Keel replacement?

[68Cheetah]

Hello to all, great board!

I have a 68 Cheetah(if you didn't guess) which has been nicely restored(not by me). One issue that was not addressed is a punky keel board and some problematic leaking through the shaft log. Keel seems good from the engine forward. I'm wondering if I may get away with replacing the keel board from the engine back. This would be significantly easier than trying to replace the whole thing. Otherwise, I'm wondering of someone can give me an idea of how to start the process of replacing the keel board. My assumption is that I'll have to grind out the existing board, remove/grind the surrounding mat flat, lay the new board in(solid or plywood?), glass it in, call it good.

Some pics of the boat and some restoration photos:

www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah

Any suggestions/opinions welcome and appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[oops!]

Re: Keel replacement?

hi....welcome to i boats....

this is one of the fastest moving boards that i have seen around.....and the guys here are top notch..

they did a great job on the resto...and the boat looks really great...love it.

i just cant understand why they went that far...and not do the stringers if the jeel board is rotten....then other things are as well.


im afaraid the only way to know for sure ....is get in there and rip her apart.

after you have the deck out in that area....you can take core samples and find out for shure what you are looking at.

once you are in there....just replace everything rotten....glass it all up...and put it back togeather.

if you decide to take it apart...thake lots of pics....as every situation is different....we can guide you from there.

cheers
oops

 

[68Cheetah]

Re: Keel replacement?

Thanks for the quick response, Oops.

I'll get some core samples from the other stringers but I think they're
ok. As the boat sat, the bung was open but did not drain the area
around the shaft log(The bung is under the drivers seat for some reason known only to Century). When I had the engine pulled a few weeks ago, the mounting bolts into the stringers were still very tight, so at the very least the stringers aren't completely rotted.

While complete stringer replacement is a worthy long-term goal, my only goal for the short term is to get the leak slowed down, and
I think that it will entail at least the partial replacement of the keel board at least around the shaft log.

Will I need an angle grinder to get the keel board out?

 

[gcboat]

Re: Keel replacement?

First off that is one sweeeeet boat - . Congrats on the purchase.
One thing comes to mind on the keel board is trying to see if this stuff might work http://transomrepair.com/zk/
It might save you a lot of ripping and tearing but you'll have to be the judge if it would be right for your application.
As oops mentioned take lots of pics - we like that!
Good luck on this project.

 

[oops!]

Re: Keel replacement?

you are going to need a grinder any how ....so go get one.

as far as the repair.....if you dont want to do major surgury this season....get close up and overall pics of the area......


and well guess as best we can... lol

cheers
oops

 

[68Cheetah]

Re: Keel replacement?

Thanks gcboat, I looked at the link, interesting stuff. I started pulling stuff out of the boat and realized that replacing the complete keel board won't be as difficult as I'd feared, it doesn't go all the way to the bow. Getting under the gas tank without removing it may be a bit of a challenege but I think it will be easier than removing the gas tank and the whole rear deck. So that's my plan for now. If the excavation proves too difficult then I'll reconsider.

So I'll pickup an angle grinder and hazmat suit. I have a respirator and a dustcollector for woodworking, I may look at putting that in the game to keep the fiberglass dust under control while grinding, comments welcome about that.

Here are some (large) photos of the area:

http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220006.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220007.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220008.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220009.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220010.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220011.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220012.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220013.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220014.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220015.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220016.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220017.jpg
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/pa220018.jpg

 

[68Cheetah]

Re: Keel replacement?

I got most of the rotted board out of the keel, just a few pieces in the back where it's hard to reach.

I have a few questions if anyone is interested:

1. How do I prepare the bilge surface so that the new board will bond to it?

2. What is the procedure for installing the new board? here's my guess:

a. Cut the new board, round the top edges.

b. Put it in place and mark the cutouts(rudder post/shaft log) from below.

c. Take it out and cutout the cutouts. Holes oversized a bit for some room to seal the inside edges of the holes with epoxy.

d. Encapsulate the board with epoxy.

e. Epoxy the board in place in the bilge.

f. Glass the board in place.

g. (Somehow) cut though the glassed over cutouts? This is where I'm lost....


I assume that once I have all that figured out, I can drill oversized holes for all the through-mounting bolts(rudder stuffing box/strut), fill with epoxy, redrill to size. I don't understand how the top glass will be bonded properly after I cut of drill through it.

Here are a few more photos fo the progress:

Hazmat suit:
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/PA240022.jpg

The patient ready for surgery
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/PA250028.jpg

Homemade overhead dust collection device
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/PA250027.jpg

Keel-less bilge
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/PA250025.jpg

pile-o-keel
http://www.elainecampbellkayaking.com/centurycheetah/PA250024.jpg

Any and all help greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[68Cheetah]

Regarding rot....

Regarding rot....

The keel board I pulled out was only rotted from behind the engine(near the shaft log) back to the rudder stuffing box, the whole forward section of the board is dry and solid. This leads me to believe that the rot was more due to a poor seal where the board was penetrated(12 times completely, 8 times from above only) than from water getting through the glass from the bilge side. The stringers show no signs of any rot, not even in the rear. This is good news, since replacing the stringers would largely mean undoing much of the work done by the previous owner.


Another question I have is: what kind of hardwood should I use? The piece I pulled out looks like it's probably mahogany or something similar. I'd be more prone to replace it with something domestic if at all possible, suggestions welcome.

 

[Duckseason]

Re: Keel replacement?

that is one increadible restore!!