Project StressEliminator Restomod-23 Daytona

[HydroSkreamin]

Got another gallon of Adtec P-14 filler from Express Composites. They’re over 4 hours away from me and I’ve always gotten my order the next day if it was called in before 1 PM. Great people to work with, and the founder, Jim Swanson, is a former boat racer himself and is not only very personable, he’s also very knowledgeable about his product as well, and they keep a lot of stuff in stock.

I’m impressed with the packaging from Adtec.

I made the mistake of cleaning the small knives first and forgot about the big one before things got too hard. Not cool! I’m here to tell you I could not get the P-14 off even with a sharp putty knife.

Before

After soaking it in acetone for half an hour

This is why we wear gloves around these chemicals, people. The Technical Data Sheet only lists acetone as a chemical to avoid, and there’s a list of different acids and liquids that have zero or little effect on it. Pretty tough stuff, but acetone is its Kryptonite.

I repurposed a plastic box Hula had gotten some Tech Screws in to soak in the acetone. Fit perfectly!

Should be the last of fiberglass spot repairs. Got a bunch of the pod running surface coated, will finish the rest of it next session.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Unreal


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lenmann]

Looking great, won't be long before the white stuff goes down.

X2 on Express Composites, even with shipping their prices beat most of the stores that are closer to me on the left coast. Good people too.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Unreal

She’s going to be sharp and smooooooth this week.

I’m working half days this week in order to get it to gel sometime this week. If I didn’t have mandatory safety training every morning this week I’d be all over it.

We’re going to have to either borrow or make a temporary spray booth. Any chance of spraying outside left us for the year.

Super stoked on seeing it in white gel soon!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Looking great, won't be long before the white stuff goes down.

X2 on Express Composites, even with shipping their prices beat most of the stores that are closer to me on the left coast. Good people too.

You should send them pictures of your project, Lenmann, and a link to your build thread. They’re truly boat fanatics and love to see what people do with their products.

 

[98special]

I can't wait to see the Gel process. Iv'e been lurking for a while and check nearly every day
to see the progress.
My hats off to you and the team, you're attention to detail is incredible.

 

[HNL2LHC]

It’s been a week. I hope that all is well and you are just getting things done for the winter that is coming.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Put my buddy of 12 years down two Tuesdays ago. The world lost a rockstar. I wish I could have cloned him.

We found him abandoned next to a country road 12 years ago, when we were heading out to reclaim bricks from the middle school my wife and I attended as kids for our fireplace in the new home we were building. Oddly enough, his passing on the Tuesday was just a few days short of the 12 year anniversary of us finding him on a Saturday. I guess we must have had a 12 year lease we didn’t know about.

Eldest daughter is 24, so he was there 1/2 of her life, and youngest daughter is almost 18, so he was present 2/3 of her life. Middle daughter still hasn’t found Colt, so we’ve lost 2 dogs in about one month. Just sucks.

Getting ready for winter at work as well, so I’ve been humping it. I’ve been getting to the shop when I can, and am making progress, but hard to show in pictures. All of the repairs involving fiberglass are finished and sanded flat, so I’m very happy about that. Now it’s filling pinholes and low spots, and of course, sanding. My thumbprint is no longer recognized by my phone due to the missing details from sanding.

Yesterday I picked up a couple of drywall knives for outside corners, and modified them to fit my spray rails. Going to the shop shortly to try them out!

Should have some decent progress pics tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Damnit... Sorry about the lab, he looks and sounds like he was a good pup.

Lost my chocolate last year, still can't hardly think about her without getting teared up.

"If dogs don't go to heaven, when I die I want to go where they went.".

 

[Andy B.]

Sorry for your loss........

 

[HNL2LHC]

Sorry to hear about your pup!!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I still go look for him in his kennel, it’s just weird.

I did achieve some progress today. Things are shaping up with the near-final prep.

Got to try one of the tools I’ve shaped for a specific job today. Hula had an 8” drywall knife that had seen better days, and he didn’t mind if I modified it, so I radiused the corners to fit the same pattern I cut into my Bondo spreader. I’m happy with the results it achieves.

Didn’t get to try the corner form tool today, but should be able to use it tomorrow or the next day. Just took a couple of drywall outside corner tools and modified one for the pod reflexes and one for the spray rails. The top unit is modified for the pod reflexes, and the lower is a stock unit before I cut it for the spray rails.

Here’s a shot of how it fits

Got the nose of the pod blued, sanded, and should be final fill.

I’m working Monday only this week, planning on busting ass the rest of the week on it, barring any issues with two surgeries on family members this week.

More updates when there’s something worthy of showing.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Got the vertical surfaces sanded and filled with P-14. Pod running surfaces are filled but need bluing and sanding.

Going to sand the edges near the spray rail corners and get them formed and filled tomorrow.

Got a chance to use the shaft from a small block Chevy distributor for sanding the radii

I’m very pleased with how the drywall knife profiled for the corners performed. Should be minimal sanding on those vertical surfaces and radii.

 

[Toffen Gunnufsen]

Our condolences to you from us in Lillesand.

