Boat #2 = 1980 Carver Montego
Bought To be restored
Repair Status = Work in Progress
Owned by OHF MEMBER
craig betz
Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Posts: 760
Location: CANAL FULTON,OHIO
80 Carver Montego, fell in
love with the amount of dead rise and the Carolina flare,
sizeable galley, midship and vee berthing, enclosed head with pump out, dual
voltage,
fridge, stove, sink, potable water, on board charging, shore power that made
this an
attractive fishing/cruiser as it is hard to do both.
Found core rot on about one third of the upper deck due to an improperly bedded
water fill,
suspect dash and various other areas to be damaged by something like a fallen
tree branch,
gel cracks and laminate fracture at stress points, delamination of the glass
from the motor mounts
but all in all it seemed to be a good starting point on a very fresh Continental
trailer with a good
stringer grid and inner liner, no dock rash(26 years hard to believe!!) and a
solid hull.
The whole upper deck was flexing ant the boat was headed for self destruct if
operated in
the rough very much.
So we
eventually stripped her down to a bare fiberglass shell for a complete refit. I
am an auto
tech by profession and work in conjunction with some fiberglass pros at Wrangler
Boats in
Canal Fulton so I have resources to do this cheaper other than the $600k in lost
labor hours.
Here the motor mounts have been cut out and the stringer grid cut to accept a
splice.
The whole bilge, hull and transom have been sanded for the additional lay-up.
We thought the belly of the Carver was a little thin for the way I use a boat
and as a result
we added more laminate to the hull starting with two layers of 1.5oz mat
followed with two layers of biaxial
mat adding about 3/16-1/4 hull thickness at the pad.
Here is a shot of the hull after lamination.
This shows the lap joint
from the hull to the outer stringer if you look close you can see the lap
of both layers of biaxial on the stringer.
Here is the lumber cut and
ready to be screwed together with resin between pieces.
Next
the mounts and stringer splice are assembled and placed in position.
You will notice we capped the mounts with plywood to give the actual engine
mount screws
better retention from the cross laminate of the plywood. If you have to lay
pieces of lumber
together like we did on these mounts make sure you cut the lumber so any crown
in the lumber
lays together when assembled.
Next cut and fit the glass mat and roving to fit, remove and stack all pieces in
reverse order
of assembly so they are ready to wet out in sequence.
First we wet out the motor mount stringers and to the outboard side of each I
added a panel
for the outdrive trim pump, trim tab pump and the opposite side for the water
pumps for the
washdown, transom shower and head shower just repeating the process for each
addition.
Once again I can not stress enough sanding if the glass has been kicked for a
few days to ensure
complete bond.
This shot shows the backer board that is screwed and laminated to the
pre-existing stringer grid
to reinforce the splice. Once again start with mat and finish with roving to
give the strength.
Next we added the crossbrace that locates the fuel tank ahead of the motor
mounts and ran biaxial
once again from the hull lapped at four iinches all the way up the stringer to
seal the inside of the
repair. You will notice the chalky looking areas that are sanded in between
operations and the
glossy areas that are the current additions to the work.
Next the gelcoat is applied to seal the work and harden the frays that will hang
out of the lay-up
making them easy to sand when deburring before the final gelcoat that will
include pva surfacing
agent. This coat can be kicked hotter at around 15-20cc per quart of gelcoat and
applied with a
brush and roller.
In doing an inboard like we are you can seal the lumber at the transom cut
out to help ensure
water migration into the transom lumber is eliminated. Just lay it up around the
perimeter and
grind flush both inside and out.
Upper cabin reinforcement 1/2 ULX laminated to add core stiffness, custom cut
supports for the
window frame corners in the front of the cabin.
One third of the foredeck had core rot, common to balsa core laminates that
see water,
as I said it was an improperly bedded water fill that did most of the damage.
To remove the core first you remove the inner laminate then the balsa.
You would think rotted balsa would mean easy removal? True where soaked but to
get to good
solid core the pros use an air chisel and take it a cut at a time. I criss cross
cut the core almost
into the outer laminate to make removal much easier at about 2 inch graduations.
