Project - Aquasport 246CCP, 1979, Captain Koz II

[kaptainkoz]

2 layers left but I felt the transom is strong enough and I wanted to glass over the drain hole where the bolt is
So off came the transom form for the big reveal. I could not have envisioned a better outcome. No, it is not done and no it is not staying that way. The entire outer transom will get faired and coated with about 6-8 coats of gelcoat with Duratech. My elation is in having successfully closed off the space with 25” of flat surface at 13 degrees with a surface I can faire and finished it came out amazing. The green is PVA and it will wash off. The rest will be finished to perfection. It came out exactly how I needed it to. I highly recommend this process.















The red tape indicates the 25” I need to mount the bracket. It is perfectly flat

[RickK]

Looking good Koz. Congrats 

[kaptainkoz]

Thanks Rick. I always appear your support through the decade.
You are looking at the 13th and final outer transom layer. Mathematically comes to about 0.45 of an inch where the old transom was about 0.32 of polyester and woven roving. Yes, much stronger but the strength will be needed due to the leverage of the bracket. Vinylester out of stock for a week so I’m jumping around a bit and will set the tank cover mold and do some gel coat work.

[kaptainkoz]

Space is definitely needed and is becoming a premium. I rearranged the garage to get 2 tables in… a working table and a mold for the gas tank cover.






Starting the layout for the gas tank cover mold. I identified that the existing tank tub has a taper of about 4 degrees which would lead to a large gap if I were to make the cover in the traditional way with a taper for easier mold removal






I don’t want a large gap so I undercut the mold pieces by 4 degrees to reduce the gap. I will have to break the mold to get it out but oh well as I am not in mass production











The corners radii were traced from the existing tub. I had to double up the 3/4 to cover the 1-1/8” depth I am aiming for.they are glued and nailed.  I will cut these with a jig saw at 4 degrees off set tomorrow when the glue dries. They will be taller than 1-1/8 obviously but I will grind them down to the finished size of 1-1/8 inch when I’m done

[kaptainkoz]

So here is a Kaptainkoz exclusive design that I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else. It’s not a new concept just a unique application. So what I don’t want is the typical screw configuration to hold down the tank cover. I don’t want the heads on the deck which makes for a difficult design to get a good waterproofing seal. So my idea is….








To recess and angle the tank cover mounting holes. At 20 degrees the screws not only penetrate the tank tub edge but if they are long enough I can get them all the way I to the stringer. Plus with the screw entering the tank tub very close to the actual edge of the tank cover means that more than likely the screw will be sharing the bed of 5200 or Sika that will be sealing the cover. The one drawback will be the recesses showing on the deck but if I hate them I will fill them in with 4000 or sika.













I also wanted to recess the 8” deck plate  that allows access to the fuel tank components. I measured that this is where I will want it located. The trick is going to be to relay this information to the tank builder to make sure the components end up accessible through this plate







Sprayed the first layer just to get some practice in with the dump gun but now I’m rolling and tipping thick.

[kaptainkoz]

Ready for fiberglass then Seacast. Rolled a few more thick coats to it so I will have a good thick base of Gel coat.

[RickK]

So you're going to have seacast for the core? That's different for sure. I haven't seen it used for anything 'cept transoms.

[kaptainkoz]

Yes. Sabina at seacast assures me it will work. It’s stronger than ply and slightly lighter. I have about 1-1/8 inch  of thickness at the edge and I can go thicker in the middle if I need to. I’m going to go a few layers of 1708 on the gel coat, 3/4” of seacast then more 1708. I can add stiffening bars if I need. My main thought for seacast is the water repellency. With 20 mounting screws I do not want any water intrusion to rot a core. I’m going to give it a go and see how it works out. Worst case if I hate it i can build another cover.

[kaptainkoz]

To add… the cover will support the helm jockey seat and a flip back cooler seat so I want it to be stout. The cover starts inches from the center console so it will see a lot of foot traffic. I did not like the original orientation where the tank cover was partially under the center console making it necessary to move the center console to get to the tank. That is not the case anymore as I moved the center console up 30 inches and shortened the tank tub by 16 inches. I also plan on building a hardtop pilot house around the center console using the same mounting bolts as the center console so once that is sealed, mounted and in place I don’t want to have to mess with it ever again. 

