Popular Post Josh B Posted July 28, 2021 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 16 minutes ago, mulligan said: While it flipped over might as well! It's a nice thought, but I'm not an engineer and the trial & error could get expensive. If someone already had it figured out I'd be willing to take a swing at it. Quote And maybe more pics of the of the non-boats in the first picture. I figured I'd have to end up doing a shop walkthrough video... this is my dad's house/shop. He built a garage that is 3 times the size of their house. Two story with 3 bays, 4 post lift, enclosed professional paint booth with exhaust, etc. Then it still has a large enclosed shop area in the rear for metal working tools, etc. The only thing it's missing is Air Conditioning!!!! But he has been restoring old cars since before I was born. He never really keeps anything longer than a year or two and always has 1-4 at a time. Right now on the top of the lift is a 1969 Nova SS, it's completely restored and mint. Below it is a 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 that is 99% done, he's just finishing the interior. In the next bay over is a 1965 Plymouth Belvedere... and out in the driveway is my mom's Ford Bronco II that she has always wanted, it's got a 302 in it and daily driver (when she doesn't have to shuttle grandkids). Here's a couple pics I just had in my phone, I'll snap some others next time I get a chance. Josh B. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jh141 Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 Love the shop, The restores are off the hook. Your Dad is living my dream, and he is letting you grind fiberglass in his shop....LOL 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 I love this thread already. Keep em coming, Josh! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradM Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 Long time Chevy guy, but I'll need pictures of that Galaxy. My neighbor down in Palm Beach had one when I was a kid (I understand his son still has it) and LOVED that car. The Nova looks great, what's in it for power( I can't make out the badge - 350 or 396). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted July 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 4 hours ago, BradM said: Long time Chevy guy, but I'll need pictures of that Galaxy. My neighbor down in Palm Beach had one when I was a kid (I understand his son still has it) and LOVED that car. The Nova looks great, what's in it for power( I can't make out the badge - 350 or 396). It's a 396. I'll get some pics of the Galaxy when I get back over there, hopefully this weekend. I've got a 1 year olds birthday party that's taking priority over sanding this weekend! ha ha 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted August 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2021 A little progress, but not as much as I hoped. The damaged areas were all ground down to remove any loose glass. When I got into the edge along the strake it's pretty clear why this chunk of glass ripped off the bottom. There was a huge void between the woven glass and the outer layer of chop strand that the gelcoat is affixed to. To me this is nothing but poor craftsmanship from the factory. I'm big MBG fan, but maybe this boat was put together on a Friday afternoon and the cervezas were calling. The gap between the layers was 1/4 to 1/2 thick in places. You could tap on surrounding areas and hear where it was solid or hollow. Fortunately the rest of the boat sounds pretty solid, the same places on the opposite side of the keel are solid as a rock. Anyways... got that all cut out, made up some epoxy resin/cabosil paste and squeezed it in as far as I could. Then wet out a bunch of layers of cloth and packed them in the voids until it pressed out the paste. Some areas probably took 8 or 10 layers. Then started applying layers of glass to the repair area. I started with my smaller pieces, building each layer out further and further until the entire area was covered with 6 layers of biaxle cloth. Then applied one layer of chop strand mat on top. I wanted to let that set up for a few days and I'll go back and sand it down before applying a couple more layers of chop strand in the low areas. Some spots already got built up a little high, so they will get sanded down flat again. But with 5-6 layers on the inside and 6 layers on the outside I can tell you already it's very structurally solid. I also went ahead and filled in the "shark eyes" on the front of the boat. I made some fiberglass patches to fit the existing holes and ground the exterior to bevel a nice edge for the patches to adhere to. Then added 4 layers of glass. I may end up putting new LED style in the hull, but the new housings are quite a bit smaller so I knew I didn't want to leave those original light housings in. I'm also leaning towards the rub-rail lights that TACO makes. I'll decide on that later. Plenty more work to do, hopefully I can get a few hours in this week and a full day this weekend (fingers crossed). Josh B. