Batboat Rebuild: Day 32 July 13th, 2009

Two days later the adhesive had bonded the one stringer to the hull nicely. Today I spaced apart and linked the rest together to caulk in two others.

I ground off the excess fiberglass from the fourth stringer brace that I repaired.
The two longest stringers were temporarily fastened with cross braces and stainless screws to keep them all square.





PL premium adhesive caulk spread nicely under and along the sides of the plywood.

I weighed down the two stringers on each side of the one already bonded in to simulate a level deck. Over the winter they developed a slight bend. Forcing them to their original shape made the adhesive bond them in level and at a uniform height. This will make putting the deck in a little easier.

The original boat, a '69 Glastron V-145, was not built with precision. Before doing all the caulking work, I laid the stingers in the boat perfectly measured and spaced. However, I moved one stringer into the position of the original and it made the deck level 2 to 2 1/2 inches higher on the drivers side.

The original deck line is still visible along the hull and it was higher on the steering wheel side and uneven in other spots.

If you are making your own Batboat keep in mind that the work you are doing is better than what was done in the factory. Don't split hairs if you make a small mistake!



Again, the cross braces, scrap ply and cans kept the stringers perfectly square, spaced apart and level as the caulk hardens. Yea, its overkill but took only a moment to do. ;)

You'll need this little gadget to save your caulk cartridge for the next day. I picked this up at Harbor Freight for $.99.


The next day I unscrewed all the cross braces and caulked in the last stringer (on the right). Again, plywood scraps, a cross brace and weights forced the ply level with the others bonded the day before.

Its suppose to rain tomorrow so I'll get the 1708 fiberglass cloth ready for fiberglassing the stringers into the hull.