Rebuild Repower

[Slightly_Twisted]

Well it's about that time. My family is has been extremely lucky to get the last two seasons out of the boat with out much needing to be done. This season ended a few weeks ago when I F^#@ed up. The 86 seadrive was overheating, and I couldn't find the problem. After doing everything I could think of, I pulled the head covers to look at the cooling channels. Well two of the piston sleeves had small cracks at the very ends. Ok well I knew the engine was on its last life, but I killed it when I broke a bolt off in the cooling head cover. I tried to drill it out and some how punched a hold though the the head cover. :head::nut: Yeah I messed up hard.

So I'm going to start the rebuild next week.
I have a flotation stainless steel marine 30 in setback bracket I'll pick up in Dec. The transom is mush so I will start with that. Putting in an order at US composites for 5 gallons Vinyl ester, 25 yards of 1708, 1708 tape, and micro balloons.
The engine is where I still have a lot to decide. There are three main options I'm looking at. a newer used optixmax, a new mercury 4 stroke, or a new Suzuki df175. All are 500-550 dry weight so it really just depends on what i can get.

you guys have any thoughts before!

pic to follow.

[Slightly_Twisted]

forgot to put if anyone wants the old seadrive it's up for grabs. You pick it up and it all yours.

[Greyduk]

ST, you might want to reach out to pipe dream. He just put a new Suzuki df175 on his v20 I'm sure he would have a lot of input about how well it worked out for him.

[bradford]

Armchair all the way, but out of those three options I would go for the Suzuki.

[randlemanboater]

I am assuming that you are going to put a bracket on your boat, there have been several people who did that over the years here on the site, as I remember, the most important thing to consider for the new motor is weight...the lighter the better.

I am a Suzuki 4 stroke fan as well, the 140 I had on my V worked very well, it was 410#s dry.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Thanks for the suggestion.

Well I have a few hours today so I decided to try and get the engine off.
The wiring was more of a pain in the *** then the engine. Here are a few pics!

[phatdaddy]

Are u talking merc 150 or new 175 V6. The 150 is around 475lbs. I d get the one with the best dealer presence in your area.

Always been a big fan of the sea drive conversions.

Keep posting progress reports

[Destroyer]

Interesting removal. Never seen a cherry picker (engine hoist) quite like that one before with the triangular feet setup. I like the idea of the center post allowing you to swing the load like a davit crane. How sturdy is that? :head:

[phatdaddy]

D, i think it fits in the reciever on the truck, not just the tripod under the mast.

[spareparts]

just keep in mind, loose Yamaha engines are hard to come by right now(especially over 200 hp), Ive been a big fan of the big 4 cylinder Yamaha, but the newer versions(175, 200hp) have a few issues that are now showing up. The new merc v6 engines are the way to go. A local Scout dealer has been ordering the Merc on some of their boats and compared to Yamaha's on the same model, they run circles around them. The new V6 are almost as light as the 150 4 cylinder from the info I've seen. The down side is there aren't that many of those motors out there right now, and they are commanding a premium(plus a 35% price increase over last years models). I'm not sure if they take mechanical controls or not, but figure in $3000+ for rigging if they are fly by wire. The Suzuki is probably the best bag for the buck, they are heavy though compared to teh compititon. They have a reputation for corrosion issues, but quite honestly, I see just as much corrosion on Yamaha and Merc engines. The difference is how Suzuki handles their warranty, they really let customers down. Regardless of how you go, its still going to cost a bunch of money

[Slightly_Twisted]

Yeah it has two feet on the ground and a bar that connects to the trailer hitch of the truck. It wasn’t bad, it was close to maxing out the weight at that distance. When I install the new engine I’ll get a real hoist so I have more control.

Yeah the engine is going to suck. I’ve been looking and calling tons of places. The used market right now is hard for me. There are no newer used one around here, and if I drive to the coast to pick on up who knows if I can get someone to look at it. The sales are just too rushed, and you may have to walk away after 13 plus hour drive. I know the Suzuki’s are on the heavy side but it saves a few buck, I did get a quote from a mercury dealer for a new 4stroke 175 v4 for 13000. From what I have found Suzuki’s are about 11500 all with out controls. So who knows

[phatdaddy]

Local merc dealer was telling me the other day, v6 s are 3-5 months out. I do think they will take mechanical controls.

