Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

There are a hundred different ways that you can go about fixing your damage. Although this is my first complete boat project I have been around bondo, and cars for many years. I have seen bondo used on many boat applications here in the southwest over the years.

The bondo I purchased was for Marine use and has fiberglass in it. As for it absorbing water I cant confirm to those allocations. Some of the paint manufactures and distributers have there own stuff. But I have seen in plenty of instructional mauals how they say to use 3M Marine Bondo Gel and Glass for your repairs.

I would say do plenty of research and at the end you have to feel comfortable with what supplies you use and how to use them for ultimate performance and presentation.

Thanks for the comment!

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

So after 2 coats of primer and 5 coats of white paint the hull is ready to be put back on the trailer. I still have to add the two tone color on the sides. But those can be painted while on the trailer.

I consitrated on rebuilding the trailer so that I can put the hull back on and place the top cap on the hull and finish painting that as well. Still a ton of work to do but making some headway.

Ok gang so this is what I ended up doing to the trailer. I am putting brand new running boards on with carpet. They are going to be 7 feet long which will come out being the same length of the little feet that were in the front sides.

I also purchased brand new roller assemblies sense the old set up had rubber rollers that were an odd ball size. I welded them in place so I would not have to worry about them.

Now all I have left to do is install the carpet on the boards, install the boards, install the new electrical wireing and light kit.

I also painted the entire trailer today after doing a cleaning and rough sanding.

I hope tomorrow night I can have the guys back over and help me put the hull back on the new trailer.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

How should we flip this big boy back over onto the trailer?

You are doing great work! I inherited my Dad's 1960 Avalon and agree that it is one of the best classic boats from the 1960's. Our family enjoyed that boat for many years. While I did not have to do the repairs you faced, I have flipped a 15 footer and can tell you that your concerns are well anticipated. Since you have removed the cap, the hull has lost some of it's structural integrity unless you installed some bracing to help prevent flex/warp when it gets rolled back over. I'm afraid you will indeed incur damage to your hull finish if you do not brace it prior to the big event. Installing the bow eye and some eye-bolts in the transom drain holes will give you some lifting points. The tricky one is the bow since any ropes/lines/cables used for lifting or support are likely to rub that beautiful finish. My best advice is to get as many hands on the hull as you can in order to manage the load. Some members have reported using automotive engine stands to support the transom end so they could concentrate their muscle on the bow. Thanks for all the pictures of your project and good luck!

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

When we flipped her over we put her on the transom and stood her up which was 16 feet high. I have to say I was very uneasy about it when we were going through the motions. Not a good time to start thinking about all of the bad things that can happen.

So now I have this hull in as good as it is going to get condition and terrified to flip her back over. My dad thinks that we should flip her on her Y axis as apposed to her X axis meaning flip her from her side. Ofcourse this sounds easier then the exicution. With no structural integrity to keep the sides from folding in which will destroy the paint job and perhaps even break fiberglass.

So I am looking for ways to get this done witout any damage or injuries.....

Yeah so we can put the eye bolts in the port and staboard ends of the stern and the eye bolt in the bow. But how to exicute the flip is got me loosing sleep.

I am really thinking that the boat has all of its strength in the stern which means we are going to have to flip her back over the way we did the first time!!!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Hey WB

Here Is how you can flip your hull

Use 2 two by 6's and 3 2x4's Drill some 3/4 inch holes as shown and get some "C" Clamps and clamp it to your hull as shown. Use some towels to PAD the paint. Call a Carpet place and find an installer that is doing a job and get the Old carpet pad that he is going to be pulling out of the house for FREE. Roll your hull onto the pad. Takes about 4 guys to do it and you will have NO Scrathes. It will keep your Hull shape too!!

I'm just sayin...

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Hey WB

Here Is how you can flip your hull

Use 2 two by 6's and 3 2x4's Drill some 3/4 inch holes as shown and get some "C" Clamps and clamp it to your hull as shown. Use some towels to PAD the paint. Call a Carpet place and find an installer that is doing a job and get the Old carpet pad that he is going to be pulling out of the house for FREE. Roll your hull onto the pad. Takes about 4 guys to do it and you will have NO Scrathes. It will keep your Hull shape too!!

I'm just sayin...

Hey brother thanks for the reply. I am looking at your schematic and am puzzled how you are talking about using C clamps to clamp the framing structure for structural integrity to the boat? How do I get the 2X4's to mount to the 2X6's? The 3/4 holes serve what purpose or maybe I am just completely missing how it should be mounted to the boat hull! As for the clamps connecting the wood frame to the hull, how do you use clamps without screwing up the paint surface?

