SoCal Jet Boats
Tech Talk => Gelcoat / Paint / Fireberglass Repair => Topic started by: propless on July 30, 2007, 03:06:11 PM
-
Well I'm trying to decide what to do with this boat now, the motor is a fresh 30 over 460 that runs great, as you can see the pump is a yj Jacuzzi that works ok. The problem is that dam crack, a friend fixed it once when the boat was painted about 3 yrs ago and its back! :( Its about 4 inches long and in front of the right side stringer under the floor, so getting to the inside will be a bitch! There are no visable cracks around the stringer or the floor and they feel solid. So what should my plan be to fix this? I believe the area between the floor and the bottom of the hull is filled with foam, I know the area under the bow is becauce I had to cut some out just to fit some skies under there.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
-
i'm no proffesinal (spelling) but if you didnt glass inside and out that's why it keeps coming back. did your friend grind out the bad area? did you see my thread on how i fixed the crack in my boat
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php/topic,1277.0.html (http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php/topic,1277.0.html)
-
I dont know what he did to fix it the first time. And yes I saw your thread, nice job . So you think I should cut out the whole floor and the foam to get to the inside this time? Or just grind out a bigger area and start glassing? I'm thinking maybe the foam under there has rotted or compresed, and now there is nothing supporting that part of the hull, if that makes any sence. You can see the bottom curve up just in front of the crack now. :o Maybe it needs full stringers ? Or is it just to old and fu@#ed up to save ? :-\
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
-
i think it needs to be reinforced from the inside
-
you have to do it inside and out in order to fix it correctly. all you are doing is a patch job. and in its location it is takeing a beating. you dont have to cut up the entire floor just an access area to get to the spot where the work needs to be done. then patch the floor and you are done. it is the only way to fix the hull. it sucks but just get it done right. you have a nice boat
-
I say mash the gas and keep that part dry......
-
Thanks guys, I guess I'll start by cutting a 12x12 piece out of the floor and see what I can see under there. Does that sound like agood plan?
-
Gotta get at it from both sides . Sounds good and there is plenty of help.
-beerjet-
-
ya you dont need a lot of room. just enough to get the glass down there. the inside of the hull does not need to be as pretty as the bottem since the floor is going back on top of it. just make sure you take your time and do a good job. you dont want to have to do this again.
-
-----UPDATE-----
MOTHER FU**** THIS SUCKS !!!!
Ok I feel better now.
I pulled up the carpet tonight and saw this! :o
[attachimg=1]
So, now I know the floor is NOT ok ! I go get the Skill saw :o (never a good thing!)and start cutting the floor, and ripping it up. OH MY GOD, the smell that came out from under there could have killed a lesser man ! ;) Anyway the crack is not visible from the inside, but I know its there, I can pry on the floor and see it flex right in front of the stringer. And everything under there is rotten ,there is a center stringer that had NO glass on it (rotten) , the front of the bildge area also had no glass on the inside (rotten), the foam feels like a sponge and is soaked with somekind of liquid (its not just water!!)
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
SO, I'm thinking the stringers must be rotten to. I think the next step will be to remove the whole floor so I can get all that rotten foam and the center stringer out of there, than put full length stringers in there.
Any other ideas would be greatly Appreciated !!
-
I replaced the entire floor on my Miller and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I wish I would have known that, or at least tried, with my Hawiian. Take the entire floor out, putting in a whole new floor will be easier than patching the old floor. I think I would try to make the crack bigger with a grinder (just like Ralph did with his repair) that way the outside and inside repair's bond to each other. If it's possible you may want to "fray" the edge up of the old fiberglass - I'm not sure on that idea maybe someone will chime in on that idea with some constructive feedback. Might be a good idea as it would make the repair more of a part of the existing fiberglass.
-
After thinking about this for awhile (also never a good thing) I think I have a plan! Because tha crack is right at the front of the stringer it will be verry hard to fix it properly with the stringer still there. So, the plan is to remove all 3 stringers and the whole floor. Fix the crack the right way. make longer stringers to help support the hull in that area, maybe full length, or as far forward as I can get them to go. My old stringers are 2x6 but the floor is/was only 3 or 4 inches above the hull, So, get some 2x6 and notch the front section down to 3 or 4 inches to fit under the new floor.
My questions are.
1 What kind of wood for the stringers?
2 Will I still need the center stringer?
3 Can I use the regular foam in a spray can from Home Depot for under the floor?
4 Should I use fiberglass mat or weave to bond the new stringers?
I know this is alot of work for an old p.o.s. boat, but it is good practice for the Eliminator this winter. ;D The stingers in the Eliminator / Delaminator are 3/4 inch plywood 2 inches high !! :o No good for the big block. ;D ;D
-
You don't need foam in there. Also, I have tried to use that foam stuff in other types of vehicles and sooner or later it makes this very annoying squeking sound, the sound of two pieces of foam sliding together, eventually. However, My Rogers entire bow has that foam in it so.... ??? I know that when the stringers are replaced they have to be clamped in... I believe that Ultra Boats charges $800 for 1/4 stringer replacement and $1,000 for full stringer replacement (both stringers).
-
Not much new to report . I raised the front of the trailer about 3 ft to get all the water to drain out of what's left of the foam. I removed all the spongey/rotted foam and plywood (about half of the floor) . Now just waiting for things to dry out. The stringers are still solid, ;D the damage is just to the area under the floor from all that water being traped under there, there had to be 15 gal of water under there! :o Sunday I will start grinding the crack.
