Starting 87 SN Floor/Stinger Repair

any new pics skibum, sounds like you to have been hitting your boat pretty hard to.

Haha, No Way! A Trebuchet!! i made one of those i think it was my sophomore year in Hs, good times, fun to see what kind of crazy sh*t you can toss around the yard with it, & how far you can get it to go, Looks good!!

Nate

Very nice Eric, I liked that

Chuck

Not quite a weapon of mass destruction, although the garage looks like it took a direct hit from such a weapon. Bum Jr. goes to Meade County High in Kentucky.

Gangster wrote: SkiBum, how much foam did you use? I know you said you could have poured it more efficiently? Could you expand on that a bit?

I used the 80lb kit and two 16lb kits. I believe that if I had been more careful I could have done the whole job with just the 80lb kit. Some of the pours were too thick and the foam raised above the floor level several inches. It was wasted. Eric reused that extra foam and mixed it into the next pour. That is a technique.

To avoid making the same mistakes I made I recommend cutting out small cardboard dams that can be taped into place. Be sure to stir exactly 22 seconds as per the instructions. After the expansion slows significantly, then move farther down with a new dam and make another pour. This will help you regulate the height of the pour and it will keep the liquid form of the foam from running out of where you are trying to pour.

I would suggest buying the 80lb kit and one 16lb kit as a backup.

All my glass, resin, fillers, foam, and gel came from US Composites. All structural work is epoxy with a variety of glass; mat, biaxial, and cloth. Mrs. SkiBum frequently reminds me that I spent just over one thousand dollars on materials.

After searching I finally found a supplier in Canada who can sell me the foam and epoxy resin. However they only sell the fiberglass in 110 yard rolls. Eric you said you used a roll of mat? How many yards was on the roll you used?

Plus you will need various thicknesses for the project. You will never be able to make the 90 degree bends with just biaxial or mat. Like skibum said, you will need some 10oz cloth, biaxial, and mat to make all the necessary bends and buildups.

Well the company sells wholesale, but I can buy it through the company I work for. So I guess that's why they only sell such large quantities. I was able to buy 50 yd rolls of 2", 4" & 6" (no 8"). Can I ask a stupid question? Is mat = chopped strand? I am also curious - Skibum you started out to use fiberglass over plywood for the floor, then ended up going just fiberglass. If you had to do it again would you do the same?
By the way, here's something that might cheer up any Southerners... This was taken around March 1st, my snowmobile's buried!! I've got some time on this project...

Gangster,

There is one floor section on the 87SN that is supposed to be wood. CC used 3/4" thick by 3" wide planks stapled to the stringers then covered with glass. The rest is glass over foam.

Before I knew the floor was primarily glass over foam I planned to use the 3ply laminated top and bottom with glass. I did that in a small area in the bow. It worked just fine. The idea was that I would save in materials cost because I could laminate a thin layer of glass on the bottom of the 3ply and two thin layers on top but still have a solid floor.

I opted to finish the boat using glass over foam. It really did not consume a significant amount of additional materials. I put down biaxial mat, epoxy mat, cloth, and epoxy mat to get a 3/8" to 1/4" thick layup. It was easy to level with fairing compound. I say it is the way to go.

The glass comes in several variations. I don't want to use the word "woven" because it may spark a huge debate, but basically cloth is interweaved glass that is very strong. It comes in a variety of thickness measured in ounces. I used primarily 10oz. It is thin. You can get it as thick as 28oz.

The mat is glass that is not "woven" but rather consists of loose strands of glass that are connected together by either a special glue or is stitched together. The kind that is stitched together is called epoxy resin. Polyester resins actually dissolve the glue in the mat where epoxy resin does not. Now you can use epoxy resin on mat that is not epoxy mat, but it will significantly slow your work because you must physically work the resin through the glass. Not the preferred method.

Biaxial is a special fabric that consists of epoxy mat sandwhiched between two layers of cloth and stitched together. It combines strength and thickness. Very good stuff, but very stiff and difficult to work on 90 deg angles.

I guess I was leaning towards the glassed wood because I haven't much experience with fiberglass so far. Maybe after I get into it I'll gain the nerve. As for the burried sled, there's no shortage of riding. I get 2 months of nice boating, and about 4 months of sledding.

SkiBum wrote:    I learned it is more labor intensive to laminate both sides of a piece of wood then install the wood as apposed to simply layering glass over the foam.

Interesting perspective. I've been staring at mine a lot trying to determine in my head how to do it. I would have thought the wood would be easier because you could coat it out of the boat where you have more room to work, and the pieces would fill up large spaces at a time when installed into the boat. Thinking about your statement however, has me thinking it through, yet again.

Took out two stringer today, so I better make up my mind soon. BKH

SkiBum, I hope this doesn't sound like I'm trying to start a debate, but what about weight? Do you think all that glass & resin weighs more than glassed wood? My boat porpoised very bad before and I think/hope it was because of the weight.

Gangster, you may of had saturated foam adding alot of weight to the boat, the foam is very dense when wet.
it is a touch easier glassing over the foam and my presonal preference is using wood, it lets you screw everything together and Im use to doing glass work on flimsey fountains and other paperthin hulled boats and with wood you can build a skelton and make the repairs much more rigid, unlike a correct craft hull which is very well reinforced due to the way it's manufactured its a matter of personal preference, there are pro's and con's of both methods, i guess it comes down to whatever you would be more comfortable doing.

I'm definitely with you Bum. You have me rethinking the process.

Question: I pulled two stringers out yesterday. It looks almost like the floor was laid, wet and thick, and the stringers were pushed down into it 1/4 to 1/2 inch. So, my question is, how far down did you grind? I though I remember reading that you put down two layers of mat and set the stringers down into that. If so, my assumption is that you ground down abut 1/16 of an inch below where the stringers were sitting when removed.

Thanks,

BKH