TOPIC: silver lake ,ny,where is everybody staying at?

its a lot easier than the alternative which i can't or want to do. if there were docks there i wouldn't have to do it, but i don't want to wear a hole in the sponsons.

Heck, I'll probably launch, go fer a ride, come back and put it on it's trailer! Depends how busy the boat launch is and what she who rules wants to do.

Frank

well i didn't use shoogoo. i found marinetex polyester resin and hardner in my boat box. i mixed up a slop of that and applied it between my masking tape borders. didn't bother with the color paste since i would of never had the patience to match it, so its clear. i'll see how it holds up at the meet then maybe slop on a 2nd coat.

Ron - Are those current photos of your boat? Where's the rubrail? The paint shop painted your chrome bow eye? And you are right. You DO need to be worried about the front of the sponsons. They were built too thin on Custom Craft. Both boats I've worked on were worn completely through and repaired in past lives. The one at Frank's that Doug Young is getting will need the interior and exterior of the front sponsons rebuilt and reinforced. On my first one that I ran the 1350 on and got close to 60, I split the port sponson running WOT at the Antique Raceboat Regatta. No problem. It drained completely when I hauled it after each heat. Took it apart again and laid in MAT on each sponson interior and built up the exterior.

Brian

those are pre-paint/rubrail pics. bow eye is chrome now. had a thot of opening up the floor on top of the sponsons and pouring in seacast.wouldn't mind the extra weight and surely would stop the porpoising. ya wonder why i don't work on boats

Please excuse my buttin' in here, but I have a question about this subject. The keel on my Starflite has been beached a few times and has worn thru the gel-coat and the paint, but no "cloth" showing yet. What would be the best way to repair it, keeping in mind I have NO experience with fiberglassing? I bought a kit that has "Fiberglass resin jelly repair kit" on the box, resin, tape, cloth, hardener inside. Just don't have a clue where to go from here, any suggestions? (Wanted to put something on there before it becomes a problem, although I don't beach the boat at least not yet.)

Mark, is your boat painted? If so it's easy to repair. If not, I can't help with gel coat stuff. I never did much with fiberglass before getting this boat, and now it doesn't faze me at all to mix up a batch of resin and go at something. The trick is being preapred. The surface needs to be clean (i.e. de-waxed), then scuffed up a bit (I use 80 grit). Clean it again after sanding. Cut the mat or cloth to size (mat is for strength, cloth is for smooth surfaces where strength is not a concern), make sure you have gloves that will protect your hands, grab some cheap chip brushes and mix up some resin. I usually figure I have 15 minutes. Sometimes I get surprised, especially when it's hot and humid, and it sets up too quick. Then again, on a cool morning like today I wondered if it was ever gonna set up (it did). Use the chip brush to brush a little resin where you're applying material, then wet your material and stick it in place. Be prepared with your chip brush to squeegee out any air bubbles, and keep an eye on it that it doesn't fall, especially working on the underside of a boat.

That's all I can think of right now. Email me if you have other questions.

Frank

since 2005 the manta has only been beached once, otherwise i'm sure it would of warn through by now.

Thanks Frank, I appreciate the tips. Does the repair have to be covered with the clear tape in the kit? Seems like I read somewhere the resin won't cure unless it's covered from being exposed to air, but that can't be right can it?

I hear ya Ron, I don't plan on beaching mine for this very reason! Now that I've had my sandbar lesson, I'll be watching out a lot closer for those too.

well there is a keel guard that you can lay up on it, they sell it at west marine....that is if your not going for a trophy or anything at a show

I thought about doing that too, Mark. Just figured I'd better do something with the raw material showing before I stick the keelguard over it, ya know!? Definitely a "daily driver", not going to be in any shows.

that keel guard is ridicuolosy wide...5" i think.

mark, if your tryin to IM me, i'm gettin flushed tonite.couldn't go yesterday because of the wedding. had 5 scotch sours..WHOOP

that keel guard is ridicuolosy wide...5" i think.

Yeah, I watched my neighbor put one on his boat last week. It had little ribs or indentations, looked like you could trim down the width if you wanted to. The white guard on a white hull didn't look too noticeable, though.

MarkS wrote:

Thanks Frank, I appreciate the tips. Does the repair have to be covered with the clear tape in the kit? Seems like I read somewhere the resin won't cure unless it's covered from being exposed to air, but that can't be right can it?

I'm no expert Mark, and couldn't really tell you abouyt whatever kit you have there. I buy all my stuff at NAPA and it works as I describe. I use bondo polyester (I think) resin and NAPA sells cloth, mat and acetone. Make sure you have acetone and some kind of towels handy. I always use paper towels because you can't wash the resin out of cloth towels or your clothing.

Frank

It's made by Bondo, I'll have to sit down and read the side of the box with a magnifying glass tomorrow. The instructions are TINY! You asked about clear coat, I'm pretty sure the boat still has some, but most has worn off down there. I'm still buffing the rest of the boat, it's looking better than it was for sure. Thanks for the help bud.

Mark, if it's gel coat and you do fiberglass work, you're gonna need to paint it! Gel coat questions are for somebody else. I really know nothing about gel coat repair.

Frank

Do you ever have any such gettogeathers in washington st??????

I think there is a well-established NW FG group, just don't know much about it.

Frank
(NYS)

i did my sponson keels yesterday. just mixed resin with the hardner and applied with an ice cream stick. didn't bother to mix the color paste in since the whole tunnel will be painted as soon as i find someone to do it. maaco (who sprayed the boat)won't remove it from the trailer to do the tunnel. and my buddy who primed the boat is thru doin that work.

just checked out the keels. resin in rock hard. we'll see how long it lasts. should i slop on a 2nd coat? if yes should i rough sand the first coat?

well the only new news is...

I am going but I won't be able to stay "over-night", my better half who is going off for a fantasy weekend "recharge" is abandoning me on the weekend of our meet...so I will be "bachon" it, the problem is trying to find a sitter for our "children", being there OK "home-alone" for a while...I still need to come back here to tend to them.

Now the other issue happen today, rich had to get towed in today with his T-bird, between the lake levels and a pesky sandbar in the channel something happen in his out drive...described as a big massive "Clunk"

so his Thunderbird will not be ready for silver...and as of right now he not planing on attending as far as I know.

the only other amazing thing I can..share is a link to the BP oil well live feed for you can see first hand what hey are dealing with.

here I was thinking it was this big pipe sticking straight up out of the ocean floor which it is not, it looks like it snapped off bending it and it looks like it is coming out of a ledge.

broken riser in gulf

well,at least we will get to see ya,at least for a day buddy,we will miss genny and sam though,your all good people.which day are you coming,saturday?.

that keel guard is ridiculous wide...5" i think.

well seeing you would lay it up 2.5 on one side.and 2.5 on the other as you run it over the keel and back... 5 inches ain't no big deal. they made it that wide for a reason I would think...maybe looking at all the damaged that has been done to boats in the past and figuring that into the coverage that would be needed...just a speculation on my part.