1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

[Hornsby4321]

WEll, I got this boat a couple of weeks ago in trade, came with a 55 horse sea king motor, that supposedly runs, but we will have to wait to find out about that one. I had been cleaning, and cutting the oxidation on the gel coat, and it was starting to look pretty good outside, but after scrubbing the floor, and almost putting my knee through the floor, i did some looking, drilled a few holes, and then started cutting holes with the sawz-all so i could get my inspection mirror and flashlight under the flooring. WEll, its all rotten, and the stringers look like they were poorly installed as well, since the fiberglass over them is going in all sorts of directions, with tons of bulges and bubbles. SO i am going to attempt to put in a new floor and stringers and transom.
heres a couple pics, as im working on resizing the rest, and will be taking more today as i get the boat off the trailer and blocked up on the garage floor!

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

OK, sourcing the plywood for the decking locally, and thinking about the stringers... has anyone used trex decking to make stringers? scuff the surface for better adhesion, but any reasons it would work? wanting to NEVER have to do this again...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

Not recommended. No structural integrity and glass will not adhere to it

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

thx Wood, guess im just going with 3/4 marine ply for the stringers, thinking half inch for the floors. ANy advice on foam? Do i need foam?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

Foam is your best friend in a boat, you wouldn't want to do all of this work to your boat and then have it accidently sink to the bottom would you?

The 2 part expanding urethane foam is usually the foam of choice for fiberglass restos, but some folks have used the XPS sheet foam.


Properly installed and cared for, the wood in your boat will last 2 lifetimes. Wood rots from neglect. Keep your boat covered and dry when not in use and you'll never have to replace a splinter of wood on it again.

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

Im going to go with the two part expanding I think, the boat does not have any foam in it as I'm tearing apart, so I guess the question I have is... How much foam do I need in a 15 ft fiberglass boat?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

The more you put in the better your boat will float should your hull be breached or you get swamped.

This is a good example of the right amount of floatation foam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M30nDtZ4iys

On the majority of fiberglass boats the space between the deck and hull is filled completely. You can either fill the area before the decking is laid and cut it off flush with the top of the stringers with a carpenters hand saw... or lay the deck and the drill hole through the deck and pour the foam in, the latter is the way it's done in most boats.

You can see here how Frisco did his:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=510077&page=2

That's actually a very good thread for you to read for ideas on your rebuild.

I can figure the cubic feet of foam you'll need for you if you can give me some good dimensions.

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

I'll get some measurements for the foam when I get home from work tonight... Been trying to find 4x10 sheets of marine ply for the floor and stringers, but coming up empty for a local source so far... Are there any options other than marine ply for the floor, transom and stringers? Have heard of lots of people using exterior grade ply with good luck, but would like someone to weigh in with their opinions on this one. Also, planning on using epoxy resin for the whole thing, but am hearing
Poly resin is a better, would also like to hear opinions. Last question of this post... Is cloth. Have done repairs using mainly 8 oz( I think it was 8oz). And was planning on ordering this cloth again, do I need to use csm? Or can I do it with all glass cloth?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

You can use exterior grade plywood, a lot of folks on here use the Aruco brand ACX exterior grade plywood. An even better plywood is MDO, and both are considerably cheaper than marine grade.

Forget the 4x10 sheets, you need to lay your plywood with the grain running side to side and not front to back... it's stronger this way.

Your boat was built with polyester resin and it's better to go back with the same thing.

For your urethane foam, poly resin, and glass cloth and mat you may want to look here:
http://www.uscomposites.com/

They have good prices and great service.

As far as the mat and cloth go, this is a good explanation:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=384982&page=25&p=3586813#post3586813

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

Did a little looking, reading the FAQ's on the uscomposite website, and found this.
" What are the advantages of epoxy over polyester resins?

There are many advantages including being non-flammable, not exhibiting a strong odor and being up to 25% stronger than their polyester counterparts. In marine applications, epoxies are far superior in resisting water absorption and are less likely to blister. Epoxies are more flexible and adhere better to all surfaces."

Since I have only worked with Polyester Resin in Large Scale Model Aircraft, but i always used Epoxy Resin to fuel proof the engine mounts so the fuel didnt soak through the plywood., How well do these two different resin compounds bond to each other?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

I prefer the epoxy too, it may be more expensive... but you get what you pay for eh?! The non-flammability, no noxious fumes, and low odor are worth the extra cost to me. Most people want to get by as cheaply as possible and that is the main reason the poly resin is popular.

