1993 Chaparral Gemini 190: Chronicles of a New Boat Owner (Deck Rebuild) [SPLASHED June 2018]

[bpounds1991]

After that last post I think it would be a good place to say where I am with this rebuild. I'm completely stressed with this not being my typical "cup of tea." Many of the disconnections I made wire wise were done with pictures taken, but some of the smaller ones weren't, and it's definitely stressing me out the more I get into the demo. I know how the process goes the repair but at this point the confidence level is at about 5%

 

[chevymaher]

I was all stressed like that demoing mine. Once it starts going together again you will realize you actually did memorize it all. Just take a deep breath it will be fine.

 

[JASinIL2006]

And if you don’t remember, there are lots offolks here who can help you figure it out. I totally understand, but it will be fine!

 

[bpounds1991]

Thank you guys for the support, I'm over my soap box now lol. I need to return a few things to Harbor Freight today and get a different cut off wheel for the grinder. My plan was to cut through the fiberglass layups then pry the stringers out, since most of the first 7 feet or so came up with almost no trouble at all. I'll also be getting into the transom and trying to remove most of that wood as well and of course, pulling the gas tank :facepalm:. My next free day is Sunday so I'll be getting most of that done then. The wood comes in next week, I went and spoke the local lumber place and looked at the wood in person, they have about 15 sheets of Radiata 3/4" for 34$ a sheet, the 1/2" AC is 27$ a sheet. Still trying to determine if I'll be redoing it in 1/2 or 3/4" for the stringers, but definitely 1/2" for the deck. The outside transom areas measure roughly 1 3/4", with the inside 2 feet being 2" even.

 

[bpounds1991]

Glanced out at the boat this morning while I was making coffee and noticed how thin the hull is near the top. I did some grinding but man this thing is looking transparent until I can get the inside gel coated. On another note, I have searched and searched and searched some more only to find that the closest resin supplier is 4 hours away. It'll cost about 30$ in gas to get there and back, but will save over 160$ in shipping/hazmat fees so I think it's safe to say which route I'll be going.

 

[kcassells]

Wow that's seems like alot of wasted repair work time if you want to look at it another way. That's an 8 hr. day of driving time.
Thats like $20.00 an hour. of time you can put into the boat. Just saying.

 

[tpenfield]

You could add a layer of fiberglass to the inside of the hull in the sections that appear to be thin. Now would be the time to do it since the boat is apart.

As far as stress relief . . . keep reminding yourself, it is just a boat not a space ship.

 

[bpounds1991]

Well I'm looking at it this way kcassells, it's 30$ per 5 gallons plus 50$ in shipping, x3 you're looking at 240$ opposed to the 25$ in gas it takes to get there and back. I see it as taking that cash, walking outside, and lighting it on fire lol. And tpenfield as far as that goes, I think once the gel coat goes on it'll cover that up nicely. I was just a little concerned I grinded a bit too much, but most of those sections you can still easily see the fiberglass mat. My goal wasn't to remove any of that, really just to lightly go over it and remove the excess glue that the entirely carpeted boat left behind lol. For the stress relief, Miller Lite seems to be doing the trick

 

[kcassells]

Beers are a requirement says I. The tranaprancy you know is a result of the cap being off. If you think it's too thin to your liking you can always throw some glass in there. Glad to see you working on it. Can't get my arse out to my boat in 7 degree weather.

 

[oldrem]

Well I'm looking at it this way kcassells, it's 30$ per 5 gallons plus 50$ in shipping, x3 you're looking at 240$ opposed to the 25$ in gas it takes to get there and back. I see it as taking that cash, walking outside, and lighting it on fire lol. And tpenfield as far as that goes, I think once the gel coat goes on it'll cover that up nicely. I was just a little concerned I grinded a bit too much, but most of those sections you can still easily see the fiberglass mat. My goal wasn't to remove any of that, really just to lightly go over it and remove the excess glue that the entirely carpeted boat left behind lol. For the stress relief, Miller Lite seems to be doing the trick

I'm with you on this one, I wouldn't hesitate to do the same.

 

[kcassells]

Well if I'm billing my labor out at say $65.00 an hour x 8 hrs then I'm at @ $520.00 less shipping $240.00 loss $280.00.
If I bill out at $20.00 per hour then 160.00 and no work rehab time applied.
8 hrs travel at 20.00 $160.00, less 8 hrs not working working on boat at 20.00 160.00= $0.00benefit.
120 + 120 =240.00 =0 net gain.
Besides I hate driving. Rather get on a puddle jumper. I know my labor is worth 0. Thats the savings of it all.
Keep on truckin!

