My Boat project, it will be worth it ;)

[W.olly]

I got some windows for the front of ebay again, good deal a si sold one of the houdini hatchs and got the two front ones

For this i had to make new housings again as i did for th hatch, reason i had to do it this way is that the front is curved or i could of used a flat sheet of GRP.



Stages



foam sheet again i got free from a local suppliers, damaged off cut of 6x2 x 50mm

cut to fit the opening

decide where to have the new window

as you can see here the curve needed and flat area for the window, these will not bend like the side windows did

then to sand back to the markings, carefully as the foam can break off if you dont clean the sand paper now and then.

trial fit

Two layers of 450grm for now as once fitted there will be another three to fit inplace to get a good strong frame.

cut back to where the foam was, it leaves a nice mark to see where to cut back to, then fine it up when fitting in the old aperture.

I didnt get any pics of the next step but i used 4 wooden blocks around the frame edges to keep the housing in place so i can work from the inside, screwed to the cabin and housing that is. easy fill the hole later. Another bit i didnt get pics of was the filling on the outside but as said the same as the hatch was done.



The frame have been polished up the same as the side windows not that you can see it in the pics.

And today we got all windows sorted

Now as said i am not overall happy with the looks of it, but it will have to do, mite look better once all painted and it will grow on me.

 

[addjunkie]

Impressed by your hatch and window fitting...nice work. You could put the other hatch on the fordeck, if there is space. Extra light always good in a boat.

 

[colnerov]

You could put the other hatch on the fordeck, if there is space.

But that's where the bevy of scantily clad females do their sunbathing.

 

[addjunkie]

But that's where the bevy of scantily clad females do their sunbathing.

Needs a much bigger boat and wallet for that, champaigne charlie doesnt boat on the manchester ship canal

 

[W.olly]

Needs a much bigger boat and wallet for that, champaigne charlie doesnt boat on the manchester ship canal

Ah you see thats why i made the canopy.......you will see

Impressed by your hatch and window fitting...nice work. You could put the other hatch on the fordeck, if there is space. Extra light always good in a boat.

I thought that but i couldnt picture it looking any good and that will now be the area for the fender rack. Just about to start to make that this week.

 

[octo0072000]

The old fellow wasn't daft - believe it or not [some] curtains from the 60s/70s were made from fibreglass.

i was just going to say the same about the curtains horrible things they were

 

[W.olly]

Mite aswell get on with a load of the build to get uptodate quicker.

i borrowed a pressure washer of a mate to see if it would get all the old paint off, jjust to save the sanding, and it worked well. so much better than the sanding lark, got enough to do on the outside of the shell later in a week or two.

bucket full of paint, you should of seen the state of me, i bet i could of filled the tub if i got the paint off me lol.

After all this and cleaning the drive up, i got rid of the kit car, and doing 4 tip runs i was goosed so all i could do was have a faff underneath to look at a few damage areas, no big deal and easy to fix though, i will expect loads more to come.

still needs a bit more as delaminated GRP is as bad as a rusty old reck, it gets bigger...and bigger......

I dont know what i was contemplating with this keel malarky, an afternoon and its done, not fixed in place as i am knackered now and its late, but its made and ready for the cascamite and laminating in.



Some 4x4 i had lying around

Oh and a cidre and snack, i need my treast on shopping day

Not a clue where the pics have gone but used what i had to hand to shape the timber to the pain of a shape is was, something like bloody 4 dimensional i think lol.

My circular saw and elecy planer, sods law the belt snapped on the last few shaves so had to finish with a flap disc sander.

All i need to do now is try to find a way to dry it all out and clean up all the surfaces to stick inplace with the Cascamite then dry before i laminate, the rear deck inner keel has to be made but thats just a length of 3x2 that goes through the lower bulkhead section and joins to the front length.

I wil sort it when i can asap, we have a week off week after next as we are off for a long weekend down wales then rest of the week off to play out

Sanding and bearers etc i hop will get done, maybe even the floor.



The front and rear section were only 6 foot each so i will have to scarf joint them.

 

[W.olly]

I used used 3x2 for the rear keel and made a slot for when water gets in it gets to both sides of the keel to pump out.

It goes through the bulkhead and is glued with Purocol Express then laminated in place with the front keel.



The rear bearers are not yet fitted in place but the front are fixed with resin for now, i have ran out of CSM, gutted

For the water to get around the rear keel, saves on two bilge pumps

Dont worry the laminating is good, it was filled of water before i took these pics for you, all the white patchs is the sanding dust, i will be glad when its all done, but loads more to come.

And joined the two keels together solid.

I coated the bearers before i stuck them down with a coat of the laminating resin to help keep water tight. As said i am out of CSM and will be shopping this week end i hope for some more aswell as the plywood for the floor/rear deck, engine well and transom, so loooaads to come to do.

