77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

[jbcurt00]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Always gear up when you work on the fiberglass rig. Always. Esp until you get the bulk of the demo done. No telling what kind of nasty is hiding in that carp particle board or water logged foam. Mold isn't any better for you lungs or eyes.


I always dry rub liquid hand soap on any skin that might be exposed to fiberglass dust. Hands, arms, neck, ears, face......

Helps at rinse off too....

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Wear a do-rag for the sweat in the eyes, I started wearing one this late spring and wondered how I ever got by without one!
Sparkling Earth - SKULL CAPS (headwraps) w/ sweatbands (Made In The USA)

Wear a Tyvec suit for fiberglass particle protection:
Search Results for?tyvec suit?at The Home Depot

To prevent your foam from saturating after the build, keep your boat covered when not in use and the transom drain plug(s) pulled if the boat is trailered.

The expanding urethane foam is meant and designed to bond to the hull, it will hold itself in place and will actually seal your hull in case of a breach while on the water. Breaking the bond between the urethane foam and the hull is ill advised.

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Jbcurt00,
I had goggles on earlier and switched to safety glasses when the grinding, cutting stuff stopped. I just forgot that stuff was on my sleeve! I also have my respirator and zoot suit ready for glass grinding. I saw all the responses to other posts so I didn't want to be another statistic. Oh well, lesson learned!

 

[Trooper82]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Hard to see the warpage you are describing....I agree with JB, always wear your PPE...I got the hanit so bad I just automatically grab my safety glasses when I hit the garage door...as Frisco...he had a lapse without glasses and got acetone in the eye...not good...

looks like you made good progress...always good to have helpers too!

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Wear a do-rag for the sweat in the eyes, I started wearing one this late spring and wondered how I ever got by without one!
Sparkling Earth - SKULL CAPS (headwraps) w/ sweatbands (Made In The USA)

Wear a Tyvec suit for fiberglass particle protection:
Search Results for*tyvec suit*at The Home Depot

To prevent your foam from saturating after the build, keep your boat covered when not in use and the transom drain plug(s) pulled if the boat is trailered.

The expanding urethane foam is meant and designed to bond to the hull, it will hold itself in place and will actually seal your hull in case of a breach while on the water. Breaking the bond between the urethane foam and the hull is ill advised.

JignGrub,
I have a tyvek suit, just didn't think to wear it for this stuff, I was more thinking it would be used when glass grinding begins. I have skull caps but even then the sweat gets in your eyes. I will keep a rag for this from now on.

Should the transom drain be located at the lowest point? I have two on mine. One was about an inch above the bilge and the other is offset and about 1.5 inches high. The second one is an adder as the first one had the plug seized in it. When I redo the transom I was going to fill both and put one at the very bottom of the bilge in the center. Any reason not to do this?

Thanks,
Sean

 

[500dollar744ti]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

I commend you for jumping right into this. It is threads like this that encourage me to keep my boat for when the inevitable restoration comes. I am slowly learning to work with fiberglass and as soon as I've gained more confidence I am going to go at it.

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

I commend you for jumping right into this. It is threads like this that encourage me to keep my boat for when the inevitable restoration comes. I am slowly learning to work with fiberglass and as soon as I've gained more confidence I am going to go at it.

500dollar744ti,
I have rebuilt many things, mostly race cars and motorcycles. When I started thinking about a boat I found Iboats and did my research. I am much more comfortable working with metal and fabrication but these guys not only made it look easy, they took the time to explain what they are doing. Seeing the mistakes and triumphs makes it a very interesting choice for me as a hobby.

This will not be a quick build but I will make sure I document it along the way. You can do it. Just take your time and look at the links in the How To section for advice.

Thanks for looking,
Sean

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

More progress yesterday and today. I have the full tyvek suit and respirator and it certainly helped. Almost no itching!
Was going to go riding this weekend. Haven't gone out in a while and had a plan. We all know what happens to plans:

That is the oil pan on the wife's car. Apparently she ran out of talent! 2012 Charger SRT8 0, Street divider 1!

That ended the ride plans so I worked on the boat instead. Started to take out bow bulkheads and open bow section. The wave in the last set of pics disappeared! When I cut the bulkhead out the sides sprung about an inch. Should make getting the top on fun.

Bow Pics:




On to the transom. I started gutting the glass and wood. First two layers came off easy. The wood was soaked! I found that the last layer on the transom would not come off. I had to take the wood off ply by ply. I found that under the wood was what looked like PB. I ground all of it down to raw glass.



Continued...

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

More transom pics:


Getting cleaner:


The material on the transom looked like PB because it was just resin, no fibers. Many pockets from air bubbles but it did not want to come off. It was probably about 1/4 inch thick.

