Author Topic: V-179 Starflite Repairs (Read 148409 times)

75starflight · « **on:** March 12, 2012, 09:04:08 PM »

Decided to remove the old carpet today to find something I did not expect.

A nice quarter inch gap between the wood and the hull it self and the wood is rotted. But the good news is that I did a thump test and found what sounded like good wood under the gas tank, so that does not have to be removed. The other spot I found is in the rear about 12 inches forward of the engine it self and all the way under both foam boxes. But that is self was no surprise, because when I removed the jump seats I found some water soaked floor. another good thing is the stringers feel solid when I walked directly on them.

Any ideas on removal of the rotted wood? I am thinking a skill saw with the blade set at around a 1/2 inch to start.

Rich_V174SS · « **Reply #1 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:07:42 PM »

You have to be careful with a circular saw, don't want to go through the floor or have it get away from you, it's also harder to follow the curvature of the wood around the edge. When I pulled my floor I used a RotoZip with a cutting wheel to just cut through the fiberglass layer around the edge of the wood.

Hyperacme · « **Reply #2 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:11:27 PM »

Rich
After the change on CGOA, can't find your restro thread.
Could you post it ?

Ban One
read Rich's thread before starting ...

Rich_V174SS · « **Reply #3 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:12:51 PM »

It's the first one as a "sticky" in the Glastron Projects section.

http://www.classicglastron.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147

75starflight · « **Reply #4 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:23:43 PM »

Thanks for the info guys. I do have access to a rotor zip so I will probably start with that tomorrow evening after work. Man it is nice having daylight almost till 8pm. By the way i did find those 2 wires that go to the stern drive, Thanks for that information Rich, I will be installing the jumper tomorrow also.

Hyperacme · « **Reply #5 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:36:05 PM »

Thanks Rich ...

76bayflite · « **Reply #6 on:** March 13, 2012, 01:05:21 AM »

My floors were pretty rotted I just used a claw hammer and pry bar...and be careful with a circular saw, my uncle put a 1/8" hole about 3 inches long in a hull before.

Jason · « **Reply #7 on:** March 13, 2012, 09:40:17 AM »

I have lost track of how many floor repair jobs there are going on right now! Crazy!

Nice to see so many old Glastron's getting "saved".

75starflight · « **Reply #8 on:** March 13, 2012, 08:40:58 PM »

Well, I got about 45 minutes of work in today, but at least I got the front 2 soft sections cut out

Since I uncovered a stringer I did a thump and poke test and the stringer is solid. I also checked the under side of the exposed decking and it is good and solid, and the floatation foam was also dry to the touch. And what I thought was rot is actually delamination of the plywood.

Second hole cut, the wood is soaked in the one spot but stringer is solid and the under side of the decking here is also dry to the touch. I also found the seam for the back section in front of the engine and cut the fiber glass that is covering the two main sections.

dorelse · « **Reply #9 on:** March 13, 2012, 10:59:11 PM »

So far mostly good news! Keep it up!

75starflight · « **Reply #10 on:** March 18, 2012, 04:49:07 PM »

Got the floor out of the back this weekend. I think the boat lost about 50lbs of water soaked wood weight. Stringers also seem in good shape, there is a little water penetration in the exposed wood on the stringers them selves but doing a thump test and prodding them with a screw driver found them solid. The upper flotation foam is dry to the touch here but the lower foam is wet but not soaked to the point where water would squeeze out when you pressed on it.

Flotation foam removed the bottom 2 inches of each box was soaked. NO glass between floor and foam.

Decided to take the floor up in two sections to make the refit go a little smoother.

And last but not least the wood from the right hand side soaked enough it started falling apart during removal.

75starflight · « **Reply #11 on:** March 25, 2012, 06:12:20 PM »

Got the rear floor installed and glassed in this weekend, but going to add a new layer of glass to the whole floor to add some protection from the elements. I have that about 3/4 of the way done but have to wait to finish until my local parts stores get some more cloth in. I have been working with 2' x 4' sections of glass.

Got the steering wheel installed this weekend too, and removed the swim ladder to do a little polishing and fix the mounting problem it had.

75starflight · « **Reply #12 on:** April 04, 2012, 06:37:10 PM »

Removed the ladder over the weekend, and finished glassing the floor. I discovered that I need to replace the wood for the ladder mount because the original is glassed in to low to catch the upper mounting screws of the ladder. Also I decided to take apart the ladder and start the polishing process.

My boss's son turned me on to a product called Wizards Metal Polish. He gave me some of his to see if it would work on the most tarnished parts of the ladder. I am sold.

That is just the first pass on that part. There is also a sealant that will be applied to it that will add a little more shine.

75starflight · « **Reply #13 on:** April 22, 2012, 07:35:38 PM »

Things are going well on the starflite, still waiting for the seats I ordered to come in from Veada Industries. Got the right hand foam box put back together and the new support board installed for the ladder. I have been doing alot of polishing on the ladder. The bottom half is done and put back together, The top half is waiting for one more final polish and then it will be assembled. Today, I decided to tackle my towing eyes one had a little droop, and alot of wear on the pivot point the other just needed the wore down areas at the pivot point built up. When I removed the drooping one I discoved that the fiberglass below the hole for the screw was broken out and gone(sorry I did not get a picture), so I decided to use some plastic weld to build up the area, I also used plastic weld to build up the pivot points on the towing eyes.

Then when reinstalling them I reinforced them with 2 different sizes of stainless fender washers for added support. After they were reinstalled I decided to do a little polishing.

Rosscoe · « **Reply #14 on:** April 29, 2012, 09:52:24 AM »

Ya gotta love cutting/grinding fiberglass. One of my favorites! NOT. Keep up the good work.

75starflight · « **Reply #15 on:** April 29, 2012, 10:29:19 AM »

Ross, I can agree with you there. I got the last glassing done yesterday. And boy I can tell you I am glad to be done with that!

75starflight · « **Reply #16 on:** April 29, 2012, 06:55:05 PM »

Got a lot of work done on the Starflite this weekend. 1st got the foam boxes done, glassed in, and filled with foam. 2nd had the top out in the sun warmed up and got it and the side curtains stretched out and snapped in place, I have to modify one bow to make it work for my application going to do that during the week. I plan on leaving the top up this next week since we are going to have some warm temps again to get it to loosen up some more. And finally the last thing I got done, I installed the glove box and reinstalled the storage locker door.

75starflight · « **Reply #17 on:** May 04, 2012, 09:45:39 PM »

I have a lot of work to do during this next week, but I am finally in the home stretch. My seats finally came from Veada Industries today, and I also got my engine parts also.

What do you all think of the seats? They are a light brown(corado cafe) and Sun set orange.

Burnin Daylight · « **Reply #18 on:** May 04, 2012, 09:56:19 PM »

That orange inset is going to look really sweet with the dash work. Good job.

75starflight · « **Reply #19 on:** May 08, 2012, 09:28:03 PM »

Well all, it is only Tuesday and my week has been grand so far.

Well to start off the week on Monday my tow vehicle, a 1999 GMC Yukon, the fuel pump crapped out last night. But the good thing is I got the new water pump, thermostat, and hoses installed inthe boat with out a problem. And then there is today.... went to remove the starter on the starflite and the short mounting bolt came part way out, and then it decided to twist off with an 1/8" of thread showing.

My question is what else can go wrong yet this week? Right now I pray nothing!