Unfortunately the air chisel can poke through at times. oops!
The hatch was left intact to keep the frame supported until restructure,
Bomar cast aluminum monster,
lists today at around $1600.00.That made it easier to spend $150.00 for the
lexan and around
80.00 for the hardware and factory gasket plus refinish which is a tossup
between durabak,
polyurethane and powder coat. Just can not decide as of yet. All the trim,
custom cut wing windows,
poly setting tapes and slider tracking came from Marine Glass Specialties who is
the only person
I found who knew what we wanted. He is stocking all Water Bonnett, Taylor and a
third I can not remember
from 1997 and back window systems, repairs and parts. Not cheap as it was
$832.00 but we rebuilt
8 complete frames with OE quality or better where applicable.
The window frames delaminated when the glass was pulled so we ran 1.5oz mat
around the perimeter
ground and gel coated to seal prior to final finish. We pulled all problems on
the deck and crazing to
height in the same fashion. Only around 350 spots in, out, top and bottom. I
must be crazy or obsessed
and will probably end up in an institution when I an done!
We had to mock build as many things are being custom fabricated here is
the dash panel, wiring harness
to cabin and engine and bimini frame, opted to use pvc for template rather than
mis cutting $7.00 a foot
stainless. All new switches and instrumentation from Great Lakes Skipper, a
great surplus marine supplier.
Custom cutting dash and switch panels from a black pebble grain carbon fiber the
perimeter is trimmed in
teak as Carvers are loaded with teak and Mahogany,140 plus pieces to refinish.
All Carling switches and vdo back mount gauges, Electronics panel is
detachable with GM weatherpack
and DIN connectors as are all the harnesses making them all removable with
plugs.
Nothing fancy but decent Garmin GPS chart plotter with Blue Chart cartography
and a 250c color
sonar. An Icom 302 VHF with DSC and all interlinked on NMEA serial line. All
electronics including
transducers and antennas will be backed up with old take out equiptment we
already have.
We are custom building a bow pulpit that will include a Genius 1000
horizontal windlass foot switching
on deck and at the helm in the upper left of the dash, a planer board mast,
anchor roller and search light.
This shows the plywood core prior to lamination.
Midship berthing with long stowage below.On the starboard side we added a
shower sump as
we are converting the head to a shower and adding a transom shower and washdown
out back.
Pulling all glass repairs to height with Napa tech base polyester. You
will notice that the boat is
now a bare shell other than a pain wiring harness. All drillings and cutting
happened in the mock
build other than the window frames.
After blocking by hand 80 grit for what seemed forever we shot the whole
upper deck with polyester
resin primer from Advance Coatings and threw a coat of tracer to show the
imperfections on the next
block coat. The tracer is basically a red/purple lacquer.
Gunnel to gunnel tackle stowage above the powertrain, took relocating the
pumps for sterndrive
and tabs to the in bilge shelves along with the water pumps. Tough sanding all
the steps to make
the corners that were crazed. The perimeter was constructed of 1/2ULX 2 lavers
of 1.5 oz mat and
one layer of 1708 biaxial.
The first image is a repair primed and traced and second is blocked to being
ready for a glaze of
USC Thin Ice Glazing polyester.
Now the whole upper deck has been blocked AGAIN!!! and all minor
imperfections are filled
and blocked AGAIN!!! That is the light blue cast that is starting to show up. It
is the glazing that
fills the maroon lows left from the tracer. The portside of the cabin is where
the deck rot was and
needed much more straightening than starboard. Fortunately the hull was good and
a good buff and
some minor gel repairs will get'r'done. You will notice the chalked look to the
gelcoat now as it has
been sanded to deburr and take off the highs. The bilge all compartments and
anchor locker will all
get a waxed gel as the final finish but that is after topside paint so we don't
fight overspray,
in fact it can be used as a cheater tracer when rough sanding prior to the
application of the durabak.
All the brownish fiber glass repair spoys will be gelcoat covered like the
window frames prior to final
finish. All exposed edges of the laminate and any lumber have been glass
encapsulated and sealed.