Now what i have done is leave this hole in the bow which is now near level with the keel so when i need to wash the inside donw from dust its easier than brushing it all up.

As there is no more building work to do me and T got on with sanding, got a fair bit done in the last few days,once again i hate sanding soooooo bad i just want to get it done, after 6 hours today doing i hav ehad enough and buzzing all over aswell as aching so bad, got bad fingers and elbows as it is

, BUT no pain no gain

)



I am not ashamed to say when i got under the boat i found all this i wish i didnt get it, but after a few minutes i seen the light once again, everything is fixable and easy so soldier on i did

There has been a lot of patch work done in the past above and below the water line, looks ok but sits proud. This is just a few of the mnay patchs that have been done over the years

A few crazed areas cleaned back to find the original gel coat had come loose on a big scale, i think from impact damage but from the inside by looks, the laminates are fine though thank goodness.

On the top side i removed the pulpit rial as it needs a good one, i will be building one from plumbers copper and then taking to a stainless fab shop to get it made up, with a nice hardwood slat seat built in on the bow, and to help as a foot steady to haul anchor

You will see in the first of these outer pics the back end is very close to the wall so we are unable to get in the sand etc, also you will see i have added new supports to thee cross beams, the idea is to get some 4-5 inch thick round fence posts and sit the cross beams on these so then we can push the boat over to the other side of the drive to work the other side....easy

I will not be fixing the hull below the first chine, maybe clean it back, but above will be a done soon i hope as soon as the rear deck and transom is done so then we are going to prime it all at least before winter so then i can do work on the inside, then next spring/summer finish the hull before launch time..........launch time, by eck that sounds a long way off if at all.

 

[W.olly]

I got funds to get more CSM and resin so i popped off to the local suppliers for the gear, i got another 5kg of 450grm and 20kg resin, aswell as a nice new sanding block to make life easier still and better finish.

As it happen i didnt expect to get much done as weather was to be thunder storms, although when i got home late morning it was fairly good so i cracked on inside and finshing the bearers.



For the laminating i used two laminations of 450grm and also 300grm woven.

I cut them all to length as you should so no faffing when the resin is setting.



and all set out in place

Now then, this stuff sets or gels quicker than you think when you are working with it so only mix what you think you will use in say 20 mins, or its all waisted resin, for these that are interested in the mix ration i use 1% catalyst, so in this stage i used near 1 litre of resin and 10ml catalyst as it is what i had left in the old resin drum, dont use less than 1 % as it can make a mess of the way it sets. Also the hotter the ambient temp is the quister it will set so mix less again than you thin you will need, just pour more tubs then when you have used the first tub add the catalyst and carry on.

This took an hour or so to sort out and is now setting until i check it hld ok tomorrow, always leave for a good 24hrs to set.



Hang on no finished pic, ill be back with it later.













In the mean time after that was done i was knackered again so i decided to do some detail work on the shell. the gun wale are chipped bad in a few place so i could use the new sanding block and also some cracking sand paper to do the job.

I found this the othe day in BnQ in the bargain bucket, not that it was cheap then but i was intrigued with it.

£3 was steep for 2 sheets but i was in a good mood lol. I used it on the orbital sander and palm for sanding the hull and worked great so i gave it a go with the new block

Ok T gave it a go for me

I filled she sanded.

Its all looking better now after a good sand here and there and detail work aswel. not a great deal done but these little bits are important for the finish, all in the prep hey, hope to get the floor done this week and onto the transom, i have decided what to do with it anyway as last night i was cutting and shutting timber to work it all out. i will tell all later..
i started the side ribs, got one side done as i cant get to the other yet until i push the boat over so its one side at a time. amazing how much sturdier it is with just the bearers and ribs in.



As the original were 2x2 i used the same, i could of used the old fixing holes but in the 40 years of this boats life it has had a new strakes/ribs fitted as you mite be able to make out in the pics. Instead though i drilled more for these new ribs, not decide yet if i will be fitting wooden rubbing strakes but thye are there for when i do decide.



I kept the same length of ribs, as the hull is a little curved it braced the new ones inplace.

the lower rib goes through the bulkhead, thought it mite help keep more rigid.

Oh yes more grinding/sanding back was needed for the good surface for laminating later, thank god for dust masks

To ensure i got the correct line for drilling hole from the outside i drilled small holes along the bottom of the batten so then on the outside i could find the correct line for drilling for the fixing the screws. i stuck a few screws in the holes to find the holes easier.

I drilled and counter sunk the holes for the fixing screws and marked just so i know where they are, going loopy a bit nowadays so these little things help lol.

I just used N o5 30mm screws to hold it place as the GRP will do the main job. As said above i started to laminate tonight but i am tired and as yesterday aslo i forgot to radius the edges of the battens to get a better bond of the GRP and made a mess of it so instead of chucking a spanner......eerrr brush, i left it and will amend maybe tomorrow. No big deal.