Any ideas on how to add some support to that area? The crack is directly under the front wall of the bildge area and about 4 in inside the stringer.
-
Just follow Ralph's repairs... grind the inside and outside, lay your fiberglass on the outside and inside at the same time.. make a hole and make it wide... ;)
-
Here are some pics of my progress so far, while grinding I found more than just one crack, more like 3 :( but thay are gone now !! I just laid the glass on the inside and I'm about to climb under there to do the bottom now, I could not do both sides at one time, I had to block the hole with some cardboard to keep it from falling through. so now that it has started to get solid I can grind the bottom and glass it under there
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
And by the way I think I found the cause of the problem !!
[attachimg=1]
-
???????????????????.........nice work BTW
-
Thank you HdriderTH.
I got the bottom done, It got a little dark on me but here are a couple pics.
btw, if you guys see me doing anything stupid please speak up!! I won't get offended.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
-
Here are some pics of my progres, almost done !! ;D ;D Picked up some parts from Tom at Jet Boat Performance today ( Realy nice guy !!! ) so now I just need to bolt it back together.
here are some braces I put under the floor to suport the area where the crack was
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
the new floor section
[attachthumb=3]
new 2/6s on the trailer
[attachthumb=4]
carpet glued back down and bildge area painted
[attachthumb=5]
now all to do is get the poor old dusty motor back in and remount the seats
[attachthumb=6]
Thanks again Tom for takeing so much time today to show and explain things to me !! ;D ;D
-
Looks great!
-
nice work, is looking great :)
-
WOW dude, you have done alot of work to it, and its looking really good. Most people i know would just sell it for cheap. Got to give you credit man nice phucking job bro ;D
2sav
-
... Most people i know would just sell it for cheap...
2sav
::)
-
::)
Ok you got me. Dam!
2sav
-
I'm getting close now !! Just in time for Winter :( or the Nostalgia Jet races in Bakersfield next month ! :o Brad do thay have a class with a 50mph speed limit ? ::) I want to kill some ducks too. ;D ;D
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
-
Looking good!!! 8)
-
That is bitchin. From the start of the read, you were sounding like you knew absolutely nothing about fiberglass... Now those pictures are showing some near Pro-Status results!
-
ok, how did you do the magical floating motor trick? haha ....wheres the front mount?!
-
Beutifull work! Just as easy to do it right, i've seen some pretty shitty repairs. That is at LEAST a pro job. The boat is back together, this guy does NOT fuc around!
-
ok, how did you do the magical floating motor trick? haha ....wheres the front mount?!
Well Brad , its like that because BB Fords are so light and make soooo much power that even gravity cant hold them down !!! :o But dont worry I'm going to get some chains to keep that BEAST under control !! ::)
Honestly it has a strange mounting. The bellhousing mounts to the pumps intake , and there is a cradle that goes under the motor from stringer to stringer and up to the stock motor mount bolts. The cradle looks like some redneck engineering, but it works.
I just want to say thanks to everyone on the site, without you guys I dont think I would have had the motivation to finish this thing !! Hopefully this weakend it will be back on the water !!! ;D ;D ;D
-
All I gotta say is WOW WOW WOW WOW ! Great work !
-beerjet-
-
Well the little bitch is finally done !!!!!! ;D ;D Jetaholic and I took it to the lake today and after 2 yrs :-[ it finally got wet again . No problems except an old ignition switch acting up ( no starter output ), but everything ealce went fine ! ;D
Here are some pics
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
the So Cal Jet Boats sticker adds 10mph ;D
[attachimg=4]
-
.....nice
-
It sure came out nice
-
great story and great write up !
-
Well, crap. I wish I had seen this thread back before you started. I woulda stole that from you and be on the water a week later. :P
Seriously, nice work you've done. Looks really great.
BUT....
I think you need to open up some limber holes underneath the deck. Water WILL get under there, how's it gonna get out? That area below the deck needs to breath. An easy fix would be to drill a 1" hole in the cross member just fwd of the engine. Take some brass tube and epoxy it into the hole. Be careful to not let excess epoxy clog the hole. That would allow any water to drain into the engine bilge.
-
Ummm, You did see that this thread was from 2007, right ?? That boat was used for awhile and sold (without the motor and gauges). It was a good little boat, but heavy as a tank. ;)
But, if your looking for projects. Ive got another boat that will be a bare hull again, soon.
http://www.socaljetboats.com/index.php?topic=3365.0
-
heh heh. Who looks at dates when the pics and story are so captivating? You really did a nice job. Especially for one who sounded so ensure at the beginning. :thumbup:
-
Well I'm trying to decide what to do with this boat now, the motor is a fresh 30 over 460 that runs great, as you can see the pump is a yj Jacuzzi that works ok. The problem is that dam crack, a friend fixed it once when the boat was painted about 3 yrs ago and its back! :( Its about 4 inches long and in front of the right side stringer under the floor, so getting to the inside will be a bitch! There are no visable cracks around the stringer or the floor and they feel solid. So what should my plan be to fix this? I believe the area between the floor and the bottom of the hull is filled with foam, I know the area under the bow is becauce I had to cut some out just to fit some skies under there.
(Attachment Link)
How did you get the cover streetched over the top of that shade thing? I got one of those atta yard sale and I could get that sucker streetched olong enuogh with a comalong