Found some osmosis, blisters in the gelcoat from water intrusion. Just what I
wanted, more work!!
Opened up the blisters and found air which is common in tight corners of a
lay-up between the
gelcoat and glass. Now I must decide on how to approach this, it follows the
strake, outboard edge
only and runs about 8 feet.
A swim platform, transducers, pitot tube, trim tabs, ventilation drain and
tie downs have the transom
quite busy. I'm removing all previous drillings for the transducers and pilot
and adding a bilge plug,
original went through the bottom of the hull which is being removed. Area is
ground to a depth of around
1/4 inch and all holes will be filled before being glassed over.Rectangles are
easier to work with when
cutting and grinding in my opinion, so you will notice my repairs to have that
shape in most instances.
Upper deck blocking is ready for second primer coat for final block.
I did deal with the blistering on the outboard side of the inner
strakes and more upper deck sanding.
When the glass is laid in a mold on the gelcoat it is not uncommon to get air
voids between the gelcoat
and lay-up unless a bonding putty is spread into the tight corners and it
appears Carver did not do
that step resulting in voids beneath the gelcoat as I showed in the last post.
So we ground the length
of the inner strakes, outers were ok the angle was less severe, and laminated
mat to bring things
back to height.
This ran almost the full length.
In the first two pics you will notice we blended the radius but left the layup
to hang rather than roll
the edge because the outer was all that was failed and it is tough to roll tight
corners and eliminate
all the air. Next you cut the excess with a phenolic wheel in a die grinder to
preprep for sanding.
Once all is blended a filler is spread to fill lows and pinholes,fiberglass
laminate is full of them.
And sanded again to pull to height along with forming the lower radius.
Now the repair is ready for gelcoat and a final sand before moisture barrier and
bottom paint.
Next glass on the transom is faired to original height and filler is used to
remove slight imperfections
and pinholes.
Then moisture barrier, Interlux 2000/2001e ,is applied to seal the transom, it
will total at around
4-5 coats of all below the waterline surfaces. Masking around the transom plate
area is where the gelcoat
will be repaired as you want around an inch of margin between the ablative
bottom paint, Interlux
VC17 in our project, and the lower unit to ensure that the discharge effect is
obtained. The ablative
can not touch the transom plate and still work.
Next our attention was directed to the cabin where flexing had occurred in the
past. We ran biaxial on the
original lay-up and then foamed it with A/B marine foam faired it with filler
and ran more biaxial roving on
the outside. This created a structural beam so to speak and greatly strengthened
the cabin top, the repair is
where the lime green filler shows through. It also created an easier surface to
work with other than a reverse
radius when attaching the headliner.
The same approach was utilized in the lower cabin window areas.
Next the port cabinside was shot with a final blocking prime coat and will be
glazed for any blemishes
and pinholes missed.The boat needed to be dropped as far as the yard arms would
allow to gain clearance
from the cieling to shoot the dash and topside areas,so the bottom is on hold
until she is painted.
But that necessitates complete finish and dust removal from all of the cabin,
bilge and stringer grid
to keep the final finishes dust free.
Here all of the rear deck and cabin glass repairs are sanded to accept the
fillers that will fair to height.
Filler is ran on all repairs.
More layup, the tank support panel is cut and glassed both sides, then
the hull and the bottom of
the panel are final gelcoated with a PVA added and the panel is tabbed and
eventually taped into place
with more 1708 biaxial roving.
And a panel for the Vetus flexible water storage bladder is cut glassed, gelled
bottom side once again
and taped in the same fashion to the hull and front of the inner stringer grid.
The locker for the anchor rode, in the foremost section of the bow, was
going to allow water to
drain back into the stringer grid and compartments so it got completely sealed
off to be its own
compartment but the confined area made pics impossible, infact I could not even
get in there to
do lay-up with a respirator and will probably suffer permanent "dain brammage"
as a result...lol..even
with fans and ventilation.
The repair on the cabin floor where we found balsa core rot consisted of making
two stringers that run
the length of the sole and are matted and eventually laid up with biaxial roving
around the whole
perimeter and will be covered with a new floor piece.Here the front is laminated
in place to both
the liner and the hull.
