Boat Repair, Restoration, Building
Many classic boat builders did not include a bilge pump from the factory. I would never restore a boat without including this basic safety feature. As the story goes, “More boats have sunk at the dock, flooded with rainwater, than ever sank at sea.” I’m sure that’s true. I’m also of the opinion that judges should never mark you down for having a bilge pump on your boat, whether the factory installed them originally or not. Continue reading “Bilge Pump: Adding a Safety Feature”
The first question is: Can you use your old fuel tank, or do you need a new one? That depends. What material is your old fuel tank made of? If it’s steel, or galvanized steel, I don’t think I’d entertain the notion of reusing one older than 5-10 years. And I’d check it thoroughly for corrosion and pinholes even then. It’s a pretty simple procedure to leak test a tank–fill it up and see if it leaks. An even better test is a pressure test–something that all plumbers do for any new plumbing they install. Simply plug it up and put a gauge on it. Then pressurize it with 5-10 psi to see if it leaks down over time. Continue reading “Installing a New Fuel Tank”
A propeller shaft has a tapered end that should exactly match the taper in the propeller bore. Any time you get a new shaft or propeller, you need the “lap” the two to get a tight fit between them. This fit is essential to minimize vibration and ensure the best transfer of power from the engine to the prop. Lapping is accomplished with lapping compound (Of course it is, right?). Lapping compound is just a finely regulated gritty substance that machinists use to make metal joints fit–like intake and exhaust valves in engines, or propellers on shafts. There’s no magic to it. Just slather the stuff on the taper of the shaft, and then rotate the prop around the shaft in a back and forth motion. Do this until you get a good, evenly dulled surface all around the shaft and inside the prop bore. If you’re unsure where the high spots are, you can paint a blue chemical dye called DYKEM on the shaft. Then scrub the prop back and forth and see where the dye transfers. Continue reading “Lapping the Prop to the Shaft”
We’ve referred to the evils of steel staples and the rot they produce in wood over time in a previous post here. Well, that staple rot exists in the top of the dashboard too, since the crash pad was stapled to it as well. We can either rebuild the dashboard, or restore it. In this case, cutting out the offending strip, and gluing in a “Dutchman” will fit the bill. Continue reading “Fixing the Dash”
The engine compartment ventilation holes needed enlarging. For whatever reason, they were seriously undersized according to the plans, and my calculations of what is necessary for that size space.
So, if you already have a hole in the boat, how do you make it bigger? How do you get your hole saw, or your drill bit to center itself on the hole, when there’s nothing there for the pilot bit to bite into? Continue reading “How Do You Enlarge a Hole?”
Boat vocabulary can be crazy and frustrating. For example, what do you call the planks that line the inside of the cockpit, and give it that beautiful, rich look? Why the ceiling planks, of course. And you thought that word meant an overhead surface, didn’t you?
Oh well, I didn’t really like the look of the old ceiling planks I took out. And it was a simple matter to use the old ones as patterns and make new. Actually it was easier to make new than to strip and refinish the old ones. Not to mention the risk that one of the old, brittle planks might break when putting them back in.
The challenge was how to clamp the new planks in when fitting them. That is often the case. Boatbuilders as a group are some of the most creative clampers I know.
With the major project of fixing the staple rot out of the way (see earlier post here), it’s time to start re-assembling the interior of the boat. Some of the old parts could be re-used, but many had to be made anew. New fuel tank saddles, engine beds, seat supports, etc., etc. If there was a doubt about whether new part would last another 60 years, it was re-made. The picture above is just a fraction of the parts that had to be made, painted and assembled to get this baby back in the water.
Anytime you have ferrous metal and water, you’re going to get oxidation. This oxidation causes rot in wood. In our case, the ferrous metal is the staples used to hold the upholstered “crash pad” around the perimeter of the cockpit. In the picture above you can see that the planking around the edge of the cockpit has turned black and is crumbling.
You can see the upholstered crash pad in this early post before I disassembled the boat.
There’s no way that it would hold new staples for the new upholstery we’ll order soon. Take a look at the detail picture here. So how do you go about fixing something like this? Cut out the bad and put back new! It’s really that simple. But it’s a rather involved process. I decided to make a template of the cockpit opening, and using a template guide for my trim router, I was able to cut away the rotten wood so that I had good wood to glue new pieces to. Continue reading “Fixing Cockpit Staple Rot”
A layer of fiberglass on the bottom serves two purposes. First, it provides a tough protective layer for rough treatment on a trailer or accidental grounding. Second, it holds a nice, thick epoxy layer that makes the bottom more water proof. Nothing is really water PROOF. But epoxy is pretty close. It takes a long time for water to migrate through unbroken epoxy.
It only takes a few days to add this beneficial protective layer, and now is the time!
We used 6 oz. 0-90 bi-axial woven roving. Let’s break this down. Six ounce means the fiberglass cloth weighs 6 ounces per square yard. 0-90 bi-axial means the threads in the cloth intersect at a 90 degree angle. Woven roving means the fabric has a simple over-and under weave to it. This cloth drapes well and will conform to the shape of our bottom.
When you apply fiberglass to anything, it’s held there with some form of resin. In our case, we use epoxy. If you do a good job, the resin fills the weave and displaces the air, making the cloth essentially invisible. It’s really cool how this works.
While the epoxy is still “green” (partially, but not fully, cured), it’s time to trim the edges of the cloth with a sharp knife.
After the first coat of epoxy cures, we can 2-3 more coats to fill the weave and the cloth will disappear completely.
We still have over 1000 screw holes in the bottom that need to be filled somehow. We’ll use two methods, depending on whether the screw hole will eventually be under paint or varnish.
I use a wood filler called Famowood for any screw holes that will be under paint. It’s pretty waterproof, dries quickly, sands easily, and won’t shrink. It’s been around for years and is superior to most other wood filler putties you can get at the big box stores.
For those screw holes that will be under varnish, the traditional approach is to fill the hole with a bung cut of the same wood, glued in with varnish or some other fairly un-tenacious glue so that the bung and screw can be removed later if repairs are necessary. Boats do run into things occasionally, and it’s best to be kind to the poor person who may have to replace a plank later on.
After all holes are filled and sanded smooth, we’ll add a coat of clear epoxy as a sealer and to provide something for our fairing filler to adhere to. Then we trowel on the WEST System 410 fairing filler to the low spots. Let it cure and sand it smooth.
