Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

[sunchaser81]

Hello all,
After looking at the restore projects that are posted here and all the great help and advice that are given on this site, I decided to restore my boat.
To make the job much earier I took off the top shell of the boat so I can replace the transom, floor and stringers . Taking to top off was quite easy on this boat. All I need to do now is tear off the old transom wood and the hull will be down to a shell. When I took out the stringers the center one has a lot of what I think is apoxy built up on one side of it. So My question is, how much if any should I grind off? In some spots it's about an inch thick but only on the starboard side. Here are some pictures of it.
Thanks in advance

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

you got a nice boat model there. any pics of the whole boat. i love these trihulls. feel free to look at my site attached to this reply. i did the same as you are doing now, a total rebuild. good luck with it. you will find, more than likely, you have to do lots of grinding to get the old wood and resin out. keep us posted with your rebuild.

 

[sunchaser81]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

Thanks Tallcanadian,
I looked at your site, nice job you did on it.
I have all the wood out of it now, in the picture it kinda looks like wood grain on the resin. So you think I need to remove the old resin before I put in the new stringer? (I'm hoping no).
To-day I removed the old ply from the transom and found that the layer of ply that was against the skin was made up of small pieces of plywood, there was about six different pieces in there. Would the boat builder do something like that? I would think allot of the strength would be lost. It looked like it was original install but not to sure. The plywood floor and been replaced in the past, but not the stringers. Here are some other pictures of it on photo bucket.

http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee15/sunchaser1981/

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

wow. i love your boat. nice. i'm assuming your talking build up of resin beside a stringer? i have a few places that had build up but i worked around it when it came time to put the stringers back in. i was lucky enough to get most stringers out in one piece to use them as models. my boat has a few different angles on floor. i used kiln dry 2x4 spruce for the four side stringers, and a kiln dry 2x6 spruce for the main stringer. i then soaked them in resin, put them in place, the glassed them to the floor. i tried to fill most voids with resin. i used marine grade plywood for the floor.

 

[sunchaser81]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

Thanks tallcanadian,
I was just outside grinding some of the old glass off that was around the stringers and where the floor meets the sidewalls,it went quite quick accually.
Yes the resin I am talking about is along side of the center stringer but just on one side of it. Now that I have done some grinding I don't think it's going to be a problem.
I too was lucky when taking out the stringers, able to keep them in good enough shape to use as templates, same as the old transom. I think I am going to use 5/8 ply for my stringers with resin all over them.
Did you clean your hull with anything to help the resin stick better?
As I move along on the project I'll put more picture on photo bucket and post here.

 

[Mr Hands]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

mine held a lot of water mixed with oil. it was quite nasty so I took it to a self serve car wash and poured some degreaser in it and power washed the heck out of it.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

fortunately, the floor was quite dry and the resin stuck perfect to it. now i used epoxy resin for all my work. being it was my first build i went a bit overboard. if i was to to it again, i would use polyester due to costs. i found myself being a bit skimpy sometimes at some areas. i also use two sheets of 5/8 marine grade glassed together for the transom.

 

[sunchaser81]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

Thanks for the tips guy's
I will give it a bath with degreaser and the pressure washer.
I haven't decided yet on the epoxy or the polyester resin.
This is also my first boat project that I am doing, infact I have never done any fiberglass work before. So, I hope I catch on quick.
Tallcanadian, I see in one of your pictures that you put the white styrofoam under the floor, I like that idea instead of the spray in foam.
Back at some grinding in the morning, almost finished with that and then I guess it will be onto the new transom work.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

just to let you know sunchaser, this was my first fiberglass work too. it's far from perfect but i did learn alot. if i had to do it over again, it would be a better job for sure. as far as the foam goes, i do have 2 in 1 foam under the sheet stuff. it's just so expensive to put in what i wanted. if i was to use sheet foam again i would use the more dense house building foam. other people on here use empty plastic pop bottles. not a bad idea either. as far as resin is concerned the epoxy is stronger but very much more expensive. polyester is one third the price and is also quite good. some people don't like it but if you do your research most boats are built with this. it will probably out last you. the epoxy gives your a few hours of setting time to adjust your cloth. polyester dries much faster. also with epoxy, there is no or very little smell. polyester, you will need good venting and or a respirator or mask. just my two cents worth. again, i'm no expert, but did learn a lot with my boat.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

here's a link to a couple of photos of sunchaser. pics aren't that great but a beautiful boat just the same. http://s146.photobucket.com/albums/r277/tallcanadiansboat/sunchaser/

