60s glass hull resto???

I have a couple very early 60s and a 1959 glass hulls I am restoring (sorta) and really don't want to replace the wood with wood as I am looking to save as much weight as possible. Been looking at different core material's for transom/stringers and coring. I would also like to use epoxy's.
I need info on what is the best way to go and where is the best place to get them. I am on a bit of a budget so cost is a issue but it is what it is.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated .
Thanks.

 

If you are on a tight budget, cores other than wood are going to be too expensive. Boats of that era are quite heavy, so the percentage of weight exotic cores will save is minimal. Wood is a structural material and not simply a core. This means that the laminate will be lighter and the weight savings will probably be less than what you are expecting.

 

Like what gonzo said, trying to save weight on the rebuild of a small boat by using a different core or resin wont yield much of a savings. And if you're on any type of a budget it will be blown by just looking at the cost of the materials.

 

I'll assume this is in relation to your jet drive conversion?

There's a number of places (including here) to get good information about replacing stringers, transom cores, etc., as well as the use of fabrics and epoxy.

Log onto systemthree.com and westsystem.com and download their free "user's guides" and "epoxy book", for a good overview of the materials and techniques employed. There are discount resins and materials available, so you don't have to pay full retail prices, with some online shopping.

There's nothing cheap about restoration and rebuilding an old boat, even a small one. It's lot of work, lots of itching and lots of materials. It's much easier and cheaper to simply find a well used BayLiner and buff up the gelcoat and replace the battery, fuel filters, etc. and go get her wet. Yeah, it's not going to look like a 1959 Jet Streak, but it'll perform better and you'll not be covered in 'glass dust for months on end, while you toss $100 bills at the project, in a seemingly endless process.

 

LOL, ya I now the headaches involved this isn't my first square dance. I restore cars and build Kustom cars for a living. I used to do a lot of boat repair and restoration but that was over 30 years ago and I just need some education on the new materials out there to be used. Also where to get them and amounts. Budget is always a issue but I want to do it right and make it last hopefully with some weight savings and a better structure. So I will just have to cough up the extra loot.
Will the new epoxy's bond well to the old crap they built back then? The glass is very sound and seems to have been hand laid not just chopper gunned, tabbed n stuffed.

 

Epoxy bonds to the old polyester better than polyester bonds to itself, so no worries.

As was mentioned, those are likely some old chopper gun builds, which are thick and heavy. You could take a laminate peeler to the inside of the hulls and replace the removed laminate with carbon, for a real weight savings and improved strength and stiffness, but at a healthy cost.

 

In that time period they were frequently hand laid, so it maybe a bit stronger than boats being made a little later.

In a boat that small even using the lightest products to rebuild it isn't going to save much weight, so don't stress over it.

 

The G3 hull I am attempting to repower appears to have been hand laid with the exception of the floors, they looked to done with a chopper gun or just laid up with chop mat over plywood. The rest of it is a very heavy roven woving. I need to redo the transom and stringers. As I said I don't really want wood or balsa. I don't need a lot of materials for it as it is only 13ft and only doing the inside. Not needing core material just stringer/transom then resins,bedding/mat/. what are the options and what works the best together? where to get it?

 

Those are cores, you can use Coosa Board in place of plywood, its lighter too. Epoxy or polyester will work, used correctly neither will fail. And If used correctly the cost difference between the the two isn't as much as it first appears.

 

Vinylester has better adhesion than polyester, but it wets the fiberglass just as easily. Also, it uses the same hardener and curing time can be adjusted.

 

I have done some research on the Coosa board and was thinking of using it but where can I get it in the small quantities I need all I have found is large amounts. There is no place around here (central NY) building anything where I might be able to get cut offs or scrap's. And nowhwere to get any supplies at all. Kinda sucks being nowhere near the industry at all.

 

Composites One should have individual sheets, and there are online places too. You just pay through the nose, that's why these products aren't used more often.

 

Ok, its time to find the materials and figure the amounts.
Also I have upgraded a bit on the power, I just thought the Sea doo twin 85hp might be a bit lacking in this glass hull so I found a Yamaha triple w/120hp that I will be using. I am thinking of just laminating the Yamaha hull to the G3 because it looks as though they will mate up quite well.
Not real sure of the materials it was made of, it looks like a chopper gun job but whatever they used for the resin looks very different so I need to do some research on it.
I have roughed in the layout to get some idea of what and where things will be going. If I use the Yamaha bottom the engine will be forward of the helm giving it a bit of the old Baby Garwood look. I will try to post a couple pics, the X mark the engine mounts in one along with the tunnel.

 

Bonding to the type of material most PWC's are made from is a little more difficult than what's used in typical fiberglass boat construction, you need to at least use VE, but for glassing something into the hull like you plan, I'd use epoxy

 

I have been thinking of grinding both to a 4or 5" overlap (abit off each to fair it out) then bond the two with 3m5200 or something better if any ideas let me know, then laminating over and around it.
Thoughts?