As far as the bonding goes, it sounds like you can use the epoxy over the poly but not the other way around since it says that the epoxies adhere better to all surfaces. You're going to have to grind everything back to good glass anyway, so that's going to give you the roughened surface you need for a good grip with the resin.

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

Well, been a busy week at work, but have been chatting with my father in law( my personal boat expert) and we have settled on using poly resin if only for the price, 4 lb pourable foam, and 3/4 inch acx plywood throughout. We have all the measurements needed to set up a bill of materials, and (since he is retired) he will be helping me with most of the tasks we will be doing as soon as I get the old flooring and transom taken out. I'm going to follow woodonglas' thread for layup of glass on the stringers, transom an floor. Local purchases will be made Friday for plywood, and resin, and I will be ordering all of my cloth from us composites as well on Friday, and then I'll have four days off next week to get things started. I'm hoping to get the transom and stringers at least tabbed into place by next weekend, and then the floor the following week. Am I completely crazy to think I could have the flooring in place within a couple of weeks, then flip and paint the hull? Or am I just dreaming that it could come together so fast?

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

Well, the weather has prevented me from working on the boat as planned so far, but hopefully the temperature will be steadily climbing in the next month or so... I have been reading and researching about the fiberglass layup, and have a question for the pro's; Do I really need to put a layer of csm between the layers of 1708 since it already has a layer of csm stitched to it? Going to order all the remaining materials needed after the next payday, and want to have it al figured out before I have to give the total bill to the wife for approval

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

No you do not. I have been researching a lot lately and the star CSM is NOT required. First layer maybe if it's rough but not between layers of 1708. I will be updating all my drawings soon.

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

This is the info that i have come across, nice to hear it from WOG, now my question is.... do i need to add more layers of 1708? or do i just remove the csm from the layup schedule, and leave it with two layers of 1708?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

Two layers of 1708 should be adequate. I would advise to use a layer CSM on the transom as the first layer still.

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

Sage advice WOG, really appreciate you chiming in! I had actually planned on 1 layer of csm and 3 layers of 1708 on the transom, followed by one csm, and two 1708 on the stringers. Have lots of oddball questions coming in the next post.

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

So here are some oddball(to me at least) questions. My terminology is atrocious, so bear with me please.

1. Steering: I don't know much about steering, but i have got to think that (don't know what type of steering this is) a stem coming through the dashboard with a cable wrapped around it, coming down the underside of the cap to some pulleys and then to the motor has got to go... I just do't have any idea where to go with it! Any help would be appreciated.

2. Speedometer: it came with a nice looking one, lots of chrome, and trim pieces, but it wasnt hooked up.. i assume it ran to a cheap plastic pick-up(dont know the name of the part) on the bottom of the transom, as are definitely holes there for one. Where do i get this part? I dont plan on reusing the old speedo, as it looks as though it would need a bit of cleaning up, but i will be replacing it with a full set of gauges in the same amount of room.

3. Label plates: i have the original plastic Sea King badges from the rear sides of the hull, but they look horrid, is there a company out there that makes reproductions? or should i just scan them for an image, and have heavy vinyl stickers made?

Thats all that i can think of at the moment, but I'm sure I will come up with more soon!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

1: Cable steering works when it works, and has for a long time. But yes there are other options. If you want to change it, it may involve a new wheel too, or some creative fab to adapt the new hub to the old wheel or vice versa... iboats sells teleflex kits. $130+/- & UP, some WAY UP. Other mfg's & online retailers..

2: Pitot tube/pickup. If it had a plastic hose 1/4"+/- coming out of the speedometer, and all else w/ the speedo is in good shape, you just need the hose & pickup. iboats sells them too, and others...

3:

???
from here
ebay
if you can find a good clean image, put it on a thumbdrive & take it to a graphics/wrap place or this place online

 

[Hornsby4321]

Re: 1967 Sea King 15 ft restoration

Thanks jbcurt00, have added the links to my boat repair folder. I will have to get my scanner dusted off and scan those plates, that will give me something to do until the weather gets better! I def. wont need these until next winter when we are planning to paint the boat, but i like to get things organized as far out as i can!