 

[beerrun]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

Nice boat sunchaser. I am working on my first boat too. Its similar to yours but smaller. I went with epoxy, non blushing. It does not stink and I found its really easy to work with. Being my first time ever working with fiberglass, I thought the ease of use was worth the $$ to start with but I will probably switch to polyester now that I am getting the hang of it.
I had asked for and got alot of advice ...after it was gutted,that I should not do the floor and transom all at once with the top off. Lots of people and a book said that if you put the floor (deck) in with the top off that the hull could be pushed apart and you will not be able to get the top back on. So I got the transom in and then put the top on and now I will do the deck.
It seems like I am just a couple steps ahead of you. This forum has been a huge help and I consult them on the most trivial things and always get great responses. Good luck with your boat. http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,337,00.html

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

nice boat there beerun. you have quite a project there. looks great so far. good name for a boat too..beer run...

 

[beerrun]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

The beerrun is actually my dads home made boat and that is exactly what its for. He wont let us use his "good" boats for "that nonsense"

 

[sunchaser81]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

Tallcanadian, Beerrun thanks for the info,
Yes if it weren't for this site and all the great people willing to help others, then I don't think I would have tackled this project on my own, allot of great people giving great info on this forum.
Tallcanadian, thanks for the tip on the smell between the two, a strong smell might be an issue with me because the boat is in the garage which is under part of the house.
beerrun, looks like you are making great progress, I have been looking at your project and getting good how to tips from you , such as you transom install I will use your 2x4 clamping idea for sure. I have also read on here about not doing floor and transom at same time. So I will do the transom first, stringers,top on, then floor.

 

[beerrun]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

Great! I am so happy to be helpful.After all the answers I have gotten here its nice to be able to help. Good luck, Keep us posted.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

yeah sunchaser, do your transom first, then you can glass your stringers to your transom to give it extra strength. i used layers of mat fibreglass for the transom, fiberglass cloth for the stringers and woven roven for the floor. i wish i used the mat for the floor, would have done a nice job.

 

[sunchaser81]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

Tallcanadian,
Just cut the first piece of ply for the transom and ready to trace it on to the second piece and I hope to install it this weekend.
I see you have a 45hp on your boat, how is that working for you? speed, up on plane ect. I may need to repower mine,

 

[beerrun]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

Sunchaser, on the 2x4 clamping that we did there is a small piece of 2x4 wedged in on the bottom, inside that is hard to see in the pictures. It did alot to pull in the bottom. We have an old stringer in the boat that we used to wedge against. If you dont have anything like that you may need to drill some holes and run some bolts through there to pull in the bottom.(a suggestion from tashasdaddy) The holes can be filled later. I drew it in this picture to show where the wedge was.I should probably put that on my share a project, huh. good luck.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

this 45 hp commercial works fine. i can do 30 mph (50kph) and it planes very quick. even with a load it planes with no problems. i'm hoping to get a power trim unit for it over the winter. this will make it plane faster. but remember, my boat is only 14'9. yours is a bit bigger. before my rebuild i had to have weight in the front to get her to plane. now i don't. it sits higher in the water now as well. i bet i threw away close to 300 lbs of wet wood in my build. lol. or at least it seemed like it..

 

[sunchaser81]

Re: Restoring my 16' 1981 Peterborough Sunchaser

I think I also pulled out about 300 lbs. I was thinking of a 60 or 70 hp for mine, it had a 90 on it, blew a piston ring, the boat is rated for a 80, so while I am fixing up the boat I'll look for another motor