restore starcraft American

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by Starcraft, Jul 1, 2017.

  1. Starcraft
    Joined: Jul 2017
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    Starcraft Junior Member

    Is it good to take off the FB of the transom and see what's under it?
     
  2. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Sounds like it is rotted under that probably fairly thin glass. What does it look like where the drive cut-out is ?
     
  3. Starcraft
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    Starcraft Junior Member

    For me I think it looks good and not rotten. The wood is hard. But at the right side the FB is not attached to the wood underneath
    IMG_20170710_110132.jpg
    IMG_20170710_110106.jpg
     

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  4. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    To see the state of that ply, you could set a circular saw to a very shallow depth (same as the inner glass skin thickness) and cut around the inside of that transom. After it is cut through, you should be able to peel it away from the ply. Then you can get a good idea of the state of the ply, across the whole area. Re-glassing (if by some miracle it is sound) won't be a big job, but if it is rotted, easier to remove.
     
  5. Starcraft
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    Starcraft Junior Member

    Ok thnx. I bought a multitool, very easy in use for cutting such things away. Thnx for the advice! Pictures Will follow!
     
  6. Starcraft
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    Starcraft Junior Member

    Update, the part where Is could push the FB in, was rotten.
    IMG-20170710-WA0001.jpeg IMG_20170710_122703.jpg
    IMG_20170710_122726.jpg

    What's would you do with the transom? Pull it whole out? Because at some Points it came on the FB of the Hull, and other the wood it's stuck to it? See the picture:
    IMG_20170710_122800.jpg
    How you remove the proper wood?

    The stringer who came to the transom was rotten too. How far would you cut this one? Only where the wood is rotten of replace the whole stringer?
    IMG_20170710_123309.jpg
    Thnx!
     
  7. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    The transom ply needs to be stripped out, and so does any rotten stringers. You get the feeling some times that building boats is easier than repairing them !
     
  8. Starcraft
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    Starcraft Junior Member

    And what with the wood that's still stuck on the Hull of the back of the boat? How you remove that? With a hammer and chisel (tool)? Because I'am a bit scared that I Will hit through the hull....
     
  9. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Use a chisel with the bevel of the chisel against the transom, and all should be OK....the other way could land you in trouble. But work gently and steadily. That old rotted ply won't be adhering very well to the glass skin, what will hold it to the outer skin, is the glass on the inside skin that is still there. Replacing that transom should not be that difficult, the hole where the outdrive went through , will come in handy when you clamp on some new ply, assuming you are still going sterndrive, not outboard.
     
  10. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    I was going to suggest the multi tool, but you apparently figured it out. I use diamond blades on rotary and multi tools, to keep the mess down. Yep, the wood has to come out. Any signs of rot must be removed and yeah, the still well stuck stuff, is a pain in the butt to remove. I usually employ a power plane on flat areas, but in tight spots I'll make several horizontal and vertical cuts across the area, then knock out the hunks in between. Grind and taper all wood and laminates back to good, solid material, at which point you can start to bond in replacement wood and laminate.
     
  11. Starcraft
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    Starcraft Junior Member

    New update, I almost get the whole transom out. It went really good, with the multi tool and they chisel, almost 5hours but I'm almost ready. Here are some pictures:
    IMG_20170711_170546.jpg
    Just one problem, 2 screws are rust, is the first job for tomorrow.
    IMG_20170711_170552.jpg

    Just one more problem. The last layer of wood stuck really hard to the FB. How do you get it off? With sandpaper or??? With the chisel the chance is vertrokken big I hit the FB.
    IMG_20170711_170559.jpg
    IMG_20170711_170621.jpg
     
  12. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    A disk grinder with a 16, 24, 36 or 40 grit pad, will do, obviously the 16 and 24 grits will remove material the fastest. Again, I use a power planer, knowing I'll kill the blades on a transom, hitting some amount of resin frequently, but these are replaceable and not terribly costly. I figure the it in the cost of the job and my Bosch power plane blades aren't cheap, but they're much cheaper than the labor to remove this material with other tools.
     
  13. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    The OP is a good worker, in my opinion ! A disc sander with fairly coarse grit, as mentioned by PAR, would do the job, but unless you have a good technique with it ( most people don't, I'd say), you could gouge the glass too much. You might also try 3M clean and strip discs, which are made from an abrasive-impregnated mesh material, a purple one that is very stiff and aggressive, a black one that is not so much. It is not really intended for timber, but will go through it, and the risk of scoring is reduced. The only proviso is no screws or sharp objects protruding, they will shred the mesh material, which is more than an inconvenience, as the discs are not cheap. The most easily available are designed to fit power drills, a disc attached to a short shaft. The reason these things are used is "collateral" damage is lessened. You could also use a painter's shave hook to remove a lot of the ply that still adheres, keeping it sharp with a file or stone.
     
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  14. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Agreed, it does require some practice to gain control and more importantly confidence with a very coarse disk tool. I use the 3M disks, but they're not very coarse compaired to even a 40 grit paper and you'd make a career out of material removal with these. It's usually a two step process, rough, bulk material removal and a neater, less aggressive material removal stage when you get close to the 'glass skin. Some abrasion on the 'glass skin is desired, to offer some tooth for the subsequent material applications (plywood, more fabrics, etc.) so don't be so worried about gouging the inside of the skin, so long as you don't burn through. You can always replace what was eaten away. I have a 3" pneumatic grinder I use for small, tight areas and two much larger (7" and 10") disk grinders to do bulk removal. As I mentioned above, if the remaining plywood is fairly thick and well stuck, I'll just cut a cross hatch pattern on tight centers (2" squares) across the whole area, setting the blade to just barely kiss the underlying skin. This permits you to hack it off with a chisel or even pound it off with a hammer.
     
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  15. Starcraft
    Joined: Jul 2017
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    Starcraft Junior Member

    Thanks for all the tips. Today I worked again at the transom, In almost get done.
    I used a cutter knife for the last layer of wood, and afterwards I used the chisel. I think it worked really well!! Now I hope it's enough for later using these sandpaper to set it smooth.
    The work of today:
    IMG_20170713_184850.jpg
    IMG_20170713_184859.jpg

    Just the question for the contionuation. The deck is gone just till where the bow starts. Should I do also this part, because the deck isn't rotted there? Or is it better to change the deck in 1 part?

    Thank you very much!
     
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