10' foot fiberglass rebuild ...

[Sounguru]

If any of you have kept up with my blog .. A Rednecks Misadventures in Fishing then you are familiar with this boat....

SO I have decided to fix and make a few mods as I go. Thought you all might want to laugh at me and say I told you so...

So here is where we are at. The back was starting to split so I have some industrial glue down in there and waiting for it to dry if it ever does. Then I plan to throw a couple of layers of fiberglass over it for reinforcement. Every place there is spray paint is a place where fiberglass has been put to cover up scrapes and dings. It is not sanded yet I want to make sure I'm not gonna sink first.



The Holes..




And here you can see where they were since I have not reinforced them from the inside yet ..



Good news is it holds water... At least on the inside. Last time it rained it came in sideways enough to get in the boat so now I have to bail it out so I can finish the repair.

Future plans..
Make sure it doesn't sink
Put in deck in back of boat maybe entire boat still debating
Rig trailer to haul boat with out scraping it up (cause of the holes)
Rhino line the bottom of boat
Put in a fishing chair
Put in a live well
and who knows what else...

[The Quadfather]

I like these kinds of posts and pics. I have been building a boat forever it seems. Please keep with the documenting of your work. Have fun!

[Rich McVey]

I like these kinds of posts and pics. I have been building a boat forever it seems. Please keep with the documenting of your work. Have fun!

Agreed. I recently picked up a 6ft fiberglass that needs TLC. Much less daunting than what needs to be done to the Saratoga! Mine looks like it slid out of the back of someones truck while going down the road. Lots of glass and paint missing off of the keel and bottom. Someone did a poor job with a walmart glass kit that needs to be fixed and Im adding a battery compartment and then some Line-X or similar product to the inside.

Sounguru, lets us know how the repairs go.

[Sounguru]

Thanks guys I will I plan on finishing the hole repairs today if the rain holds and then get her to a lake and make sure she doesn't sink. Once that is done then I will flip her over and sand her smooth and Line-X the bottom. I will document it as I go even if it is me waist deep standing in a boat.

[Sounguru]

All is not well there are now 3 large holes in her....

I will post pictures up tonight.

[G-Man]

Bummer, I hope they were found before you had it on the water!

['OL GREY DOG]

hmmmppfff

[tnj8222]

Lets see the pics. Im sure its fixable.

[Sounguru]

I never said the 3 holes weren't of my own making....

So I was moving the boat around and all was not well it was way to heavy in the back end and was heavier on one side than the other. So I cracked one of the rear floatation areas open and sure enough the float foam was wet. So I opened both up fully and both were wet but one side had about 2 gallons of standing water and the foam itself was an extra 15 or so pounds in weight. So right there was 35 pounds of my problem...

So I figured why I'm at it I might as well crack the transom and replace the rear board since I'm sure that is where most of my water was getting in.

Here are all the holes


Here is one of the wells already sealed with new fiberglass


And like every good redneck I found a good use for those old foam blocks...

[G-Man]

Looks like you are doing a quite thorough job! Love the pics!

[Matt]

Haha, lookin good.

One thing I would mention about Rhino Lining or any kind of truck bed-liner material on a boat this size would be added weight. That stuff can be pretty heavy.

[Sounguru]

Haha, lookin good.

One thing I would mention about Rhino Lining or any kind of truck bed-liner material on a boat this size would be added weight. That stuff can be pretty heavy.

True but since I will be the only one in it and it will only be on the bottom to help protect it when I beach the boat. The whole reason I had to repair it in the first place was that I wore through the bottom by beaching it.

Plus I will have a winch on the trailer this year so I think the weight will not be too much of an issue.

['OL GREY DOG]

yep ....spray liners will add weight...but..

the peace of mind knowing that you've covered your bottom (haha) and it can take a lil abuse and probably wont ever leak again(if you bring it up the sides past the water line)alone is worth the buck$

the weight you add is down low so doesnt hurt your center of gravity...
and it sure quiets down a noisey metal hull

in your case....you know where the wear points ....the guy you have spray it can control how much material is put down...a thin coat in the field and heavier on the pointy parts and corners(like where bottom 'n sides meet) will save some weight

you mentioned "Rhino".. i used Linex on most of my projects ... SPENDY !!!.... you might do a DEX search for a "idustrial coatings" company....there's lots of places that have spray'n machines these days...i found 1 in Tac that the economy 'n the Gov put out of biz now <insert mad emote face here>...but there are others out there.....it cost quite a bit more (like abouta 1/3) to go with the name brand guys...a lot to pay so you can have a lil yellow sticker on the side of your boat <shrugs>....DOG

['OL GREY DOG]

a P.S. to the above...

GOOD prep work can save you some buck$ and help insure a quality job...i ALLLWAYS had the boat spotless clean and "scuff'd" with either 80 grit sandpaper or scotch pads .. usually both.....you'll get the best results if you gel coat any areas repaired or where the old coat is wearing thin....it doesnt have to be wet sanded 'n buff'd out or color matched or nuthin...but gel coat sticks to fiberglass better than about anything and is a good surface for your spray-on guys to work with....i even grab some masking tape and layout the lines (say up on the bow) to make sure they KNOW where i want it spray'd !!!....had a minor catastrophe ONCE on that 1...and if its put on right...it aint come'n off without do'n damage....GL...DOG

[Sounguru]

My plan is to tape sand and the entire bottom before anything gets put on. I will probably self apply the liner myself, but first I have to make sure she doesn't sink.

[Sounguru]

Progress made..

Both floatation chambers in the back are done and the transom is drying now. I may need to add a couple of more layers of cloth to the transom but that will have to wait until Friday.... Boat seat arrives Thursday so the deck and seat will go in Friday and the trailer will get worked on on Friday.

Before glassing


After glassing


Sorry no pics of the transom I will have those on Friday. Will also do some light sanding on Friday to get the stray strings that are now needles knocked down and on Saturday I will put her to the test and see if she works. If everything is sound then I will start on the clean up and sand all areas and prep for the bottom coating and more modifications to the inside deck area.

[Sounguru]

Seat arrived today so tomorrow it goes in ...



And on a side not I have been researching fiberglass over foam and that has opened up 2 cans of worms.

#1 Modifications that can be done to this boat

#2 Building my own boat....

Also I have finally got a name for my little boat... Wife 3.0

Wife 1.0 is done gone and Wife 2.0 is mad at Wife 3.0 because she takes time away from her. She says that if I spend too much time with Wife 3.0 that will be the only version of Wife I will be allowed to run so no more dual booting.

[Matt]

Wife 1.0 is done gone and Wife 2.0 is mad at Wife 3.0 because she takes time away from her. She says that if I spend too much time with Wife 3.0 that will be the only version of Wife I will be allowed to run so no more dual booting.

[lol] [lol] [lol]

[Sounguru]

Transom repair


After a coat of paint for protection tomorrow and for when I sand it to find the high/low areas.


Seat installed


Close up of the seat


Now like every good redneck I used different colors of paint on the repairs so none match the original or each other. Also all screws are exposed and the plywood is unprotected.

Probably won't due too much but rhino the bottom this season and then come winter pull it into the shop sand the entire boat, make more mods (i.e. Livewell, battery compartment, and storage), and then paint her up with something besides a rattle can...

[BassinBomber]

Not bad Sounguru,..not bad at all,..keep at it and you can give that guy on Craigslist a run for his $$$$$!

BB