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HewesYourDaddy Posted August 3, 2021 Report Share Posted August 3, 2021 Good looking work. That’s gonna be a great hull when you’re finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted August 3, 2021 Report Share Posted August 3, 2021 Josh, Have been able to assess the fuel tank...you have a 2003 which means an 18 year old fuel cell... You might want to do a full pressure test on it while it's empty....as you know, what I thought was a simple fuel cell replacement turned into a massive rebuild of the area between the stringers and new foam....an extra few $$$$ in labor and glass...but, I know she's sold as a rock.... Just thinking with her in this position....easier to do now than later.....my tank was 27 years old....not leaking...but, pitting in a few key areas was forming and we estimated it was maybe another year or so and it "might" leak.... DC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted August 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 1 hour ago, Wanaflatsfish said: Josh, Have been able to assess the fuel tank...you have a 2003 which means an 18 year old fuel cell... You might want to do a full pressure test on it while it's empty....as you know, what I thought was a simple fuel cell replacement turned into a massive rebuild of the area between the stringers and new foam....an extra few $$$$ in labor and glass...but, I know she's sold as a rock.... Just thinking with her in this position....easier to do now than later.....my tank was 27 years old....not leaking...but, pitting in a few key areas was forming and we estimated it was maybe another year or so and it "might" leak.... DC Yes sir, it's on the agenda. Like you said, she looks real nice from everywhere I can see but I'm definitely going to pressure test it. Was thinking of just going ahead and replacing it... but... I'm really on the fence about respraying the entire non-skid. It's in great shape so I'd prefer to skip that step if i can. I am planning to do my wiring to make it less of a headache if I do have to de-rig the console in the future. But we'll see the results of the pressure test shortly. Josh B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RacerxV6 Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 What a project. Like previously stated, Living through your resto at your dad's shop. Beautiful pieces of art everywhere. Love reading through this thread and can't wait to see the final project. Crazy that you have that many voids in the hull, do you think it was because the damage and then not fixed and it just spread for continuous use and not getting repaired right away...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted August 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 19 minutes ago, RacerxV6 said: What a project. Like previously stated, Living through your resto at your dad's shop. Beautiful pieces of art everywhere. Love reading through this thread and can't wait to see the final project. Crazy that you have that many voids in the hull, do you think it was because the damage and then not fixed and it just spread for continuous use and not getting repaired right away...? Thank you. I grew up restoring cars with my dad... I was sanding many of late nights when I was a youngster. Now I'm doing these projects myself, but with lots of help from my dad still and he's in his 70's. I'd say at almost 40 I know about half of what he does. The boat was never used after the damage. The previous owner was coming in from fishing when he hit a submerged floating piling. He kept driving to the ramp at low speed and put it on the trailer. I honestly think the voids are from the factory and the layers of glass were never properly bonded. Maybe too little resin, maybe they just didn't take the time to make sure they were rolled in good. But once a good bond is made between the layers you shouldn't be able to pull them apart without ripping/shredding the glass. The voids were too clean for that to have happened, the surfaces were very smooth between the layers. Now hitting a submerged piling will always cause damage, but I think it was considerably worse in this scenario because of the voids. It happens with production boats. You'll see people complaining all the time on the forums/fb, etc. about cracks/chips in fairly new boats. This is almost always because of voids between the gelcoat and top layer of glass or because of voids in the layers of glass which ends up cracking through the top layer because of reduced strength. It's unfortunate, but fairly common. Josh B. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RacerxV6 Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 6 hours ago, Josh B said: Thank you. I grew up restoring cars with my dad... I was sanding many of late nights when I was a youngster. Now I'm doing these projects myself, but with lots of help from my dad still and he's in his 70's. I'd say at almost 40 I know about half of what he does. The boat was never used after the damage. The previous owner was coming in from fishing when he hit a submerged floating piling. He kept driving to the ramp at low speed and put it on the trailer. I honestly think the voids are from the factory and the layers of glass were never properly bonded. Maybe too little resin, maybe they just didn't take the time to make sure they were rolled in good. But once a good bond is made between the layers you shouldn't be able to pull them apart without ripping/shredding the glass. The voids were too clean for that to have happened, the surfaces were very smooth between the layers. Now hitting a submerged piling will always cause damage, but I think it was considerably worse in this scenario because of the voids. It happens with production boats. You'll see people complaining all the time on the forums/fb, etc. about cracks/chips in fairly new boats. This is almost always because of voids between the gelcoat and top layer of glass or because of voids in the layers of glass which ends up cracking through the top layer because of reduced strength. It's unfortunate, but fairly common. Josh B. Thanks for the explanation Josh. Makes sense. I have seen Fiberglass shred when making contact with a immovable object and ou are right in that statement....that's crazythough for that to happen like that...Can't wait to see your finished project. