Transom Project 2
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Transom Project 2 |
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This weekend I really didn't get much done. It was a necessary break from the last 3 or 4 weekends of back breaking work. I needed to lay low and stay away from the boat to keep the wife somewhat happy. However, I did get a little done. Below is a pic of the new boat cover I had made recently. The old one finally gave in to the wind and sun torture.
I peeled the cover back for a few hours and knocked down all the sharp fiberglass spurs on the floor with the 5" high speed grinder. That made everything in the boat more user friendly knocking off all the excess glass and resin runs and stuff like that. After that I laid out where the transom cap shroud would fall. Then I took the 1.25" dia pipe I bought (12" section) and wrapped some 40 grit around it and did a quickie sanding job in the drain channels to get started shaping them out. They sanded pretty easily even though I had a mix that was heavy in cabosil. I'm not done with the sanding in those channels, but closer.
Next I took a piece of Klegecell and laid out the transom cap. Got it looking good too. I'm real excited about starting this project as well as the livewell project.
I took a weekend off for a short vacation to Florida. I got a chance to get over to Marine Connection Liquidators to pick up some more little odds and ends, but nothing real great. It was nice to have some time off though. I did alot of thinking about how to rebuild the top-sides of the boat. I got back to work this weekend, but not full force. I was really tired this weekend, so I didn't get going until late.
I started the work weekend off by taking the big grinder to the transom of the boat in an effort to knock down the major high spots before the real fairing begins. The neighbors cars got dusted pretty good. Hehe!
The next project was to begin making a box that I could use to make a mold for a livewell. I used 3/8" plywood and made the inner dimensions to what I wanted the livewell to be. It looks like the livewell will have about 23 gallons total capacity. I still have to put some bracing on the sides to keep them straight.
I coated the inside of the box with epoxy and then made a filler compound with epoxy/cabosil/microballoons. I wiped the inside of the box to fill all the wood grain. I'll sand it during the week and then radius the corners to round things out a bit. Then I'll coat everything with epoxy again and let that cure. Once cured I'll wax it several times and then lay fiberglass inside the box. Once that is done I'll separate the fiberglass from the box and that part will be the mold which I'll use to make the actual livewell. This is a tedious process, but necessary in order to get a good smooth mold to spray gelcoat onto.
Aside from all that, I gave the boat a sponge bath to clean up most of the dust. Then I wiped down the T-top real good (it was filth and starting to pit again on the vertical surfaces). I applied a coat of Woody Wax to the T-top and then a coat of sealer. The last application of the Woody Wax held up for about 8 months, so this hopefully this application will get me back to the water!