Flatback Fireboat Rebuild

[Aswaff400]

this time next week ill be in DFW cooking my a$$ off. last summer it was 104 degrees with a heat index of 115-120 for 5 of the 7 days

i havent got much done in the last 2 weeks on my flat back. even inside with the fan blowing its hard to get anything done... i gave in and called one of our fiberglass guys to come finish the inside of the boat.

[CLM65]

i gave in and called one of our fiberglass guys to come finish the inside of the boat.

NOOOOOOO!  Just kidding!  I don't blame you one bit

[redemn93]

what are you cooking?  bbq?

[RickK]

this time next week ill be in DFW cooking my a$$ off. last summer it was 104 degrees with a heat index of 115-120 for 5 of the 7 days

what are you cooking?  bbq?

I think himself

[redemn93]

oh.  i guess im hungry.

[Aswaff400]

there will be a bbq though! lol

[CLM65]

Not much progress to report, but a question about bulkheads...I am using nidacore for my bulkheads.  Eugene recommended 1" thick material.  I don't have any 1", but I've got some excess 1/2".  So I made a sandwich (1808, 1/2" nidacore, 2 x 3/4 oz mat, 1/2" nidacore, 1808).  Do you think that is adequate, or should I add another layer of 1808 on each side?

[RickK]

When you tab them in you'll get a couple more layers on each side  

[CLM65]

Good point Rick

[Aquasport Commodore]

Instead of using the Nida for bulkheads, why not do it like your stringers and how they do newer boats. Foam bulkheads covered glass? This way you can go as wide as you want with no issues.

[CLM65]

Instead of using the Nida for bulkheads, why not do it like your stringers and how they do newer boats. Foam bulkheads covered glass? This way you can go as wide as you want with no issues.

I'm sure that would work, and have the benefit of extra surface area to bond with the deck.  But they would be a bit more work and money than the nidacore.  I'm getting to the point of trying to simplify things to give the perception of making progress, while using up the supplies that I have stockpiled over the last year and a half.

[gran398]

Craig, had another idea re the livewell viewing port. How about making a fiberglass part like a recessed picture frame....that would dress it up real nice from the outside. Little starboard trim, good to go

[CLM65]

Well, I have been chipping away at it.  I am finally close to putting the deck on.  I've got the stringers done, as well as the bulkheads and rigging tubes.



I added a ledger to help support the perimeter of the deck.  If you read a lot of Scotty's (aka Gran398) posts, you will see this mentioned several times.  Many feel it is unnecessary, and they may be right, but I feel better knowing there is extra support under the edge and I'm not just relying on the stiffness of the deck and the tabbing on top to keep the joint from flexing and developing cracks in the gel.  And it can't hurt, right?



This pic gives you a pretty good view of the ledger, as well as the rigging tubes for the fuel fill line (front tube), vent line (right behind the fuel line tube), and fuel line to the engine (back tube that suns along the port side of the boat).  Note that I still have some trimming to do to level the top of some of the bulkheads.



Here is another view of the fuel line rigging tubes.  The 2 tubes in the front run from the console and bilge area, inside the stringers, up to the bow area.  They will be used for lights, speakers, and maybe even battery cables if I need to move the batteries forward for weight distribution..  



Next I need to do some prettying up of the glass in the bilge area and some other spaces to get it ready for paint.  Still need to decide on what bilge paint to use.  I've got a combination of poly and epoxy, so I need something compatible with both.  Suggestions?

[gran398]

She looks GREAT!!  Glad you added the ledger strips. Gonna tie everything together like a rock.

Are the ledgers solid glass, appear to be

[CLM65]

Are the ledgers solid glass, appear to be

They are, Scotty.  The ledge is 3/4 oz mat and 3 layers of 1808.  I took a piece of plywood that was just shorter than the distance between the bulkheads and cut one edge to match the contour of the hull.  I added supports that spanned the bulkheads, along with spacers that dropped the plywood to about 1/4" below the top of the bulkheads.  This gave me a shelf that would sit slightly recessed between the bulkheads.  I glassed the mat and two 5" wide strips of 1808 to the hull, between a pair of bulkheads, so that about 1.5" of the strips were above stringers and about 3.5" were below them.  Then I put the shelf in place and folded the top 1.5" over onto the shelf (I used duct tape on the wood to keep the resin from bonding to it).  Then I tabbed a 2.5" strip of 1808 to the top of the ledge and about 1" up the hull.  (I chose 1" because I wanted to keep the upper edge below the top of the deck so that it doesn't add the to thickness when I tab in the deck).

After I finished with each section, I moved the wooden shelf to the next section and cut the edge of the plywood to match the contour and repeated the glassing.

I don't know if my description makes sense, but it worked out pretty well and the ledgers are quite sturdy .