1971 Flatback

[LilRichard]

Another weekend down, and more projects completed.  This weekend was all about fitting the core of the transom.  I had to fill in some bad glass (see previous posts) and I finally got the transom faired out pretty well- but I wanted to add an extra layer of 1808 just to give it a little more strength / continuity.  



After that setup, I started to dry fit the core, piece by piece.  I am using 3 sheets of Marine PT 1/2".  It's called Marine tech, and it's pressure treated, then kiln dried so the glass will adhere to it.



I had to bevel the rear edge of the first board to match the contour of the transom... I took it slow, and it ended up fitting well.  After I had all three boards fit together, I took them out and laid them up as a sandwich with a layer of 1.5oz mat, and a layer of 1808.  I presoaked each sheet of wood with resin, then laid the glass up, than put the two parts together and weighted them with cinder blocks.  This took a little over two gallons of resin for both pieces of the "sandwich".  And yes, that was the original color of the house when I bought it.  I have repainted the outside, just haven't done the inside of the garage yet.  



After that I ran out of time.  I did manage to buy my lumber and bolts to form my "clamp" for when I bond the core to the transom... but that'll have to be in two weeks.  I am taking memorial day weekend off- I think I deserve it!

[warthog5]

Richard. before you install the core you will want to cut the top edge of it.

I cut mine down 3/4in lower than the top edge of the existing fiberglass that make's up the original transom.

This create's a shelf for the top cap of the transom encolsure.

I used 3/4in Kledgecell core on mine. If your plan's are to use 1/2 plywood the cut it down 1/2in lower.

You can barely see it in this pix.



Lay out the camber you want with a batten to give you a nice even curve.

A batten is just a nice stright grained piece of lumber cut 3/4in X 3/4in. It's stiff enough, yet limber enough to make a clean curve.

Do not pound nail's thru a batten. It will screw it up. Use small finish nail's beside the batten to form it in place. This is just for tracing purpose's to put a line on the plywood to follow with the saw.

A 2in rise in the center is about the right amount of camber across the a$$ end. It's pleasing to the eye and is not so radical that it's a pain to walk on.

I've seen some boat that have to much camber and it doesn't look right.

If you install the core and don't cut the camber "Before" you install you will have a mess, as the saw will run into the side of the boat and stop you from completing the saw cut.

[RickK]

Coming along nicely.
I was driving to my grandson's birthday party Sunday and I see this yellowish colored boat being pulled down the freeway so naturally I speed up to take a look.  
Sure enough, a redone 222.  No emblems but you could tell from the ridge of the cap, the side vents, and the rubrail.  He'd closed in the transom just like you're doing, put a jack plate and a collapsible tower on it.  Sharp looking boat.  Kind of a light mustard color.
Anybody own this one?

[John Jones]

Nice work LilRichard.

Good tips Warthog.  It is in the back of my brain to close my transom and install a bracket.  I am saving all of this good info.

[JimCt]

It's the little tricks and proceedures, like what Wart's describing, which can take away the tears & gnashing of teeth in these projects.   "Continuing Education" in the true sense.

Rick, you should keep a camera in the car... you have a sharp eye for spotting the gems.  My brother got this shot at 70 mph on 95...



Tell me that puppy doesn't fly!

[LilRichard]

Thanks guys.  And thanks for the pointers Wart, I will use them as I proceed.  I had actually been debating whether to go with 2 or 3" of camber, so now it will definitely be 2".  Please keep the feedback coming.

[RickK]

Rick, you should keep a camera in the car... you have a sharp eye for spotting the gems.

I always keep mine in my travel bag.  Like reading glasses, I guess I need to keep a few laying around  

My brother got this shot at 70 mph on 95...

Tell me that puppy doesn't fly!

Homemade boat? Doesn't look like much too her, so yes I'd say she'd fly with that 115 on her.

[JimCt]

http://hometown.aol.com/raveau/walwork.htm?f=fs.

[RickK]

Another Sarasota/Manatee/Palmetto connection.  As I said earlier, my hometown is a hotbed for boat building.
Look at the front of this boat - one big chine.
I'll take the portside.
Thanks for the link Jim.

[LilRichard]

I was out of town for Memorial day, but did manage to get the top of the core trimmed down in preperation for this weekend... when I will hopefully glass it into the transom.  I took Wart's advice about leaving a lip with the old glass- so here it is:



Here's a pic from the rear- you can also see I have been busy griding out all the holes and beveling them before I fill them.



And here's one last shot of the overlap on the transom.

[JimCt]

The shape of that really shows how flat the flatbacks are.  Great pictures.  Whate grade plywood are you using?  The outside of the transom looks like Al Capone used the boat for a getaway.

Keep the pictures coming...

[LilRichard]

I used plywood called Marine Tech, from Plum Creek.  It's Marine grade, pressure treated ply, kiln dried again to remove the moisture- thus glass will stick to it.  Seems to be good stuff- and I believe the rating was A/B.

I plan to use that as the core for my cap also.  Going to steal Capt Rick's design I think... and modify it a little.

And yes, that transom was full of holes.

[LilRichard]

Alright!  I got my core in this weekend.  After roughing up the 1808 I had laid in the inside of the skin, I started by spreading some putty thickened with milled fibers and a little cabosil.  I then troweled it with a 1/4" grooved trowel (learned this from tiling around my house) to get an even distribution of resin.  I made sure to lay a thick fillet of putty around the corners where I had milled the edges of my core.  I didn't want the chance of any air pockets.



Meanwhile, my dad and my buddy Jake wet out a layer of 1.5oz mat on the backside of the core



When that was done, we set the core in the boat, and clamped it down using landscape timbers (idea borrowed from Fletch on Classicmako).  I hit it with my impact, and really squeezed out the excess resin and resin putty.



And here is a view from the inside.



Anyway, I set this all up this morning, so the thought is to disassemble all the clamps this week and start laying up the layers of 1808.  I purposely did not lay up any fillets yet because I want to avoid any grinding I can...

Did I mention I am thrilled to have this out of the way?

[JimCt]

Nice pictures!  The step by step sequesce and your using the timbers solved a problem I've been mulling over in my head.  I need to laminate two pieces of 5/8 ply to the inside of my transom to build the core up to 2 1/4" thick.  The timbers, bolts, the notched trowel for the resin and the impact will work out perfectly.

[LilRichard]

Nice pictures!  The step by step sequesce and your using the timbers solved a problem I've been mulling over in my head.  I need to laminate two pieces of 5/8 ply to the inside of my transom to build the core up to 2 1/4" thick.  The timbers, bolts, the notched trowel for the resin and the impact will work out perfectly.

Jim- a note on the bolts: I could not find any bolts the size I needed, so I made mine.  I needed about 12" of bolt to go through two timbers, the core and the skin.They make bolts that length, but they were only threaded for about 1" on the end, which did not give me enough working room.  So I bought 1/2" threaded rod from home depot and used a metal cutoff wheel to cut each section.  Then I ran my grinder over the ends to fix the threads... took me about half an hour for 18 of them... but worth it.  Also- I waxed all of my bolts with mold release in an attempt to ease the removal process.  I'll tell you later this week if that part worked!