Beginning my 1987 Fisherman 20 Restoration

[Myfathersson]

Originally Posted by Pipe_Dream

Fine work!

Thank you!

[phatdaddy]

Looks good, i know expansion and contraction is an issue on poly tanks, be sure to factor that in.

Keep up the good work

[Myfathersson]

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

Looks good, i know expansion and contraction is an issue on poly tanks, be sure to factor that in.

Keep up the good work

Thanks for the reminder phatdaddy - 3% expansion once fuel is introduced. That's about 1.3" on the length, 0.9" on the width, and 0.37" on the height. All easy to accommodate. Might need to install the hold down brackets after fueling to manage the gain in the length since the threaded inserts are not symmetrical about the axis. Only drawback to that is I can't through bolt both pairs to the stringers once the sole is in place, only the forward bracket will be accessible on the back side. That's a minor issue though, as the brackets closest to the center are the accessible pair which should result in less stress on the rear most brackets. Only other adjustment is I'll use the hot knife to trim the 2" foam blocking at front and rear down.

[Blue_Runner]

Amazing work. Not only on the boat but the documentation, quality photos, etc. Pipe summed it up in 2 words - fine work! Nice job and thank you for posting up this really cool rebuild thread. Can't wait to see your next move, and the final product!

[Myfathersson]

Originally Posted by Blue_Runner

Amazing work. Not only on the boat but the documentation, quality photos, etc. Pipe summed it up in 2 words - fine work! Nice job and thank you for posting up this really cool rebuild thread. Can't wait to see your next move, and the final product!

Thank you! Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I've been doing additional thinking and reading about the fuel tank. My platform design wasn't going to result in a sealed compartment but I've decided the platform does need to be fully sealed to the stringers & bulkheads so that any fuel leaks can't foul the bilge. Not a big deal, just need to epoxy up a few pieces of glass as right angles to bridge at the ends - the sides were always intended to seal to the stringers for support.

I'm still contemplating if I need to add vents and a blower though. I'm leaning towards it'd be a good idea.

[Myfathersson]

Less than favorable weather this weekend so all I got done outside was some sanding to prep for priming and applying a coat of TotalFair to scratches and pock marks on the transom and keel.

But I was able to tackle one lingering project in the basement after I wrapped up glassing all the surfaces of the new tank platform. I went to work recoring the fuel compartment cover. A new piece of 1/2" MDO laid in with peanut butter. Then I filled the gap between the edge of the plywood and the lip of the cover with a blend of thickened epoxy, milled fiber and 1/4" chopped strand before wetting out a layer of 17oz biax over the back side. I am hoping that this mixture will allow me to countersink the screws which secure the compartment directly into the newly reinforced edge.



The piece of ply covered with mylar tape sticking out the side is just a form to let me build up the edge where a hole had been cut in the edge of the cover for the original install of the cables to the console. Once the back side is set up I'll patch that glass on the topside and create a new hole with a proper dam around it for the console cables that ISN'T in the compartment cover.

Up next may very well be removing the hull from the trailer again and applying paint. Weather just has to cooperate. Stay tuned!

[Myfathersson]

It's Derby Weekend here in Louisville and the weather is freaking fantastic - 80° days and 0% chance of rain today thru Tuesday. So painting is on tap.

Over the past few weeks I've made some new hull supports. I wasn't overly fond of the stacked concrete blocks I used last summer so I took some scrap treated 2x6's I had and grabbed a couple 4x4's and 2x4's and made up these pylons:






And then earlier this week I set to the oh so fun chore of jacking up the hull and shimmying the trailer out from 'neath her.




Then set to fairing and sanding the hull to clean up where I sanded thru the old antifouling paint and in spots gelcoat, and the myriad of scratches from the PO beaching her regularly.

On the less dry days I cleaned up all the hatches, faired them and set the non-skid in a coat of epoxy to simplify the painting process.




The PO also mounted a swim ladder to the transom and put one of the screw holes right through the E in the HIN. I tried to dremel a new E in but it never looked very good. So I modeled up a negative of the HIN in Fusion360 and printed it on my 3D printer, packed the mold full of epoxy and milled fiber with a backer of 1708 and put it under a vacuum for an hour to yield this:




Lost the islands in a few of the digits but they read well enough that it works. Cut the old HIN out and glued the new casting in and faired it last night.


And finally this afternoon, after wrapping up a late post lunch meeting, I came home and set to spraying the primer:






Tomorrow morning I'll wet sand and start spraying the finish. With the fantastic weather I'll get 6 coats on her and be ready to install the fuel tank when it gets delivered next week. Just gotta order the new hoses and clamps to make final connections from the deck drains to the thru hulls for assembling the two halves.

Thanks for looking! - Greg