1986 19'6"

[Spectre5922]

I don't mind at all brother. I actually got the idea from seeing a Pathfinder 2200. Compared to a complete rebuild, the console is not a HUGE job at all. It's a bit of glassing and sanding , but is SO worth it with the extra room that it creates. I'll try to get a few pics up tomorrow in my thread of the new caps going in. I was going to have the caps completed this weekend, but my buddy Linden had a minor heart attack Friday evening. I have worked on It a little, but I have spent most of the last few days taking care of his house and dogs while he's in the hospital. As a side note..... a few prayers sent his way would be greatly appreciated.
I meant to mention before... If you were curious what size your tank is, it should be 53 gallons. That's what mine was. If it's the original, you really need to look at it very carefully. Mine looked really rough at first,but after looking closer it was garbage. I'm glad I bit the bullet and had a new one fabricated.

[florida196]

my thoughts and prayers go out to your friend.  on the tank side the tank was replaced five years ago as i was told by previous owner.  He also said it was 35 gallons with all the money going back into the boat and having it all pretty much new in the end ima go ahead a put a new fuel tank in it as well.

[Spectre5922]

It's possible that it is a 35 gallon tank. It doesn't seem to fill up the tank area quite as much as mine does. I have the formula at work to get the tank size. I can post it tomorrow if you want to double check it. IMO, I would put the largest tank in there that you can fit. My 53 gallon is a tight fit. If you think about it, the largest motor rated for the 19-6 is a 150. With a 2 stroke's burn rate, a 150 will burn around 15 gal/hr at WOT. A 35 gallon tank doesn't leave a lot room to play with.
You're going to enjoy the build. I have worked on several boats with my buddy in the short time that I've been into boating and my AS is a lot easier to work on than most other brands I've seen. PLUS, you now have a membership in 2 unique and coveted brotherhoods.... Being an AS owner and being a member of classicaquasports.com!
Thanks also for the prayers for my buddy. He's coming home from the hospital right now as I am typing this.

[florida196]

i have a few questions some of which might sound stupid but like to be sure of things before i start.

1. what is the best way to remove the floor on my 1986 19'6" ive been using a circular saw but cant get in the corners. aslo been using a grinder with a cutting wheel which dosnt work well with wood.

2. what is the best grinding wheel grit wise to use when grinding fiberglass.

some of these questions may seem obvious to some of u but when i said i had noo fiberglass experiance i meant it.  Thanks for any help you guys can offer

[gman 82 aquasport]

Hey florida196, there are no stupid questions around here..
?#1 I used a circular saw to remove my floor on my 19-6, I keep the motor side of the saw to the inside of boat, leaves an almost perfect 2in ledge. in the corners, I took a 4in angle grinder with a thin metal cutoff wheel on it and used it to cut thru the fglass on top then cut the rest of the way thru with a sawsall with 4 in roughcut blade. This worked well for me.
?#2.Grinding, I have been using a 7in  grinder with 24 grit and 36 grit disc, they cut thru the gelcoat fast , leaves the fglass rough enough for good adhesion with new glass, don't get to carried away once the gelcoat is gone as it will cut thru the glass quick to..grinding in the small rounded corners was done with a dremel tool with a small round sanding attachment.
Your boat and mine appear to be the same color! :pirat:

[florida196]

Ive managed to make a little bit of progress the last couple of afternoons after work.  Got all the old floor out.  Its amazing how the old floor was made was glassed on both sides but when u get into it looks like a bucha pieces of scrap wood peiced together.  So if that lasted 25 years i feel like i can do no wrong.  Also all the foam under the floor is absolutly soaked every void is full of standing water.  Looks like i was dragging around alot of extra weight.  This is as far as im going to get for another week want to leave as much structural integrity as i can as boat will get put on new trailer next weekend via two front end loaders.  Hopefully be alot easier than the jack and block method.  Sorry only one picture.

[florida196]

also what is the easiest way you guys have found to remove the old foam havent attemted yet but i no getting that bedding compound off the top of stringers was like chipping concreate.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Shovel, claw hammer, floor chisel for scraping

[gman 82 aquasport]

I used a sharpshooter shovel, it's about 6 inches wide and about 18 inches long pushed it in about every 4 inches, pushed it all the way to the hull and pryed back and it would pop out a good size chunk each time :)
The bedding compound( you are right it's as hard as concrete it seems) I groung most off with a 24 grit sanding disk on a 7in grinder, what didn't come off that way was chipped off with a hammer and concrete chisel, just make sure to wear goggles, that crap goes everywhere

[florida196]

Well have made a little progress over the last few weeks.  Not as much as I would have liked.  All old foam is out and it was soaked every square inch of it from top to bottom. Bedding compound removed and ground off clean of tops of stringer.  Started removing old transom core and thats where i stand as of today.  Also finally got the new trailer and boat onto it now its movable again made my self a nice little work area that dosnt seem to be to hot yet
.

[gman 82 aquasport]

Youv'e done alot, have you checked your stringers for water yet...All you need to do is drill about a 1 in hole near the bottom of the stringer on the inside wall ( I drilled 2 holes per stringer) run your finger into the foam and feel if its wet.If so you can decide if you want to un-cap them and remove the wet foam and repour new foam, I had to mine were soaked, if their not wet you just put a small glass patch over the hole. Have you decided what you will do about your tank yet....35 gal does seem a tad small..Overall you seem to be coming along just fine :)

[florida196]

As wet as all the surronding foam was on both sides im pretty possitive the foam in the stringers is wet too.  So it will be getting removed as well.  Fuel tank wise havent decided yet but think I am going to go with a poly tank.  Probably wont be much bigger than 35 gallons.   My main question is going to be putting the new transom in I do not have any experiance in laminating two pieces of marine ply together if anyone could send me in the right direction on proper steps for doing this would be greatly appreciated.   Also your opinions on best marine ply to use.   Thanks in advance.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Definitely want to use epoxy to bond the 2 sheets. Glass between them isnt necessary but it doesnt hurt. I like to wet out both faces and let em penetrate for 30 minutes or so then thicken some more epoxy up with cabosil to a runny mashed potato consistency and spread it out with a trowel. Clamp together however you need to. If you wanted to put glass in between just lay it down before you put the slurry on.

AB marine fir is all you need to use. Probably 75 a sheet for 3/4". No need to fork out more money for the okoume or meranti.

[gman 82 aquasport]

Hey florida196, have you decided what you will do about a tank yet, I might have a sweet deal for you..I took out my tank and replaced it. Mine was a 45 gallon alum. tank that I had a friend weld a new outer layer of 1/8 inch alum over the entire tank...it fit in the tank coffin of my 19-6, so it should fit yours, if you want I can send you the measurements of the tank...I would make you a pretty good deal on the tank, the problem might be shipping as it had gas in it before I pulled it back out.. I had the tank redone in May of 2011..

[florida196]

Gman Im interested let me no the measurments.