Tom's 1986 170 Rebuild

[wingnut]

I paid $130 for 5 gal for the ceramic version, no shipping with the supplier discount. Takes MEKP to catalyze.  I think the going rate is $190 or so per 5 gal but shipping is pretty steep unless you can find a local supplier.

10 gallons was exactly enough to do my 20” transom and raise the sides a little.

[wingnut]

The transom came out great. How was the product to work with?  Did you see any leaks as you poured it in?

Rick -realized your question may have been more directed towards the formwork. Short answer, no formwork leaks, but it was a bit of a process beforehand to ensure the resin didn't run all over the place.

Photo shows the outer 2x8 formwork panels. These were clamped at the edges, and I also put screws from the outside of the 2x8 anchored into lip of the transom skins, to hold the fiberglass panels to the wood. I then took 1/4" foam backer rod (the really squishy round foam kind) and stuffed it from the top into the crack between the transom skin and formwork to get a good seal.

I considered using adhesive foam weatherstripping - just sticking it to the transom skin, then clamping/screwing the boards to the transom. Probably would have done the same  thing. But I had backer rod, so I used that. Probably other ways to do this, but it's what I came up with (I'm a bridge engineer and we use a similar process to seal bridge joints prior to pouring new ones).

All in all, decent bit of prep work but it served my purpose of doing a transom rebuild without gutting the inner liner/stringers or outer transom shell.

[RickK]

I am not sure how you dug out the inside, chain saw is the easiest. You're actually digging between the cloth and resin laminating the core to the transom and the same to inside of the hull. Then the liner is set into place (which is above the stringers) and glued in place over the laminations on the transom.
How you dig out the wood in the transom can damage the glass laminated on the core leaving leaks for the pour material to sneak through.
If you didn't have leaks, that's great.

[wingnut]

I was really “saved” by how soft the transom ply was. I removed the top cap of the transom and then cored downward with a 1.25” speedbor auger with 18” of extensions, straight down vertically into the transom at 1” spacing. Did this for the whole length of the transom, so it was basically filled with loose wood mush. Then I used a chainsaw at low speed to lift the slop up and out of the transom.

The tip of the auger threaded right between the two sheets of ply (3/4” on each side)  so it never touched the fiberglass on either side. Once I lifted all of the slop out, I took a 24”x2”x1/4” steel bar and sharpened it on the grinder and used it like a chisel. Slid it down vertically between the fiberglass and the 1/8” or so of wood to loosen the last of it.

Once I peeled all of the bad wood out, I stuck some 60grit to my chisel and sanded/roughened the inner faces. Since none of the tools really touched the fiberglass at all, there was no damage other than one nick where was a little too forceful with the chisel... this was on the inboard side at the very bottom by the drain plug, where the glass was very thin. I taped over that prior to pouring and it held the resin like a dream.

Like I said, I was probably saved by the fact that the ply was so mushy... not sure this would work in a transom where the wood was solid, because it would be too firmly adhered to everything.

My thinking is that the previous owner was very lucky he didn’t have a catastrophic transom failure.

[Capt. Bob]

It's good seeing a well poured transom. We've seen several. Most turn out well but there have been a couple, not so much. Proper prep seems to be the deciding factor.

[umecheme]

Where abouts in Maine, Im in the middle of a 19-1 rebuild outside of Calais.

[wingnut]

Down in Harpswell, little south of you. You’re up in moose country by the look of it... hope the 19 restoration is going well!

[wingnut]

Work has been progressing slowly but steadily on the hard top. Got everything shaped and glassed fine, with doubled discs of 3/4" marine ply where the frame will be attached. Glass schedule is 1 layer of 1708 and 1 layer of 18oz woven roving, top and bottom. This was the last of my folded biaxial, and it shows. Arg. Crease bubbles had to be ground out and reglassed. I shouldn't have been stubborn and tried to use it... Anyway, it is what it is and the lesson has been learned.