Guy down the street just replaced a 06 140 Suzuki with a new 115 Suzuki and loves it. Says he can t tell a lot of difference. The bottom of the block rotted out on his old one.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Hey guys,

I got a line on a brand new 2014/15 Suzuki DF175 Full warranty.


never mind they just called me back and the sales guy messed up. It was a demo engine and not sell-able.

thanks

[Slightly_Twisted]

Got the cap cut off the stern. Was not as hard at I would have thought.

I cut forward a little to get access to the last bulk head and transom knees.
I cut where the rod box was so hopefully it will reduce the fairing when it goes back together.

Going to start cutting the knees and last bulkhead out tomorrow if I have time.

[Slightly_Twisted]

The cap

[Destroyer]

Got the cap cut off the stern. Was not as hard at I would have thought.

I cut forward a little to get access to the last bulk head and transom knees.
I cut where the rod box was so hopefully it will reduce the fairing when it goes back together.

Going to start cutting the knees and last bulkhead out tomorrow if I have time.

Way to go. Keep up the great work and the pics. :clap::beer::clap::beer::clap:

[Slightly_Twisted]

So took some time to finish derigging everything and of course the boat gods pissed on my plans. I thought the stringers where going to be ok, well it looks like they are soaked.

I know the answer, but want your guys advice.

1. Keep cutting back until I find dry wood and then replace?
2. Say F it and cut out the floor and replace everything.
3. Cut back to the second bulkhead and just go with what is there?

Number 2 is what I’m thinking. Then replace the tank and everything.

[bradford]

Wish I had an answer to give you, but it really comes down to what you can afford financially, time wise, and emotional attachment. I've blown a bunch on mine and you will never get the money out of it no matter how great she looks. To everybody else she's just an old 80's Wellcraft, a dime a dozen, free on craigslist. If I were to do it again I would put her back right, but not spend as much as I did on cosmetics.

[Slightly_Twisted]

This is the second V I have worked on like this, and I can’t believe what passed As quality. The stringers where open in 4 or 5 places, the bulkhead tops where just cut off & left exposed, and all the drain holes drilled where unsealed. I can’t believe the boat is as good a shape as it is!!
I’m really HOPEFUL about the fuel tank. The foam is dry and the top looks in great shape. I’ll pull it and really inspect it since I’ve come this far. What are poeples options on the coal tar epoxy?

[Slightly_Twisted]

More pics

[Slightly_Twisted]

Plugging along, got the transom skin and knees out. the plywood is soaked but man it doesn’t want to come out!! Going to chip away at it for now.

One question the 81CC I rebuilt had foam throughout, this one doesn’t. did wellcraft change that in some years.

[bradford]

No foam in my '85.

[THEFERMANATOR]

No foam in my '85.

My 84 had foam everywhere.

[Pipe_Dream]

My 84 had foam everywhere.

As does my '83.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Got everything cut out. The stringers were soaked up to the bulkhead before the cuddy. I lucked out I’m not going to have to take the cap off. I sealed the dry stringers with Peanut butter and will build off them.

So next up the grinding!!! Yeah can’t wait :cen:. I’m going to wait until is cools a little more then get to it.

[Pipe_Dream]

Got everything cut out. The stringers were soaked up to the bulkhead before the cuddy. I lucked out I’m not going to have to take the cap off. I sealed the dry stringers with Peanut butter and will build off them.

So next up the grinding!!! Yeah can’t wait :cen:. I’m going to wait until is cools a little more then get to it.

Wow! :clap:

[SkunkBoat]

As does my '83.

wierd...my 84 only had foam in fuel tank area.