[kaptainkoz]

Finally got my hands on some resin. Applied the first veil thin layer of 3/4 oz chopped strand which contours really well and all but eliminates voids behind the gel coat. Next will be 1.5 oz then 3 layers of 1708.

[kaptainkoz]

This is my “working layer” of gel coat. Looks great in the pics but it is not perfect. Unfortunately the transition from existing cap to floor is a prominent hump but I have to settle for strength over aesthetics. As beautiful as I want it to look the goal is a fishing boat and not a factory restoration show piece…. Well maybe a little of both lol. I’m fairly happy with it.  This is the result of one sprayed coat, 3 rolled coats and a final rolled coat with wax. 5 coats. The last 3 were thinned 10% with styrene. Straight gel coat would not self level at all. I didn’t have much of a plan except to keep adding coats until I could no longer see the striations of the 1708. I have a good build up now and will leave this coat until all the transom and cap work are done then I will fair it clean and flat in preparation for final 2 coats of sprayed gelcoat with duratec. This way I don’t have to be medicinally clean with all the work still to be done as the top layer will be sanded away. Next is to finish the inner transom wall and all the cosmetics of the cap. I don’t want to have any dirty work left when I return to finishing the floor.

[rhtrades]

Looking great!  approx how much Gel coat will you use? (in quarts/gals, etc).  I have about the same amount of area that i need to cover for my new deck and wondering if my 3 Quarts will be enough.....

[kaptainkoz]

I did it with 3 plastic quart cups filled to about 750 ml. The first coat took a little more to fill the deeper pattern of the 1708. so it should be just right if you have 3 full quarts. I would mix in 10% styrene (75cc)in each of the 3 containers (and wax for the last coat) and bring all 3 on a board and keep it in the tank tub. I would add MEKP to only the cup I was using.  On that note I was using about 3-4 CC’s MEKP per 750 cc which is really light but it has been quite warm and the gel coat was kicking off very quickly so mixing small batches will allow you to adjust as needed instead of wasting a big pot if it wanted to kick quick. I used the purple 3 and 4 inch mini rollers from harbor freight. I would rub the rollers with a gloved hand to try to loosen any fibers from the roller but even if some came out onto the gel I would clean them with a 2” Chip brush. I would start at the bow with the 4 inch and then for the 3rd batch I would grab the 3” both because it fit better under the transom bulkhead and I didn’t want gel kicking off on the roller. I poured right out of the container and spread it with the roller bypassing the use of a roller tray as it wasn’t needed and acetone isn’t exactly cheap. I would throw the rollers out as $3.49 for two 3” rollers is about how much acetone cost I was using to clean the rollers to get maybe one more use out of it but you never really get a roller clean. Same with chip brushes… I got the box at harbor freight which came to $0.25 or so a brush so wasn’t worth the acetone.

[kaptainkoz]

I cut a 1.5” ISO foam sheet to the shape of my transom for a plug mold to build the inner transom wall on. NOTE! DO NOT USE ISO FOAM AS A TRANSOM CORE!! This is just a spacer to build the inner transom wall and NOT a transom core. Once the inner wall is built I will discard the foam. The foam will be wrapped in plastic when it comes time to lay glass.
With that said I went to fit it in and I had to slice a foot off as it would not fit into place. I had a razor with me to trim where needed to get it to fit. My big problem now is the transom will be 31 inches high but only 27 inches of it is flat so I scored the paper on the back side above 27” to get it to conform to the curves but it won’t stay in place. I am going to have to switch gears and drill some of the bracket mounting holes so I can lace wire through the holes and pull the foam board to the outer wall.

[rhtrades]

Thanks @kaptainkoz.  i'm going to try roll and tip method.  4" roller with 3/8 nap, then brush...2nd to last coat will be with coarse Awlgrip...then a final coat with wax....