RickK's 170 rebuild

[RickK]

Some more progress - a very humid day here but better than what you fellas are going through up north  
Cut the mounting slots and dry fit the kill switches.


No key inserted


Key inserted and "on"


One on one off.  There will be a voltmeter right above each one - one for 12V and one for 24V (trolling motor)

[RickK]

The hatches are fitting nicely now and I started on the bilge hatch to cut the compression latches into them.  The honeycomb took forever to trim down to let the latch recess - used small diagonal pliers to trim it down - a pain for sure.


Got them where I needed to and then filled the honey comb with thickened resin - I know I will have to spend some time on the drill press with a forstner bit to slowly trim down the resin to get the latches recessed again

[RickK]

Cut the access holes into the tank hatch - this hatch is getting lighter every day  


Here are the guides - made them out of epoxy so I used the E-bond paint on them.


What you also see in the pics are the holes I over-drilled and filled with thickened resin to drill through for mounting the hatch to the stringers and if you look at the added layer I also over-drilled the battery tray mounting locations too.

[RickK]

I called my wife out to help me carry the sole to the boat - she is 5'10" and 125lbs.  Gives you an idea of the sole weight - maybe 70 lbs?
One last dry fit and also marked where to tape off the tank stringers so I don't cross pollinate the epoxy into the poly area.


I rinsed out the boat early this morning (a ton of leaves had hidden themselves in the center pipe so I was glad I did). The bilge hatch - even got the bilge pump inside the hatch area  


The bilge pump exhaust hose had good clearance

[RickK]

Added the hatches to the sole and set up the cable guide to be glued down. There ain't a whole bunch of room in them joints anymore   . Still thinking about cramming the round rubber tube type hose that you use to install a screen, around the perimeter of both tanks - barely enough room but that would seal them off.

[fishinonthebrain]

Some great progress Rick. Your lucky on the warm weather is getting cold here again.

Which compression latch did you get?

[RickK]

Cut some spacers from some epoxy soaked small cloth panels I made up. These are being used to build up where the compression latches are used on the bilge hatch - the latches I bought would only go down to 1 1/2 ".


I wanted to stick everything with epoxy and I had some medium cure hardener left and it looked pretty old, the color was getting more orange then the newer medium I just bought so I was concerned it was too old and if it had a short shelf life.  There is a sticker on the bottle to shake well before using and I had about 1" left in the bottle so I proceeded to shake it for about 5 mins and mixed the parts and then added the cabosil and kept my fingers crossed.
I brought some cinder blocks into the boat before I started so I would be ready to stick the guides down.

[RickK]

Then I buttered up the 5 layers of the spacers and stuck them to the spots I needed them on the bilge ledge area. Note to self - make sure you put plastic between the clamps and the glue so you don't have to figure out how to get your clamps free again  


BTW, the old hardener was still good - I got about 30 mins working time 'til it kicked (which tells me how long I have tomorrow when I glue in the sole).
I'll show pics of the latches when I mount them.  They were not the top of the line we discussed earlier in the thread but nice none the less.

Also, I found out I need to cut a slot in the support just forward of the bilge hatch access - go figure that the latch would hit it  

[RickK]

Some great progress Rick. Your lucky on the warm weather is getting cold here again.

Which compression latch did you get?

Thanks F, it's supposed to rain here tonight and then start cooling down - maybe it'll help me with the kick time on the epoxy tomorrow  

Yeah this stuff doesn't take too long when you don't have to work    I started vacation on Thanksgiving day and I have worked 7 days a week on this project since then.  I've made up for lost time but mannnnn.... I need to go back to work to get a vacation  
Anyway, it was worth it and before I'm done I will have the sole stuck down and the sole tabbed into the hull - tying it all together, a huge milestone.  I also hope to get the cap rolled back into the boat and fitted to the sole.
I don't have the link handy for the  latches (I have ordered so many things for the rebuild that I have to sort through the emails to find it) - sorry.  I'll post pics when I install them.

[CLM65]

Man, looks like it was a productive day!  Looking good Rick!  What are you using to bond the sole to the stringers?

[RickK]

Man, looks like it was a productive day!  Looking good Rick!  What are you using to bond the sole to the stringers?

It was - everyday I make some sort of progress, even if it is to stare at the project     Now that vacation is about over it's back to weekends again.  :cry:
I'm using thickened epoxy - medium kick. Scary.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Bummer that big bag didnt work out...    I might put the hardener in the fridge for a bit as warm as its been.     Unless youre mixing early in the morning.    Those infrared thermometers are sweet for keeping track of your temps!

[RickK]

Which compression latch did you get?

http://marinepartdepot.com/ststflhali.html

[RickK]

I started the day taking the clamps off the spacers and removing the plastic and wouldn't you know that the ooze out of the epoxy out the back side was close enough to connect to the support bracket just in front of it and weld the two together     Guess I should have draped plastic over it too    Tried to lift the floor and no way.  
I sent the left side of my brain off to work on that and I proceeded to work the bilge hatch. Had to go to HD and buy some grinding bits and worked about an hour to get them where they needed to be for the latches to fit.


Look pretty good.

[RickK]

Back side still loose obviously


Here is the hatch in the receiver and the arm is hitting the brace in front of the opening.


Speaking of the arm hitting the brace, I knew I needed to notch it and now I guess I need to notch it a little more since I needed to cut the two parts free,  I drilled a couple holes and stuck a mini-hacksaw (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Stanley-10-i ... /100026795) in the hole and sawed them free.  Then I lifted the back part of the sole out over the transom and chiseled the brace off the back of the spacers.  Then I took my jigsaw and squared up the cut in the brace - all is good again.
Supposed to be around 50 here in the morning so it'll be a perfect time to glue the sole in before the grand kids get here for Christmas at 10.  Should give me the working time I need  

Merry Christmas to all.