My new 2001 and my first!

3. You'll be at it for days with an orbital. I used a 16 and 36 grit disk on the grinder. To clean it up, I used a 36 grit flapper disk on the same grinder.

That may not be the best meathod because of the mess it makes. I tried to keep a shop vac on the output, but still! I also tried air tools and a trickle of water. My problem there was wimpy air tools.

4. Wipe down the old glass with acetone, and if your using epoxy it'll be soap and water on 24 hour new glass.

5. I did use fir ply...though mostly because they had it. I think most untreated ply is ok especially if you soak it down with CPES.

akabulla wrote: In the area around the base for the ski pole and bilge it looks like it is some kind of concrete used to reinforced it. It is also around the log.

We must see a pic on that! Concrete?!!? Maybe JB weld or some epoxy?

Your money on the diamond blade will be well spent, but you may want to wait for some of the others to chime in before you buy everything.

8122pbrainard wrote: BuffaloBFN wrote: akabulla wrote: In the area around the base for the ski pole and bilge it looks like it is some kind of concrete used to reinforced it. It is also around the log. We must see a pic on that! Concrete?!!? Maybe JB weld or some epoxy? Your money on the diamond blade will be well spent, but you may want to wait for some of the others to chime in before you buy everything. Just as Greg said, pictures are always great but I feel what you're looking at is simply the reinforcement around the shaft log and the pylon mount to the hull. It's a thickened section of the hull and if real saturated with resin, it will look like a big blob in the bilge! Grinding down the hull to fresh resin/cloth, is really only needed in the areas you will be bonding in the new stringers. Other places you can get by with a light sanding and cleaning if you plan on a finish decorative bilge coating. Greg mentioned the soap and water wash if you use epoxy and leave it sit for more than 24 hours. This is to remove a chemical reaction called a amine blush. Some brands claim to be formulated to not cause this but I'd do the wash anyway on any additional work on top of any previous coats of epoxy.

"Grinding down the hull to fresh resin/cloth, is really only needed in the areas you will be bonding in the new stringers. Other places you can get by with a light sanding and cleaning if you plan on a finish decorative bilge coating."

Why does this have to be done, and what if you don't do this?

One thing I've noticed that I did differently then the other posts I've seen is after I bonded the stringers to the hull, I then ran 8" glass fabric along both sides of the stringers and glassed them to the hull with it.

Ok, Thanks! I plan on doing my stringers just like Bill. Bond it to the hull with 2 layers of 2" mat and then after laying the fillet I will lay 2",4", and 8" mat on the seems on both sides.

I guess I used the word concrete because it is thick and grey which is a different pigment then the rest of the bilge. There was also a lot of dust and rocks around that area but I think that was just crap from it sitting out for so long. Can I assume that there is a block of wood under all that stuff that holds the ski pole base and the bilge screws?

When I order my materials on Monday I want to get the foam as well. This is the list critter put together for me. I added one more gallon of resin to the list because I am going to build a battery box out of 1/4" ply and cover it in mat. Does this look about right? Since I won't have a ply sub floor I decided to use the heavier foam. Make sense? Is 24 cubic feet about the right amount for my 83?

(2) TWO - 5 gal   Epoxy resin 635 thin 3:1 ratio   EPOX-635316 
(2) TWO - Pumps                         EPX-P31       
1 roll    50 yds 2" E-glass tape           FG-C02R      
1 roll    50 yds 4" E-glass tape           FG-C04R      
1 roll    50 yds 8" E-glass tape           FG-C08R      
20yds     Epoxy mat                        FG-EM10550    
5qts      1/32 milled fiber filler         SM-MF050     
4" 3/8"   Fiberglass Rollers               FR-1314A      
5qts      Phenolic Microballoons           FL-PH025     
2 boxes   2" wood paintbrushes qty-24      BR-TA20B     
5 ea      1qt mixing containers            CON-MM032      
5 lb      tub of talc                      SM-TAL01      
15yds     6oz cloth                        FG-C0638      
13yds     #1708 biaxial                    FG-170838     
3 boxes   1" brushes                       BR-TA10B     
16 LB Kit 4 Cubic Feet - FOAM-0416
80 LB Kit 20 Cubic Feet - FOAM-0480
2 galkit CEPS Jamestown Distributers      SMI-CPESWGL


Everything look about right?

Riley wrote: Tim, I put one layer of the 8" fiberglass material down after I had glued the outer stringers to the hull with "butter". Are you saying I should put a few more layers down?

Bruce, I sure would think so. My understanding is that most of the strength of the stringers comes from the glass that runs down them and into the hull. The factory didnt really bed the stringers with any adhesives- I only found thin pieces of foam under the ones in my Tique. The glass on both sides of them was pretty darn thick, though! Ive put at least 3 layers (mat/cloth/mat) on all the stringers Ive done in both my '90 and Tique per the original recommendation (from DavidF?) on my first stringer job. The thickness of that buildup seems pretty consistent with the factory job.

