Re: 1972 Wildcat Restoration
Hey there! Let me just say I am in the midst of my first restoration as well. Like you I am new to restoring boats. I have skill in wood working and dealing with tools but have never used them for boat building. From my experience here, I can say you've come to the right place.
A few things I might add...
There are two forums here for boat restorations, one for current projects and one for completed ones. Read them. Read as many as you can. You will find tons of useful information in these. And like me, you may just find the inspiration you need to jump to such a project! It?s a great forum and you?ll learn a lot here.
As far as resin goes, you may also consider vinyl ester resin. It is much like polyester resin in that it is easier to work with than epoxy, but it is stronger than polyester. It is an option you might consider. You can buy it from uscomposites.com. Many people on this site, including me, use US Composites for buying resin and glass.
As far as glass goes, there are several different types of glass offering different levels of strength. It is wise to consider what you are glassing and choose an appropriate glass for that application. For example, your stringers provide much of your boat?s strength. Using 1708 Biaxial glass gives a lot of strength for your stringers. But that sort of glass would be wasted if all you need to do is reinforce the topside of your deck. A lighter duty glass on your deck will spare you some weight and save you some money.
Also consider the weight of your glass and the weight of the resin you?ll add. You don?t want to go overboard and fill your boat with the strongest possible glass because you?ll add a lot of weight to it at the same time. Glass is generally rated by its weight per square foot. There are sites out there that will tell you about how much resin each sort of glass will absorb and how much the resin weighs. You can use this to determine how much weight you are adding to the boat as you build it.
Finally, DON?T BE INTIMIDATED! This may sound like information overload, but you sound like you want to do it right.
There is a lot to consider but there is a lot of help to be found! Keep us posted on your progress and we?ll be glad to help out. Ask questions. Post pics. There are tons of us out there with different levels of experience to offer some help.
Oh and Chopped Stranded Mat (CSM) is a basic type of fiberglass. It is a light weight mat made of loosely arranged strands of fiberglass. It generally absorbs a bit more resin than other types of glass. As such is used as a general use fiberglass where strength is not really a factor, like glassing the topside of your deck or glassing over your console or something like that.
I've read that the epoxy is stronger and will last longer. You guys are the boat builders so I'll take your word over something I've read on the internet lol. I've read your posts and went over the links and thank you, I appreciate that. What is a chopped strand mat?