Reply With QuoteMaybe Smidsy should have sent his cowl to you to do at the sane time. He seems to have had a little problem painting his.
Hi all.
A little further advanced.
I ground the gelcoat off the dashboard and the well, and finished filling the holes in the dash - steering helm and tacho:
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Next, epoxy glassed the entire deck area to fix the micro cracks, and this included joining the aft deck to the side decks:
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Cyril has started hasseling me for painted engine pieces, as all the parts arrived from Mercury to put the 90 back together again, so I got stuck into preparing the transom assembly, gearbox, trunk, lower cowls and powerhead cowl for paint:
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Managed to get them all into colour:
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Really happy with the paint job.
I'll probably fit the decals tomorrow.
Today, I spent a fair bit of time accurately cutting the deck flange to the same height around the perimeter of the boat, then fixing it in place.
I was happy that the gap between the deck flange and the hull feature profile was now the same, that I got inside under the deck and began glassing the deck to the hull:
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I got about 50% done, but thankfully, it was the worst part, (under the foredeck), so tomorrow should be a lot easier.
The plan for tomorrow is to finish the glassing and to then get some epoxy bog onto the deck, engine well, top-sides and transom.
I'd really like for it to be fully painted by the end of the week-end.
But, as they say, the greatest plans of mice and men...
Maybe Smidsy should have sent his cowl to you to do at the sane time. He seems to have had a little problem painting his.
One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce and canonized those who complain.
Thomas Sowell
Hi again.
Pushed on today and managed to get most of the wish list done.
Started with the completion of bonding the deck to hull. Nothing untoward - just uncomfortable upside-down glassing - but it was over fairly quickly...
I then ground off the last of the gelcoat in the dashboard "well" and epoxied over with some granite fibre. I'm happy now that all of the gelcoat has been removed. I just had a bad feeling that but for an hours' work, that gelcoat was going to come back and bite me on the butt. But it's all gone and glassed now, so no worries.
This photo shows the newly applied Basalt fibre:
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I was also a bit concerned about the st'b'd side reverse chine and on close inspection, I did find stress fractures which I'd missed earlier.
Grind it out, epoxy on some basalt:
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I then had a go at speed board 40 grit fairing of the Port side reverse chine repairs:
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Quite happy with the result.
Next, I washed the whole deck down with acetone and began applying epoxy bog:
Started in the engine well, back deck and transom. The 1st coat went down as expected:
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Running low on microballoons, but I had just enough to do the foredeck:
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Looks like the next few days will be bogging and fairing.
That in itself is not an issue, but using epoxy is. Once applied, it usually can't be touched with sand-paper for 24 hrs, so a lot of time is spent waiting.
And I don't do 'wait" well...
Giddyup can I ask why the use of basalt fibre as I don’t know what it is and searching for it on the internet doesn't give me a good reason as to its use.
One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce and canonized those who complain.
Thomas Sowell
Is your fairing bog just a combination of microballoons and epoxy or do you add some aerosil
Contact AA Composites at Hemmant in Brisbane. Des (the proprietor) invented the fiber, is the manufacturer and the point of sale.Originally Posted by Dignity
In a nutshell, it is almost as strong as Carbon but significantly cheaper, can be used with poly, vinyl or epoxy and is really easy to use.
Microballoons and epoxy only.
Add aerosil and it will be like trying to sand concrete. Not a good plan.
Couldn't do too much today, as (expectedly), the epoxy bog had not cured enough to sand, so I prepped the rest of the boat for epoxy and set upon it with lots of bog:
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Of course, I completely forgot to bog the reverse chine repairs... Bugger!
I seriously doubt that I will have it painted by the end of the weekend, but I'll be happy if I can get it into 1st highbuild.
Didn't even get close!
I realised too late on Friday afternoon that I was not going to have enough epoxy to finish the job over the weekend, but I did manage to get 1st coat sanded and the 2nd coat onto the deck and the engine well and transom. Still a lot to do.
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Saturday was spent having a good look at the trailer and working out what is needed to be replaced, mechanical work on the 90 - trying (unsuccessfully), to salvage upper engine mounts from a wreck -
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Finishing the merc cowl with decals:
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So basically, a pretty quiet week-end...
Last edited by giddyup58; 25-06-2023 at 07:05 PM. Reason: photos didn't load
Sorry folks, pressed wrong button...
And the sanding and bog work continues:
1st big sand then 2nd application of bog:
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2 day wait, then after 6 solid hours of sanding, 3rd application of bog:
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Getting closer and closer to highbuild...
You must have the patience of a saint, not sure I could put that much effort into it although the finished product will be schmick.
One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce and canonized those who complain.
Thomas Sowell
I do admit to being a bit over bogging and fairing. It wouldn't be so bad if the epoxy would go off in half a day, but if it's applied after 3pm, it's un-sandable until the 2nd morning of the day after application. It seems to need about 40 hours drying time.
So I lose a complete day, which doesn't fare well with my OCD...
Anyhoo, given that I need a fill in job while waiting for bog to dry properly, I wheeled the trailer front and centre, and had a good look at what was needed.
There's as fair bit of ugly there, but most is superficial:
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All of the rollers need replacement, the roller assemblies need a birthday and some surface rust treatment, the rear crossmember needs replacement and the frame needs the rear 2m of both rails replaced.
I got the necessary steel for the repairs and figured out "the plan".
Next day, the bog was cured 100%, so out with the speed board again, but before I got carried away with sanding, I refitted the original gunnel alloy to see if any bright ideas would jump out at me:
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Dead easy to fit and definitely looks the part, but it's bloody expensive and not particularly robust.
I may stick with the original idea of putting a more modern rubber gunnel on, but that will really detract from the originality of the old girl...
So I lost myself in sanding and bogging, again.
Sand and re-bog #3:
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While I was there, I drilled 28mm holes where necessary in the transom for the engine mounting bolts and ski hooks.
Those holes were then filled with thickened epoxy.
The purpose is to fully protect the ply core, and the epoxy will be redrilled with the requisite 13mm holes, thus totally isolating the ply.
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Next day, (today), back onto the trailer.
This photo shows the trailer stripped, the rear crossmember removed and the new stb'd side rail installed:
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Here, the port side rail has been welded in, the replacement rear crossmember fabricated and fitted , all the surface machine wire brushed and the entire trailer treated to a coat of extoll rust preventative.
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Tomorrow should be right to get back into sanding and prepping for high-build, unless I missed something and need to add more bog...
The trailer will get attention during "drying" days. The Jotun high-build I use also needs a full 40 hours to cure to the point where it can be sanded without instantly clogging the sand paper.
But it's all good fun and I'm enjoying seeing the progress
Hi all.
Sand and re-bog #4 went fine, but lost a couple of days with the rain.
Blue sky this morning, so last bog sand (#5) and prepped for highbuild:
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Got the highbuild on:
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Couple of days to harden, then 240 wet sand.
More soon, hopefully.
Hi all.
I managed to finish the 1st wet sand of the highbuild since the last post.
It's always a milestone to get the highbuild on, as the boat looks much better and give the impression of nearly being finished.
But it's a total illusion, as when sanding off the guide coat, one sees all of the imperfections.
There's now about a million pinholes to fill, and they have to be done by hand. The highbuild just blows out of the holes, so fine putty has to be literally wiped in, faired, then more highbuild applied.
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But slow and steady wins the race, right?
I'm hoping it will only need 1 more highbuild, but I'm prepared for 2.
More soon.
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