 

[bpounds1991]

I have plenty of free time in the mornings, so 3 days of 3 hours extra each morning makes up for the trip. Plus, we have friends in Charleston so my wife wants to make a mini vacation out of it, so I'm ok with it. The company also sells cabosil, the pour in foam, and all of the fiberglass mat. So if you add up all the shipping that would entail the rest of the things I'll be buying, it doesn't make it too shabby of a trip. It's 26 degrees at the moment but I'm about to try and get the rest of the stringers out as well as removing the transom. My buddy might be over in a few hours and if he's able to make it we'll end up doing all the bulkhead/stringer measurements, possibly even starting some rough cut outs on the styrofoam boards I have. I'll get plenty of pictures, should have some updates by the evening.

 

[kcassells]

Yea this weather is a killer to do work! Remember when you buy the glue don't overbuy there is a shelf life.

USC : Shelf Life: When purchasing our resins we guarantee their performance for 3 months after your purchase if stored at room temperature with their lids sealed. These resins can last longer than our 3 month guarantee, but we recommended testing a small cup of the resin before using it on an important project. Also, if the resins sit for over a month, we recommended shaking the sealed can or stirring the contents to ensure all solids are properly distributed.

 

[bpounds1991]

The only glue I have currently is the PL adhesive, it's just sitting in a box in the garage lol. Once I get a heater for the garage I'll plan on getting the boat parked (after the grinding is completely done) and then going ahead with the wood sealing/glassing etc. I hate the shelf life is so short with it, and I heard MEKP is even shorter. I think I'll be going with this company here http://www.carbonfiberglass.com/ since it seems they have everything I'll need and it's close enough to go pick it up when the time comes.

Taking a break from the cutting, I've removed the front stringers/glass and almost all of the area just behind the gas tank. If my buddy comes today I'll either finish cutting it all today or wait until the morning, haven't decided yet. The cold is killing my knees being in such awkward spaces lol.

 

[oldrem]

The cold is killing my knees being in such awkward spaces lol.

If you aren't using them already, get a good set of knee pads. Your knees, legs and even back will thank you for it. Makes all the difference.

 

[bpounds1991]

I'm definitely planning on it. There's just some spots I'm trying to get as close as possible to the hull and be precise with the grinder, so I'm mostly just squatting for hours on end at the moment lol. Hindsight being 20/20 I should've burned all the fuel on our last lake trip, but sadly I've never had good eye sight

 

[bpounds1991]

Gas tank is GONE. Man that was a pain, but now I have a 5 gallon bucket of gas to put in my truck lol. After my buddy and I pulled the tank I realized that I was a little overzealous in making other measurements today for bulkheads and stringers. I'm also trying to wrap my head around locker/fuel tank sections. The fiberglass in these areas are extremely thick, and it makes me nervous to grind it down completely. On the other hand, all but 4 feet of stringers are out, and I'll be getting the rest out in the next couple of days.

 

[bpounds1991]

Baylinerchuck I went back through about 25 pages of your build to read where you had the same deal with the tabbing thickness/false floor in the middle 1/3 of the boat. Did you end up building the thickness back up after you finished? And as far as removal went, how exactly did you go about it? I just found out school is cancelled tomorrow due to "possible" inclement weather, so if I can I'd like to try and get all of that out by the end of the day

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I mainly used a Metabo grinder with a 6” cutoff wheel disk for metal. A 4-1/2” grinder would also do the trick with a 4-1/2” slicer wheel for metal. In some of the harder areas to get to I used a vibrating tool with a bimetal blade. Once the plywood is removed, there is an awful lot of grinding to do. I only built up the area where the fuel tank sits with encapsulated plywood. I used PVC pipe, PB, and fiberglass to replace the thin wood strips along the keel.

 

[bpounds1991]

I know I have a long way to go in grinding, but man it feels good to look at this finally. The built up areas of the ski locker and gas tank areas still have me a little confused though. Technically, couldn't you grind away about 6" on each side to allow adherence of the tabbing? Or does it all need to be completely removed in case water and other fun surprises could be trapped under? I started using a cut off wheel on the edges of it, then the 36 grit flap wheel over some of the sections just to see how thick it was and thought to myself "Well, there's another 10 flap wheels I'll be using" lol. Took a few pictures, there is a small drainage tube that leads from the ski locker to the bilge, but the back of the gas tank area was completely exposed and covered with duct tape (still trying to figure out what genius did that).