So its been a couple days since I finally got off my ass and started this rebuild.  And I finally found my adaptor to get the damn pics off of my camera.  Sorry, lost the pics of day 1 and yanking the 455.  Tore it down and sent it out to the machine shop to have the heads and block cleaned and freshened up.  Yanked the Mondello oil restrictors and put in a set from Olds Perfomance Products and had the oil returns in the heads drilled out bigger.  No more oiling problems.  The heads also got a valve job, new seals, new rocker arm studs, and resurfaced.  The block got new pistons and rings, new cam bearings, new rod bearings, and new main bearings.  Hopefully this 455 turns out pretty reliable.  I know it wont be the fastest thing in the world, but wtf...its an Olds.  Maybe when the pocketbook and wife allows me....an alky 454 can make its way in
 
Day 2 boat stripped




Thought I had bought a boat with a pretty solid hull   Once all the interior and carpet was pulled out I found a couple of spots that got me banging my head on the wall....FUKKN rot!

In the bow...

and on the transom...


Chit!  More glass work that I didn't wanna do!

Then when I pulled off the rub rail, I really got to see how crappy the cap was on.

Probably why the bow is all fkn rotted out

Day 3 I started patching everything.  Mixed up a batch of Aerocil (filler) and went to town....





Let the filler go off then coated with a layer of sanding resin.  Cut out the rot from the transom and bow.  After that ordeal I called it quits for the night and let the sanding resin sit till today.

Today, Day 4 broke out the DA and some 180 grit and started banging away.  Got all the edges smoothed out then went back with a 60 grit sponge to roughen it up again.  Layed down a coat of laminating resin and began taping the edges to re-cap everything.  Forgot to take some pics...so I'll get some tomorrow when I finish up the capping.

Trying to decide on a color scheme....what do you guys think of white on white?

nice work were in hawaii you live

Cool beginning of a thread.  Good luck and we're here to help (with what we can). 

For what it's worth, I think I would grind back on the seam a bit further and lay some glass in there first before the filler.  I don't want you to go to all that hard work now and then have a crack show up after you layed your paint on it.

Best of luck and keep at it.  It's gonna be an awesome boat....just takes patience.........john

Thanks John!  I actually mixed some chopped fibers into the filler and I'm in the process now of wrapping glass over the filler to tie in the cap and the hull.  I'll get some pics up today, but what do ya think?  Will there be any issues there?  

By the way...I used to live up in your neck of the woods for about 7 bone chilling years!  Actually the three months of summer were beautiful, just the rest of the year kinda made me wanna shoot myself  Wish I had found jetboats when I still lived up there, I'd probably still be there

nice work were in hawaii you live

Thanks 78Cole!  Currently I'm back home on the Eastside of Oahu....Kaneohe.  Ever been my way?

Good prooject Bro .. have at it and post up lots of Pics !

I will Tom and don't worry, I'll be buggin you a lot when it comes time to tear down my pump

They are right.  Grind down thru the gel coat to the glass layer wider than your anticipated work area.  Clean with acetone.  USE MAT, NOT CLOTH, Start with a 1" wd strip, wet it out, wet the work area, lay it across seam, roll or brush out any bubbles, feather the edges into the adjacent surfaces, let it cure.  Do it again with 1/2" wider strips up to 3", over lapping the end of the previous strip by an inch or two.   You could do all layers in one day, just pre-cut the strips, and lay-up one entire layer around the boat.  Then the next layer as soon as the first has kicked.  Remember to use general purpose laminating resin...Remember also that the higher the humidity, the FASTER its going to kick, so catalize with that in mind.

a little verbose, but hope it helps

p-jet

Thanks for the advice guys   Here are some pics from today...









Basically I sanded about 4-5 inches above and below the cap seam.  Then I wet the area with a layer of laminating resin and layed down 6oz 3-4 inches above and below the seam.  Tomorrow I'm gonna brush on a few more layers of resin then a layer of sanding resin before sanding it down and feathering in the edges.  I know you guys said to do a few layers, going wider each time, but I didnt read that till I got in just now....plus, I'm lazy   LoL!   But that advice is good to know....I'll do it on the next boat

Yeah GT, I surely am balls deep into this thing already.  The cloth is a little "dry" right now, but I'm gonna layer a few more coats of resin on it tomorrow.  I guess my glass work is a little more geared towards a surfboard....got lots of time in with those things.  Next project boat will take your guys advice and use the mat instead of cloth...actually it makes more sense that way anyway!  Should have this thing ready to paint in a few days....so I'll keep updating!