I'm doing the glass work in my basement, and had an unfortunate issue with my last epoxy faring coat. My slow hardener apparently wasn't thrilled with the temp or humidity for that one batch, and it never fully set. Heat gun wouldn't touch it. Took more work than it should to get it scraped but switched to fast hardener and re-fared. Paint photo is primer coat but actually got final paint on topsides last night. I'm going to mount VHF antenna and anchor light on top, with wiring through the frame so it's invisible.

[wingnut]

Progress!

Finally starting to warm up in Maine. Started reassembly: got the console and leaning post locked down, all my below deck stuff run aft, and did a dry-fit on the hard top so I could locate the feet and put down my nonskid if we get a day over 50 degrees. Once all the interior stuff is done, I'll move on to hull paint.

Hard top looks a little "tall" to my eye, but I think that's just the nature of a top on a 17' boat. It will have a snap-down vinyl windshield around the frame and bow dodger up front, which will help fill everything out. I have 6'-3" of headroom below the top... I'm  5'-10" but I figure it doesn't hurt for resale, and I can always mount a grab bag on the underside or something. Who knows, maybe I'll chop it another couple inches.

[wingnut]

Question for when I get going on topside paint... After going back and forth a bit, I decided to go with Brightsides instead of Awlgrip. Main reason is touchup and recoat. For our intended use, we're going to be pulling up on rocky beaches and hauling lobster traps, none of which are kind to topside paint, and it's kind of a nightmare to touchup Awlgrip. I'll sacrifice a bit of durability for ease of maintenance.

Anyway, I will need to remove some bottom paint at least around the waterline... I have not had good luck in the past with paint strippers on hard epoxy bottom paint, and was thinking I'd just end up grinding it off, which will be a pain. However - has anyone had good luck with a bottom paint stripper/remover that you'd recommend?

[Chaseodc]

I used oven cleaner on mine. Sprayed it on then scrubbed with a stiff bristle brush, then hose off.  Be careful of vapors and getting that stuff on your skin is pretty nasty.

[RickK]

Have you mounted everything inside yet? If not, the easiest (and only way IMO) is to get it abraded off - walnut shell blasted or worse case sand blasted. I battled the paint on my 230 and tried a few different ways to get it off but finally took it to a place that could lift it off the trailer onto stands, then they blasted it off and recoated it with an ablative paint almost the color of the gelcoat.

[wingnut]

Thanks guys - at this point, I'm most concerned about getting it clean around the water line so that I can get topside paint down. I don't have a mooring lined up for this summer, so I don't strictly need any antifouling for this season. Gotten a few PM suggestions to try, and will see if anything works better than I've had in the past.

Rick - console and leaning post are anchored but hard top is not. I overdrilled/filled with epoxy and redrilled everything though, so it's not a large ordeal if I decide to unmount and get it blasted.

[wingnut]

Been lagging on posting updates but progress has continued... Deck nonskid is down and the console and leaning post are all locked down.





Hull was a little banged up where the PO lost a battle with a dock, required a little filling and faring before sanding.



Got her all sanded and came out looking all right though! Bottom paint only had to come off around the waterline for now... mooring situation didn't materialize so it's going to be trailered, so the bottom will get full attention a little later.



Primer:



Paint is Brightsides medium blue. Rolled and tipped. DEFINITELY recommend using their brushing thinner. Can says you can use as is, but it's way too viscous out of the can and won't flow at all. I thinned 10%.



Reinstalled the original rubrail, which was a pain to stretch but it was in fine shape and didn't want to spend upwards of $300.



Forward through hull for live well was cracked and went to replace it last night... I have a sneaking suspicion that the whole hose assembly could use some attention! PO got very lucky in my opinion, the cracked through hull was right at the water line with all of the soggy foam... somehow it held water out (or he had his bilge pump running on overdrive).



Planning to hang the motor this weekend and get everything connected. If all goes well it's going in the water the following weekend!

[umecheme]

Looking good!  Your progress is good motivation for me.