[Slightly_Twisted]

So hey guys it’s been a few few months and ALOT has happened since I last posted. Well just not that much to the boat. I was informed as I was dismantling the boat that our basement was getting finished this winter... by me. We also were putting in a 60 by 20 garden. Only problem with that is we live on the side of a valley so we have NO level ground, 120 tons of fill/topsoil later, fencing, tilling, etc I finished that. The basement was next.... so 6 months later I can restart on the boat. Well during that time a mouse condo started in the boat :cen::sick:. They ate EVERYTHING!! All the new wiring, the entire cuddy was destroyed, and the largest nest I have ever seen was in the cuddy floor.

After seeing the destruction I had to come up with a new plan. I was perry down and didn’t document much until now. So the new plan.

1. Cap had to come off to get to the mouse condo in the cuddy floor
2. Since I was there the strings under the cuddy might as well come out and replaced.
3. Rip out all the wiring (all new as of two years ago)
4. The bracket I was getting got sold under my nose to another guy, so I am going in deep and doing my own.

So as of today I’m ready to start rebuilding.

[Slightly_Twisted]

More pics
So to explain the photos a bit.

I had some older light poles I used as a make shift crane. Didn’t take any photos but lifted the cap off. Not that bad.

Put it in the garage and blocked it up really good. I have 5 keel contact points and 4 on each side of the keel. Started cutting and grinding, man I hate that. Got everything smoothed out and ready for new glass.

I decided to use wood as I can got it out here easily, all the composites plus shipping was so expensive I couldn’t do it. Made the new transom will do two layer for 3/4 marine ply tabbed in with 6in then 12in 1708 tape and then two full covering sheets.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Testing fitting the transom wood I found I couldn’t get the curve correct. The wood was stronger then the glass. Everything I tried bent the existing transom glass to the wood and distorted the transom. after trying 4 or 5 different ways I ended up settling on drilling 13 holes through the boat and wood with a full sheet of the 3/4 in plywood backer plate on the outside of the transom. I then took some 1/2 threaded rod and made my own bolts that had continuous threads. I’ll have to do the two layer of wood separately so I can bend the wood to the transom and not distort the glass. What a pain in the a$$ but I will match the curve. Going to get the first layer on tomorrow morning. Will bed with thicker resin and glass dust. Feels sooo good to start putting things back IN and not ripping them apart!!!

[Myfathersson]

Looking good. I plan to pull the cap on my '87 Center Console in the next several weeks to replace the stringers. Watching your thread for inspiration! - Greg

[phatdaddy]

Nice job ST. Looks like you ve got a great place to work in, that s a big part of it. Keep the pics flowing

[Slightly_Twisted]

Thanks Greg, the hardest part of pulling the cap for me was getting the balance point right. Took a block and tackle, and three come-alongs.

I do most of the work myself, do I was able to con my pops over tonight to get the first transom core board in. Didn’t take that long at all.

Coated both the hull and the plywood with regular catalyzed resin, let the tack up. Took about 15 mins then mixed up a lot of thickened resin spread it out with a 1/4 inch trowel and bolted it to on. We got a really good amount squeeze out the sides so I’m sure there are no air pockets. Used what squeezed out to fill the gap around the ply and the hull.

We are going to let it sit over night then repeat tomorrow. I’ll let it cure for 3-4 days after and start on the stringers.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Everything actually went to plan this morning:sun:. The bolts where harder to get out then I thought so that was a pain but not a problem. Interesting the PB squished out to the bolt holes like I planed, the interesting thing was the mixture was so hard that it threaded the holes. I couldn’t break them out I had to unscrewed them. That made me feel real good about the bond and PB mixture I used.

The next layer was just a repeat from the first. I had two options
1. PB and same bolts
2. Layer of 1708 instead of the PB.

Others know way better them me about the pros and cons of both, but I decided that first one came out so well I was going to repeat the exact same process.

I think I will add a third layer of tabbing when I glass the transom in. So I’ll do 6in, 10in,12in, two full sheets of 1708. All hot coated to make sure I get a chemical bond on all the tabbing.

I’m going to give it a few days to cure then mix up more PB to fill the gaps and add a better radius to the wood hull joint. I’m going to try the PB in a plastic bag with the corner cut off, masonry style and see how that works.

