Materials List (First time resto, 92 GW Invader Deck Boat) [Splashed Aug 2019]

[hangdogger512]

Hey all,
The weather is finally breaking down here in the south, so I am looking to get started on my first deck/stringer replacement project, on a 92 GW Invader Rivera deck boat. :-/

I know several of the stringers are rotted (so I am assuming they will all need replaced) and the deck has several soft spots...so that's my starting point. With a couple drill checks, I believe the transom is dry and solid, but will verify once the engines out. And will also check the motor mounts at that time (fingers crossed).

So, where I'm hoping for some help is with material prep. Generally the first time I try something new, I find the most frustrating part is not having what I need, when I need it... it drags the project out and leaves me frustrated. :-/ I'd rather be overly prepared, than under for this undertaking. I have read thru the sticky posts from Friscoboater Woodonglass and oops! several times, which were fabulously helpful (thanks gentlemen), but still am not sure how much of everything I need to buy. I believe I will go with a Polyester resin, but not sure on which types of fiber to buy. I've been looking at the USComposites site quite a bit as well, so will probably buy from there, unless y'all steer me elsewhere.

Are there key measurements that I need to take? Does anyone have a good calculation for amount/type of fiber needed for a given sqft of deck, linear feet of deck/hull corner for tabbing, etc? How much and which kinds of resin? Any key tools?

Any help in prepping my materials list would be greatly, greatly appreciated... and gladly repaid with shipped cases of craft beer, gift cards, or whatever else may 'float your boat'

Thanks!

(*** A few pics for reference... getting reupholstered this season also)

 

[jbuote]

Wow! You seem to have done a bit of homework already!
Never done a restoration myself yet, but going to follow this one....
(I too am doing homework... A resto may be inevitable.. haha!)

Looks good, look forward to watching this!

 

[chevymaher]

WOG’s Suggested Materials List for Total Restore of a 16-18’ 3 - Stringer Boat.
It's impossible to give an exact "Quote" of everything you'll need but this list will get you "Started" and from there,
after you've done some "Glassin" you should have a good idea of what you'll need to "Finish-UP"
Here's the Starting List.
PPE
Respirator (Full Face Preferred $100) if not then double filtered 1/2 face and Goggles with vents
taped over.
Latex Gloves (1 – 2 Box(s))
Leather Gloves 1 Pair
Full cover Hooded Tyvek suit. (Rubber Band or Tape the Wrists and Ankles, wet Towel around your
neck)
Talcum Powder (coat yourself TOTALLY with talcum powder prior to every grinding Session. USE A
LOT)
Demo Equipment
Prybars, Hammers, chisels, Putty Knives
Flat tipped shovel to remove foam, Old Carpenters Saw (The Old “Fox Hole” Army Surplus Shovels
work well)
Circular Saw
Sawzall
Dremel Tool
Multi Tool
Router
Drill
Random Orbit Sander
Rasps, Files
4 1/2" or 7” Grinder with Backup Pad and 24 grit resin coated sanding discs
Masking Tape
Shop Vac for dust control or Dust Collector if you're fortunate enough to have one. (Get the internal
bags for the Vac)
It's good to create a Plastic Tent over the boat to contain the dust. There WILL be a LOT of it....A
LOT!!!!
Glassing and Wood Products
3-4 sheets 3/4" Arauco Ext. Grade Plywood(Any good quality External Use Plywood will work)
(Possibly some 1⁄2” and 1⁄4” for side panels and seat bases when and where needed”
15 -20 Gallons 435 Polyester Resin Or Epoxy
4 gals Cabosil
1 lbs 1/4" chopped strand fibers (not needed if using epoxy)
5 yds 1.5 oz CSM (not needed if using epoxy)
20 yds 1708 Biaxial Cloth (use 17oz biax fabric if using epoxy)
2 dozen 1 qt plastic mixing buckets and stir sticks
1 - 1/2" x 5" Fiberglass "Bubble" roller
2 dozen Short nap 6" nylon roller covers and trays
2 dozen 3" Chip Brushes (cut 1⁄2 the length of the bristles off)
5 Gallons of Acetone.
Tri-Sodium Phosphate (buy it at Lowe’s)

 

[CrazyFinn]

I believe I will go with a Polyester resin, but not sure on which types of fiber to buy.

1708 is good, it's a 17 oz biax with mat. I used an 18 oz biax with mat because that's what my local supplier had. I also used a 12oz biax (with mat) on less structural areas. The mat is important for adhesion to the existing layers.

Use Poly resin, buy it in 5 gal pails, and get the unwaxed (laminating) version so you don't have to do prep between layers. You will need some "air dry" to mix into the final coat so that it doesn't dry tacky.

