1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

[jb93]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

Got the transom scraped of all rotten wood tonight. Used a 2" wide wood chisel and 3lb hammer. HOO-AH! Step 23 of 7,491 complete. Oh boy... Here is a pic

I am so thankful that this hull is not loaded with water logged foam. It has 2x4 lengths of foam that were cured outside the boat then tabbed into place. Super easy to remove. NICE. Here is an example along the outside starboard stringer.

 

[jb93]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

While I have not been posting, I have continued work. Transom has been ground to make ready for new and I glued up 2 3/4" marine ply pcs for new transom using TiteBond III. I called US Composites to place order today. They told me that I should not use Poly PB to glue transom and stringers to hull, and that I should use Epoxy based PB instead and just make sure it does not get exposed so that I can make exposed filet out of poly PB and then use poly to lay up my glass. I took their advice and ordered just enough epoxy to make PB to glue transom and stringers to hull. Thoughts?

 

[jb93]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

bump...have order in the works and was hoping to get a response. Thx.

 

[jb93]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

Now that summer is here, I am wishing I was done with this restoration. I have done a little work in the last few weeks that I wanted to post up as I try to get moving again. But before the work, here is a shot of the "work" I did today with a friend. 42 sand bass keepers in about 3-1/2 hours fishing...threw back probably 10 undersized. Not bad for 2 guys in under 4 hours.

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[jb93]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

Here is the interior with center stringer cut out and a little section of the nose grinded down. Took 2 hours to do that grinding. Tough sledding for sure. Second picture is my transom mid construction. 2 layer 3/4 Arauco plywood, titebond 3 glued together, poly and 2 layers of mat for inside skin. Plan to poly the edges and put a strip of mat around the edges. I tried pulling the fibers like WOG recommends, but I got a ton of bubbles and had to grind off.

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[jb93]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

Question. I see some guys who notch the bottom of their new transom so that the drain plug is drilled through their PB filler. Others drill to size (I guess) and just coat with poly to seal before installing drain plug. What is best way. You can see my drain plug if drilled to size leaves only about 1/2 inch of plywood between hole and edge. Thanks!

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[jb93]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

Suited up in Tyvek at 615 this morning to get in some pre-church grinding. Bought some 24 grit discs as my center stringer was bedded deep in factory PB. There is no way to sand down in the channel left by the completely rotted out stinger, so I am grinding it all off back flush with the rest of the hull.

24 grit GOOD... :victorious: Going along nicely and I was thinking how well my HF grinder was holding up to the task. 90 minutes into it the grinder shot fire out the vents and gave up the ghost. I guess that is when you know you are doing something, when stuff starts breaking cause it just can't hang. Backup grinder reporting for duty next session. I'll post some pics when I am further along.

Anyone care to answer my transom thru hull question above?

 

[RTassi]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

Suited up in Tyvek at 615 this morning to get in some pre-church grinding. Bought some 24 grit discs as my center stringer was bedded deep in factory PB. There is no way to sand down in the channel left by the completely rotted out stinger, so I am grinding it all off back flush with the rest of the hull.

24 grit GOOD... :victorious: Going along nicely and I was thinking how well my HF grinder was holding up to the task. 90 minutes into it the grinder shot fire out the vents and gave up the ghost. I guess that is when you know you are doing something, when stuff starts breaking cause it just can't hang. Backup grinder reporting for duty next session. I'll post some pics when I am further along.

Anyone care to answer my transom thru hull question above?

I don't have an answer on that for you but I'm in the middle of a 165 sport rebuild myself here in Louisiana. '72 best i can tell. I was debating on how far to take it - the engine was a mess but with the help of a neighbor, it's now rebuilt and ready to go... so now the question is: Do i just drop it in and play around in an old beater or should i take this project to full glamour? Granted I was gifted this entire boat with the purchase of my house so my investment so far has been minimal. The hulls been under roof for all these years and is in great shape - the transom recieved a little TLC years back so it's sound. I could drop the motor in and run it... but I'm tempted to make it like new. Any suggestions - research you may have done on value added or return on investment for these models?? or will this just be for the love of it as with most of my boating projects?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

Boats of this Vintage are only worth what you can get out of em. I'd recommend making her Seaworthy and usable and put her on the water and have fun!!!! If the motor is sound, Stingers, Deck and Transom are all Sound, then button her up and hit the lake!!! JMO

 

[sevanseriesta]

Re: 1973 Wellcraft Airslot 165 Sport Rebuild

To help with your question, the reason the notch in the transom is to make sure that no water touches the wood. You can do it however you want and what makes you feel more comfortable. If you notch it, you will use more supplies as it will require more PB. If you just redrill the hole you have the chance of the wood getting wet if you do not prepare it correctly.

My transom does not go down to the drain so I was fortunate with that. You can drill the hole bigger then the original size. fill it with pb then redrill to the right size. that will help with keeping the wood dry. I hope that helps.

 

[WellcraftChris]

So I've got a 1973 Airslot 185 that I'm taking apart right now. Got the cap off that floor out transom was mulch..

 

[jbcurt00]

This topic has been inactive for over 2yrs, Wellcraft Chris, please dont post in inactive topics. Anything w out any posts by the original poster in 90days should be used for research only... thanks