1980 23' restoration
 

Hello all,
Long time lerker /admirer here. Picked this beauty a few months back and have slowly been diving into her. Some of you may recall she was for sale on her last year. Picked her up from Captain Larry who was happy to see she is getting a third chance at life. First concern, Termites! Yup, I'm that guy that brought a termite infested project home and got the stink eye from the Mrs. Thankfully, they are wet wood termites and I am due for a house treatment around the time she hits the water.

First order of business, Termite removal. They were everywhere. I knew the transom was shot. The flexing in the bracket and motor gave that away. I have to admit, the 2 hr drive home from Miami to Jupiter was a nail biter. What I didn't realize is that they formed mud tubes and nests everywhere else, ie. cap core, stringers, under tank, and under liner walls. Oh well I like a challenge.

Now for the plan. Exterminate with extreme prejudice and restore with all composite. Plan is to use coosa transom core, replace stringers with a grid system for indeck storage and raise deck height 2". Also removing liner and coring the sides with 1/2" divinycell.

This leads me to the up to date progress. I have the old core removed, what was left anyways. Of course the most inner section was still solid, but no chances leaving any wood in there. I know I'm in trouble at home when I spend more time with the grinder then with the Mrs. Stink eye #2! Gotta keep the balance board even.

My first question is: Do I need to grind away all of the chop strand shown down to the pink glass?

Secondly, i dished out the inside of several holes as there were not filled correctly and wanted to fill them rock solid. What should I fill them with prior to setting core. My plan is to use all epoxy. I know its more expensive and have been going back and forth between all three media. No gelcote in her future either.

Again, thanks for letting me become a member of your community and adorning me with your wealth of knowledge and experience.

Tom

Looks like u have grinder experience, you will need it lol. Nice to already have a full transom to work off of should knock some time off build. Looks like a good boat for a rebuild. Keep pics coming.

If you're referring to the lighter color loose fibers, I ground mine down to solid glass. Didn't want to worry about air pockets and a weak bond. Good luck.

Thats exactly what I was referring to. Looks like a bit more grinding to do. Also want to fill in side vents prior to tabbing core in. Thanks for the input.

You don't need to raise the deck on a 23'

Doesn't hurt while you're there anyway.

Except when fighting a fish at the transom or back quarters and you knees are rubbed raw:eek:

P.S. Just my experience from owning a 23' for over 30 years

IGot to agree, the 23's are much safer with factory deck heights. Nice when the gunnels hit above the knees on the front thighs too.

Thanks for the input on deck height. I'll give it some serious thought before I start that part. I just thought it needed to be raised so it dosent intersect below the Chines at the bow.

Been slow and steady. My honey do list keeps growing. Finally got the outside skin closed in. Gotta add 2 more full layers on the in inside, then bed coosa transom core.

KNZ, how much did you end up paying for this, if you don't mind me asking. I have just identified termites in my boat and am fumigating it but I may be putting it up for sale.

Hope all had a great summer. Still plugging away at it here. Has a mild setback with cutting the coosa. MAKE SURE YOU USE A CARBIDE TIP BLADE :). Had my jig saw blade heat and bend causing me to have cut the top shorter than i wanted. Which in turn made me rethink how the cap was going to attach, More paralysis by analysis. Finally just said F-it and move forward. Its only glass and if it doesn't work out. Grind it out and start over. I ended up glassing one layer exterior of transom with a 3" overhang at the top and mounted waxed melamine outside perpendicular to the ground and a few more layers from the inside so the cap has 2" of straight glass to mount to, just like the sides. We will see how it turns out in the am. Also looking forward to a cold front so I can mix up the resin for the transom core. Its all cut, sized, and mounting braces ready to squeeze.

Question? With this cool weather here I plan on epoxying my transom core. With that said, How have you all planned for the drain. Size hole, PVC pipe/brass to the exterior plug mount? Any help would be appreciated. I tend to get stalled on the little details. Thank you.

Took advantage of the cool am and set the core. What a pain in the a**. Had the Mrs help as much as she could. Didn’t get it as thick as I should have, was worried it would kick, so I took some plastic and created a dam till it kicked. Fingers crossed. I waxed the bolts prior to install. Going to spin them tonight before bed and again in the am. Hope the epoxy doesn’t cure to them.

Yes definitely take those bolts out asap!

On the drain... in the past ive used a 1" piece of sch40 inside of a 2 or 2.5", and poured the gap with epoxy. A standard bronze drain will fit right in the 1" and the screws will be going into epoxy, leaving the core totally out of the equation. Holesaw out the core and leave the outerskin then glue it in. Inner skin will go over it on the inside.