We converted an enclosed head to a shower and that required a drained floor
as well as a sump
for pre-filtering hair and the like before being pumped out. We laminated a wall
on each end of
the sump by closing off the stringer grid cut the square for a plastic grid that
will mount in the shower
floor and ground glassed, filled and prepped for finish which will first be
gelled and then topcoated
with Durabak18 A moisture cured polyurethane.
The cabin is blocked and ready for compartment and cabin gelcoat. The
floor is glass laminated and
needs to be drilled for hardware and gelcoated. All horizontal surfaces will be
Durabak.
The dust removal process is never ending but significantly better and will need
to be spotless
for final gelcoat and paint.
Decided to cut access holes in the rear of the midship berths, that allowed
stowage to the transom for
lons stuff like rods and curtains.It will also house a triple bank 30amp on
board charger for starting and
house batteries on the port side.On the starboard side there will be hosing to
the bilge module on the
outside of the stringer grid keeping them out of the engine area.
Had to cut the floor support on diagonal to maximize the compartment which
necessitated strengthening
with two layers of 1.5oz mat and a lay of 1708 biaxial. Everything was gelcoated
with a light grey with
PVA waxing added. The bummer was that we could not sand bach deep into the
compartment without
major surgery so we took our chances and gelcoated prepped as well as possible.
It took a three inch roller and a five foot extension to get all the way back
but the gunnel, transom ant
outside of the outer stringers are now gelcoat sealed. You want to watch
thickness of the gelcoat as it will
pinhole if applied too thick as well as being susceptible to crazing. A little
ugly because of the inability
to prep but every thing will be in bags for stowage.
Doors will be added and carpeted like the verticals and top of the sleepers will
be.
It sure added alot of unused room.
Converting the enclosed head to a shower proposed a headliner issue so the
approach will be to
fill, block, gelcoat and Durabak for the waterproof finish.
Whats a little more sanding???...lol...
The anchor locker is ready for final pulpit fitting and drilling for it and the
windlass.
The pictured cutout is for the rode and you can see where we laminated 1708 to
the bow
to reinforce it for the pulpit as well.
Looking inside the locker to the bow eye support, this was one of the toughest
areas to lay up as we added
two layers of 1.5oz mat ant two layers of 1708 to completely seal the locker and
structurally reinforce the
nose. A drain will lead to the foward bilge module.
All of the rear deck is pretty close to be gelcoated and Durabak painted
including the doghouse.
The original hatch cover was a mess so these panels were fabricated from a wood
core, chopper gunned,
filled and are ready to drill for hinges, gelcoat and final sand. The topcoat
will be the same
two part polyurethane the deck will see ,color matched from a scan of the hull.
Time to drill and chamfer all hardware holes so the frames go back in place. We
drill oversized to
first apply a thinned resin to saturate the core. Then resin with microballons
is "painted" into the
bore and re-drilled and gelcoated to seal the core. The rivet holes for the
curtains and top are
just gelcoated and opened to size as they do not pass through the core.
Adding full instrumentation and complete switching for all circuits required
adding width to the dash.
The white is original and the wood tones are the addition.
Extensive glass and restructure was pulled to make it a rock.Fortunately much is
covered and
fine finish is not necessary.
The first cabin gelcoat, no PVA as it will either be final coated with waxed
gelcoat or Durabak,
plus as before it will act as a filler and ease deburring.
The sink refrigerator and stove will be on the port side where the gelcoat
extends to the lower
part of the liner. The liner was cut and a catch basin was built on the outside
of the stringer grid.
The starboard side is gelled to the liner where the closet and head will be.A
shower sump was
cut and built into the inner stringer grid and will pump to a thru hull.
A cutout was made to accept a PCV drainage grid found on a Lowes scavenger hunt.
The anchor locker and compartments will be final gelled in white with PVA.
You will notice the shop vac, it is used to pull fumes from tight compartments
.The carbon respirator is a
must but the MEKP will burn you because of the peroxide, especially your scalp.
I get a dermatitis type reaction from the raw gelcoat and be wary of getting the
hardener on your
skin it can burn you bad.
