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Enticer Overhaul

teamhart2

teamhart2

Well-known member
So I was pullin out more of the floor/foam and found the one thing I didnt think I would have to worry about........ rotted core:brickwall:

So now I need you guys to tell me if its too far gone or if its possible to repair it, looked at coops article on fixing balsa, and Im sure I can handle that, but does it matter how big the area is? Ive got a small maybe 4x5 inch area from a screwhole from the gastank, but then as I worked forward I found big areas from the pad up to the bottom of the floor almost prolly a foot or two in length (dark areas in pic sorta, orange is the good stuff) Appears to be pinholes in the top glass layer when i push down on it water comes up through, but seemed like a ton of rotted area for a spot where foam seemed ok and floor was solid, I found a few cracks on the pad from the outside under this general area, although pad seems less squishy than the sides, no idea how they got there, any chance the water got in from there? they seem pretty minor but I dunno, and if so how do i fix that? Also the main floor stringer never appeared to be fully down on the actual glass except at the front and back as theres about a half inch of space between the bottom of it and the glass, which was filled with the poured in foam so I dont think it lifted or anything????? K heres the pics leavin em big for details sake

the damage from above
DSC01327.jpg
closer in DSC01328.jpg

cracks on the pad, sorry if theyre hard to see, it was dark so I needed the flash, kinda three little arcs of crack (just left of the flash spot, and extending up) DSC01333.jpg
another look, here just barely in the shot in the bottom left corner kinda better lighting though DSC01331.jpg

So is it a lost cause? should I tow it to the dump and sell the motor and trailer?? Im already in love with this boat and it would kill me to do that...

If I can replace these rotted areas and glass it in it doesnt seem like it would be too bad or take a whole lot more work than the floor and stuff Im already doing. How compromised does this make the hull? I mean I was out on it last week, and will the repair make it as good as new? thanks in advance for reading and giving me your advice guys.
 
WOW!!!! That is bad.

Are you working on this boat yourself? If so, then its not too big. It will cost you more time and some extra materials, and it will have to be a two sided repair. But if you were paying someone to fix it, I would be the first to say, either dump it or find someone that would love a project boat.

It is a shame that the area is so big, on a boat that is so nice. The problem is in order find out how far the rot goes your just going to have to start cutting. I don't think the rotten area will be too much bigger, but the only way to find out is to open it up.

What is really nice about in grain balsa is the direction of the grain helps to contain the spread or the damage. If the grain of the balsa wood was in another direction the moisture would follow the grain to the other end of the balsa. But the way the balsa is cut helps to slow the movement of water through the core.

Right now I wouldn't worry about the crack on the pad until you've had this repaired and once you have this repaired then flip the boat over and grind the cracked area down to the fiberglass and rebuild it from there.

I would also make sure that you have everything braced really well to keep the whole area from moving while you have all the core out

Looking at it, its right on the borderline of whether I would even consider repairing it or not. If the rest of the boats in nice shape I would do it, if the rest of boat needs a lot of work, like an an entire outside paint job and a complete interior I'd pass, myself.

But then that decision is entirely up to you. We will definitely be here watching and helping with any tips or techniques to get you through the fun.
 
Thanks coop, I'm doing all the work myself. I figure for now Ill keep tearing it apart, at least find out how bad it is, then decide what to do from there, Ill get some pics up after I clear the rest of the foam/floor and then cut into the core and get out the rot, then you can tell me what you think haha.

What kind of job is fixing the cracks on the pad? do you think they go all the way through to the core? Im not too worried about the rough interior work, but I dont have any real glass experience so Im not as sure about the exterior stuff, plus I dont have a great way/place to flip the boat over, any chance Id be able to do it without flipping? (Im guessing not) or any idea if I do everything but that exterior what it might cost to get a fiberglass guy to patch it??

things are looking cloudy around here haha:shakehead:
 
By the time you finish the inside repair, you'll have the skill to finisht he outside repair.

Mainly it involves grinding the cracked area until you see no more crack. From the looks of it, that may be all the way to the new glass that you just put into the hull. The you just build it back up into shape with layers of fiberglass mat. Then when it gets close, you do some shaping with some filler like Duraglass.