I cant speak for how many layers Greg or Mike used on their projects, but I suspect they did something similar.

I used several 'layers' depending on how they are counted. I used 1 stip of mat underneath, set it in place with a few clamps and a jig, made the fillet on each side, put down a strip of ~1.5" mat on top of the butter to hold it all where I wanted it, and then finished the joint with 2,4 and 8" cloth. After that the stringer got a layer of mat, cloth, and then the heavy biaxial. Some areas got more than that but none got less. The fillet and 1st piece of mat is only 2-4 feet at a time....eat something and run to the can before you start!

FWIW-fiberglass almost disappears when it's wetted in right.

On the 4lb foam...I have no experience with it. I do think the 2lb did a nice job and will serve its purpose. I sanded it even with my runners, soaked it with epoxy, and followed up with mat-cloth-biaxial.

I did the same that Greg did in the Barracuda and I think that it came out really strong and water tight.
As I have been waiting for the temps to get up enough for me to pour the foam, it has rained a time or two and my cover keeps blowing in or off. I have not seen any water pass by the blocking or stringers. I feel that when I foam, set the floor, and glass the floor to the inside of the stringers and outter hull that it should be water tight.

I have 1 starting battery; 750 or 850 cca's. There's been a lot of debate on battery type and I'm not the person to ask(try the search). I'm not running a rocket launching stereo either. I can't wait to play some AM for '79! LOL

You may also want to ask 1 of the pros about battery venting and box construction.

I used 1 layer of mat under the stringers. You may want 2 or even some thickened resin depending on your prep. What you do want is good even contact(no air pockets).

What's your name anyway? I must have missed it in an earlier post.

FWIW-I put the structure back almost exactly as I found it. Some improvements yes, but CC has been at it longer than I. I think the biggest difference between mine now is that I didn't have the demands of an assembly line...and we'll leave my OCD out of it.

Ok, I will call and get the 2 pound. So you think I should replace as the factory did?

Thanks!

1 last thought-if you give your questions a few days, you'll get tons of help. Some check in more often than others, and I bet most of us are working to finance our boating 'affliction' or getting ready for the river trip.

No sweat. Best of luck on your project, and I look forward to seeing your progress.

Too bad you aren't going to the river...I'm sure we could find you a place for a tent!

Lot of topics here, hard to keep up... Joe I really think you aught to roam down south for the weekend we can answer a whole lot of questions over a campfire and some Jim Beam, save you lots of time in the long run.

For the record I put my stringers down with a minimum six layers of cloth (not mat) tape, two each of the 2, 4, 8, staggered in the most OCD method so that the thicker end of the tape never causes air bubbles in the next layer above. Then every part of the stingers get another layer of the mat all the way to the top. In the exposed engine area of the stringers two more layers of the mat go over the top and 4-5 inches to the floor on both sides, and over that and about 7 inches to the floor on either side. This is similar in thickness to the factory job, no thicker, although the factory can be a little lax on a few areas up front not getting the roving/mat all the way up. The six layers of cloth tape might be a little excessive but the cloth adds almost no thickness. The stringers were first bedded with expoy thickened with 1/4 inch chopped glass the mat should work better if you get a real tight fit.

Those side supports are a lot of work, as I mentioned elsewhere I did not bed them just used the 2, 4,8 tape one layer each to make them have a bit more give so they wouldnt have any chance of causing gel coat cracks.

If your spending the money on foam I would go ahead and use it as structure and fiberglass over it. The plywood floor is just more wood and in places where you are not screwing things down I dont get it.

I ended up making my floor about a quarter inch higher than the stock floor, and with that and my batteries sitting right on the hull they are still a line to line fit under the floor hatch. Keep that in mind when building up a box, even with a quarter inch plywood it is going to be tight. You can move a little more forward than I could (I had to worry about the nitrous bottle) and that should help with depth.

I looked at my engine a bit closer this weekend before I yanked it, and my pulley ends up no more than an inch and a half back from the pylon. A lot closer than you had mocked up. I am not familiar with the newer box, its possible the pylon is farther forward in relation to the engine mounts in the later boats. I don't know that a couple inches back on the engine and transmission is going to have any actual effect on the handling of the boat, I doubt it was that precise.. any it looks like you will end up with the weight farther back than stock if you use that cover.

US Composites just called and said they were out of the 1-1/2oz Epoxy Mat. They said the 1-1/2oz Chopped Strand Mat would work just as well. Is that correct or should I get it from somewhere else and if so where?

Thanks!