Custom building a bow pulpit turned into a project of its own, first building a
plywood core,
then filling the center with foam and grinding to contour. Then applying waxed
paper to the deck
and building to height with fiberglass stranded filler and clamping to get the
curvature.
Original idea was above pulpit anchor roller, hence the slot on the
bottom of the pulpit
but a great Ebay deal on a through pulpit unit will necessitate blocking and
filling to accept it.
Just a little more work!!! Fortress anchor pulled by a Quick Genius 1000
horizontal windlass with helm
and deck controls will be the lay out.
The 180 is conduit as will be all of the deckrail mock build to obtain a
template to
bend it from and the foot switches will be on the deck as well as helm control.
The fit is now close enough we can drill the thru deck attaching and windlass
hardware holes.
Laminated the core with two layers of mat one of 1708 and topped with another of
1.5oz.
The contours came out close thanks to the waxed paper.
That windlass will help eliminate the back breaking anchor retrieval.
This weekend I started by deburring the areas gelcoated last week and prepped
the cabin for gelcoating
to seal the work and give a uniform base for the Durabak and carpet adhesive.
The mid berth sleepers were torture to the max Pulling dust with the shopvac the
whole time added
aggrevating noise as well.
The shower area sucked up the first gelcoat as there was alot of raw polyester
filler used to fair.
The underside of the deck was a real pain as well with the tight corner and
lumber and bedding
utilized at the hull to deck split.
The cabin bilge and floor stringers will get another coat before the
final waxed gelcoat.
The underside of the deck and hatch area provided some quality entertainment...lol...
About four to five hours of rolling gelcoat and we have a sealed cabin other
than compartments.
The gelcoat is going to be top coated with Durabak which lays at around 20mil
per coat and is
textured with granulized rubber so spraying was not necessary. Actually spraying
in tight areas
like this are very difficult to overcoat evenly and it was a Godsend that we are
rolling.
The light grey allowed easier spotting of thin areas over the dark grey.
The compartments and anchor locker will be final gelcoated in white for light
reflectivity but the bilge areas will be a light grey. All final coats will have
PVA to ease
cleaning. Raw gelcoat is tacky and is only rolled without wax if it will be
recoated.
Raw gelcoat clogs sandpaper like crazy, my sandpaper bill for this project has
exceeded $300.00 so far!!!
The Helm and passenger areas get their first coat of gel for deburring.
The flanges for the walls were laminated with three layers of 1708 as they
seemed thin for their structural value.
Using the shopvac to evacuate fumes when rolling the sleepers was a must but a
little over
halfway through the process we smoked the 20 year old shopvac, guess she had all
she could
take...lol...Sure did blow some smoke out the discharge port.
The supports along the gunnel were bedded in to allow attachment of the
stainless panel in
the shower wall that will house the shower head and hose and spigot,all
recessed.
The Galley area will need to be recoated as we picked up kicking gelcoat and
made some
extra work, at least it is hidden when the stove, sink, fridge is in!!!
The cabin is pretty much done with the exception of spotting in a few areas.
Over Saturday and Sunday I gel coated the rear deck, engine bilge, transom and
under the
upper deck. There were just a couple fiberglass lay-ups left, on the inside of
the core I laid
two layers of 1.5oz chopped mat and followed up with 1708 biaxial to give a good
solid pad
to distribute torque from deck hardware attaching screws under all mounts.
Last of the glass lay-up inside!!!
Pre-assembled all the panels that divert water from the hatch perimeter ahead of
the doghouse.
These are all homebrew, Carver's flat panels were terrible. Added angle to
divert water to
the engine bilge, the components are in various stages from glassing to initial
deburring
gel coat, the reason for multiple finishes. In the end result all will be gelled
and pva added.
Then cut countersunk and mounted front floor panel back-up down each length to
cabin.
Martin Senior TEC filler used throught, not cheap but very workable product.The
fast file takes board paper and
is great for fairing flat where machine tools wont cut it. Sanding drums
make deck fittings and
access panels much easier.
