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Here's the boat squeezed into the garage
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Nestled in the back corner of the garage, ready for restoration. Notice how the gel coat shines...4 hours of polishing with 3M heavy cut compound.
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Here it is after the interior trim and seats have been removed. The seats were about 100 lbs each, mostly water weight.
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This is the
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Interior trim waiting for to be recovered
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Most everything is here. The boat came with a huge roll of white marine vinyl. I plan to pull all of the staples and use the original coverings as templates.
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All wet wood has been removed from the boat. Tools used so far: Reciprocating saw, circular saw, hand saw, breaker bar, sledge hammer (hand held), shovel, shop vac.
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Out with the old...
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Got Wood?
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Here's the stack that I picked up from an excellent lumber yard in Pontiac, Michigan. 3 pieces of 5 ply 1/2" marine grade ($33/each) and 1 piece of 3/4" 7 ply marine grade ($43). This is beautiful wood, if I didn't have a boat I'd use it for furniture. I used the forward portion of the old stinger as a template to ensure I had the correct profile.
I'd like to thank my dad for helping me with this portion of the project.
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Dry fitting the stringers. They're symmetrical, so I only needed one cardboard template. The fit was near perfect the first try. I had to cut a small step in the areas where the stringer shingled below the old floor.
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New stringers
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stringers ready to be encapsulated in resin
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I sanded everything so the resin would stick.
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Thanks to Resin Services in Sterling Heigths, Mi. Total cost of 5 gallons + the bottle of MEKP was $113.
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5 Gallons of resin
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Mixing cups
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Shown are the mixing cups I used for mixing/applying the resin. I used 8oz of resin with 1.5 tsps. of MEKP. This was near the 2% by volume ratio I was directed to use. When I'm done coating the wood, I wait for the resin to cure and then I just squeeze the cup and the remaining resin just pops out.
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I used a 1" brush with shortened bristles to apply the resin. Original size brush is shown on top for reference.
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Brushes
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Sealed parts
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Here are the stringers and the bulkhead with all edges and surfaces with 2 coats of resin. The second coat was mixed a little "hotter" (more MEKP) because the first cut remained a little bit too tacky for sanding. The second coat dried rock hard, so the next step is to glass them into the hull.
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I decided to add two 2x4's along the length of the stringer for added floor support. 2 more coats of resin. More help from the brother-in-law and the nephew. Just add meat to the grill and open a few beers, the help will find you.
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Last minute change
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10 oz woven roving
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Thanks to Reklein Plastics Inc. I got 48" wide x 20 yards for $4.15/yard
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My dad and I got the stringers glassed to the hull with 2 large pieces of woven roving. I added 3 additional layers of 5" tall tabs the length of the hull/stringer joint. The 2x4's were added because the original design offered no support to the ski cubby door, which led to the delamination of the plywood around its periphery.
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Finally! The stringers and bulkhead are in.
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another view
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The larger gaps between the bulkhead and the 2x4's were filled with a mix of resin and chopped fiberglass.
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I sealed the underside with a few coats of polyurethane, and added an extra piece of 3/4" ply below the seat pedestals.
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Floor is cut and ready to install
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Seat mounts
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Here's a closeup of the area below one of the seat pedestals. I wanted to use bolts and nuts to mount the seats, lag screws tend to pullout.
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My dad and I used the 10oz woven roving, and 64oz of resin to cover the entire floor forward of the engine compartment. We used little squares of duct tape to cover the holes that were drilled for the seat pedestals so resin wouldn't get into the t-nuts.
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The floor is in!
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The floor is done (almost)
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This is as far as we're going to get until the motor is in. I'm using regualr Rustoleum paint with playground sand added for non-skid.
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This is how I decided to fix the motor mounts. The stringer was still really solid, but was a little damp. I drilled 1 1/2 inch holes and glassed hardwood dowels in place. I finished by pouring resin over the top. Now I've got fresh wood to screw down the motor.
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Motor mount fix
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Pink 302 short block
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This low mile 5.0 motor came from a friend. He had painted it pink to match a project it was intended for...
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using head gaskets with stainless steel inserts...no rust.
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Installing the heads
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Installing the Camshaft
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I'm using a CompCams Xtreme Energy camshaft designed for fuel injected cars. Its the only cam profile I could find that delivers good torque from idle to 5000 RPM and has a 114 degree lobe seperation. I didn't know when I started the project, but lobe seperation controls reversion (when the motor sucks water out of the exhaust manifold back into the cylinder). Reversion=broken motor sooner or later.
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prepping for paint
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Brass freeze plugs won't rust
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the engine is ready
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repainted and ready to go. I was able to mask all of the original decals, so nobody will know that I've got a hot motor under the hood.
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this is about the time that my wife started showing concern. My chain fall hoisted the motor to its limit, but it wasn't high enough. We had to jack up the tongue of the trailer to get the motor over the transom of the boat.
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Hope we don't collapse the roof!
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Carbon Fiber detail. Fancy!
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I added a piece of Carbon fiber applique under the step rails while waiting for resin to dry.
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Summer's just around the corner!
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Motivation
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