Trailer Time!

This weekend sanding was finished on the hull.  The entire piece is a milky, porous white.  All the shiny spots have been removed and the glass is properly roughed up. It took 3 additional passes, in between each one she was rinsed, scrubbed and wiped down.  The sanding did not take that long considering the length of the day so I focused most of my energy on the trailer.

The right side after 1 pass with the wire brush.  

Over the last few visits I've been brushing liberal amounts of WD-40 onto the frame, bolts, joints and every nook and cranny I could find.  The gallon jug of WD-40 was a great investment.  Today I attached a brush wire wheel to a hammer drill and went to town removing the loose rust.

I removed the centerline rollers.  One of the brackets had to be removed, the bolts being seized I had to cut them out with a Dremmel reenforced cutting wheel.  The roller bunks on the sides will be replaced with entirely new ones.

The big breakthrough was finally being able to tilt the trailer.  The original Luger trailers have a joint about 4' from the trailer coupler.  The tilting action allows you get the boat in the water without "getting your feet wet" according to the catalogue. In reality the tilt is useful and keeps you from getting your knees wet.  The tilt action occurs naturally due to the weight of the boat.  Once the bolt is released and the trailer on the launch the boat freely floats right off.  I'm glad I will easily be able to recover this function.

I removed the stem next so I could remove all rust from the tilt bolt.  The bolt came off easily and is soaking in a WD-40 bath.  The crank was a lot harder to remove from the vertical post so I had to resort to the reciprocating saw.  With the stem removed the trailer was much easier to handle so I flipped it upside down and removed more rust.  After I scrubbed and rinsed everything with de-greaser to start to remove the WD-40 remnants.

Next I will have to epoxy the hull and in-between curing points I will be treating the trailer with Rust Bullet coating.  Two coats of that and she'll be ready for a shiny new coat of blue paint.

Once the trailer and hull are done the project is half over. With new rollers, guides, crank and lights she'll look as good as new.  The last thing I wanted to do was put a new clean bottom onto old black deteriorating rubber rollers.  The bearings were replaced 2 years ago and they are still in great shape.  The tires are also good and relatively new, I will need a new spare.

80 grit sandpaper is your friend

This weekend Moe was good enough to give me a ride and help start the sanding process.  We took of the first layer of everything (gelcoat, old patch repairs, old marine sealant, etc).  Today's surprise was in the form of a rubber gasket that covered the surface of some of the screws at the bow.  The hull must have come in 4 pieces, the hull, both sides and the transom.  The sections were screwed together, probably with wood or a stringer to join them and then the seams were glassed over.  I could see the seams clearly from the inside of the boat and the screw heads began to show through thre trim.

You can clearly see the hull sections as they join.  The screws were covered with a rubber gasket at the front, which was covered with Bondo or other sealant and then painted.  As moisture worked its way into the grooves the screw heads became visible by the rubber being pushed up through the paint and primer because the moisture was trapped at the metal head and fiberglass.  

You can clearly see the hull sections as they join at the transom.  The rubber gasket did not run the whole length of the hull but was only used to fair the final coat of primer/gelcoat.  I didn't really want to investigate under the rubber but it was really, really wet where I did and it came off easily.  

Once it was all off it was clear that it was only used where necessary and much of the hull did line up cleanly amidships.  

We gave every inch of the bottom a once over with the 80 grit sandpaper.  The decal registration stickers came off cleanly with some Methyl Ethyl Keytone (MEK).  MEK is my new favorite solvent.  In between sanding sessions the hull was rinsed with fresh water and we even did a rinse with Tri-Sodum Phosphate (TSP) to make sure everything came off nice and smoothly.  She is still shiny in a few places so another pass will have to be made at everything so that everything is solidly dull before we can begin to epoxy the screws, dings, scratches and the lovely gouge on the front. 

Next time after sanding and cleaning the holes will be wetted out and epoxy will be applied.  Before final curing some thickened epoxy will be applied to begin to fill in the gaps, depending on the repair this will be another 1-2 layers.  