As far as the extras that popped up during the strip down, I guess if I was a little more careful when I bought the boat I would have noticed those flaws, but being as this was my first jetboat....I was too fkn anxious to get this thing back home

kohensdad, nice nice nice that is the life right there now to us city folks everybody take a look at pics again but look at the background boat work is awesome but look at the life he has the room, trees, sky and clouds i have never been and said why go to see another state but i just told kids there is the next family vacations spot.....good luck on project it just got me up to start mine now 79 tahiti 21ft trailers been done for a year boats turn

Hahaha!  Yeah, we live cuuntree!  Nah...its a good balance here, nice country living on this part of the island, but city life is just a 20 min drive away!  Can't really complain except for the fact that I live on a rock in the middle of a huge ocean.  You can only go around the island so many times before you wanna jump off!  A lot of times I envy you guys livin on the mainland....soooo much chit to do and see!

GT is right, the picture shows the cloth is white (dry)...I saturate my cloth or mat on a piece of cardboard before i put it on the work area...I see that there is still metal flake under the cloth...that means that you did not grind down to the glass layer, and there will be no "mechanical" bond to the glass you are putting down...kinda like painting on an unprepared surface...it gonna come off.  Fiberglassing is a very technical process to do it right.  I love your enthusiasm, and I hate to say it, but jobs like this are best left to an experienced shop.  If you don't know how to glass, you will NEVER get the results you are looking for...take it from someone who learned the hard way.

p-jet

Sorry, I think my pics are a little confusing.  Yes, when I first lay my cloth down it is dry.  The pictures under the first one with the cloth showing is what the end result is, well, not completely done there are a few more layers of resin to be "brushed" on.  I guess we've got some different styles of glassing.  This is how we've come to learn how to glass....like a surfboard.  Not saying it is necessarily the correct way for this application, but its been a tried and true method for us (knock on wood).  I see what you are saying and it does make a lot of sense, and I will probably put your advice to work on the next boat we work on. 

So basically this is the starting point....cloth layed down over a layer of laminating resin


And this is where it ends up after a coat of laminating resin is applied with a squeegee and brush.....

....After this a few more hot coats will be applied, topped off with a coat of sanding resin.

I hope this doesn't sound like I don't want to listen to your guys advice, because I am   Its just that at this point I really don't want to sand all that shit down again   This isnt the first boat we've built....and sanding and resin and sanding and fiberglass and sanding and a whole lot of cussing....blah.  But don't get me wrong....I am excited about this project because its our first JETBOAT

Hahaha!  Yeah, we live cuuntree!  Nah...its a good balance here, nice country living on this part of the island, but city life is just a 20 min drive away!  Can't really complain except for the fact that I live on a rock in the middle of a huge ocean.  You can only go around the island so many times before you wanna jump off!  A lot of times I envy you guys livin on the mainland....soooo much chit to do and see!

I like that side of the island. We did a cabinet job for a haole (sp) in Kailua. It was terrible, had to make like 3 trips over there, bed and breakfast, rental car, airfare, all paid by the clients. Man I could use a job like that now.
Oh ya, and the boats looking good. If you have any problems with the seem cracking, just put some moulding back on it. No big deal, Bra
 Hapo Haole  Ron

I like that side of the island. We did a cabinet job for a howly (sp) in Kailua. It was terrible, had to make like 3 trips over there, bed and breakfast, rental car, airfare, all paid by the clients. Man I could use a job like that now.
Oh ya, and the boats looking good. If you have any problems with the seem cracking, just put some moulding back on it. No big deal, Bra
 Hopo Howly Ron

Yeah, its "haole" you haole!  Hahaha!  J/K!  That job really sounded like it was shitty.  I mean who the hell wants to go make money, work in paradise and not have to pay a single fricken penny?  What a shitty deal bro! 

kohensdad i was in pukalani (p-town) maui this summer at my aunt and uncles only time I've been to your side of the globe might go back this summer if prices keep dropping on air fare but have to go back in 3 yrs my cousin graduates from highschool you are doing some nice work keep the pics up

Better hurry back because all our beaches are eroding and there might not be any left when you get here my man! 

Well, as far as progress with the boat goes....I didn't do fuk all today!  I went fishing! 




Didn't catch jack....but a day on the ocean is better than being at work!

BTW, my buddy that's helping me with my Tahiti is also the same guy that built this boat...I can attest that we're using the same glassing techniques on the Tahiti as he did on this Yellowfin.  The Yellowfin takes a POUNDING when we go out and it has been solid as a rock!  So I've got hope for the Tahiti.

were did you guys go fishing looks like a blast i love the diving there it was awsome

looks like you are progressing along guite quickly, keep up the good work and keep the pics coming

The guy I used is resonable. My interior, including the ghetto fender pads and steps were 1600.00. As you know from the post, I built and resined everything. He did have to sew all the tuck and roll. That was alot of labor, probably could have saved a few hundred bucks right there. Had another price for 2200.00 w/o the pads and steps. If you decide to send it over, let me know i'll help any way that I can.  Ron