port side bow cushion all sewed up. The new wood still needs the holes for the mounting though.

 

[Woodonglass]

Cover Looks good. Let the PB cure for a Week if it's thick. Hopefully you don't have too much squeeze out on the hull. Poly resin doesn't like to adhere to PL cured or not!!! Get as much of it off as possible before doing your tabbing. Gelcoat in the Tank Coffin does not need wax for curing purposes. It Will make it faster but it will eventually cure especially with direct sunlight. You can if you want but it's NOT necessary. If you tape some plastic over the opening for a day, it'll cure fairly quickly.

 

[Chris51280]

Thanks Woodonglass . I will wait until the weekend then. The PL is thick under the stringers but there is a still allot of gap that PB will have to fill. I went over with the large spoon to see where some gobs have come out that I needed to cut off for making a nice fillet later with the PB. I have a feeling that will take a lot of Resin.

 

[kcassells]

PL blows waiting for it to gas off.

 

[Chris51280]

Absolutely. I'm checking every day and poke holes in it. It is raining right now so humidity is high. Maybe that will help curing. Didn't think it would take that long but the globs are just not curing on the inside. I get a shell and then the center stays soft. Almost like an egg not boiled completely

 

[kcassells]

I've seen it take up to 2-3 weeks. Glass it then next day all these fart bubbles show up.

 

[Chris51280]

Oh crap, I don't have that time. I will smear enough PB on it to cover all up. I'm not glassing over the PL. I glass over PB. The PL was just there to secure it in place and fill the bigger void underneath the stringers. Not sure how the gas out will affect the hairy PB mix

 

[Nortron]

There is nothing like waiting with a deadline. Thanks for responding to my thread. BTW have you ever spent any time at Indian Lake?

 

[Chris51280]

Yes, last year for the first time. its about 1hr away. I fixed the boat up for a test run there before tear down. I lost my first new aluminum prop 20 min in and the second new 3 blade prop the next day also 20 min in. NEVER AGAIN. There are too many tree stumps in that lake' they never cleared them out and the lake is 5-6ft deep.
I can go the other way and go to maumee river. I also went to lake erie which was awesome. found some calm water south of kelleys island. You gotta watch out from where the wind blows and how much. It can get very choppy. Also went to lake James in IN for one afternoon but the little lakes are always so full and it doesn't take much for them to be too choppy.
The plan this year is to take it down to the cumberland area and go camping.