Some guys will just delete the core at the bottom but then youve got screws coming thru the inside usually. Not a fan...

Thanks for the reply Dirt, that is the exact direction I was looking to go. Spun the bolts tonight, as well as the nuts. No sticky! I'll double check one more time in the am before SHIFT.

PS. Love your work. Big inspiration! But you move way to FAST. Makes me feel like I'm in reverse.

Victory! Bolts and boards came off without issue and transom is solid all over. It's a Thanksgiving Day miracle. Happy Thanksgiving all.

Hope all had a wonderful Holiday and Happy New Year. Been plugging away in between vacations here. Took your advise Dirt with the drain. Came out pretty good. Plug screws will definitely have something to bite into. Also I?ll have a rubber 1? stopper type plug inside for emergencies.
Also was able to tab the coosa in with biax and two layers of 1708. Started to get hot even with the cooler weather. Gonna give a quick sand and two more layers tomorrow I hope.

Two layers Saturday and last two layers today. Transom core is locked in!!! Next up, stringers. Plan is a grid style. Two 1.5" H130 divinycell sandwiched together for 3" as the main two stringers and 1.5" divinycell bulkheads.

Looks good, keep at it. I just finished a 20, pretty sure you are only a couple blocks north of me in the farms I feel like I have seen this boat in the yard on one of my bike rides.

1 word of advice since I see you are doing it all outside under an awning, I did the same. Attack this project as hard as you can while we have this nice weather, I did the bulk of mine this year from April to its first splash on July 4. Grinding and glassing after work and on weekends wearing a suit and respirator in 90* weather sucks! If (more like when) I move up and do a 23 or 25 I have told myself I am going to do it in the winter this time...

Thanks Jared. I'm off 167th. We have spoke before when you were welding your tank. I am trying as hard as I can to take advantage of this weather. Plus, There is no way it would have been possible to epoxy the core and glass layers outside in the summer. It would kick before i finished rolling epoxy on layer one.
Also glad to see you have been enjoying yours.

Pulled the stringers out today. They were so delaminated, only took about 5 min with minor cutting. So glad I decided to rebuild as a grid like wgscott.

Hope all kept their sanity during this COVID situation. I have been plugging away at odds and ends. Picked up a lil side project, trying to get family on the water this summer as camp is cancelled. So my 23 is on hold. However, I do have a question.

When I core the console, My plan is to use ARJAY bedding compound to bed the core, can I coat the glass and core material first with epoxy or do I need to get some poly resin?
Core is going to be coosa.

One or the other...

Thanks Dirt, thats what I thought. Looks like I'm off to gram a gal of Poly.

One more question for the group. I picked up poly resin. With that said I'm a lil confused with the layup. Thinking:
Roll poly neat on core and inside console and add layer of 3/4 oz chop to both, let it set up overnight, then trowel arjay bedding compound with 1/4" and squeeze till set.

Does this sound right? This is my first go with Poly.

I am following closely. How is the build coming along?

Progress has been so slow. Hoping to get back on this horse. Bracket temporarily installed, longitudinal stringers built, and Cap removed. Trying to get it prepped for massive layups the first cool snap.

No turning back now. Liner is gone. And for some reason, I feel a lil itchy. 😎. Any ideal how much poly resin to add one layer of 1708 to each side? Roughly 100sqft. I found a chart that said 25sqft per gal. That would be 4 gallons for one layer. Does that sound right???

10 hrs and 15gal of potter putty dust later, grinding done on the inside of the hull. A few repairs from previous resto and she will be ready for core. Next up the cap coring removal.

Id probably say more like 2.5-3 gallons for 100sq ft with ideal conditions. Colder weather and a vertical surface youre gonna use more though! If we ever get a cold front that is...

Thanks for the reply Dirt. Was hoping you would chime in. Looks like I'm off to Fiberglass Florida for a bunch of Poly.

One side cored. 1 layer of glass and topped with H45 grid scored. Was able to get it all in wet on wet. What a pain!! The rain and flood conditions definitely did not help. Had to mix in the garage and slosh back and forth through the stand water a dozen or so times. Took way longer than I thought it would. Who would have thought right.

Coming along nicely. Curious what thickness you used on this. I am thinking of going with the minimum H45 3lb on a similar build of an Aquasport 240 Classic.

Thank You

Trying to do as much as possible with the cooler weather. Used H45 grid score 1/2". Held great with Poly Bonding putty and a 1/4" trowel. its like spreading marshmallow fluff. But it goes every where.

Left side cored. Tuesday I’ll shape the edges, fiberglass the corematt on the lip, and fill any voids with compound. This stuff gets on everything.