In addition to the air board, die grinder with Roloc discs,7 and 4 inch
grinders, dual action sander
and an electric corner sander we heavily use a palm dual action sander, especially for the
compartments
which are next in line for final gel coat which will be white with pva added.
All the panels that are removable have been repaired, modified or restructured
and are prepped for gelcoating
as is the inside of the engine cover. Lumber was added and laminated to seal
along the length and the diagonal
gussets were all broken so they were restructured as well, now she is a rock.
Engine bilge is final sanded in prep for gelcoat.
All exposed surfaces are coated, there will be no un gel coated work left to
sponge water.
Here you can see under the floor where the finish is the same.
The
compartments will receive the same attention and all sides will be gelled
including the tops.
Starboard side end result.
Transom and inner liner completely bonded and sealed.
Helm and front of tank bilge area finish takes up where cabin work left off.
Engine bilge, nice and smooth but needs to be final sealed with gel coat with
pva release agent.
The cabin and deck ready for top coats, mostly Durabak textured rubberized
polyurethane.
Tackle storage will run gunnel to gunnel and have a snap in sunbrella or
pfiffertex bag to accept tackle storage boxes.
All small panels are killing time like crazy.Initially there were 15 but the
number will grow
in the next mock build.
Here is after the first gelcoat and deburring ready for second coat or side
whichever the case may be.
Bow pulpit is taking shape.
Everything is air boarded, dual actioned and hand blocked with 80 grit for good
toothing of the next coat.
Cabin floor is finished bottom side but just starting topside. For some reason
there is an abundance
of 55gal work barrels in a production glass shop...lol...
The workmate is worth its weight in gold for holding these panels to sand.
Engine cover is ready and the inner and lower perimeter are almost there.
Pulpit's fourth topside coat, ready to drill for attachment points and windlass
after bottomside coats.
There seems to be a never ending stream of new stuff to take from step one
on.
The raw panel will hold bilge hosing tight to the bottom of the deck where
they are routed.
Deburring cabin floor and hatch panels first coat. Also sanding the tank to
seal,
probably be 2000e unless I find advantages to an epoxy tar I have seen
referenced for this application.
Just what we needed more homework!!!
The conveyor seems never ending.
More bilge panels.
Laying in the engine cover and deck panels to check fit.
Tackle locker ready for second gelcoat, the 1708 was left raw not matted for
finish due to the
fact that it is hidden so rough work is ok here.
Lockers are close to ready to finish.
Did not like the white gelcoat,it seems as though the pigment is lighter and
bleeds alot
worse than grey ,so we sanded the anchor locker again and it will be
light grey as the rest
of the lockers will be now.
Deburring and finish sanding the cabins first gelcoat.
Decided to do the whole cabin one more coat as there were a couple trouble
spots.
The cabin panels were chopper gun applied so the texture is rougher than mat and
requires a little more gelcoat to fair.
Pulpit's first lower coat and blocking.
Third of the three hatch panels, toothed, ready for gelcoat.
Second stage of tank sanding ,she's closer.24 grit 3" rolocks seem fastest .Will
blast tight corners.
Lower pulpit's second coat.
Bilge panels are close to finish gelcoat or are they???
So I lay in the tank.
Install the panels.
And everything is ....
Too high because I lapped the support panel a little higher and the 3/4 inch
supports we
added raised everything enough to hit!!! Just something else to
refit, welcome to fabrication.
At least only one hole for the bilge hoses needs
to be moved.
That's the reason pre fitting is so necessary in each stage. Starting to think
about the panels behind
the engine cover, have many concepts sketched.
Dollies make things easier as you can move the boat as necessary when not
working the bottom.
These have good sized quality casters and roll effortlessly.
Choppergun and one coat of gelcoat, more to follow.
Dash is coming along
As well as the other "little" projects!!!
All this happens easily and the sanding is a cake walk. NOT!!! Gelcoat clogs
paper like crazy and if
you get alot built up like on this disc it will "melt"
the surface and burn the area you are trying to fair.
So paper is extremely
expendable.
At least if I screw up we have a couple extra pieces of mat and roving.
Now we are getting close to looking at this side again.