I had my shop vac running whenever I was grinding or sanding - even without a dust collector, just having the end of the hose in the general area of wherever your dust is blowing makes a HUGE difference.

 

[JASinIL2006]

WOG’s Suggested Materials List for Total Restore of a 16-18’ 3 - Stringer Boat.
It's impossible to give an exact "Quote" of everything you'll need but this list will get you "Started" and from there,
after you've done some "Glassin" you should have a good idea of what you'll need to "Finish-UP"
Here's the Starting List.
PPE
Respirator (Full Face Preferred $100) if not then double filtered 1/2 face and Goggles with vents
taped over.
Latex Gloves (1 – 2 Box(s))
Leather Gloves 1 Pair
Full cover Hooded Tyvek suit. (Rubber Band or Tape the Wrists and Ankles, wet Towel around your
neck)
Talcum Powder (coat yourself TOTALLY with talcum powder prior to every grinding Session. USE A
LOT)
Demo Equipment
Prybars, Hammers, chisels, Putty Knives
Flat tipped shovel to remove foam, Old Carpenters Saw (The Old “Fox Hole” Army Surplus Shovels
work well)
Circular Saw
Sawzall
Dremel Tool
Multi Tool
Router
Drill
Random Orbit Sander
Rasps, Files
4 1/2" or 7” Grinder with Backup Pad and 24 grit resin coated sanding discs
Masking Tape
Shop Vac for dust control or Dust Collector if you're fortunate enough to have one. (Get the internal
bags for the Vac)
It's good to create a Plastic Tent over the boat to contain the dust. There WILL be a LOT of it....A
LOT!!!!
Glassing and Wood Products
3-4 sheets 3/4" Arauco Ext. Grade Plywood(Any good quality External Use Plywood will work)
(Possibly some 1⁄2” and 1⁄4” for side panels and seat bases when and where needed”
15 -20 Gallons 435 Polyester Resin Or Epoxy
4 gals Cabosil
1 lbs 1/4" chopped strand fibers (not needed if using epoxy)
5 yds 1.5 oz CSM (not needed if using epoxy)
20 yds 1708 Biaxial Cloth (use 17oz biax fabric if using epoxy)
2 dozen 1 qt plastic mixing buckets and stir sticks
1 - 1/2" x 5" Fiberglass "Bubble" roller
2 dozen Short nap 6" nylon roller covers and trays
2 dozen 3" Chip Brushes (cut 1⁄2 the length of the bristles off)
5 Gallons of Acetone.
Tri-Sodium Phosphate (buy it at Lowe’s)

That's a pretty good list. I would add that if you're going to be buying a grinder, get a cheap one. They tend to burn up from all the abrasive dust when grinding. I found the 4.5" inch grinders to be much easier to work with than a full sized grinder (which I have but used very little on this project.) You usually can find inexpensive 4.5" grinders for $20-25 at places like Harbor Freight or other tool stores.

I'd recommend getting several Tyvek suits, and get them on the larger sided. I found some on Amazon in lots of 3 suits for pretty cheap.

Finally, if you're going to replace flotation foam (and I hope you plan to), you'll need some two-part urethane foam. Usually 2 lb foam is used unless the foam serves a structural purpose, in which case, 4 lb foam or higher may be needed. I would guess 2 lb. foam would be fine for your boat. It's hard to calculate exactly how much might be needed, but if you can ballpark how many cubic feet below deck need to be filled, you can figure out how much to buy.

 

[hangdogger512]

chevymaher This is a great list, thank you for sharing. I have all of those tools already, minus the dust collector (May be a good reason to buy another toy)!

CrazyFinn Awesome, thanks for the fiber/resin help. I have done just enough glass work with cars/kayaks to be dangerous, do not know enough to know the benefits/reasons for different materials.

JASinIL2006 Great info, thank you. I do have an old 4.5 grinder that I will destroy first, but then probably a good call to get a cheap one before busting out the Dewalt! And yes, I do plan on foaming after the new deck is on. From a few pre-drill checks, it does not appear to have been foamed originally (that will save on demo time), so I think the 2lb sounds like a good choice to me.

Thank you all, this has already been a huge help! And seriously, if y'all are beer drinkers, pm me your addresses and I'll send you some love from TN. I get so much great info from everyone in these forums, would love to repay in some way!

 

[Buckischloo]

Be careful when you are ordering resin, foam or other materials ahead of time to make sure they will get used within their shelf life. You may want to get your demo and prep out of the way first before you buy your resin. As a newby, I ordered everything pretty early being gung ho to git er done only to be sweating bullets when life got in the way and my expensive 5 gallon pale of resin was mellowing in the basement because my project got delayed. This is not a problem for clothe and other none perishable materials and ordering more than the minimum can save you on shipping later. I wish I had a local supplier where I could pick up the materials but for me, online is much cheaper even when paying shipping. Good luck on your project.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Thank you all, this has already been a huge help! And seriously, if y'all are beer drinkers, pm me your addresses and I'll send you some love from TN. I get so much great info from everyone in these forums, would love to repay in some way!