I am loosing sleep over this which is ridiculous but I have spent three whole weeks on getting the hull where it is today. I have not included pictures of the final c3 coats of paint on it yet.

Another question is for wet sanding the final coat. I really want to take out any lines or grooves from the paint brush, what grit sand paper should I use? I was thinking atleast 2000 grit. Maybe start off with 1500 grit and work my way up to 2500, NO? I did go over the hull with my proffesional buffer that I use on all of the cars in my car club. It only knocked off any surface contaminets such as dust particles that mated with the hull paint.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Ok, see if I can SPLAIN this. The black dots in the pic are the holes for the C-clamps. Like I said use towels to pad the hull from the wood. Lay the 2x6 on the OUTSIDE of the hull with the towels padding it. Use the 2x4's inside the hull. Clamp the inside 2x4 to the outside 2x6 at each of the black dot joining points. will take 6 clamps
Harbor Freight has these for $2.50

The red lines indicate the clamp locations.

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Otay I think I got it now, boy wallie I sure can be dum sum times....Wow and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Ok so this is what I am going to do here for the WOODONGLASS invention. I am going to have my wife take pictures along the entire way so we can create a posting about how to flip your mid size boat without killing yourself or your great work, what do you think?

We can call it the Wood On Glass Saver, NO!

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

We like pictures. Good luck and be safe!

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

So here is an update to what I have been doing up to this point. I finished wet sanding the bottom of the hull only not the sides at this moment due to putting the second color on the sides of the boat. I put a total of 5 coats of paint on her and wet sanded from 1000-1500-to the final prep of 2000. Once the wet sanding was done I buffed the hull with a very expenive polishing compound that I use for detailing our Corvettes.

Now tonight, some of the guys came over for some hot dogs, cips and brewski's sense I had to install a clear bra on a car for one of my good friends in the club.

The guys wanted to help out so we flipped the boat hull back over onto her trailer that I rebuilt. Of course I know that I need to make some adjustments and I will do that tomorrow morning.

After all of these nights of not sleeping, I can now sleep in peace with the hull resting saftely on her bunks.

Enjoy the pics.

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

More pics!!!

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Here are the last pics of the trailer without her bunk buddy!

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Here we go with the boat flip IKES...

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Nice job setting up that trailer. Looks great.

 

[RobbyA]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

I really like the pics of you all flipping the hull and putting it on the trailer. It gives others an idea of how to do it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Well, that's one way to do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glad I got sun glasses. That Hull is BLINDING!!!!
Trailer is looking GOOD!
Your restore is going to be one of the best!!!!

I'm just sayin...

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

WoodOnGlass:

I tried the wood connecting method. After spending aout $25 we found out that because of the curve in the sides it did not change the over all stress relief we were looking for. So needless to say this is what we came up with. We just took it real slow and steady and things turned out ok.

So now I am working on getting the trailer to fit the boat snug. Thank you soo much for your kind comments. My friend Big Tom which if you can see in the pictures he Dwarfs me by almost 3 feet. Tom has painted his own C3 Corvette which I have detailed for him. His car looks fenominal and he was giving me some pointers on getting the top cap perfect. He has even agreed to come and help if needed.

So my plans are to try my darndest to get it perfect without him but let Tom check my work before I put the top coats on. This way when people see my boat and comment on it 100% of the work came from me!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Refresh me, What are you using for paint on the top cap?? Color and Brand of Paint?? What are you doing for the interior?

Keep the pics comin!!!

I'm just sayin...

 

[wishboneZ51]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Refresh me, What are you using for paint on the top cap?? Color and Brand of Paint?? What are you doing for the interior?

Keep the pics comin!!!


Ok, I am using Interlux Bright Side Top Coat Paint. I was using white color 4359 for the base coat. I have chosen Sapphire Blue 4241 for my stand out color. The blue goes along the sides where you see the tape marked off and ready for the blue. The top is going to be all blue except for the front nose section which will stay white.

We are going with two brand new Executive lounge seats for the driver and passenger like the origional. The back next to the splashwell is going to have a bench seat with a creative twist. The bench seat will raise up to access the batteries, bildge area, and gas tank if needed by means of gas struts.

The floor is going to be the Nautolex Storm Grey vinyl flooring. I am planning on painting the sides white, adding some wood shelving like the top model had in 65.

Here are some pictures from today...

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Restoration of my 1965 Glasspar Avolon

Looks great on the trailer. I thought your bunks weren't going to line up with the hull well with that angle they were at but now I can see with that sharp ascent of the hull shape you nailed the setup almost perfectly. Looks pretty snug!