Vintage rides

I am getting used to stay alone at the cottage:) Nice and quiet; do what I like... I miss the city though: family, dogs, Internet... Anyway, I stayed there 3 nights, made a good progress on the boat.
Here is the picture of 1708 - fiberglass material I use for reinforsing stringers and bulkheads. I will use one layer of it on bulkheads and two layers on stringers.

Here is my working area: all fiberglass cut to size, wood is ready for fireplace:)



I used all the resin filler... Had to use some wood "dust" - not the best filler, but worked as temporary (read permanent) replacement. Need to buy some talc now...

Some pictures of fiberglassed subframe:










Some extra glass here to reinforce the transom:




Some more pictures:











I have a little problem here: thick fiberglass doesn't like corners and points... I needed to cup the plywood with something on the top. I rounded all the edges, thinking that I can wrap the glass around - that was a mistake. Fiberglass doesn't want to stay on the radius... Decided just to cover it with resin for now. On the rest of the subframe I will try to keep tops as flat as possible...
Here are the pictures of the glassed tops...

This one is just covered with resin. I am thinking about thickening the resin with some fibers before applying. Should stay in place better:

Here is the picture of the nose part: same work has to be done... I started from sanding and vacuuming... Hate that part...

Read more...

I had nothing to post lately... Nothing mentionable...
Worked on the Elan frame: removed some paint, etc.
Bought some suppluies for boat project: 5 gal. of resin, 8 kg. of 1708 8" fiberglass tape, etc.
Tomorrow going to the cottage to get some work done: will laminate the stringers and bulkheads to the hull.
Also, started another batch of beer today. Stout again. Bottling in two weeks.

Read more...

I had a great chance to make some progress on the boat today: nice day and free ride to the cottage:)
Today's mantra is "sanding"... Spent four hours sanding the subframe. Vacuumed everything, checked the result and finished missed areas.
After sanding was done...

Raccoon got the grinder!!!


My feet are sore, hands are shaky...
Also, I tried the new for me way to fill the gaps: dispersing compound with a plastic bag. Like the cooks use on the cakes to spread the cream... Worked perfect! All you need to do after - just smooth the bead with a finger:)
Here are some pictures of the beads:


Another angle:


One more shot:

One more:

And the last one...


Next time I will start fiberglassing the subframe to the hull.
Read more...

I decided to add some pictures and history of the boat project.
It's 1975 Chrysler Conqueror 16', 105HP
It had rotted floor, water saturated foam and rotted transom. I decided to repair and modify the boat and started the project in Fall 2009.
Pictures of disassembly, floor/foam removal, etc...

Motor is gone, seats are gone as well


Top half is gone


Quality control...


Transom is soft as a sponge...


Digging the foam


Half way...


Clean hull


New transom is in...


And fiberglassed


Stringers and bulkheads: work in progress...

Read more...

How often do you overestimate yourself in plans? With life experience you suppose to get better in planning... I have an opposite situation here...
My original plan was simple: wait for several warm, sunny days in a row; laminate stringers and bulkheads; bed them in the hull; laminate them in the hull. Bam-boom-beem: done in three days! Sounds easy, doesn't it?
Wednesday morning I rode my bike to the cottage, organized my workplace, brought everything what I need for work from the house. 9:30 - first mix of resin in the cup... By ten I realized, that I need to organize the process better: I needed to cut all the fiberglass and staple it to the plywood first. By 16 I ran out of staples and good luck: clouds got darker and darker and by the time I finished cleaning the work area and covering the boat the rain started. Thunder storm followed... No work done until Thursday morning...

In the middle of the process:


Not even half done...


I was mixing the resin with less then 1% hardener: day was so hot, that it was curing too fast!


Thursday morning. Should I mention, that I was already behind the schedule? Big time! Anyway I had same thing going all over again: laminating, laminating, laminating... Went to the hardware shop to buy staples... And back to laminating, laminating, laminating... Luck was with me all day, so I finished with Dalai Lama thing and trimmed all the parts. Can't say that I am 100% satisfied with a result: I could make it even nicer:) Next time;)

Friday morning. Rain in forecast... Scratched my head, then beard: decided to bed all the structure elements before I go home. First challenge: how to take off the top half of the boat? 2x4 under nose section, rear part rests on support, then nose goes on support as well... Easy to write it down;)
After that I sanded the hull, vacuumed it, installed stringers, temporary screwed a couple bulkheads: prepared all the holes for screws, double checked that boat sits straight on the trailer - ready to go. Loaded the gun with PL Premium; started the process...

Was done in less then an hour. Put some weight on the frame to keep it loaded, cleaned the work area and went home by 13...


So, I failed my plan: fiberglassing the frame...
Next time I need to reinforce all the plywood to the hull, drill the drainage holes, prepare the floor... I will need to refill my supplies: running out of thinner and resin. Need to check how many fiberglass left as well...
So, what I learned from that experience, that we are not getting any faster with age:)
Now it's time to taste the homemade beer:)
Read more...

Almost forgot! I started the Rotax yesterday: had to clean the points and the spark plug. Carb is not operational, so I just sprayed some gas/oil mixture in the engine. It starts:) Not for real, but something to play with:)
Read more...

I went to the guy who had the chassis and skis for Elan yesterday to find out that my tunnel is not that bad:) He had almost identical damage to the chassis, so I grabed only skis wich are correct for my sled. I have no regrets about keepeing my main fraim - at least it will stay original 1972... And with some work it could serve me another several decades:)
In the evening I started to cut the most damaged pieces of metal. Still need to cut some more areas... So, I cut the biggest piece under seat, some areas in the front (where gas tank is located) and some structural elements as well.
Here are the pics:

Tunnel



One more of the tunnel


Front


Front again

Read more...

Got two correct skis today. Guy had the chassis as well, but it's shape is not much better then mine piece of rust:)
I had mixed feeleings about buying another chassis anyway, so I gonna repair mine. Should be fun!!!
Read more...

I had all morning for myself, so I decided to clean some room in the garage: get the Elan apart.
All the fasteners were rusted, so good spray of WD-40 on every bolt and nut was my first step. Handlebar and steering assembly rushed to their temporary destination in the plastic bin first. Engine assembly, gear case, secondary clutch, boggies and other bits followed...
Couldn't dissasemble the tensioners for the track, so had to cut one of them.
It took two and half hours to tear it down...

So, here is the Elan


Power plant is waiting...


Chassis is badly corroded


I got two different types of skis. Which one is correct to the year? Need to figure it out


I have a choise now: I can repair the chassis and weld some patches (lots of pathces), or I can buy another one for $40... Leaning toward buying...


Here is the tensioner I had to cut


Previous owner fixed dents on the chassis with autobody filler... Tons of it!!!



Now I need to figure out when I can get the "new" chassis and maybe another pair of skis... Sometime next week... Lots of work ahead!
Read more...