1990 4.3 Century 2000 - Floor,Transom,Stringer,Upholstery Project

[Mechanicalmike08]

You don't need to grind the entire transom down, if the chop is good and stuck it's fine. You want it flat and smooth as possible.

where ever you are going to be putting new glass needs to be clean and good and stuck. That doesn't mean everything needs to go. If its clean and well stuck down then it's fine. I left a lot of old tabbing and just feathered it out.

the flap discs are good for when u get close to the hull, more contact area. Discs are good for tall break down but when there's not something sticking up you have a small contact area. You can only bend the discs so much to make contact so its slows down

 

[Chris51280]

I have used the cutoff discs to cut through the glass close to the hull where the saw did not reach down. As soon as the glass is out, the wood goes with it. Then I grind down with the discs. I heard the blue zirconia is better than the red ones. Will order some. I think I will go through a pack.

 

[dezmond]

Blue ones work really good. I used both but had better luck with the blue ones. You will go trough a whack of them. I ordered a box of 25 of each. Buying bulk is cheaper.

 

[Chris51280]

A little more progress on the grinding. I started using the blue discs. I'm not sure what to do with the transom. It seems like there is at least 1/4" of chop strand ob it. Some its loose and some its pretty solid. Should I grind it down to pink woven? Who else had a similar transom

 

[dezmond]

Others will chime in for sure. What I was told, you need to make sure it is good and flat. If you can pick at it and it's loose or flacky, it has to go. If you come up with an uneven surface, you can mix up some resin filler and put a skim coat on and I would block sand it to make it flat again. Just my 2 cents....

 

[mickyryan]

anything that is resin starved has no strength so grind it off its junk and their really isn't a way to get resin in to "unstarve it because the resin would only stick to outsides of existing strands and not penetrate.

 

[Chris51280]

Thanks guys. Not what I wanted to hear but assumed anyways. Better do it right once. I noticed that I had two layers of bilge coat when I sanded it down. Mist have been repaired or reinforced at some point

 

[porscheguy]

The guy Andy on boatworks today seems to prefer belt sanders for chewing through large amounts of fiberglass.

 

[kcassells]

Hey nice hard work progress. In regards to the grinding I call it getting down to the pink. It shows as a pink color like in some of your pics. Carry on Sir!

 

[Chris51280]

Thank you. It feels good getting it clean and look at the nice woven.

I know the harbor freight tools don't have the greatest reputation but I tried their cheap $10 grinder yesterday. I put some fabric around the intake to keep the dust to a minimum. So far it held up. I will blow it out every evening when done for the day. I also used their heavy duty paddle 6amp grinder and that one I abused without vent covers. I used it two years ago to grind chamfers on pavers and it held up. even about 4 hours of constant fiberglass grinding. The carbon brushes gave out on me now. I will see if I can order some online.
If the cheap 10 dollar grinder craps out on me within 90 days then I can just replace it with another one and the new one starts again with 90 days. I sure want to be done with it by then. And to be honest, I don't want to use an expensive one on this job. Angle grinders are not meant for this kinda work anyways. I will keep you posted on how long mine lasted.

 

[Chris51280]

I made the first upholstery piece. It is the front piece on the bow. A little botched where it comes together in the center but still better than it was before. Old moldy vinyl

 

[Mechanicalmike08]

Looks good, I'm in the middle of a bunch of pieces and it definitely takes some patients. I tapped a small block under the pedal of my sewing machine to limit the speed which seem to make a big difference mostly for reducing slipping on feeding.

 

[Chris51280]

Thanks Mike. There was no pattern before and I picked a complicated contour of course. Gotta love a challenge. I applied some heat with a hairdryer and it seems to help a little. The front bow section will be able to redo without much problem since it won't change from what I have. The sundeck and seat configuration with the side panels will be made from scratch which will be a challenge in it self.

 

[Chris51280]

Got my new exhaust manifold setup from sierra. How much of a gap on the surface should I look out for. I have heard about the surfaces not being flat on tge glm one. These seem to look ok with flatness. The paint should stay on it I believe. It helps with rust protection

 

[Chris51280]

I have about 8 hours of grinding in. Got most of the port side done and start the starboard side now. Started to grind the transom down. All that loose csm stuff is really annoying. I hope I get it feathered enough

 

[Mechanicalmike08]

Man I don't miss this portion of the job lol. Coming along nicely.

 

[kcassells]

YUp what Mike said.

 

[Chris51280]

Ok, after reading some posts about gas tank installation I have a few questions. Mine still looks good with no corrosion.

1. Some people decided to paint. I guess there are pros and cons for that. I believe that woodonglass said POR15 is good. I used that for a motorcycle tank on the inside and it worked well. What is used on the outside? Is there a kit available or is it just paint?

2. I read the tank install guide. I know not to use rubber since it will react with the aluminum and corrode as well. The guide for tank install said to use plastic strips but this seems to be very hard. I like the neoprene and it seems to be somewhat inexpensive with around 3/8" x 1.5" strips.

3. Mine had a raised drain above the ski locker drain (which did not drain due to foam). It was stated that this is bad. But it must have been legal and a standard in boat building that the tank compartment drains into the bilge. Some still do on their rebuild. Even friscoboater did. So what is the solution now and how are new boats build?

I know this is some ways out for me but I still haven't found a proper answer for all of this yet.

 

[Chris51280]

Been working on the bow side panels. They look salvageable but would like to know if there is something that i can use to impregnate them to last a little longer. The need to flex since it is curved

 

[kcassells]

Been working on the bow side panels. They look salvageable but would like to know if there is something that i can use to impregnate them to last a little longer. The need to flex since it is curved

Sand it down and coat with poly or eeppooxxy. I forget which one you are using. Also wog has a great ld timers formula".