Spent quite a bit of time on the end of the grinder the last few days. I got all the gunnel walls ground clean and ready to bond the deck to then paint. Should be about it for grinding. I put the plugs back in and filled the holes for the scuppers, transom bracket bolts, and rigging tubes. I also added two more holes for hydraulic hoses for the steering.

Having trouble posting a pic with my phone, I'll post one when I can use a computer.

Haven't decided on paint yet but Im planning on using gel coat on the inside and paint the outside. Not sure about the deck, maybe I should just paint the inside too. It's easy to add non skid on the deck if I'm using paint.

Any advise on paint would be great I was planning on using interlux brightside but they don't offer it in fighting lady yellow I'll probably have to use a different brand or mix my own.
Thanks

Here are a few pictures.

Spent several hours prepping the stringers to go back in yesterday. Had to remove all the wax. I bought some household cleaner for stripping wax off floors and it worked, still needed plenty of elbow grease with it but not to bad.

I dropped them back in the boat and they fit like a glove.:thumbsup:

What are your plans for bonding the stringer grid to the hull?

Are you gonna foam the Inside of the grid after getting it put down?

Your kicking butt surv!!
You need a vacation to Maui and come help me grind.
I've always done gel coat on the inside and paint on the outside. The outside I want as nice as I can make it but the inside I like what I call " high end workboat finish" LOL.
D

Twitch:
I plan on bedding them in thickened resin then tabbing them in with 4 layers of 12oz and a couple layers of mat. Similar to bedding a plywood stringer. The thickened resin fills voids and makes a radius and the tabbing holds them in. I considered buying some polybond b39 to fill the voids with then tab them in. Its only $165 for a five gallon bucket and I could use it for bonding the deck to the stringers also.

Thanks D,
Good chance I will use gel coat inside but the more I look at Interlux paints the more I am tempted to use it inside too. I agree with you about the high end work boat finish. There is alot to be said about a functional finish that I dont have to worry about.

Twitch, I plan to drill some holes in the top of them and pour then full of foam after they are tabbed in. Do you have any experience with two part polyurethane foam? Ive never used it but I want to be careful about putting to much pressure on the inside of the stringers and bulging the hull or breaking the bond between the stringers and the hull.

Adding the 2 part poly foam is gonna be the easiest part of the build, not much to it really. As long as you have a way for the foam to escape and not build up excess pressure in the stringer grid, you should be fine. I'd probably drill a 4" hole about every 4' on the tops of the stringer grid. Anything you don't want covered in foam, cover it in plastic and masking tape.

I'd check out US Composites when it's time to start foam shopping

Your stringer grid looks awesome! Super nice work. I'm surprised you didnt go with a composite transom?

In the building industry they have two types of foam. For windows and doors we use high expansion low pressure foam. Its doest deform the jambs when expanding.

Pretty sure they are the same thing.

Question: why not leave them empty? Foam is such a mess. If you seal them they will give you float-ability and if they ever fill it will much easier to drain and fix.

Thanks
I looked at there website, they have good prices. I can get foam from a guy locally but it cost a bit more. I need to add shipping cost and see how much money I am saving if I order it.

Thanks for the compliment. :thumbsup:

It was probably more of a money thing. I can't really justify the extra cost for composite. The transom that I removed was 25 years old and it was still strong. Composite transom costs about $500 for the core material. Marine ply was $200.

Foam needs to be polyurethane foam or it will melt if it ever comes in contact with gas. If you know of a polyurethane foam in the construction industry I'm all ears.

I've considered leaving them hollow but I think I'm going to fill them. It adds strength to the stringer system and I need flotation under the deck in case I ever punch a hole in the bottom. Not really a wrong or right way on that I dont think, just as long I pour enough foam under the deck to float the boat if it ever gets full of water.

I would fill it upside down, clean up and then tab the whole thing in.

Unless you are planning as to also use it as a bonding part as well.

I didn't think about filling it when it was upside down, that would have worked. I'm going to tab it in to bond it to the hull. I bedded the stringers in thickened resin and set some weight on top of it over night last night. It made a huge difference when I walk around inside the hull, very solid now.

Most of them are poly-u but most come in spray cans and are $.

Just keep rows of thru rope fenders along the he rub rail like a launch and never worry about bumping or sinking :thumbsup:

Its looking great !!!!

Made any progress on your build?

I got the stringers bedded in thickened resin and have been tabbing them in. I also had one more bulkhead I needed to build. I had to build it separate because it made the stringers to wide to drop in with the cap on.

I also got a great deal on two buckets of polyurethane foam and was excited to see what it would do so I went ahead and cut holes in the tops of the stringers and filled them. It went good for the most part, I misjudged how much foam to pour in on a couple of them and it made a mess were it foamed over the top.

I'll post a few pictures of the foam.