Trial fitting the pulpit ready to drill the deck.
Should never break this one.
At least there is a feeling of accomplishment more frequently now.
Time to mock build again to establish all drillings and fit of panels,
modules and trim.
The walls have been stripped and laminated with Formica or vinyl where possible
prior to assembly but some will have
to be covered at the tail end because of the flow of assembly. The trim is up to
the seventh coat of
polyurethane and but two or three more may be necessary to completely flow over
the grain.
The taff rails and swim deck will be oiled because
of the water and wear and tear.
Closet, vee berth and anchor locker.
Carver likes mahogany and teak, it goes back to their heritage, at the tune
of over 150 pieces.
Added access hatch and storage shelf at liner split starboard side.
Storage shelf port side, you can never have enough.
Looking astern galley module is vinyl covered, make sure you use stainless
staples. Contact adhesive did not
work with the vinyl, it gasses and builds huge blisters when curing and with no
way to breath it balloons like crazy.
Cutout is for AC breaker panel and to the left gfci receptacle.
Closet is vinyled one side the rest happens during final assembly.
Closet top will hold microwave and needs full trim finish.
Enclosed head/shower is formica and a stainless panel will house valving for
the water, switches for the pump
and light up holder and a tray.
Some stepped cuts that all needed trimmed from cabin strengthening material
thickness.
Carver did use some nice lumber.
Cutout on right is for the fridge, Norcold dual voltage. The sink and
stove are integrated as well as shelving,
a fold down counter and a drawer.
The wall behind the engine cover is going to be cut and doors with rod
holders added both sides.
behind the port door will be the battery master switch,110v receptacle and
starboard will be wash down switching,
valve and 50ft coil hose. This will also allow quick battery access.
Hatch cover panels taking shape, drilled for deck attachment and windshield
support and drink holder.
Dash installed all loose fit yet.
Engine cover, drink holder and tackle access doors rough fit.
Tackle covers will get recessed latches and fit.
Bow roller cut and installed.
Topside fit, next will be planer mast and deck railing.
Well pleased with the roller and anchor fit, Fortress FX16
Finally getting to stages that will show a final
finish.Needed to buff an area to scan to get final color of the hull for
scannoing for topside paint mix.Started with 3M super duty compound followed by
cutting creme but will be changing to another brand of cutting creme that leaves
no reesidue.Wool pad for rough cut and the yellow for finish.
Starboard side just compound and creme no wax,the 27
year old gelcoat had life left in her,wish I could have said the same for the
topsides.
Port side had a little wiggle in the build as you can
see in the reflection.Still not bad for the age,can't wait to see her waxed but
wax is our worst enemy right now as we are still painting.
Pulling the waterline up 3/4" will allow for blend of
sanding dig at the origional line as well as shifting the boot stripe to hide
the tonal change in the gel that was under the OE stripe.
We had prior coated the transom so it needed sanded to
accept the new coats.Once again you can see the elevated waterline,actually
better in this shot.You need to maintain a one inch gap between the bottom paint
and the transom housing of the drive.
You can see we dropped the boat on jack stands and
blocked the keel for bottom finish making less area to spot in when finishing.
Now she is as clear as it can be for coating and we mix the moisture
barrier,Interlux 2000e here.This product gasses like crazy so the carbon
respirator is a must as well as good ventilation,we use a 3 foot fan built into
the shop wall and regulate cross draft with doors.
Interlux wants 10 mil coating thickness and 2.5 per
coat is their best estimate.We sanded at the third and fifth coats for
smoothness and went six total.The last two we rolled with a foam roller and
prior with a medium nap.Some of the pinholing did not cover over until the fifth
coat and all obvious were dabbed to height prior to the final barrier coat.
Went for Interlux's VC17 in origional color,a brownish
tone,hence the copper color for those of you who are not familiar with VC.Thjis
can be rolled or sprayed but spraying can be tricky so we opted to roll,foam
rollers all the way.
When coating around a spot in area be sure to step the products so a sand and
finish will allow each coat to flow into the new coatings applied.
PROGRESS REPORT
Craig is still working on this boat!
Updates soon