Nice offer, but save the beer; you'll probably need it at some point in the project! Even better, you can learn a lot, post your progress and then stick around to help the next guy whose taking on a restoration. That's the best way to show your appreciation!

Looking forward to following your project!

 

[hangdogger512]

Nice offer, but save the beer; you'll probably need it at some point in the project! Even better, you can learn a lot, post your progress and then stick around to help the next guy whose taking on a restoration. That's the best way to show your appreciation!

Looking forward to following your project!

Aye, fair enough! I'll certainly post up the progress. Whereabouts are you in West Central IL? I grew up in Peoria. Can't say I miss the corn fields though ;-)

 

[hangdogger512]

Be careful when you are ordering resin, foam or other materials ahead of time to make sure they will get used within their shelf life.

Fantasitc point Buckischloo ... what kind of shelf life are we talking? I hope to start demo next week... but yes, life does tend to get in the way.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Aye, fair enough! I'll certainly post up the progress. Whereabouts are you in West Central IL? I grew up in Peoria. Can't say I miss the corn fields though ;-)

Macomb. Lots of corn in all directions!

 

[Buckischloo]

Sorry, I have not been on for a bit. I am not sure what the official shelf life of resin is, maybe someone else here knows. I did notice that overtime my resin seemed thicker. I would hate to see you do a lot of work and have the resin not cure properly. I still have some unused resin and will test a small batch when the temperature breaks and I can get back to it. I need more resin to finish but will wait until I am truly ready before ordering more. I thought I would be done by now but am way behind. My project is as much about the journey as it is the destination. One of these days I will create a thread.

 

[Woodonglass]

Poly resin stored in a cool dry sunlight free area and sealed tightly will last up to a year. Epoxy even longer. If it gets hot it'll last about 1/2 that.

 

[hangdogger512]

Ok, well under way on this process. Motor and drive are out, and I have half of the deck cut out (will add pics in a minute...ugh, someone had been under there before and did a **** poor attempt at "fixing").

A couple ponderings though if y'all have some advice:

- I am going to use 3/4" Araucoply for the deck and stringers (Transom TBD), but is 3/4" overkill for the seat cushions as well? Having a hard time finding 1/2" Arauco.

- I am planning to buy all my fiber and resin this week, and will order most of it from US Composites. But, shipping 20gal+ of 435 Poly is gonna be expensive ($200+ if I go freight). I haven't been able to find a local supply. Where do y'all find your resin?

- I plan on painting the cap while I have it off the hull and will use WOG's oil-based acrylic mixture. My wonder is about painting the hull... once I have the glassing/deck done, will the hull hold its shape without the cradle? I would love to pull the hull out of the carport and paint the whole interior/exterior before putting the cap back on... if that's possible. But if its gonna be a disaster, then I'll just mask it off once the cap is back on.

Thanks!

 

[hangdogger512]

WTF. Not Cool.

 

[AShipShow]

As far as plywood goes. I used 1/2" MDO which they sell at most home centers like home depot and lowes. MDO is a paper and resin coated plywood product that is usually used for outdoor signs and stuff like that... Its got pretty low voids in it and the paper and resin seems to soak up less resin when you initially coat it. I used 3/4" BCX for my transom. The first two letters in plywood dictate the grade of veneer A being the highest. You can get A grade veneer plywood from a hardwood dealer, but honestly its not worth it in my opinion. The X means exterior grade, so make sure you get that. It basically means they used waterproof glue in the veneer layup. DON'T use pressure treated plywood. It won't play well with resin plus its usually sopping wet with chemicals.

 

[kcon]

I love the randomly foaming in boards, I suppose to "support" the deck. Looks like you got your work cut out for you, gotta pop that cap off cause that's all gotta go.

 

[hangdogger512]

I love the randomly foaming in boards, I suppose to "support" the deck. Looks like you got your work cut out for you, gotta pop that cap off cause that's all gotta go.

Yup... came off right after I saw that!

 

[hangdogger512]

And that moment that everyone waits for: Drilled some transom holes tonight. Only to find........... Wet. Wood.

 

[bpounds1991]

Welcome to the resto club, I am all too familiar with the feelings you're having at the moment lol. The good news is you have a community of a ton of people who have "been there, done that" and offer GREAT advice. As my wife would say, I'm too impatient and tend to move too quickly, but my restoration project has definitely slowed me down and made me better in terms of taking on one thing at a time. I'm having nightmares thinking back to these stages of my restoration but it will pass quicker than you think, and you'll be moving on to rebuilding your dream boat!