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UH-OH!

Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 6:47 pm
by island time
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Update on the Commander project,
The bottom up to the waterline has been block sanded, epoxy primed and block sanded again, she is ready for paint...I am still having difficulty trying to match the original blue/gray. This project may be on the back burner for a while.
Over the weekend I had the use of a mini excavator and used it to dig holes in the yard? re-grade some top soil? nope, I used it to pull the engine and transmission out of the boat.
After getting the engine out I set to work cleaning the Saudi Arabia oil field out of the bilge. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the built up crud on all surfaces was no less than 1/2" thick up to and including the lower stringers the whole length of the boat.
Everything is now clean and I can start working on replacing the shaft tube that I mentioned earlier. But first I have to go back to when I removed the engine mount bolts that hold everything down to the engine beds, you know the ones that are about 2 feet long and have those ridiculous square heads? (My father used to call them "farmer bolts"). All of the bolts on the port side were loose and two of them were rusted off about 2" in.
Well I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to look into that issue. I used a hole saw and drilled a hole through the side of the fiberglass used to encapsulate the wood engine bed and found oatmeal. Well I guess pouring some epoxy down the bolt holes won't fix this one so out come the circular saw and the sawzall. You can see in the photos that the wood fibers that were left of the port side bed were only standing there by memory, I literally took the entire piece of once proud fir out by the handful followed by pressure washing to get rid of all residue.
The starboard side had suffered some decomposition as well but not to the same degree. I probably could have left that one alone but as long as the glass skin is off I'm going to replace both sides.
You can also see that I have removed most of the old shaft tube and tomorrow I will begin some serious grinding in the bilge to prepare for a new layer of glass throughout as well as glassing in the new beds and shaft tube.
Why did this happen? glad you asked. It turns out that the hollow stringers have voids every so often where they meet the bottom of the hull to drain out any water build up inside but when the fir timbers were layed up on the lower inside of the stringers and glassed over they forgot to make those voids under the wood so any water that migrated into that area had no drain and the wood just sat there marinating for the past 49 years.
Don't you just love unexpected surprises?

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 8:21 pm
by jfrprops
You're a better man than I am! That is a daunting task you have ahead of you...but you are right to do it and do it right and all at once. I have the moral fear of the rookie when it comes to fiberglass....never done any.....looks like job from hell. Hang in there that is a worthy boat.

John in Va.

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 9:41 pm
by island time
Thanks John, I remember the first time I wetted out glass cloth. I too had that rookie fear but it went well and I came to realize that it's not rocket science and as long as you play by the resin god's rules it gives a great feeling of accomplishment.
I'm going to stop by the sawmill tomorrow to order some white oak for the replacement engine beds. 3"X8"X8' long. Those won't be light!

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 5:34 am
by joanroy
I've done some glass work, but not enough to say I'm good at it. Hope you'll continue to post photos as you go along so we can see how you go about it. Nice Fiberclassic! Good Luck!

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 2:40 pm
by bflaherty
I am really confused by this post... Everyone talks about how great the Commanders were and how over built the fiberglass hulls are. Yet my lowly '69 Cavalier Ski Boat has Hollow preformed engine stringers with only a 4x4 embedded in the top of the stringers below the engine! Never have to worry about rotten stringers or structure at all!!

I get why the big cruisers would need the structural support of solid wood stringers and bottom framing, but your boat is not much bigger than mine, so it's hard to believe that it really needs full wood structure..

I have done a lot of fiberglass repair work on every boat I have ever owned.. It is some of the most unpleasant work to do, but if you take your time and do it right, better than factory, it will often outlive your grandchildren!!

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 3:51 pm
by joanroy
The difference is in the design and the intended use. A ski boat is built to go fast over relatively smooth water and a Comander is built to take some pounding through the chop. Both well built boats.

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 9:00 pm
by island time
Yup, the design is all about the intended use.
The Corsair, Lancer and small Commanders were all built to take way more abuse than the passengers. Overbuilt to withstand the rigors of ocean racing. When you launch a #4500 boat off the top of a crest and there is nothing but 6 feet of air between you and the water I wouldn't want any less engineering under me!

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 9:59 pm
by island time
Ok I have an update.
1 engine bed done, second one in the works.
The laminated quarter sawn white oak is a tad heavier than the old fir!

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 4:33 pm
by island time
Just thought I'd post a picture showing progress. Everything is cleaned out, old tabbing and other stuff ground out-what a mess that was! New engine beds are seal coated with resin awaiting the move to their new home.

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 8:25 pm
by joanroy
Looking Good! I don't envy you the grinding of the glass part of the job. Did a lot of that back in the 70's when I built glass sail boats. I'm still itchey. Carry On!

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:30 pm
by island time
Friday update.
Engine beds are glued in, several pieces of plywood cut and seal coated, nothing worthy of pictures yet.
Next step is glass cloth throughout the bilge tying everything together.
This will have to wait till next week-family stuff sometimes gets in the way of progress.

Craig

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 9:23 am
by jfrprops
Great work....and your great great great grandchildren should be able to enjoy that boat too! Keep at it partner!

John in Va.

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2017 5:29 pm
by island time
Still at it! Got home about three this afternoon from a 7 hour road trip and didn't even unpack, changed clothes and headed for the boat. I got the glass down in the bilge and up and over the engine beds. What's not seen in these pictures is the 6"wide tabbing along the engine beds where they meet the hull that was done prior to the whole bilge. I may do another larger tab along the sides of the engine beds before I paint everything. Just so you know, the material I used is bi-axial cloth for the tabs and 6oz roving for the cover. In case you're wondering, the cloth left over at the top is not finished, I'm not going to cut it off, I'll post pictures of what that's about later.
I think I'll name this boat "divorce court".

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:04 am
by tkhersom
Craig: Thanks for posting this thread. Nice work! :D

Re: UH-OH!

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:41 pm
by island time
Thanks for the kind words Troy. This kind of topic is what I always loved about the buzz so it's only fair i share my newest experiences.
The buzz needs new stuff and this is my contribution.
I have a few new pictures depicting the progress with the fiberglass hull repairs that I will post soon, I ordered the new engine today and I will post more info about that as it evolves.
I have already encountered a couple of questions regarding the installation of the engine so I'm reaching out to the community for guidance. Check the post in "engines and transmissions"
As always...Thank you all!

Craig