CW 2.0 (6 Viewers)

[jmphilion]

Very nice work!
i'm aiming for something similar to your cab. I'm stretching a 45 cab. And looking to add a side window just like that.
I'm debating if i do it with the 45 top or modify a 40 top. I started a thread in the 45 section.

BTW - i love the idea of using plywood for the floor dimples. I'l try that for sure.

 

[seapotato]

Thanks, definitely helps to be 20' away and not have the sun on it...

A 45 top would spare you the back panel pain in the ass I'm currently dealing with but you can't entirely win with the bottom profile being different between the two. Death by a thousand cuts either way.


And yeah the hard board works really well, has it's limitations , like only rounded shapes... you'd want to cut out some aluminum for anything needing a sharp corner, but I can't complain.



Hopefully you have a powered press for it. Mine was manual on hottest day of the year, damn near died.

 

[Rigpig]

So I used to have a pretty large stash of hardtop sides...

Right hand one was annoying as hell because all my sides had the same rusty areas.

This was a pain in the ass. I tried to warp them evenly in both directions when welding them up.

Haven't done much fairing yet, it's been kinda cold for that kindof thing. Once I'm done I'll douche the inner recesses with krown and shake it around. Not even primer inside those voids, just bare metal. Small wonder they all rust out.

I might glass up the top tomorrow and then next week regoop and rivet it to the channel, then I can figure out which way things are leaning when things are actually bolted together a bit.

Chunk of side in the back is me deciding how I'm going to fill that space. I'll probably get a chunk of tin cut and then put ambulance door windows in. Had thought to use an older ht side with the one window, but they aren't actually symmetrical, so had to toss that idea.

Also tempted to use the chunk of fbg lid I cut out...it's big enough, some ribs glassed in to hold it flat and it'd work ok. Currently seeming like a good idea cuz I'm reeeeeal fawkin' sick of welding sheet metal

Looking good. I was gonna say, spin the radius edge around from your original setup. And there it is...

 

[Deny]

Nice work, I have read this thread a few times, as I hope to do something similar as well in the next year or so. I have a couple of questions. I tried finding how much longer the cab is compared to a 45, but can't find it anywhere? Do you know, or at least know how far past the door you have? Also can you please document the fiber glassing of the cab, am curious how that goes gluing the two halves together?
Thanks,

 

[seapotato]

Nice work, I have read this thread a few times, as I hope to do something similar as well in the next year or so. I have a couple of questions. I tried finding how much longer the cab is compared to a 45, but can't find it anywhere? Do you know, or at least know how far past the door you have? Also can you please document the fiber glassing of the cab, am curious how that goes gluing the two halves together?
Thanks,

Not sure if I ever actually measured that, it was really just a function of the body mounts on the frame. Might have made life easier if I'd made it a couple inches longer as far as the hard top side windows are concerned, but then pushing axle back further would have been needed and on the snowball rolls

I'll take a couple pics of the fbg, it's fairly straightforward, just try to do the bulk of it inside where its easier to hide. I used epoxy and cloth this time around but really only because I don't have any polyester resin on hand.

 

[seapotato]

Looking good. I was gonna say, spin the radius edge around from your original setup. And there it is...

It's never been closer...

 

[franken60]

You scarf that b***h or just butt it together?

 

[seapotato]

You scarf that bitch or just butt it together?

The fbg?

Scarfing would be a hard way to do it. If it was plywood, absolutely, I have an attachment I made for my planer for scarfing plywood, you can glue the panels back together and not lose any thickness.

With glass, it's easier to butt the halves up, then dish with a grinder to join with a strip. A small bump can hide under the headliner so I really only sanded the inside clean before glassing.

I'll dish the outside a bit more to get a strip of cloth in and not have it end up proud.

There's really not a lot of glass in these, just a thin layer or two of cloth either side, the foam core is most of the thickness, so you don't need to go too crazy on it.

When I joined two together to make a troopyesque lid I had to build up the middle to make up for the core. Took a lot more glass than was needed for strength. Ended up a bit of a two hump camel as well, just because of the way the tops are curved.

 

[franken60]

That makes sense, forgot about the foam core !

 

[seapotato]

@Deny Here's what I have for hard top pics. I think it might have been better to make the cut further forward, maybe just an inch or so back of where it starts narrowing above the doors. Tops have kindof a weird curve to them, so when you cut out a chunk or add a chunk the curve doesn't alway come out fair. Further forward the curve might be more consistant. This isn't too bad tho, a smear of 410 and I think it'll be fine for the birds that'll be s***ting on it.


Inside, after clamping it straight I tabbed it with some strips of cloth to hold it so I didn't have to leave in screws or gaps around clamps. Started with a strip about 2" wide, then went out to about 8", with some manky old cloth that a rat had pissed on.

Then just sanded off the pokey edges and flipped it over. Didn't get much for pics of the top, but basically, just sanded it and tried to make a bit of a v, filled gap with epoxy and 410, then a strip of cloth.

I cheated and did a bit of a flood coat of filler when the epoxy was starting to kick. Just means I don't have to wait and mix more goop tomorrow, other than to fill whatever needs it to be smooth again. Hopefully after it's sanded fair there'll still be a bit of that cloth on top, but I don't think it's all that necessary for strength. Even with this minimal glassing, this is probably the stiffest section of the lid. I hate sanding so I didn't sand the gelcoat all the way back everywhere, theoretically you should, but I figure most of the overlap onto the gel will probably get sanded off anyways when fairing. I've seen other guys not even bother with cloth on top at all, just filler .

