250 Custom Restoration

[RickK]

Looks stout. Nicely done.  Good tutorial.

[Ulysses485]

Wow Mike you are really taking off with his rebuild. Nice work. Interesting how the corners on this hull has that slight curve outwardly. What did you use to refill the void? Did you use four (4) different pieces of Coosa for the core to keep the angles and core flush with them?

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Wow Mike you are really taking off with his rebuild. Nice work. Interesting how the corners on this hull has that slight curve outwardly. What did you use to refill the void? Did you use four (4) different pieces of Coosa for the core to keep the angles and core flush with them?

Yeah I could get the coosa to flex a little but not near enough so I ended up making some relief cuts and beveling the edges so they all fit back together. After that I was able to use screws and clamps to make sure it all had 100% contact with the glass while the bonding putty did its thing. I walked out to the shop today to check it and it is solid as a rock.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

I trimmed the top off and added a 1 1/2' crown. The top is just over 2" thick in the center which means the bottom should be over 2 1/2" where the factory glass was. As you can see I've got quite a few screw holes to address but having it all tightly bonded is worth it.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

I got the stringers tied into the transom last night. First I tabbed the factory stringers back together where I cut them off to make room for the new transom. Then I cut a few pieces of coosa to shape, glassed the inside and bonded them on using a few layers of csm. Once that was solid I filled them with two part foam, leveled the top and bonded down a piece to the top. Then that was all tabbed to the transom and another layer was laid across the whole thing.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Picked up a tank and a bunch of foam to make a tank coffin and eventually the new cap. I ended up with 84 gallons which was a little more than I was originally thinking but the price was right and it fits like a glove.





I puttied in some pvc pipe for the fuel lines to run through the stringers and bulkhead which worked out great. I also ran some for drains in case any water gets in the area outside of the stringers. I rolled some leftover gelcoat on the transom to fully cure it and prep for fairing. I'm not looking for perfection in the bilge area but I am going to clean it up some while I have easy access to it.

[RickK]

Mike, don't forget that poly tanks can grow 1-2% in all directions once full of gasoline.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

This one didn't have the molded in mounting points on the top like other ones I've seen. Instead it had bolt holes recessed into both ends down by the bottom. I thought about using some L brackets to secure it to the floor of the new coffin I made but figured through bolting it with some coosa backing plates would be stronger. It also seemed like either way wouldn't allow for too much expansion on the ends so I went with what seemed more secure. I did leave a quarter inch or so between the tank and the bulkheads which I expect to fill up. There's also a lot of room for expansion on the sides and top.

Also for what it's worth, my 22 has about the same amount of space front and back and when I inspected it recently I didn't see any issues.

[RickK]

 

[Ulysses485]

Mike, you are moving right along! What’s your plan for a bracket and power?

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Mike, you are moving right along! What’s your plan for a bracket and power?

I would love a new porta bracket and 250 if the money fairy allows it once I get to that point.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

I'm going with a one piece floor with built in hatch gutters to keep the fairing to a minimum. So far its been a lot of work but hopefully it will pay off.



Gutters were made out of MDF, routed and sanded, coated with epoxy and then wet sanded smooth.



Prepping for the layup. Cut five layers of glass and started cutting the coosa to fit. I still need to cut some strips of glass for the gutters.

[Ulysses485]

Mike,

I really like this idea! Those molds are looking great! Anything to save the shoulders and back and i am game.

So I've put a lot of thought into how I would make it work for my project by building a "Mold table" sort of speak and i have a few things that come to mind. How are you going to address the joints so the don't show up in the final part are you have and bleed through that doesnt allow the part to detach? Also, assuming that you are going to start the part with Gelcoat, how are you going to tie the deck into the hull side with a then finished gelcoat that has to be ground down to glass? Are you going to lay glass only and once you set the deck and tie into hull side, complete the gelcoat or final finish? Just brainstorming here. Thanks for sharing!

[Tampa Bay Mike]

I thought about the joints too and I think I'm going to put a layer of mat down first to help with that. I'm probably going to layer in the strips of glass for the gutters and the floor so that seam is plenty strong. Not exactly sure yet.

When I finished cutting the coosa last week I remembered that they are 48" and the roll of 1708 is 50" so that will help with the big seams. As for the sides, I am probably just going to have to sand a little so I can tab it in. I can't really think of a better way to tackle that part. I plan to tab in some supports for the cap so it'll need to be sanded some eventually. I think as long as I can keep the majority of the fairing to a minimum and have the hatches locked in good I'll call it a win.

I had a long weekend out of town and haven't even been in the shop since last week so hopefully I can get back to work soon.

[Ulysses485]

I’m not following you on the thin layer of mat. Are you not spraying Gelcoat in the mold first and then 24 hours later laying up the entire upper section of the laminate panel, setting the core, and continuing lamination over top of core (bottom section of deck)?