Mike's 77 22-2 Rebuild

[Tampa Bay Mike]

I drilled a small hole in the back of each one for just that reason. If you look closely at the bigger one, there is a T fitting towards the end as well for the bilge and livewell pumps that should let any trapped water out too.

[RickK]

Mike, the hatches look great.
On the rigging tube - are you using throttle and shift cables?  If so, did you try sending the cables through the rigging tube to make sure that they can make it through the bends?  Mine just barely made it through and I had 45 degree adapters to help.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Hmm, I didn't try running anything yet. I'll have to double check that before I button everything up. Unfortunately I don't have any cables to try right now, (that "great deal" on that zuke didn't pan out like I was first told - long story.  )

[RickK]

Yeah the rigid ends on the cables are pretty long.  Glad I brought that up before you get too far.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

My crazy leaning post idea is starting to come together. Got some good fairing and sanding practice in the last few evenings and brushed on a coat of gel today. (Nice to do this on something that's not the hull) I used the brushable stuff and it worked ok but not as well as I was hoping. I'm sure a better quality brush and some more practice would have helped. It's ok though because I sanded down a bit on the seams and glassed the livewell in tonight so it'll need a final coat. I also glassed in some scrap coosa on the inside where I plan to put the rod holders and a grab bar, and I capped the back half of the well and added a strip of coosa for the lid hinges. All in all I'm happy with it.

[Capt.Joe]

It's looking great! Putting out some good work.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Thanks, Joe!

So I made some great progress this weekend. I decided to shelf the side projects and work on my list of things I need to do before the floor can go down.

One of the big ones was getting the front hatch cut out and the gutters glassed in. I left them long for now since they will drain right onto the main deck. I'll get them sanded flush when it's all in place.



Then it was on to drilling and running fuel lines, glassing the hatch boxes in place, double checking all my measurements, and about a dozen other small things before finally doing a final dry fit!





Had a few new spots to sand down thanks to the gutters so I'm glad I did this. All that's left to do now is paint the hatch boxes and bilge, add some cleats to the hull up front for the casting deck to rest on and get one more drain hose put in place. With any luck I will get it glued down next weekend!

[Tampa Bay Mike]

I'm going to pick up some bonding putty this week. Will a gallon be enough to get the floor down?

[RickK]

I mixed thickened epoxy and put it in a gal zip lock with the corner cut off. I squeezed a "S" all along the stringers and bulkheads and then set the floor in.  Then I set 10 cinder blocks all over it. She ain't coming out. I don't think I used a qt?

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Good to know, thanks. FGCI sells a bonding putty for about $43 a gallon so I'll just grab one. It's hard to gauge how much stuff you'll need sometimes!

[mshugg]

Rick was doing a 170.  I made my own, but it took almost 2 gallons for my 200.  You don’t want to run out half way through blueing the deck down.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Rick was doing a 170.  I made my own, but it took almost 2 gallons for my 200.  You don’t want to run out half way through blueing the deck down.

Wow, big difference. I should probably pick up a second one just to be safe. Thanks.

[RickK]

I think that when using bonding putty you put enough down that, when squished down, it covers the whole surface you are bonding to. With epoxy, I squeezed out a 1" "S" and hoped that it might cover the tops but didn't care if it didn't, epoxy is strong. I guess it's a Ford Chevy thing.  The cost is about the same with epoxy and chopped glass (1 gal kit vs 2 gals of bonding putty) but which is stronger....

[Tampa Bay Mike]

I think that when using bonding putty you put enough down that, when squished down, it covers the whole surface you are bonding to. With epoxy, I squeezed out a 1" "S" and hoped that it might cover the tops but didn't care if it didn't, epoxy is strong. I guess it's a Ford Chevy thing.  The cost is about the same with epoxy and chopped glass (1 gal kit vs 2 gals of bonding putty) but which is stronger....

Hmm, good point, Rick. So here's a question. If I go with the poly based bonding putty, is there any reason why I couldn't, or shouldn't, use it as well on the top side along the hull/deck seam and shape it into a fillet? I'm planning to use poly up top so it would be one less transition to worry about.

[RickK]

What did you use to glass the floor panels? If you used epoxy you might have a bonding issue if you use a poly based putty, maybe not.
As for tying in the floor to the hull sides, are you going to have any liner to cover up the raw glass of the hullsides? On my 170 I tied the floor into the hull sides with tabs using epoxy BUT I hid that with the liner and used poly everywhere else, including tying in the liner to the floor. On the FBs they had a thin panel of glass which laid up against the hull sides to hide the raw glass. It gave the rebuilder a way to hide the connection point.
I don't think that using bonding putty to bond floor to hullside is a solid connection.