I can't belive it. Glastron hull logos bought for cheap!

Two more additions to the Batboat were unexpectedly won tonight on eBay for $4 plus $8 shipping! Two hull logos from a 1974 Glastron fiberglass boat.

Usually people pay $20 and up for each but I lucked out tonight. They looked like they are in great shape. No chips in them but repainting is needed.

They may not be the correct logo for my 1969 Glaston V-145 but for the price I can't go wrong. From what I can determine, Glastron's hull logo featured racing flags in the design until around 1970, when they switched over to the football shaped ones pictured above.

But... the rivet hole positions look just about right to ones I recently filled. We'll see when they come in.

Whatever the case is, I can't go wrong with $12.

computer problems and moving.

I've got a lot of updates and photos to post but lots of bad things have been happening all at once over here.

I have a couple weeks worth of updates to add to the blog but I am forced to move to a new house because of a year and a half long barking dog problem, I am all of a sudden having a nightmare with my PC, my income is significantly reduced, I had paid up my credit card but now am charging big bills to it again, the car's break lights are on the fritz, and I since I'm using the Batboat as a U-Haul I can't do much work on it.

I am sitting here with the reality that there is no end in sight.

I can't even properly edit this blog by moving photos around by cut-and-paste !

Thank goodness I bought a removable harddrive last week when the problems with the PC were evident and backed everything up.

Keep an eye on this page in a few weeks. (I am having a hard time logging on.). The deck is in the boat and I have lots of photos and tips to post.

The below photo shows what a hassel this emergency move has turned out to be. It shows a nearly 200 pound 35mm motion picture Moviola in the back seat of my car.

Before the housing bust I was spending thousands of dollars on film and equipment a year. One year was almost $9,000. The plan was to have a video company and as soon as a film was telecined it would be sold on eBay. I figured I could make and extra thousand a year doing this part time. However, the home video industry has taken a plunge, I haven't the finances to make the dvds and I am now in possession of many many hours of film I can't do anything with. The prices relaized on these kind of films on eBay is poor these days.

Sorry for the rant. I intend to keep personal stuff off this blog but these are hard times for me and I don't know when the next Batboat Blog entry will be, but I have a lot of them.

Another fiberglassing tip

I'm on about my fourth gallon of Acetone so far. Most evaporated while paint brushes and rollers soaked in it in an open container. Not a very good thing because this stuff is expensive.

I've found that an easy solution is to buy a paint can with lid, fill the bottom 1/2 inch or so with Acetone and close it. Especially while soaking brushes and other small tools.

The Acetone will keep for weeks and I no longer have to throw away a brush at the end of the day. They stay good for as long as they are soaked in the chemical.

I've been through over 14 brushes up until I came up with the paint can solution.

One important thing is to keep the can out of the sun. The chemical heats up and pops the lid off. Shade is best.

Batboat Rebuild: Day 39 July 29th, 2009

I did something that should have been done when the stringers were being fiberglassed to the hull; fiberglass over the cross brace areas.

Learn from my mistakes, folks! This added another afternoon of glassing and clean up time to the project.

The new roll of 1708 biaxial arrived that afternoon but I was down to the last of the polyester resin. I did as much as I could do with what I had. :(

Each stringer brace area was veiled over with 1.5 oz chopped strand mat, wet down and rolled and 1708 was run up the sides.



A while back I posted that my days of messy grinding and cleaning out dust was over. Wrong. Areas had to be ground down before I could properly laminate glass to some of the stingers and all this new fiberglass work needs to be taken care of, too.

I am glad there is some acetone left and I haven't returned my friend's air compressor yet!

One long stringer was connected to the transom with 1708 cloth.

I worked until I was low on fiberglass resin. Two more gallons are expected to arrive on the 5th.

These will amount to 13 gallons ordered so far!! At $45+ per gallon, including UPS, it is not cheap!

Until it gets here I'll consider this a few days off from heat, dehydration and working fast while keeping an eye on approaching storm clouds. lol!

Batboat Rebuild: Day 38 July 27th, 2009

Put in about five hours of work today, including rest periods and a cold shower break. It was very hot and sunny out!

First order of the day was to check out the peanut butter repairs I made to the center deck section. Even though the peanut butter was mixed a little on the dry side they turned out alright.

Those and the rest of the underside were sanded down with a 40 grit disc. The ruff surface gives the fiberglass resin something better to hold on to.


I laminated large scraps of 1.5 oz csm cloth to this and later ground off the excess fiberglass cloth from the other two deck sections that were fiberglassed two days before.

It was so hot outside there was no need to mix more than the minimum recommended amount of MEKP activator in with the poly resin. The hot sun did the work.

