Project - Aquasport 246CCP, 1979, Captain Koz II

[kaptainkoz]

Getting closer
I spent Friday night fairing out the floor with gelcoat and cabosil. It doesn’t photo well but basically I am smoothing out the floor to my liking before I start the final buildup of gelcoat.





Getting closer to closing off the transom. Figured now would be a good time to fixed the smashed port-gunnel corner. I am not sure what caused the damage as I got it this way.









I realized I should have done it before I tied the floor into the cap but I used a floor jack and bought myself the clearance I needed to slip a sandwich of 1.5 oz chopped and 1708. 






I taped everything off, wet some glass, set it up then released the jack which lowered the cap back down squeezing the glass in place. I then added the screws back to squeeze it all in place then used a chip brush to make sure everything is where I wanted it..





I drowned the broken fibers in 404 peanut butter for added strength.




I then continued to install the original pieces of the transom cap that I prepped a few months ago. I tacked them in place with screws and started to glass the pieces in with a strip of 1708.







I beveled the edges with a grinder and laid a narrow strip into the bevel. It’s hard to see in the photo but that’s why it’s a thin strip of glass

[Duffy1470]

Very cool

[kaptainkoz]

Thank you Duffy I appreciate it!

Powerhead is ready
Powerhead is complete and ready to mount. Good riddance. I’ve done a few of these in my day but I forgot how tedious a ring job with a proper cleaning, inspection and reassembly is. Should be a really solid motor. I’m pleased with what I had to work with and the outcome. Time to drop this one on a dolly, clean up the tools and tables and shift gears to fiberglass and gelcoat.

[kaptainkoz]

Transom day
10 years of planning and thinking of this evolution and the day has finally come to execute.
Started by placing a large bolt with big washers through the drain hole.





I took the table I was using all year and removed the 3/4 melamine white board off of it leaving plywood on a 2x6 frame. I cut a small notch the width of the bolt in the center of a long edge of the plywood. I took 3/16 melamine white board and cut a bolt wide channel a few inches up the center of a long side. The channel is so I can slide the white board independently of the frame and align it just under the top lip.





With some help I took the plywood assembly and the white board and hung it on the bolt. I then secured the assembly with ratchet straps to the rear cleats of the boat.









At this angle you can see how the white board is sitting. You see that the transom is definitely not a straight and flat, 13 degree transom. It is curved. Thus the call for plywood and coosa doesn’t really work well.



So what’s the plan? How do you tackle this?
The strategy is to have a flat section 25” high at 13 degrees for the bracket to sit right. Then it’s to curve the white board to get it to meet flush the remaining edges and fit under the top edge 2x4.
I positioned the white board so it sits just under the upper lip. I cut a strip of white board off the bottom to double it up to provide the proper width for the lip, then I finished it off with a piece of 2x4 that I ran through a planer and coated with resin. 



Then came measurements. A lot of measurements. A lot of looking at it from every possible perspective that I could think of to make sure the frame is even. I used a jack to hold a piece of angle iron on the keel so I can get a reference point of the bottom of the boat. I used the trailer to level that angle iron dead even. I used the level on my iPhone which can be very accurate if you use the marks.




Once I had 13 degrees I tacked the frame in place with plywood strips.





I then concentrated on ensuring the 25” center section was secured to the frame to ensure that section was flat and at exactly 13 degrees. 25” is the  top of the bracket and it needs to obviously be flat. SEACAST will go another 6” above that but it’s better if it’s starting to curve there as a curve is always stronger than flat.
If you zoom in you will see an array of screws pinning everything to the 13 degree frame. I am not worried about the screws in the white as I will faire it all out later when I make the outside of the transom presentable. The two screws through the transom were existing motor mount holes and will have to be removed before I cover them with glass. I figure by the time I layer glass to get to those the transom should be stout enough to stay put.





I cut some wedges to help close the sides. The trick is to put them in just tight enough to push the white board against the transom but not hard enough to move the transom




… and end goal is to end up with the white board touching the transom 360 degrees





Last step I used a nail gun to tack the top edge in place. At this point I fought a good 1” bow but somehow I was able to press and staple from the middle out and it went away. I am left with a beautiful slight bow above the bracket. I think it’s going to be a beautiful transom



She’s all taped and plastic sheeted off (not pictured) and ready for gel coat in the morning.  I’m going to build up a good thick base of gelcoat, then 3/4 oz chopped strand to lock it in, 1.5 oz, then 1708, then as many layers of 2817 as needed to get a good 3/8’s of an inch thick. I will put larger and larger layers until I am eventually wrapping into the inner corners a few inches



In summary I am elated that years of daydreaming and playing this day over and over and over in my head have finally come to be. I can’t believe how well it went. It’s surreal that the hard part of the transom closure is behind me. I cannot wait to build it!!!

