Mike's 77 22-2 Rebuild

[dirtwheelsfl]

Even better would be to glue the core in, then drill out just the core leaving the outer skin intact, then glue that plug in from the inside before you do the inner skin. By the time the fillets and layers of glass are built up inside it might be level with the actual hole.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

That's a good idea. I already cut a notch out of the bottom of the Coosa thinking it would be easier to put it in with the pipe in place.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Even better.    Glue it all in at once, no drilling required. Except the final hole anyway...

[RickK]

Make sure you add the pipe before you lam the transom skin up.  Every layer of 1708 moves the lowest point in the boat forward and you'll have at least 6 layers of cloth on there when done.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

I'm hoping to get it done this weekend. One way or another I will make sure to get a pipe in there. Thanks for all the tips!

How long does the epoxy need to cure before it's safe to get wet? The plan is to do it in the morning so it has as long as possible to dry before the afternoon storms roll through. I've got it under a tarp but water still finds its way in and I don't want it causing issues. I'm using the 1:1 laminating epoxy from FGCI.

[RickK]

In this heat it won't take too long to kick off - the winter time around here when it dips in the 40s you use slow hardening and it may take a week it seems.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

New transom is in and solid as a rock. It's great to see some real progress starting to happen.

Melamine dam clamped up and ready to go.



Two layers of 1708 to fill in the opening and three more on top of that.



Coosa clamped in.



And there more layers on the inside.



A few things to note for anyone getting ready to do this. First, make a checklist! This goes quick and you don't want to forget anything. It was very helpful to have something to reference when the epoxy was mixed and time was against you. Second, you'll use more silica then you think. And third, you will rip every bit of hair off of your knee when trying to get dried epoxy off.

Other than that, it couldn't have gone smoother. I am really happy with how it turned out

[RickK]

A BIG milestone complete - congrats.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Thanks, it was nice to get some time to work on it this weekend. I feel like I actually got something done.

Today I started working on getting the stringers tied back in. I made up a quick cardboard mold to keep them the full height all the way back and cut a notch out of the sides so the knees I build will fit right in. Pics to come one it gets back together

[Levi]

Don't know if you have other plans but don't forget that you may need to run some rigging from outside of the stringers into the middle and or visa vesa so making the stringersfull height may be problematic for later rigging if you haven't planned for it.
We took some strips of pvc and epoxied them inside the stringers and then ran some screws through that to hold the removed pieces. Once it kicked I removed the screws and overlaid a couple layers of 1700.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Good call, thanks. I'll do some planning for that before I glass them back in.

[RickK]

I'm not sure if you're going to make small bulkheads from the stringers to the outer hull - if you do, make sure you have ways for water to get from the front to the aft of the boat and also from the outside of the stringers to the inside where the bilge pump will be - these are "limber holes". I drilled holes through my bulkheads and at the aft I glued some PVC pipe from outside to inside - just make sure they are sealed up real well or they'll allow water to leak into the foam.
You could do the same thing to allow routing wires or hoses, etc - best to plan it out and do it before you foam.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

I do plan on adding a few bulkheads, especially around where the floor seams will be. I will make sure to allow for drainage.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

This is what I'm thinking for the knees. I took the backs of the stringers that I removed to tab in the transom and cut 12" off the inside corners. I then made up a quick mold so I could wrap them in a layer of 1708 and cut them at the 12" mark so I can fold it down making a vertical section to tab the knee to. I plan to cut the knees out of the leftover Coosa and glass it all back together as one piece, then fill it all with 4lb foam.

Any thoughts or advice before I get too much further?

[Marcel4t]

Thats the same thing I was thinking of doing.  What do you plan on doing on the inside part of the closed in transom?  Are you closing in the space and putting hatches on to access?  I am going to do that, and my knees will also act as a bulkhead for the areas, so I can have dry storage on either side of the bildge.  They will go up straight to the level of the gunnel of the transom.  Hope Im making sense, its so hard to explain...lol