1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Did some shopping yesterday. Got some gel coat, pva, glass and more poly resin.

Here are some shots of the plug being completed.

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Applied 5 coats of paint. Next I'll be wet sanding the paint with 400 to 600 grit and then use compound to remove the fine scratches left by the 600 grit.

Then comes the prep for making the mold. I'll be applying 6-7 coats of wax and the some PVA.

Here are some pics after painting.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Wow! just wow!

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

I took the afternoon off yesterday after sanding my fingertips raw. Went to brother-in-law's for a party, had a great time. he's part owner of the boat, I think he'll be surprised to see this new dashboard installed.

This morning I suffered through some more sanding. Wet sanded the plug with 600 grit and then compounded it. I then put on 9 coats of wax, slicker'n snot!

After waiting for the PVA to dry I finally started making the mold.

I used 4 layers of mat ripped into about 2-3 inch squares then applied three layers of cloth. I'll let cure over night and maybe try to remove the mold tomorrow night.

I get some pictures up tomorrow after work.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

2 thumbs up !

thats the real way to do it !

lotta work....but the end product will be great

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Thanks oops!

My biggest fear was not being able to pull the mold off the plug.

It came off with very little effort. I trimmed the edges of the mold and started waxing it up last night.

I'll post some pics tonight......promise.

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Here's some shots of the layup for the mold.

After letting it cure overnight I popped it off.

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Cleaned up the edges and put a few layers of tape on it. Nothing worse than glass splinters.

Now to make the finished dashboard....weeeee!

The mold is all waxed up and the first coat of PVA has been applied.

Stay tuned!!

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Meanwhile back at the boat....

I thought I would start with the removal of the old "dash".

Here's the original

And what it looks like underneath

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Beautiful work. Thanks for the excellent photo-documentation. Keep it up because I'm going to WANT this one for the Completed Projects forum as a custom molded fiberglass dashboard.

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Thanks EZ

I'll keep the photos coming. I probably should have created a separate thread for this. Oh well. I actually started shooting a video of the dashboard project which had a lot more detail of the process but my camera kept crapping out on me. At the same time I was taking still shots with my cell phone, the phone pics are the posted pics.

I did quite a lot of reading and research in this forum. This place is a gold mine of information and contributors. I got my inspiration from Oops' endless thread . Just thought I should share my work as well.

Thanks for looking!
Rick

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

It's fine right now as part of your overall rebuild thread. We can break out (copy) the dashboard part when you're done for a completed projects section.

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

It was a productive day today. I did the layup of the dashboard and got it partially installed on the boat.

I decided not to use gel coat but instead used a gel paste/poly resin mix.
I figured I'd have a bit of body work to do when installing the dash onto the boat so I'll just paint it with one part urethane paint.

Here's a shot of the mold with several coats of the paste/resin mix.

After letting the paste/resin mix cure, I started the layup with CSM and resin.

Applied 4 layer of CSM then 2 layer of cloth. While they were setting up I started placing the wood backing.

Next was a 2 more layers of CSM and 2 layers of cloth for a little more reinforcement.

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

After curing for an hour I began removing it from the mold. I slid shims of wood between the mold and finished part and it separated without any problems.

And here it is, out of the mold.

Removing the PVA film (cool)

Cleaned up the edges with a cut-off wheel.

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

A quick dry fit for the fun of it.

Traced around the part with a sharpie to indicate where to cut the old dash for final fit.

Then made the cut. I cut the old glass back and left some of the old wood so I have some structural support for the new piece.

Dry fit again with the final cut of the old dash.

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

As you can see n the last few pics, I cut the opening for the switch panel. It's much easier, IMO, to make the clean cuts with the cut-off wheel when the part is not attached to the boat.

I also pre-drilled the holes for the switch plate.

When drilling hole in fiberglass, it's a good idea to use a counter-sink bit to bevel the top edges of the hole. This helps to keep stress cracks from forming or spidering out from the holes.

Panel in place.

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

I roughed up the surface and filled the windshield mounting holes as well.
They were pretty well stripped anyway. The holes were also beveled back with the counter-sink bit.
That allows for more surface area for the filler to adhere to. If you just fill a straight hole there will be a good chance the filler will pop out in the future.


Here I'm starting to glass the new dashboard into the boat.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

You have got to be pleased with that. Looks really great. I enjoyed watching this process.

 

[proshadetree]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

That my man is cool with a capitol k Great job cant wait to see more

 

[imported_rick]

Re: 1978 18ft Grand Priz Floor Replacement and more

Thanks guys!

I'm really enjoying this project, it's a first for me. Today was a long day, I'm beat.