I do think that this crack is part of your rot problem, water can find its way quite nicely through it into your core.
 
hmmm ok any idea what might have cracked the hull like that? just curious cause it doesnt look like the gelcoat around there is messed up or anything, just the cracks

anyways Ill prolly end up doing it unless I find the entire core is rotted, as far as I can tell the paint is good just needs a buff/wax and the interior is in real good shape. And at least its not something stupid that would have been real obvious when I bought it and screwed up, im sure the guy i got it from had no idea..... poor guy didnt even know he could be doing this kind of project and instead walked away with almost two grand for a rotted hull... or should i say hulk? :(
 
I'm surprised that more people aren't finding or really checking for wet core as polyester resin by itself is not very waterproof. The gelcoat is what makrs it more waterproof. And if your foam is soakrd it leaves lots of water sitting up against glass. I myself would think that initially the core was somewhat wet and with it getting soft allowed the pad to crack do to it flexing, once that happened water just kept wicking up through the crack. You'll know after you have the core out if the crack goes all the way through maybe you'll be lucky and only the gel and first layers are cracked.
 
quick question, what kind of bracing do I need before I start pulling the core, I mean its obviously not holding anything haha, but would a 2x4 on either side and maybe under the pad over the length of the area im pulling and even a little further be sufficient?
 
teamhart2 said:
quick question, what kind of bracing do I need before I start pulling the core, I mean its obviously not holding anything haha, but would a 2x4 on either side and maybe under the pad over the length of the area im pulling and even a little further be sufficient?
Click to expand...
Mainly you want to set the hull where it isn't going to be moved until the job is done. If the hull gets twisted then there will be no correcting that if you don't notice until you've made the repair. As far as the bottom flexing, it probably will flex a bit, setting it on a couple of real nice strong bunks should keep that to a minimum.

Your going to want to flip the hull over to check for any hook or rocker that might have developed during your repair. Since you would be fixing the bottom anyway, it won't be that much work.



As far as the cause of the crack, its hard to tell which came first. Rot like that can let the hull flex under an impact, or a big impact could crack it allowing water in to cause the rot. It would be hard to tell without seeing the boat in person.
 
so Im trying to do a cost estimate on this here project, which now includes the transom as well haha did some test drilling. couple stupid questions, are we talking polyester resin or vinyl esters resin? any estimates on how much mat and biaxial i might need to do the transom, floor and repair on the core, which I am estimating to be about two feet by one foot on each side of the pad.
 
Ow wow, that sent a shiver down my back. One thing I've noticed now with my boat and with several others that have gone through this particular type of surgery is the ring on the hull below where the back seat would go. It looks like the size of a 55 gallon drum (you can see it in these pics, Chris E's pics and my pics). It seems like any discoloration and delam to the core starts here. But what is this spot? Is it where they pull the hull out of the mold and could have possibly not given it time to set up?

Teamhart, sorry to see this. I had high hopes that your boat didn't have to go through the work mine is. I can't quite understand how my stringers and foam were so rotten and your's were not, yet your core is rotten and I have a very small spot to fix. I know that's all there is because I can clearly see now that I have cleaned inside that there is only a few small spots where water got in. Honestly though....go ahead and fix it. I will offer as much help as I can along with every other awesome person on this forum. It will be worth that much more to you when finished and you probably didn't pay quite so little for it as I did mine.
 
You can use either poly or yinyl, vinyl being the better of the two. Don't worry about using epoxy if somebody tells you that it's so much better. I would guess any where from about 800-1500 maybe less.
 
Thanks guys, I think Im def gonna give it a go, that way i might spend some more cash and have a great boat, otherwise its lose probably almost a grand and still have no boat.

Matefever, thanks for the motivation! I need some of that, One thing I did notice is that where most of the core rot is there was a void of foam under the floor, some behind where there isnt much rot and then none and where the foam started again was just forward of where you can see solid core again, hmmmmm also only had one center stringer(was expecting side ones?) and it was only attached to the hull at the back and front (bout a half to an inch of space filled with foam the rest of the length)

anyone know where I can get a bunch of resin and mat and biazial or roving for cheap? im thinkin im gonna need at least five gallons of resin to do it all. Unfortunately nearest big boat places that would carry this stuff are about an hour and a half away, just home depot type stuff right here and Im guessin I dont wanna use that stuff right?
 
There has been quite a rew guys use the Home Depot brand resin it will work fine. It's also a bit cheaper than the boat places, your lucky because alot of them have quit carrying it. If you don't oversaturate too much you should have about 1:1 weight ratio between cloth to resin and 2:1 resin to mat for mat material.
 
i paid about 27-30 a gallon, with a 5 gallon minimum, i found a wholesale distrtibutor of fiberglass products about an hour away from me.
 
Hey, stopped by home depot today, looks like 35 a gallon there for bondo brand resin. might look around some more, but it doesnt look like thats terrible.

Got a motor stand built and had a few buddies help me pull the zuke and get it on there, that bastard was heavy haha, but we got it, that killed a lot of the day, got a bit more of the floor out, keepin workin at that.
 
balsa question

Anybody know what thickness the end grain balsa in the core of this boat will be? lookin to order some of that but havent torn into it yet. Im plannin on doing the core repair stuff first, then pullin the deck and doing the transom after, then puttin the deck back on and doing the floor, I think that should minimize any problems with hull twisting and stuff, I dont wanna fight it to get the deck back on too much either.
 
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