My thoughts are to finish cleaning the hull and then csm and 1708 the transom. After that I will PB the wood to the transom and go from there.

Hoping to get hull down enough to put top back on in the next two weeks. We shall see.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[Trooper82]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

That transom skin is looking ready for the replacement transom wood...I ran into some of that hard nonglassed resin on the bottom of m hull...it was a real pita to get out...


Progress is looking Sean...

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Thanks Trooper!
Had a good weekend. Wife got me a new computer and took me out on the town for my birthday! Also gave me all weekend on the boat so a lot of progress made.

I Started by removing the tank and working on removing the base and stringers. All of it was rotten:


Next was the motor mount stringers. They started to leak water as soon as I cut into them!



Then I got down to business and removed everything I could:



Sean

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

I also got the fuel tank out and the top back on!

Fuel tank:


Top on:

Bow fits now:


The top went on fairly easily but the hull did spread about 4" on either side. I was able to get it all back together. Next is grinding and after that will be mock up of stringers.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[Trooper82]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Wow!

you got that old carp out fast...my motor mounts were mush too...hope you cover those matresses up before you start the grinding...could make for a sleepless night for someone....

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Wow!

you got that old carp out fast...my motor mounts were mush too...hope you cover those matresses up before you start the grinding...could make for a sleepless night for someone....

Trooper,
Mattresses could not go on the trailer as the top was on it. Next week is a dump run! Luckily my neighbor had a dumpster I could use because I filled it up twice!

The PO installed steel motor mount plates using angle iron. They cross drilled the angle to mount to the stringer and tapped holes for the mounts. The stringers were already mush at that point. Rather than fix them they came up with that dodge. The bolts had rusted to about 2/3rds thickness.

Everywhere were screws there was rot. The stringer tops were not capped and they bedded the stringers with PB. Looks like it had one rebuild after it left the factory and not a very good one at that.

My biggest hurdle will be recreating the bow section and making seating and the open bow section water tight.

Thanks for looking,
Sean

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

It was a busy weekend! I welded an exhaust on a Harley, installed some engine parts on a Mustang, and programmed a tune for a second Mustang. In between I was able to get the outdrive apart. I have everything removed but the shift cable. It looks like a 9/16ths and I don't have a spark plug socket that size. I may have to sacrifice one to the welder gods if I can't find something to remove it.

Today (Sunday) I was going to rest. But the boat was calling so I went out to get the top fit better to the hull. After much moving, shimming and in general mayhem I got it close:


The sides are about even, pulled together, and I think it is close enough to start getting ready for bulkhead design. The PO cut the rails so it is really a game of move and tug until it looks right.

After that I started looking at the bow. I thought I would layout some tape and see what the cut line would look like. I took a right triangle tool that has a ruler in it that slides. I set it for a gap I thought looked right and marked a line. I made another adjustment and came up with this:


Not too shabby. I then got out the jigsaw and went at it. I ended up with this:


Overall I am happy with the space. I have still not decided how I am going to frame it or upholster it but I am open to ideas...

Thanks for looking,
Sean

 

[Trooper82]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Added space the the bow came out good.....

when I was putting my cap back on i found a large rubber mallet did the trick....I went around the top of the hull beating it inward and had another person doing the same on the cap beating downward...

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Trooper,
I used two scrapers as small pry bars and it went on fairly easy. Getting it right took more time. When I first put on the top the sides sprung out 4"! That was a little disconcerting to say the least!

Once I have the bulkheads installed and I am done with the deck it will come off again for more work to the underside. Still not sure how I will support it but will figure it out then. I want to get it upside down so I can reinforce the attaching points for the bright work, ski pull, and swim deck.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[Corjen1]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Sean, First welcome!! Second, great choice on a restore project!! ( I have a weakness for the Glastrons myself) The folks on this site are great and have a wealth of information given freely!! Ill tag along and help if I can! Mine is in about the same condition as yours at the moment.....

Next time you have the lid off, might want to put some 2x4's in to help keep the sides from spreading. Also might think about trussing up the hull during the build, the get pretty weak with all the guts taken out.

 

[seanol]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Corjen1,
Thank you for the kind words. I have the top on and some crossbracing in now and will be supporting the hull when I can get to it. I had back surgery this winter. They fused 3 vertebrae and put a bunch of hardware in so I am down for a couple months. It is not forgotten but the updates will be a bit in coming.
Thanks again,
Sean

 

[Corjen1]

Re: 77 Glastron Carlson CV23 Open Bow rebuild

Anything going on with your build???