This set up with the pumps is the cat's ass if you use epoxy a lot. Ratio isn't very flexible with this stuff, so this makes it idiot proof.

I haven't been using it as much lately because I find titebond is just as good on wood and easier to use. If I didn't have this kicking around I'd probably have used polyester resin. It's cheaper and pretty much the same deal. Cut strips of cloth ( you can buy it various widths, or just get a couple yards off the roll and cut with scissors. The narrow width rolls are cleaner and don't fray, but the bound edge leaves a ridge, so it's a trade off. I generally prefer to cut strips myself rather than use the tapes ) and wet out with as little resin as possible so the cloth doesn't end up floating up from what you're glassing...and try to stay clean. (good luck with that )

Hopefully that helps a little. Biggest trick is getting it to go together as fairly as possible before you even think about glue. You can use strips of wood and screws to temporarily hold it straight, I just used some of those little buttwelding clamps that harbour freight sells.

Lastly, end of tape is pretty much even with back of tub. Hard to hold and take a pic...

It's possible I planned it to be 18", but I doubt it.
My vent windows are narrowed by 1.5", if you want full sized ones I think you'd need that measurement to be 20" (or more)

 

[franken60]

Ya that westsystems epoxy is great, gone through two jugs so far on my hull repair this year, with a few different fillers depending on what I'm doing be it bonding, filetting,fairing and whatnot.

 

[seapotato]

Wooden boats eh? Good times haha.

You're gonna give me flashbacks with pics like that. If it needed caulking with the oakum and irons afterwards I'd probably start twitching and blinking uncontrollably

Boat yard I worked at pretty much specialized in wooden boats...boss was as old school as they come. Would talk wistfully of the saw pit at the english yard he apprenticed at.

****ing lunatic

The good thing is that they're actually good as new when repaired. Can't really say that for any other boatbuilding methods.


I've been trying to avoid the epoxy lately. Gotten a bit sensitised to it , makes me slightly nauseous now. I try to work fast and then get the **** out of the shop. Doing this hard top is a good reminder of why my boat build is stalled.
Some of the 5 minute stuff is savage. I can't even be in the room with it.

 

[franken60]

I'm into glassing over the whole thing now, new to fiberglass overlay...new to all of it actually haha

 

[seapotato]

I'm into glassing over the whole thing now, new to fiberglass overlay...new to all of it actually haha

Well your repair looks good

I see if I can find any pics of the boat that drove me to quit... 60 feet long, built in Portugal out of some weird pine that was so hard it would blunt your chisel and 3" away so rotten it could be removed with a shovel.

Was nuts. The deck beams were 8x8's . Took two guys to carry them down the dock.
Everything was massive. I put half a yellow cedar forest into that piece of s***.
Every plank and frame down to the waterline, every deck beam, the deck, half the cabin, the upper deck, stem, built aluminum bulwarks for it because the old ones were toast.

Did nothing else there for 4 years. The mind recoils.

Shudder to think what it cost the owner. He should have just sold it for pennies or sunk the ****ing thing.

Just in case you found your repair a little daunting

 

[franken60]

Ya I was pulling wood out with my fingers...I came here to paint, instead I replaced the port side haha

 

[seapotato]

Ya I was pulling wood out with my fingers...I came here to paint, instead I replaced the port side haha

If it makes you feel any better, that job I mentioned above...the guy wanted a couple soft deck planks replaced when he brought the boat in, because he wanted to sell it and knew a surveyor would make a fuss.

Things snowballed from there a little.

 

[franken60]

Isn't that wooden boats eh, they sure know how to get ya

 

[Deny]

Thanks for the detailed info seapatato!

 

[seapotato]

Thanks for the detailed info seapatato!

No worries. If this were a forum about boats an expert would have piped up by now saying every layer has to be taken back x amount and new layers cut to fit before glassing , but it's just a s***ty old hardtop so fawk that noise.

Anyways, I took the gutter off and douched it with some of that converter stuff. The temptation to just make a new one is strong, pretty thin and pockmarked, but once it's bedded to the fbg again it'll be ok.

Extremely delicate in this state tho. May have to enlist swmbo to reinstall so it doesn't fold up on me.

Quick coat of enamel. If the light hits it the right way you can see the slight change in angle where the join is, but I didn't use any more fairing compound than what was in the previous pic, and it's not getting anything better than a brush paint job so it's not worth the effort.

Could make it disappear if I gave a s***, but....I don't.

 

[stevebradford]

No worries. If this were a forum about boats an expert would have piped up by now saying every layer has to be taken back x amount and new layers cut to fit before glassing , but it's just a s***ty old hardtop so fawk that noise.

Anyways, I took the gutter off and douched it with some of that converter stuff. The temptation to just make a new one is strong, pretty thin and pockmarked, but once it's bedded to the fbg again it'll be ok.

Extremely delicate in this state tho. May have to enlist swmbo to reinstall so it doesn't fold up on me.

Quick coat of enamel. If the light hits it the right way you can see the slight change in angle where the join is, but I didn't use any more fairing compound than what was in the previous pic, and it's not getting anything better than a brush paint job so it's not worth the effort.

Could make it disappear if I gave a s***, but....I don't.

if you do make a new gutter make it out of free stainless from me