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 19 hours ago, Josh B said: Yes sir, it's on the agenda. Like you said, she looks real nice from everywhere I can see but I'm definitely going to pressure test it. Was thinking of just going ahead and replacing it... but... I'm really on the fence about respraying the entire non-skid. It's in great shape so I'd prefer to skip that step if i can. I am planning to do my wiring to make it less of a headache if I do have to de-rig the console in the future. But we'll see the results of the pressure test shortly. Josh B. I hear ya...pay me now or pay me later...it's so much easier to just replace now than after...what happened to me was that we "thought" it was an easy replacement...and it was, until we found, under the tank, MHB did NOT FILL IN THE LOCATIONS WHERE THE FOAM WAS INSERTED - I PUT PICS IN MY POSTS BACK IN 1995 and water filled the entire area of the foam under the fuel tank....this resulted in another $5K or so in fully rebuilding the area between the stringers...all good now, and the stern area of the fuel cell....we took out about 2 garbage cans of wet foam - solid wet, and about 200 lbs of stuff....we had to replace all the foam and rebuild the entire deck where the fuel cell sits and this resulted in an almost diaster as we only had 1" to spare before the fuel cell did not fit .....uggggh....so, what I'm saying is, look closely, last thing you want to do is rebuild your dream boat to only find in 2-3 years, you have a pinhole leak and you have to pull it apart....at least now, I know, that fuel cell is never gona leak and the floor is good for another 20 years dc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabear Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 On 7/28/2021 at 2:55 PM, Josh B said: It's a nice thought, but I'm not an engineer and the trial & error could get expensive. If someone already had it figured out I'd be willing to take a swing at it. I figured I'd have to end up doing a shop walkthrough video... this is my dad's house/shop. He built a garage that is 3 times the size of their house. Two story with 3 bays, 4 post lift, enclosed professional paint booth with exhaust, etc. Then it still has a large enclosed shop area in the rear for metal working tools, etc. The only thing it's missing is Air Conditioning!!!! But he has been restoring old cars since before I was born. He never really keeps anything longer than a year or two and always has 1-4 at a time. Right now on the top of the lift is a 1969 Nova SS, it's completely restored and mint. Below it is a 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 that is 99% done, he's just finishing the interior. In the next bay over is a 1965 Plymouth Belvedere... and out in the driveway is my mom's Ford Bronco II that she has always wanted, it's got a 302 in it and daily driver (when she doesn't have to shuttle grandkids). Here's a couple pics I just had in my phone, I'll snap some others next time I get a chance. Josh B. Love that big block 396 Nova I had one in the mid 70’s when they where just hot rods not classics collectible high dollar muscle cars . Joe R 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolinadrifter Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Check out the Florida sportsman dreamboat videos on YouTube for seat ideas. I saw a restored Master Angler on there recently where the guy had bolstered seats made for the back bench so they would push up and act as a leaning post or lay flat and sit with a backrest. Pretty cool design. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolinadrifter Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 Here’s the link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 14 minutes ago, Carolinadrifter said: Check out the Florida sportsman dreamboat videos on YouTube for seat ideas. I saw a restored Master Angler on there recently where the guy had bolstered seats made for the back bench so they would push up and act as a leaning post or lay flat and sit with a backrest. Pretty cool design. I have spent hundreds of hours on YouTube, it's basically all I watch from the TV these days. I did see that episode and that's one of the designs i'm considering. I liked the actuator on the hatch lid so you don't have to cut holes in your cushions for compression latches or use other exterior latches to secure the lid. Although if they fail one day i'm sure that would be another problem. Some great ideas on that show. Josh B. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 16 hours ago, Josh B said: I honestly think the voids are from the factory and the layers of glass were never properly bonded. Maybe too little resin, maybe they just didn't take the time to make sure they were rolled in good. But once a good bond is made between the layers you shouldn't be able to pull them apart without ripping/shredding the glass. The voids were too clean for that to have happened, the surfaces were very smooth between the layers. I hear ya. A hand-rolled layup, done right to eliminate the voids, makes for a good bond. Vacuum infusion takes it a step further. A quote from the infusion process engineer who built my hull: "Make sure all of your materials, including the bagging materials, conform to the mold and core geometry, pleat the bag where it supposed to be pleated, and make sure the bag is air tight! The pictures below show how well the fiberglass conforms tightly around the foam core without any gaps. Take a few extra minutes to make it perfect and you'll save time on the back end, and the structure will be better." 