1969 Mustang Stringer Rebuild

Hoping to get US Composites and my CPES ordered today. Not sure about several things. Looking for some advice.

1. How much Cabosil? Seems like those who have ordered the 10lb bags don’t use very much of it. Should I go for less? http://www.uscomposites.com/fillers.html

2. Do I need any other filler/thickener besides the Cabosil? I see others use milled fiber.

3. Here’s what I am understanding as far as the layup goes.

a. CPES the stringers/wood.

b. ???Do I wrap with fiberglass before embedding or embed straight CPES coated stringers to hull???

c. Bed stringers down in thickened epoxy.

d. Filet with thickened epoxy.

e. Down the length of the stringers from the stringer to the hull, glass 2 inch tape followed by 4 inch then 8 inch. Then 12 inch biax followed by capping with 12 inch biax. ???One layer each???

f. Same with ribs. Maybe no biax?

g. CPES floor. Do I glass as well?
h. Bed floor to stringers with thickened epoxy.

i. Glass floor to sides of hull. In layers?
j. Glue down vinyl floor.

4. On the plywood floor, if I am to glass it, do I use cloth and how much and what thickness?

5. Are most people getting their CPES from Jamestown? Smiths Warm CPES Epoxy
2 gal kit enough?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions. This whole thing is mind boggling the first time around.

I know I’ll also need brushes, etc.

If you see anything I need to add, change, remove, please let me know.

As always, many thanks!

Keeganino wrote: I think I read Tim saying that he would probably not get the fast cure epoxy again.

No, I would do it again- we did a good amount of glassing in cooler temperatures (winter/spring in New England) so the Fast Cure sped up the process somewhat.

If youre going to be working in more moderate temps, the Medium cure (3:1) works great.

IMO, you can remove both Secondarys with no issues as long as you have
the boat supported well at the front chine area and stern.
I think that I remember removing both secondarys at the same time.

Keegan,   you mean a 5 gallon kit, I assume. Even so, I have a good dent in my second 5 gallon kit on the 18ft SN, and still have the floor and little stuff to do.

The grinding has begun. Wow, let me tell you how much fun that is... living the dream

The starboard secondary is out. I actually feel bad taking it out because it was in there so good. No rot either, other than where the screw holes were for the cross bracing. It wasn't bonded to the hull quite as well at the stern but the rest was stuck like new.







Now that I have the feel for grinding I want to make sure I'm going deep enough, and not too deep. I've been stopping when I get down to the cloth area, removing the thickened mat.



I'm assuming the thick gray area should go as well.


I thought about bedding the stringers one at a time, using the adjoining one as a guide and clamping block. It will prolong my grinding time but make the installation easier I guess. Thoughts?

No more grinding for the day, off to a wedding.

Bruce,
That boat is nothing but I think you should get out of the appraiser business and let your sons (and yourself) do boats!!!

David,
I, like Tim am sorry to hear about the glass floor pan. They were very unique to the stangs. How much of it is actually left? Restoring it takes lots of work but it can be done by someone that is advanced in glass repair. DO NOT throw it out!!!

Yes, I feel your choice of doing the Nautilux floor is a good choice - still original!! Go for it!    

TRBenj wrote: I think even a rough looking floorpan is better than ditching it altogether. I think we bought some extra 2x doug fir for the ribs.

It's beyond rough, two sections are already gone.

Now that I am thinking about it, I'll still need to do some notching around the pylon area.

TRBenj wrote: Vondy, refresh my memory- do you not have the fiberglass floor pan?

Yes I do have the floor pan. It's in pretty bad shape though. Cracks everywhere, the pylon area was separated and glued to the floor when I got it and the removable section behind the engine was very flimsy. I put some ply in that area, painted white, to get me through the last two years.

The ribs sound good. I would love to skip the notching. What species would you use for them?

On my Skier, we're not refoaming. Instead of those "straps" that sit in notches cut in the main and secondary stringers, we're going to put in a few ribs running between the secondary and side of the hull- at least at the seems of the plywood floor pieces. Cutting and cutting around those notches in the stringers is a pain. Those ribs, plus glassing the floor to the walls should provide plenty of support. I think we're going to use 5/8" ply.

Keegan, how hard did you look? Lots of places sell the Nautolex.

You can find a piece big enough to do the floor and panels on ebay for ~$200.

Vondy, refresh my memory- do you not have the fiberglass floor pan?

Keeganino wrote: Are you ordering the nautolex vinyl from Garys for the floor? I might spring for it after the carpet is worn out.

Thinking about it.

Thanks for all the advice on the engine paint. I'm actually looking forward to messing with that. The stringers are scaring me

Talked to Eric about the trans today and hopefully will be mailing off tomorrow.

What do you guys think about the structure? My plan is to go with 3/4 ply for the floor and vinyl on top of that, no carpet for me.

Should I keep the structure just like it is? As small as the boat is I would imagine 3/4 ply would not need any extra bracing. I don't even think you would need the cross bracing that is in there now since the floor would tie the stringers together. Except maybe under the removable panel.

I'm also thinking of relocating the battery to the center as far forward as I can like others have done. Curious if anyone has attempted to put a built in ice chest in this area. There's a lot of open space under there.

They consistently take a week to deliver. I also used the duplicolor primer. Not sure about using it on the non aluminum parts. I think anything that is bare metal should get primed. Pete will know better.

vondy wrote: Duplicolor's self etching primer?

David,
I use the Duplicolor self etch and found it to be a good product. I also wipe down aluminum with a weak acid. In my case, I use liquid soldering flux just because I always have a pint on hand. Some will use vinegar but I do not feel it's strong enough.