[kaptainkoz]

So back for a moment to the tank tub drain
Remember I said I would show you how I’m going to attach it?
Well we all have one of these don’t we?



I slid the fitting on there, hooked the threaded elbow through the hole and caught the treads. A little 5200 and we are good to go.



I bought 9 oz and 16oz paper cups from online. They are great to mix a small amount for a quick patch. Don’t laugh at my go-to lid as it has become the preferred work for the last year. It’s too flimsy. I need a better tray but old habits die hard.





I did not and do not want to put holes in anything I don’t have to especially a wood cored keel in a bilge. So I sanded the gelcoat off a section and made a strap with 1708. It will hold just fine and if I need to remove it ever I can just pry it off or cut it. I will be able to access it (barely) with the transom in. I left just enough bilge to allow my big self room to work.

 

I think it’s a great idea. Peace of mind to control the environment inside of the tank tub and be able to monitor exactly what is going on

[kaptainkoz]

Disaster… she bubbled and cooked off part of the white board finish
Why? Well for one the gel coat… despite following directions… set up reallly fast. The heat may have cooked the finish off the white board. That is my first suspicion because if it were chemical it would have cooked the finish off the whole board. I will mix it much cooler next time.
I am far from panicking because all I need right now is gelcoat buildup. It does not have to be pretty just thick. When the mold comes down I will esthetically faire the transom for looks and coat is with gelcoat and duratec  right now I just need volume so perfect timing for lessons learned 





Well luckily it peeled off easy. Back to the drawing board. I am going to try PVA this time. I don’t really use PVA because you have to wash it off and don’t want to flood my hull with water. But being this will be the outside of the transom I’m okay with washing it off.

[kaptainkoz]

Crisis averted
That worked really well. Sprayed and tipped some PVA. Gel coat was much cooler. Looks amazing

[kaptainkoz]

3 coats in. About a quart per coat. I am pleased. Probably going to do about 6-8 coats. Think I might faire those 3 dimples with some cabosil peanut butter

[kaptainkoz]

5th coat. One more to go.

[kaptainkoz]

I did the 6th coat last night.
Came out to today and I am extremely pleased. Peeled off all the plastic and tape and cleaned up the edge with a chisel cracking it along the tape line. I lightly sanded the gel coat and the glass ensuring I have a prepped surface for glassing.



The plan is to use the cake decorator to apply West Systems 404 peanut butter along the entire seam and then glass in 3/4 oz as a first layer.





Here are closeups of the edges where you can see the darker peanut butter built up to reinforce where the glass cannot go





The 3/4 oz looks a little light and “dry” but what was actually happening is the gel coat was softening and bleeding through. This tells me that the bond will be really good as the two products are melding together. I’m going to give it an hour or so and apply a coat of 1.5oz chopped strand and continue the reinforcement and buildup.

[kaptainkoz]

1.5 oz chopped strand installed. Next is 1708. In going to go a little smaller to try to fill in and build up the center a bit

[kaptainkoz]

1st layer of 1708 in.
The temps dropped quickly so it’s taking a bit to kick. I prefer it to not be very tacky before adding another layer. I have another 1708 on deck and a 2817 cut.




To make things a little easier and quicker to handle I marked the center of the
Glass on both the top and bottom to take guesswork out of placement.



I ended up with about 2.5mm of gelcoat at the tape which means that is probably a minimum thickness. I went heavier on the areas that I thought would need more shaping later.

[kaptainkoz]

This is my estimated lay up schedule for the outer transom wall. This will give me under a 1/2” thick in total. “Partial” indicates smaller pieces to fill and build up the existing cut out while “full” means I am covering the full transom and wrapping port and starboard a few inches. 2 down many to go! The weather cooled a bit for the next few days so it will be slow going.

[kaptainkoz]

Correction… I kept calling it 2817 when in fact it is 2408. I thought something sounded funny about the number and the back side did not look 17oz compared to the 8 oz on the 1708. Well here is layer 4 wet then dry the next day of the 2408. It really goes down so nicely.







This is layer 5 wet which is 2408 but a much bigger piece.  Next layer is a full sized 1.5 oz with a mild West 404 filler to fill in all the imperfections from the original woven roving. I want to build a smooth “new” surface to bond to that is well bonded to the original hull.

[kaptainkoz]

For accuracy I made a paper template
The transom layers are going well. I have 4 layers left of 2408 to finish the layup schedule. As you can see I am only going 32 inches up now which is 6 inches above the top of the bracket. Saves me 10” of material and weight.  No hiccups. Perfect layers so far. About 1500 - 2000 ml of resin a layer. I swear someone comes in and drains the pail overnight. The stuff goes quick. I am very pleased overall so far.