[Pipe_Dream]

Keep it up!

[Myfathersson]

Hey Twisted I was wondering - it looks like you've only got the hull supported on your caddies with the stringers out. Do you have any other reinforcing in place to prevent the hull from deforming?

[Slightly_Twisted]

Hey Twisted I was wondering - it looks like you've only got the hull supported on your caddies with the stringers out. Do you have any other reinforcing in place to prevent the hull from deforming?

Yeah I have the keel blocked in 5 different spots, and then 4 on each side (on the flat steps).

I leveled the stringers then blocked everything I could. Since I was walking, cutting, grinding, etc I didn’t want anything to move.

[SkunkBoat]

nice work:clap:

Interesting the different models of V20s. Yours had a full transom and it was flat all the way across. My 84 cuddy had a motor well and the transom angled from the sides. it was actually 3 pieces of plywood.

I was concerned when I first saw your post that you didn't consider that but I can see in the pix its OK. If I used a flat transom on mine the cap and motor well would not have fit when they went back on.

[Slightly_Twisted]

nice work:clap:

Interesting the different models of V20s. Yours had a full transom and it was flat all the way across. My 84 cuddy had a motor well and the transom angled from the sides. it was actually 3 pieces of plywood.

I was concerned when I first saw your post that you didn't consider that but I can see in the pix its OK. If I used a flat transom on mine the cap and motor well would not have fit when they went back on.


Thanks Skunk,

Oh mine is curved by a lot. It was original with a seadrive and has a small flat spot in the center. The only way I could match the curve was using the plywood on the outside and drew the inside plywood one at a time. When I bolted them in I used metal flat bars vertically.

The photo attached is looking down in the middle of the transom.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Did a lot of small little things to get ready for this morning.
Fillets, corner radius, cutting the glass, etc all that.

It was perfect weather this morning 70 low humidity.

Tabbed in the transom core, three layers of 1708, 6in, 10in, 16in.
Sealed the core with a coat for resin, let it kick, then started the tabs. I let each layer kick before starting the next but all were wet on wet. Put one full sheet over the whole core and wrapped is around onto the transom skin. I took wax paper and clamped the top so it would “glue” to each side. Once that had kicked and a little extra I pulled the wax paper off. Not the results I wanted few air pockets and not great adherence.:head:
Instead of trying to just make it work I painted PVA over the whole transom/tabs, and let it dry. I’ll grind it down and add two more full layers when I do the stringers. The picture looks green because of the PVA.

[Myfathersson]

You'll get it handled. Progress with some setbacks is still progress, just with extra educational content. Keep it up!

Assembled my lifting gantry tonight and will be pulling the cap off mine tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

[Slightly_Twisted]

I’ve left the transom to fully cure, and have been working on the stringers.
Trying to get it right the first time I spent a few days measuring and re-measuring. I think I got everything where I want/need it so I cut the stringers.
They Came out good just need to fine tune them. The joint I decided I suck a scarf joints so I used what I call a saw tooth joint (not the right name). I decided to make the interlocking teeth 8in then glue them with peanut butter. The process wasn’t the bad just I was over measuring everything so I didn’t waste and plywood.

Hoping to have time this weekend to mock fit the stringers, bulkheads, and outside wedge pieces. Once I get things close I have to wait until the 16th to glass them in. I only have 1 or 2 gallons of resin left I know that’s enough for at least one side, but I really want to wait until I get another 5 gallons.

I’m planning on getting each stringer 100% glassed in one sitting to get a chemical bond throughout the whole stringer to boat connection.

[Myfathersson]

Looking good. I'll be at that stage in the next week or two myself. Praying for good weather this week!

[Pipe_Dream]

I’ve left the transom to fully cure, and have been working on the stringers.
Trying to get it right the first time I spent a few days measuring and re-measuring. I think I got everything where I want/need it so I cut the stringers.
They Came out good just need to fine tune them. The joint I decided I suck a scarf joints so I used what I call a saw tooth joint (not the right name). I decided to make the interlocking teeth 8in then glue them with peanut butter. The process wasn’t the bad just I was over measuring everything so I didn’t waste and plywood.