Once i have sorted this bit i will be starting on the transom and then deck and cabin door, biggest jobs yet i reckon, be good to see it done though.

 

[W.olly]

At long long last we have a floor fitted, and fitted good aswell i reckon, I used 18mm hardwood ply for it, aso the same for the transom which is to be shown later on in this post.



To get the shape of the rear section i just measured the width every 18 inch, as the sheet is a full 2440mm or eight foot it reached the last bearer with leaving 3 inch, or 75mm at the bulkhead, i dont mind this as i want a full air flow through the bilge as there is also a 4 inch gap in the bow. I am complicating things here with imperial and metric, sorry Dont know why i do that.

Then the front i used a long straight edge with a marker pen taped to it to get the curver as near as possible, then to find the curve i measured the width evey 6 inch and marked it down on the sheet, you can just see the line in the pic below. .

With the help of my lacky

)) w eused a ally strip, a part we ddint use the the windows as were not needed, it help get the curve of the bow floor.

And hey presto the floor ready to be fettled by chamfering the edge to sit lower on the bearers and bring the edge closer to the hull for a better fit.

We resined the floor all over to give a better water proof finish and longer lasting also.

I sanded all around the egde of the floor before i laid it in place, again for better holding of the new resin and wiped don with acetone.

Bilge hatch, hope i got this in the correct place lol

At this stage i used the Purocol again to stick the floor to the bearers and then screwed it down to them, this aint going anywhere

The EXPERIMENT

)) worked, i messed the other day with this to see how it would go, and its dam good stuff, i used some of the Cascamite and instead of using water to mix it i used the fibreglass resin to get a filler of what ever consistency i need, i sampled it on a few bits of wood to wood and also wood to fibreglass. Once i found that was good i used it as a filler for the damage to the hull, christ it sticks well, pig to sand back though, still though better than car body filler which is easy sand as its water proof unlike car filler.



I used it all around the egde of the floor to give a dam good hold for the floor and to help blend the floor to the hull for laminating.

That was left to set for a good few hours before the last stage and that was to laminate the edge of the floor in place with two laminations of 450grm CSM, as usual.

I havnt yet sampled how solid it feels but it felt good with just the floor on the bearers, this hull should be good know for the extra strength, i have done it this much incase we do get to take it to sea,

 

[W.olly]

Now the transom, BIG job again as it needs to be stronger for if taken to sea therefore its made from two 18mm hardwood ply sheet laminated together with the Cascamite resin again, `poo to a blanket` i think they call it.

Its is not complete yet a si ran out of resin filler, will get some ASAP.



Sorry no detailed pics but i just cut the shape the first sheet with a good overlap around the old transom, well what left as it will be getting bolted to it along with resin filler and laminating.



Spread a nice layer all over the first sheet before we clamped and screwed it all together to hold it good and tight.

Here it is when dreid the day after, here you can see i chamfered the edge all around where it will meet the original transom, this is to get a smooth blend in for the grp to geta good hold and no sharp corners, CSM does not go around sharp corners.

The new transom is going to be resin/glued and screwed to the 3x2 beam before cutting out the engine gap, not a clue what that part is called but where the engine clamps to, and all laminated over in and out to make good. plus a few more bits though inbetween.

I have to say this boat is killing me, but i love it, cant darn wait to get it on the canal

eight months to go, as if hey

 

[brightspark]

what are u[powering it with /

 

[W.olly]

what are u[powering it with /

Outboard around 30np, i was wanting an inboard diesel but weight issues then.

 

[the snooper]

Outboard around 30np, i was wanting an inboard diesel but weight issues then.

not with a 2 cylinder plodder

 

[W.olly]

not with a 2 cylinder plodder

Lot of work fiitting an inboard though aswell. Ok a lot more work than what has been done lol.

 

[the snooper]

Lot of work fiitting an inboard though aswell. Ok a lot more work than what has been done lol.

ive fitted inboards in the past the worst part would the mounting the prop in the hull

 

[the snooper]

Lot of work fiitting an inboard though aswell. Ok a lot more work than what has been done lol.

here is one I helped a mate with last year a 6 cylinder cummins, fitted in his barge now a bit big for your boat though

 

[W.olly]

here is one I helped a mate with last year a 6 cylinder cummins, fitted in his barge now a bit big for your boat though
View attachment 92847

I take it mean a real barge,not a sewer tube lol, i remember a chap fitting a Jag V12 in one once, wish i seen the outcome of that.

 

[the snooper]

I take it mean a real barge,not a sewer tube lol, i remember a chap fitting a Jag V12 in one once, wish i seen the outcome of that.

yeah a real barge, sounds nice aswell and power wise a bit OTT

 

[the snooper]

what outboard will you be putting on it ?