Polyester resin is mixed with it hardener, MEKP. The two generate heat which hardens the resin. The more MEKP added, the more heat. The more heat the less time it takes for the resin to harden. It does not take long for the poly to harden in this kind of weather!

What to do with extra resin? I painted it on the top of this deck.

There were some high points in spots along the tops of the stringers. I ground those down and fit in the deck sections.



Hours later after that resin had set, the excess cloth on the middle ply was ground off and set in the Batboat.


Looks nice, to me. A little more work has to be done on the stringers and the deck will then be fiberglassed in.

I was going to repair some of the areas on the stringers where the cloth did not lay right but the sky was turning dark and cloudy. It looked like rain was coming so I started to put stuff away. Rain fell just as I secured the tarp.

It was not suppose to rain all day, according to weather.com, but while working on the Batboat I've discovered that weather.com is wrong the majority of the time. Downpour started at 4:50 :(

Batboat Rebuild: Day 37 July 25th, 2009

The transom and bow deck section undersides were fiberglassed with 1.5 oz chopped strand mat. The middle ply had some problems that needed to be fixed first.

The bottom sides are waterproofed very well.

BEFORE

AFTER

The middle section didn't get glassed today. It still had a few knots and the accidents I had with the table saw the week before. All were filled in with peanut butter (wood flower mixed with activated polyester resin). I feared I mixed it too dry but it all turned out okay.

BEFORE

AFTER

I got together a few scraps of 1708 biaxial fiberglass and glassed in the tip of the stringer to the right (starboard). I am totally out of 1708 at this point!

The weather has been great so far. Maybe a little too good. Because of the heat and dehydration I've had to start taking a day off after working on the Batboat to recover. Now I know why all those guys at the iboats forums drink a lot of beer! lol!

Batboat Rebuild: Day 36 July 24th, 2009

The bow area deck section was cut using the template today.

Fits almost perfect.

Since the hull and stringers aren't perfectly square (never was even when it came out of the factory) a bit more cutting was needed because the ply would not lay flat on top of the stringers. The tri-hull curves got in the way.

The original 3/8 inch deck ply was thinner and more flexible than my 1/2 inch. Glastron flexed theirs over the curves and stapled it in place on the stringers. They didn't have to cut it like I did!

Perfect.
All of it fits! Its been a long time coming!

The bilge was cut 6 by 12 inches, like the original interpolated from last year's photos. The blade was set at 15 degrees. Fiberglass strips will grab on to that angle and used to form a bowl. More on this later.





Bilge drain found at a Marine store's going out of biz sale.

Redrilling the bilge drain (above) and splashwell drain (below) through the transom wood and at the same angle as the transom.


It fits and will get caulked in later.

God forbid, if any water gets into the Batboat, it exits out this drain hole when unplugged on land.


With a 40 grit disc, the bottom sides of all plys were sanded down. The ruff surface gives something for the polyester resin and fiberglass to grab on to and also it totally cleans off all dirt and other stuff that could promote mildew and rot.

The next day these undersides are fiberglassed for water proofing and strength.

Batboat Rebuild: Day 35 July 21st, 2009

The weather was iffy today and so there was just a little time to cut two of the deck sections. This got the plywood out of the shed and into the boat and got my mind off the stringer problems.

Three pieces of 1/2 inch Doughlas Fir exterior grade ply that need to go in the hull. Per my templates, starting from the stern, the first ply was cut a uniform 52 inches wide. The second also 52 inches. The last few inches nearest to the bow narrow but that was handled another day with the third ply.

The plywood fits in the boat better if it conforms to the shape of the hull. I measured the angles at about 75 degrees and made the cuts.

I've found that nearly all of the angled areas on this boat are 75 degrees.

75 degree angle.

With a 40 grit circular sander I cleaned off footprints and other debris from the bottom sides for fiberglassing.

Storm clouds were coming in. Moving faster, I didn't put the kick back guard back on the table saw and the middle section kicked up off the saw blade twice. Luckly, the blade didn't go all the way through. It will be fixed with peanut butter filler at another day.

It is very important that this wood does not get wet. It will be fiberglassed over and any trapped dampness will breed mold and rot. The wood used in this boat is dried to 20% moisture at the mills for that reason.


Two of the plys almost fitted in perfectly. I am very happy.

The corners will be rounded off later so the deck can be butt up against the transom

Some minor adjustments needed to be made but the dark damp, cold breeze was blowing in. All tools and ply was put away and tarp wrapped over the Batboat just as the first sprinkles dropped. I cut the plys perfectly to size the next day.

That is one of the reasons why I need a garage.