11_Vacuum_Resin_Infusion1.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted August 5, 2021 Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 3 hours ago, dabear said: Love that big block 396 Nova. Joe R Same here! I've returned to this thread many times. Enjoying seeing the progress on the MA restoration - but can't stop looking at the Nova either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 15 hours ago, Carolinadrifter said: Check out the Florida sportsman dreamboat videos on YouTube for seat ideas. I saw a restored Master Angler on there recently where the guy had bolstered seats made for the back bench so they would push up and act as a leaning post or lay flat and sit with a backrest. Pretty cool design. I also found these on Amazon... I'm still undecided if I'll do seats or a bench with removable backrest. If I end up with seats I'll probably mount them on low-profile slides so I can move them forward/back depending if I'm standing with leaning support or sitting. Also sliding forward might help when opening the hatch depending on depth of seat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted August 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 I haven't had a chance to work on the boat this week, but I did drag the trailer home so I could start cleaning it up. I'm not sure what year the trailer is, but it does have newer torsion axles (2018). Otherwise it needs an all around overhaul. One hub is completely falling apart, the other three are working but I'm going to go ahead and replace all 4. The aluminum has a ton of oxidation all over it, the carpet on the bunks is ripped up, rollers, winch, jack, etc. are all rusted and just look bad. I started by removing everything, then washing it... next was an acid bath. The product I got from Amazon (Aluminum Brightener from Quality Chemicals) does a pretty amazing job of removing the discoloration and stains, but it doesn't do too much for the oxidation without some serious scrubbing with a 3M Scotch-brite pad. I spent about 4 hours on it last night and pretty happy with the results. Could be better with some sanding, but not sure I'm that committed. I want to put something protective on it, might do shark skin unless there's other recommendations? Next I plan to install new forward bunks and eliminate the front roller. My previous Ameratrail had the forward bunks and it's a major improvement. The boat will just settle down in between them when loading and fits like a glove. After that, new winch, jack, all new wiring/lighting, sand/paint all galvanized parts including the wheels. Everyone loves trailer work... so much fun. Josh B. I did a small test area to check mixing ratio before doing the whole trailer. The product suggest 15:1 water to cleaner... but that was way too weak. I ended up doing about 4:1 which sped up the process considerably. Just make sure you don't get it on the concrete or other things you don't want to damage. 4D20294D-73C8-4043-AE02-D238B2116DA2.MP4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted August 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 Trailer Acid Wash complete... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted August 6, 2021 Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 Josj, sorry I ddint see this earlier, but there is a product called Sonuus at most auto parts places. Spray on, wipe off, and it does an amazing job of eliminating oxidation. I used that and sharkhide on my last two older trailers and it has been great. I have also been usimg cold galvanized spray paint from lowes on the winch and other areas, seems to hold up well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted August 6, 2021 Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 On 8/5/2021 at 12:09 PM, Josh B said: I also found these on Amazon... I'm still undecided if I'll do seats or a bench with removable backrest. If I end up with seats I'll probably mount them on low-profile slides so I can move them forward/back depending if I'm standing with leaning support or sitting. Also sliding forward might help when opening the hatch depending on depth of seat. Josh, I went with the Tempress Orthopedic back rest seats.....see my post under the Holy Ghost....I have one on a pedastal for the helm and the other on the Garlick moveable...both are moveable...one is just higher....so far, Capt Don H falls asleep every trip... I need to keep a tag line him so he doesn't roll over when he's sleeping and we hit a wave.... dc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.N Posted August 7, 2021 Report Share Posted August 7, 2021 One of these days I will have a shop and a backup boat to allow me to really get into my 21 redfisher. I would love to remove my cap and cut out all of those plastic storage containers. I thought about the possibility of a pad, but 65 to 70 mph is plenty fast enough for me. Those Lake&Bay guys are loco! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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