Hoping to have time this weekend to mock fit the stringers, bulkheads, and outside wedge pieces. Once I get things close I have to wait until the 16th to glass them in. I only have 1 or 2 gallons of resin left I know that’s enough for at least one side, but I really want to wait until I get another 5 gallons.

I’m planning on getting each stringer 100% glassed in one sitting to get a chemical bond throughout the whole stringer to boat connection.

Nice work!

[Myfathersson]

Twist - I was wondering, in shaping your stringers are you matching the bare fiberglass height of the original? Reason I ask is there was 1" of peanut butter bridging the gap between my stringer tops and the sole. I've read many folks on iBoats and THT use PL Premium to secure the sole but I don't think I'm going to make up 1" of gap with a polyurethane adhesive. My thought is to increase my stringers by about 3/4" so there isn't as much gap to cover.

[SkunkBoat]

with your joints in the stringers...

There's no reason not to also sister a length of plywood across the joint and glass them together.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Twist - I was wondering, in shaping your stringers are you matching the bare fiberglass height of the original? Reason I ask is there was 1" of peanut butter bridging the gap between my stringer tops and the sole. I've read many folks on iBoats and THT use PL Premium to secure the sole but I don't think I'm going to make up 1" of gap with a polyurethane adhesive. My thought is to increase my stringers by about 3/4" so there isn't as much gap to cover.

I’m doing a mix of what you talked about. I went through took all the measurements and then transferred that to the sides of the hull. Used a y foot level to confirm the heights. This created a floor height level. I then ran strings at the sights of the bulk heads and stringers to get the heights. Thankfully the heights were all very close 1/4 inch off. Used a common middle height, that put me close.

Skunk, I was thinking the same thing.

[Myfathersson]

Did you get any glassing done on your stringers this weekend?

[Slightly_Twisted]

Wow it’s taken so long to get things moving. LOTs of little adjustments to get the stringers to sit just right and give me the height I wanted. Took a few days to grind the surrounding glass to get a good bond once I start glassing.

Work has got me putting in way to much time and passing off projects that they “can’t find the money for, but can find the materials”. :sick: I work with a high school athletic teams and I built a few chillers for drinking water years ago. Well they wanted another and one three times the size. That’s taken a lot of boat time away!!

Got the stringers “glued” with thickened resin and fiberglass dust today. Forgot to get pics of the alignment cribbing, but here is after they sat for 8 hours.

[Myfathersson]

Looking good. I hope to be at that stage after Labor Day Weekend. I will confess being a single guy with no real commitments outside of the daily grind helps with my rate of progress, though my wallet needs a little recovery time just like my body does LOL. I like your shelf/table over the gunnel. Might have to replicate that when I'm glassing in my stringers.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Well took me a week but I was able to slowly chip away at the fillets. I got them all rounded and sanded on the inside. I’m waiting for a 1/2 hand held belt sander to get the out side done. I was going to get the cheap harbor freight one but went with the amazon one for the free shipping. I get it tomorrow. Sunday I had the morning to myself so I spent 4 hours tabbing in the inside of the stringers. I wanted the best bond to the transom so I but a layer covering the middle 1/3 of the transom. Then tabbed in the stringers and knees with three layers of 1708 tape. 8inch, 10 inch, 16 inch. All wet on wet. had a few hiccups but over all other then my back be sore it came out nice. Only Took one pic, had to take a break and stretch out a little.

They are far from done I need to put a waterproofing layer from the tabbing up and then a cap. I’ll use 1708 from the tabbing to the top and then I have some 6oz cloth for the top waterproofing layer.

[Myfathersson]

Looking good. You'll like that sander, makes quick work of the fillets. I didn't have squat for process pics glassing mine either - time without gloves on was focused on guzzling water! Keep up the good work!

[Slightly_Twisted]

Took a few days off from working on the boat and work last week almost broke me. 30 hours on the clock in under 48 hours total, between football and a 34 team soccer tournament it took me a few days to recover.

