FF to CC Rebuild

[ftac03]

Dirtwheels thanks for the reply. The glass gets kind of thin where the plywood was glassed in.  I'll be starting on the transom first, but my thought about the stringer repair is this.

1. Cut the top out of the problem area.
2. Dig out the old foam and pour new foam
3. Cut out the old thin and delaminated glass in the problem area and tab in new glass. 2 layers of 17oz biax maybe?

[love2fish]

sounds like a good plan on your stringers. 1708 is strong enough, make sure to stagger your layers.
before you get too far on your stringers, 99% of rebuilds raise the floors atleast 1.5-2" higher than original.
lots of different methods for this- use your existing stringers- add ledger boards to the sides and fill with foam- then remove the ledger boards and glass over the whole stringer.  Or, build up the stringers by adding layers of Coussa board or a similar "non-wood" material and then glassing over everything.

[ftac03]

I got a good bit of progress made this weekend. Of course I spent more time hunting than working on the boat but some days you've just got to go.


So when I finally got the Aquasport pretty good progress was made. I cut the middle stringer out. As you would expect it was rotten as all get out, and fairly easy to remove.


I'll let it dry a day or two and grind the rest of it out. I also remove the glass around what was left of the backing for the bow eye. The core was almost completely gone.


Also removed the through hulls for the scupper drains, and the bilge exit.


Finally, I marked the stringers where I intend to cut for the transom replacement. It's about 19" forward of the transom. Do yall have any thoughts on this. I could certainly go less if needed?

[RickK]

Looks like you have some good groceries for a little while now     
Good progress on the boat - your plan looks good, you will or should do 3 lams of 1708 after you get the transom core in, 4", 8", 12", so 18-19" is ok. 

[ftac03]

What would you guys reccomend for a lamination schedule on the transom. I'll be using2 layers of 3/4" marine grade plywood & epoxy. It's my understanding that the layup with be less with plywood than with coosa.

[RickK]

I did a layer of wood, 3/4oz CSM, 1708, 3/4oz CSM, wood and then resin coated the result.  I used poly for the lam of the wood. After beefing up the transom with several lams of 1708, I mixed thickened epoxy and troweled that onto the inside of the transom and stuck the core into place and clamped.  Finally I did 3 layers of 1708 with 4" overlap onto the side and floor to lam the core into the hull.I would recommend putting a piece of PVC into the drain hole and glue it down before you start beefing up the transom otherwise the low point in the boat will not be at the transom anymore but will be about a foot in front of the transom.

[ftac03]

Transom is out.


Seems To have some delamination around the drain plug. Should I just grind out that layer?

[mshugg]

It's important to bond the new transom into clean glass.  If I'm reading your pictures correctly, it looks like you have the outer transom skin, then some bonding putty, then the liner.  If that's the case, I would grind away the liner and putty into the outer transom skin.  I hope that 2x4 brace is well attached.  It's the only thing keeping the shape of your hull.

[RickK]

Ditto what ^^ said.  You need to grind that last layer of wood out until you get to bare glass and of course grind all the surrounding areas smooth.

Good progress though 

[GoneFission]

Was that a plastic elbow on the gas tank?   

[ftac03]

I got a little too aggressive with the hammer and crow bar getting the last layer of the transom wood out. Manged to crack the outer skin in the circle area. What would be the best approach here? I am thinking I'll cut the damanged area out, approx 6" of the lip. Grind back the lip to a nice bevel at 12:1, clamp a melamine dam up to the lip and lay in thickened putty and build up with 1708 until I get back to the original thickness. Once the repair cures, I will fair it out reasonably well and proceed with the transom replacement. Have I missed any steps here?

[mshugg]

I can't see what you've got going on in the picture.  Do you still have the wood between the skins?  All of the wood, inner skin and liner need to be removed.  Then, you feather the outer skin from the transom corner to 0".  Attach your waxed Melamine form and glass to build up the outer skin. Then laminate in your core.

If I'm miss reading your photo, and you've already removed the wood and inner glass, then I wouldn't make the repair as a separate step.  I would tab in a little extra glass to repair the spot and build up the outer skin in one step.  The more you can do wet on wet, the better.  It's stronger and you have less sanding.

[ftac03]

I can't see what you've got going on in the picture.  Do you still have the wood between the skins?  All of the wood, inner skin and liner need to be removed.  Then, you feather the outer skin from the transom corner to 0".  Attach your waxed Melamine form and glass to build up the outer skin. Then laminate in your core.

If I'm miss reading your photo, and you've already removed the wood and inner glass, then I wouldn't make the repair as a separate step.  I would tab in a little extra glass to repair the spot and build up the outer skin in one step.  The more you can do wet on wet, the better.  It's stronger and you have less sanding.

I think you read my post correctly. I'll need to remove about 6" of the lip which is circled in the pic above. So I should make the repair part of the transom replacement and do it in one step.

When filling in the void left from cutting the old transom out. Should I use a layer or two of csm against the melamine, then laminate 3 layers of 1708. Or, will 3 layers of 1708 be to fill the void from the cutout and make a smooth surface to laminate the coosa against?

[mshugg]

If you're using poly or vinylester resin, the CSM makes a great cosmetic layer then the 1708 for structure.  I'd use a layer or two of CSM then build up with 1708 to flush.  Let it gel then go with full layers for transom.

[ftac03]

Things are going pretty well. I've got the transom ground out and ready to glass. Decided to go ahead and remove the foam from the stringers before glassing the transom. I lack about half of the port side of having all the foam removed. The stringers are in decent shape, there is no delamination. I have a couple of cracks that should repair fairly easy.

Is it not necessary to try and core the stringers after removing the rotten balsa on the inside? I was thinking you could glass in some 1/4" closed cell foam on the outside. I definitely want to beef up the stringer skins during the rebuild.