Scrub-A-Dub Dub

With the centerboard removed it was time to scrub. We scrubbed the whole boat down with Soft Scrub, brushes and Scotch-Brite pads.  Soft Scrub is not safe for marine use, but it's fine for the back yard.  It is a mild abrasive and will eat some paint, but that's great since we'll be priming and painting everything anyway.  

Clean as a whistle,  the stickers still need to be removed from the hull.  I used Interlux topside paint about 16 years ago on the top.  It held up very, very well considering the constant exposure.

You can't tell because of the glare but the inside has been scrubbed to the grey and yellow shades of the original mold and glassing.  Gone are the black and brown oil and mud stains.

We left her on her back, so we can scrub, sand and prep the bottom next week.  With the centerboard out she was much lighter but still very heavy.  First we tipped her over from the trailer to her side, then we put her on her back directly on the ground.  Since you can stand on the cabin I figured her weight should hold... if not this project would be over and I'd save a bunch of time and money.  Luckily she held and we could easily raise the bow then came the stern.  It was a 3 person job, Thanks Jason!  

This weekend was a success with rain on Sunday the bottom prep will wait another weekend. 

Anyone Know a good pivot Bolt Supplier?

George was awesome enough to volunteer his Saturday to spend the day in the sun scrubbing fiberglass.  Thanks George!   The first item on the list is removal of the centerboard.  Removing the nuts from either end was surprisingly easy as the heads popped off stripping the bolts within seconds.  

This left us with a rusty bent steel pin sticking out on both sides.  We tried to hammer it out but it wouldn't move, after a bout of cursing and bewilderment we tried scrapping off the backing plates, working the scrapers between the metal and the wood. George was then able to work in a screwdriver, then a chisel and soon we had removed one plate, leaving us with a workable length of rod.  After a few useless bangs of the hammer and much WD40 we had to do the same thing to the other side.

The face plate and pin removed.

Front side of one of the face plates, it won't lay flat because the hollow bolt that held the pin in place is still stuck inside.  

Detail of the back side of the same face plate.

Other plate and the bolt. 

The wood is still in good condition.  It will look even better once stripped and dried out.  The hollowed Hex head and pin assembly did their job very well, even-though the pin was bent the wear and tear did not deform the hole in the wood.

Now I have to find a replacement that will work as well.

Centerboard of 16' Luger Leeward.  Solid steel weighs about 100 lbs. 

Flatlands

These are the deck pieces roughly arranged to easily fit on 4'x8' sheets of plywood.  I'm going to need 2 sheets of 1/4" Marine grade ply for the decking.  Additionally I will need scraps for shims to make sure the deck lays flat.

The longest continuous sections are just under 8'.   The decking is not laid out as it will appear in the craft but rather what is easier to cut from.  Since this was a kit that came in a giant box delivered right to your garage I imagined the Luger brothers would have thought the same way to cut down on material costs.

By taking the next two longest sections and adding them from the side of the bottom sections from the last picture you can see how easily these decks can fit comfortably on to sheets of plywood.  This is not all the wood that will be needed but it's all the plywood.   The bottoms of the benches need to be recreated from thinner sheets as well as thicker solid stocks for the bilge cover, and crutch assembly and well as the bulkhead cover which will secure the flotation in the bow.

Clean slate?

After a day of draining, cleaning and scrubbing all the crud and nest out I spent another day tearing up the deck (carefully since it will serve as a template for the new deck).  There was more crud and bedding and styrofoam trapped under the deck between the ribs.  Overall I filled up the shop vac over 6 times with the mess.

The ribs under the deck.  

Detail of the ribs and centerboard.

After the clean out was done I did some light scrubbing, wrapped her up in a new tarp and left her for the winter. 

Rough Start

The boat has been laid up for quite some time.  It hasn't been in the water since 2000.  Last fall I started cleaning her out and getting a full inventory of everything that needed to be done.  Here are some pics of the work from that fall and the initial condition.

The crud is dirt and bedding.  Something made a nest inside the styrofoam.  It was everywhere.

The stern was covered thick in solid and crud.  the drain plug was completely covered.