This week I finished tabbing in the stringers. All the sides have 4 layer of 1708 all wet on wet. 8 in-10in-15in-then a 10 in covering any exposed wood. The knees got the same treatment along with adding a few layer to the transom.

I’m going to sand the sides tomorrow and waterproof the tops with two layers of 6oz cloth. Then on to the bulkheads and the side supports.

I never wanted to add foam back to a hull but I’m really thinking about it now. What do you guys think of this. So the outer sides of the stringers in cuddy cabins are not used for rigging. If I fill them with foam to the height of the stringers the shape out a low channel leading to the center line. Then once the foam is shaped to drain to the bilge, glass over them so the foam is 100% sealed and the water if any gets in flows over the glass capped foam.

Thoughts?

I’ll post some pictures tomorrow

[Myfathersson]

Sounds like you've got a really stout lamination. Can't wait to see pics.

I too am mulling the foam or no foam question. I incorporated limber holes into each of the panels to the sides of the stringers to handle water - the original pieces didn't have a real method to address water that made it's way down there. The wings weren't formed down to the hull, they all stood a good half inch above, and the glass bridged the gap. What I noticed is that water that got down there flowed through some resin starved sections of that cloth, albeit slowly. Although few of the areas it could flow through were at the lowest point of the cell. If I foam I am going to leave the top of the foam uncapped and rely on the full channel I've created to provide a path for any water that does get there to exit through the limber holes and proceed to the bilge. Since I'm planning to trailer her all the time I'll keep her in a bow up attitude to promote drainage of anything that gets in. My bigger concern is cleaning up the passage that was made in the panel which covers the fuel tank compartment for the steering and throttle cables - they just cut a 4x6 hole in the edge of that panel. It is covered by the center console but I don't think relying on a bead of 4200 around the base of the console to prevent water on deck from making its way there instead of the cockpit drains is the best idea.

[Destroyer]

Foam is there to keep the boat in an upright position (no capsizing). It's not a guarantee that the boat will not sink, since the weight of the boat and items aboard (engine, etc) can effect that. Note that ALL foam will eventually become waterlogged if exposed to water, even the so called closed-cell type. However it will take years if not decades. When I redid my V21, after I removed all the old foam, I made sure all compartments that had new foam in them were sealed as best as possible to prevent any water intrusion.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Well just finished up sealing the stringers in yesterday. I ended up waiting a day to get some new mat. Sealed the top with a layer of 3/4 oz mat and then a layer of 6oz cloth. To make sure I got most if not all air. I fully wetted out the glass then used plastic wrap over the top to hold it down. Worked well.

I had the bow eye pad cut out and some extra resin so I put that in too. Once it was cured I over drilled the hole and then poured in more thickened resin so it will not rot this time.

[Myfathersson]

Nice progress! Feels good to hit those milestones don't it!?

[Pipe_Dream]

Well just finished up sealing the stringers in yesterday. I ended up waiting a day to get some new mat. Sealed the top with a layer of 3/4 oz mat and then a layer of 6oz cloth. To make sure I got most if not all air. I fully wetted out the glass then used plastic wrap over the top to hold it down. Worked well.

I had the bow eye pad cut out and some extra resin so I put that in too. Once it was cured I over drilled the hole and then poured in more thickened resin so it will not rot this time.

That's great!

I'm pleased to see you guys making the effort to restore your V-20s. It's got to be gratifying.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Ok so I’ve disappeared since September, it is has been very busy!
Finished off all the stringers, Bulkheads, and side support/ bulk heads.
That really wasn’t that bad, I still had the temps for glassing just slowly picked my way though it. The next phase was where most of the time went. I almost bit off more then I could handle, I was going to buy a bracket mount it and be done, but it didn’t work out at all. I was looking for a used one and couldn’t find it, get 4 different quotes for news ones and the cost just made it impossible. So after reading and re-reading a few different builds I decided to build my own.
I had all the supplies other then the resin, so the whole bracket just cost 10 gallons of resin. What could go wrong hahaha!!

