1974 Aquasport 222 Rebuild Captain Joe

[Capt.Joe]

Hello!

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a 1974 222. In this thread I will post my progress of the rebuild and answer any questions you may have about it. Below are photos of what I have accomplished so far.

The day I bought the boat:


First day of work removing the center console, seat cooler, and some of the ss hardware:


Removing the floor and casting deck. Best tools to use were a circular saw and a sawzall:


The floor and gas tank removed. Stringers look great. I will gut the old foam out, refoam, and apply new 1708 glass:


More progress updates to come!

[mshugg]

She looks like she’s in pretty good shape.  The cooler weather is perfect for demo work.

[RickK]

I agree - the stringers seem to be in great shape. No cracks? Hows the bond to the hull bottom?

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Good start. Looking forward to watching the build.

[Capt.Joe]

Thank you for the comments! There are no cracks or delamination. The center stringer needs to be replaced and there are a some soft spots toward the transom. If I get to the boat this weekend I'll have some more pictures and updates.

[Capt.Joe]

This weekend I had extra help with my dad being home. We decided to tackle removing the transom and succeeded with putting 3 hours or so into it. First we removed half of the rub rail and cap screws. Grinding the bolts out made this a 30min job. Now with the cap free, we placed two pvc pipes (one on each side) underneath to elevate the cap off of the transom.

I wanted to cut the port side box out of the skin and made the starboard cut even with the stringer cut. At times I went a little too deep but everything will be glassed and sealed. To save time on the transom I recommend cutting an inch or so from the perimeter. This will cut out any glue, epoxy, or fillet that was used to hold down the transom wood. Then from the top, use a grinder to separate the skin from the wood. The rest is prying, chipping, cursing, and time consuming.

I really hope my description helps anyone who is tackling this job. Please PM me or comment with any questions you may have and I'd be happy to answer them.



I tried my best to keep the transom skin in tact, but it was so brittle as we chipped away at it.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Looking good so far. What's the plan for the transom?

[Capt.Joe]

My goal is to grind the transom and floor smooth. If I have to cut the broken pieces of the transom I will and hope that makes life a little easier. Once everything is ground down and cleaned to perfection, I'll order the materials I need and make a template for the transom.

3-4 layers of glass. Glued in 1.5" coosa. Then another 2 layers of glass over the coosa. I also plan on glassing between the transom and back stringers, all the way up both sides of the hull skin.

Any tips or materials I should keep in mind for the transom or cutting/gutting the stringers?

Thank you!

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Sounds like a good plan! Keep the pieces of the stringers that you cut out so you can glue them back in. You should have enough coosa left to make some knees too if you want. I cut the sides off my stringers and fit them all together. What are you using for glass? 1708?

If you haven't bought it already, there were still a few sheets of coosa at marine surplus last Saturday when I was there for a good price.

[Capt.Joe]

Keeping the stringer tops is a great tip, thank you! I'm going to primarily use 1708 but for the piece between the transom and back stringers, I was going to use a sheet of 2408 or 2415.

Was it worth refoaming your center stringer? Where is the marine surplus located? I'm excited to see how your hatches come out!

[mshugg]

No question that the lam schedule you’re planning will be stronger than it was when it left the factory.  Most people go with 3 to 4 layers of 1708 for the inside transom skin.  The 1708 is much easier to wet out than the 24 oz glass.  Plus 3 layers of 1708 would be about the same weight of glass. 

One more thing to consider, if you’re going with a bracket,Armstrong wants at least 2” thick for up to  200 hp and 2 1/2” for over 200. I doubt tat Porta Bracket wants any less.   Each layer of 1708 sets out to just shy of 1/16”, so plan accordingly.

Your work looks good.  You’ll enjoy it even more when you start building instead of demo.

[Capt.Joe]

I'll be sure to add a couple of extra layers of glass to equal at least another 1/2". Thank you for reminding me the importance of thinking about the project as a whole. The transom bracket was the last thing on my mind. 

I can't wait to get back at it!

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Was it worth refoaming your center stringer? Where is the marine surplus located? I'm excited to see how your hatches come out!

Not sure if it was worth it or not, but it was so wet and the wood inside came out so easily that I figured it couldn't hurt to keep it. Plus I had the foam left over from the main stringers.

Marine Surplus is just north of the Sarasota/Bradenton airport on old 301. A little bit of a drive for you but they have some great prices on stuff sometimes. Worth a call at least.

And thanks! I'm excited to see how the hatches come out too. I actually just picked up a bunch of friction hinges and latches on Saturday for them.

[RickK]

Joe - read these bits of data and after you're done with the demo, start with the PVC, you won't regret it. You are going to change the low point in the boat without realizing it, while rebuilding, so these tips will help. I wish I would have thought of this technique before I did my rebuild - now I always have 1/2-3/4" of water in the bilge.

Here is a link to where I explain the thought of the PVC pipe
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg133124#msg133124

Here is a link to where I show what is actual problem
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg133556#msg133556

Here is a link to Hawgleg's rebuild that shows the PVC pipe installation to keep a drain at the new low point of the boat
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg134262#msg134262

I think I see a hole in the transom - I haven't read what kind of transom you're going back in with full or notched, but regardless you'll need a sheet of melamine or formica covered plywood/particle board backed up to the outside of the transom so you have something flat to build the new transom on. Then you won't have much to worry about on the hole.  See if you can save the HIN on the outside of the transom (like a stamp that shows data like year and month of build) - my hull was before the required HIN Stamp year so I don't have one.  You should have one - usually on the outside of the transom. Could be an actual metal plate in your year or one they put inside the mold and removed after they pulled the hull from the mold, leaving the imprint.

[Capt.Joe]

Thank you Rick. I'll use melamine to secure the transom in place. If you think I can just glass over the hole in the transom, I'd rather do that than cut it out.

Does the PVC have to extend that far into the boat or can it be cut flush?