The mold ALMOST broke me. Trying to get the curve of the transom correct, the level of the tub correct, and have both sides identical took almost 2 weeks. I think I ended up redoing the whole frame work three times. I’ll try and describe what ended up working in the next few posts, right now I’m just going to do a photo dump and then edit the posts.


Once I finished up all the internal fiberglass, I drilled out the bilge drain to about 2 1/2 inches, the back filled with thickened resin.

[Slightly_Twisted]

The first picture is of the gas tank area. I couldn’t get it to fit right with a pvc pipe running under the tank so I made a false floor to enclose the tanks from the bilge. The area under the tank is more the enough room for water to flow.

The next is the lay out for the bracket, this wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was able to get all the information marked and was happy with the lay out. The curve on the transom has been a problem from the start, and continues to be a pain. I couldn’t use a straight edge like a level I had to use string and the mark every few inches for any mark going across. So the two semi vertical line on the outside are the edge of bracket tub the are angled about 15 degrees out from the center line. The two horizontal lines are the previous water line the lower one, and the higher up one is the top of the bracket 6 inches above the old water line. Then the bottom of the bracket is 3 inches above the bottom of the transom.

I had a 30 Aluminium sign we took Down from the soccer fields at work and thought it would be perfect for the mold. I ended up getting some melamine boards to use for the sides and back.

Will continue later

[Slightly_Twisted]

The mold itself took almost three weeks to build, the third attempt is the one that worked. I tried the two different way to prevent having to drill holes in the hull, it didn’t work. Daytrip1 from a few different boards has done two, and I copied his first build.
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=59473&start=40

It work perfectly! Once I got the Mold correct I put 3 layers of PVA on it and started the layer up. I was shooting for 1/4 inch of thickness, so I figured that 7 layers of 1708 would match the hull. All the layers werehot coated and each layer was rotated 45 degrees of each other to and strength. After an 8 hours and 5 gallons resin I ended up with about 7/16 think glass! All sides of the bracket are close in thickness with the corners getting extra layers. On to the clamping board coring. This was SO easy without the curve of the transom to fight with. Used thickened resin to glue and screw three 3/4 marine plywood over night, then glued and clamped it in the bracket.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Really the only thing to note on these ones is the stringer extension holes cut. This was challenging, trying to make the holes long up perfect with the internal stringers? Lots of pilot holes and still was like 3/4 inch off on on.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Ok this is outcome after the mold came off.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Pictures of the stringer extensions from the hull to the bracket.

[Pipe_Dream]

Looking good. :clap:

[Slightly_Twisted]

Just more pics but it’s out of the garage.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Well I haven’t updated this for a long time but work hasn’t stopped. I spent the whole winter picking away at the bottom. It was crazy there had to be close to 1/8 inch plus of bottom paint!! I ended up flipping the boat and just sanding forever! Once I got it all off I spent a ton of time trying to fair what I could it’s not perfect at all, but it will pass the “good from a far but far from good” test.
I’ll add some pictures tonight of the progress. Hope all are health and safe!

[Slightly_Twisted]

These are from November, just never posted them.
Used my redneck gantry crane to flip it.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Admit it, who is this?

Once it was over I glassed the bottom of the bracket to the transom.

[Slightly_Twisted]

So after months of chipping away I was happy with the bottom. I rolled 4 coats of totalboat total protect high build epoxy barrier coat. Then it was time to spray the finish bottom paint on. I went with Interlux VC performance epoxy. Great stuff to work with, easy to use and came out looking good. I had a few spots I messed up on, but over all I’m really happy.

[Pipe_Dream]

Thanks for the update. It's good to hear from you.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Well got the color on her the other day. I was going to go with paint, but I just couldn’t get over the cost and it’s so thin. I decided to spray Gelcoat, I used a cheep harbor freight hvlp “purple gun”. I drilled out the 1.4mm tip to be a 2mm. I mixed the Gelcoat 50/50 with Duratech high gloss additive. Other then a few places I messed up it came out great!

We went with a seafoam.

[Pipe_Dream]

Looks great!