Keep up the amazing work

Got hold of a 450R with 40 hours on it, so hopefully I can secure it in time !

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Being Thanksgiving today, daughters all busy or working, and wife having surgery tomorrow, I took care of stuff around the house and headed to the HulaHut, but not before my sister dropped off a care package. I put it to good use

Got the nose finish sanded yesterday

Blued up both vertical surfaces in prep for longboard sanding

A little bit of sweating and elbow grease later and the starboard sponson is ready for final fill The blue spots are the lows to fill. I’m happy with where it’s at.

My 2.5 mm tip spray gun arrived from Amazon. It’s a throwaway at $31. We’ll see if we can get it cleaned after each use and I’ll have a good gun for spraying primer on my future car projects.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Managed to sneak away Sunday afternoon and clean up in the shop a bit, sanded the port sponson with an airfile and 80 grit, re-blued it and started with the block sanders with 80 grit. The straightedge is your friend and enemy ... that SOB is a truth-teller, but if you accept what it’s telling you (you got a buttload more work, buddy), the results are quite straight.

I’m not taking shortcuts now, but man I’d like to get this thing in gel. I get to sand every inch at least 4 more times. When I say I know every inch of this boat inside and out, it’s the absolute truth. I completely recommend that no one get this intimate with your boat. You’d better really want it, or it would be easy to give up. Well, that ain’t me!

I’m dedicated to finishing my endeavor, and testing it, wherever I may have to travel to find water. It’s not frozen here yet, but it’s right around the corner, as there’s ice on the edges of the lakes in the morning.

Anyway, the above pic is how far I got with semi-final sanding. It’s going to come out very nice, I just have to keep digging and get after it. It’ll come around shortly.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Well, it’s time for an update, as I actually have some progress worth reporting. A lot going on here not related to this project other than it’s kept me from it. You could erase October and November from my life and I wouldn’t have a problem with it. Time to make up for it and come sliding into home headfirst for the New Year!!

Finally got the sponson verticals filled and the starboard block sanded with just a couple of low spots needing a touch of filler. This thing is really coming out straight, and it has to because after it gets gelcoated, it gets block sanded again, and if it’s not flat, you’ll definitely sand through, so there’s really no cheating here, because it’ll be exposed sooner or later, and later means re-gelling local spots, which is a PITA; been there, done that when I blueprinted the running surface.

So Hula gave me a touch up spray gun, and I’ve been using it to spray my bluing/alcohol mixture. Turns out Dykem (steel bluing) is really chunky, and plugs every spray bottle I’ve ever put it in, so straining with a paint filter is a must, but it works very well with 25% bluing/75% rubbing alcohol.

Here’s the sponsons all blued up ready for block sanding.

Here’s the front view after block sanding, with the various sanding blocks, the small block Chevy distributor shaft and paper for the corner radii, and a small piece of hand sandpaper for blending the corners to the flats. Can’t forget the broom and dustpan! They get used a ton so the dust isn’t clogging the sandpaper.

Rear shot.

I’m really pleased with how the transom area is turning out, and how straight everything is.

Tomorrow I’ll get the port side sanded and start filling the corners with P-14 and the form tools.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Port side is block sanded, with some small spots needing some fill.

Looking forward to using this form tool tomorrow night for the corners.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

You’ve gotta be going insane by now, but the suspense and wait as bad as it’s killing us watching will all be beyond worth it in the end. Just please keep it away from any and all beaches

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Well, I’m here to tell you, that adapted tool works absolutely bitchin! Port side is squared up, will block it tomorrow and see what needs touch up. Starboard side is prepped and ready for low spots to be filled and the spray rail corners squared to match the port, thanks to help today from my friend Remington.

Really taking shape!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Port aft spray rail is squared up and transom flattened.

I’ve never been satisfied with the transition from tunnel top to port spray rail running surface. Dimensionally it matches the starboard, but when you run your hand on the flow of the port transition it doesn’t feel as smooth as the starboard. Well now it’s getting close.

Remington stopped by and helped with mixing filler, sanding, cleanup, and holding the light. He’s watching intently so he can apply his knowledge to his 14’ Checkmate with an inline stacker Merc. His help is appreciated! He sanded the starboard spray rail for final fill and we got it filled tonight.

Tomorrow night’s plan is forming the outer corner of the starboard spray rail, and sanding the formed corner of the port spray rail.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Looking great!

 

[02HoWaRd26]

The spray rails, i know you fiberglassed and all that, but they started as a foam. Will they shrink? Will they lose there tensile strength? Or is that just how that is done?

Just seems that you’ve already gone through every one of those questions already in your head I’m sure...... do would love to hear the why and what all answers you already came back with.

 

[lenmann]

So close.

As you well know sweating the details at this phase make all the difference in the end. Just like re-painting a car, all the really important work happens in the prep.

Its looking really good.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

The spray rails, i know you fiberglassed and all that, but they started as a foam. Will they shrink? Will they lose there tensile strength? Or is that just how that is done?

Just seems that you’ve already gone through every one of those questions already in your head I’m sure...... do would love to hear the why and what all answers you already came back with.

Well, I can’t say “this is how it’s done”; it’s the way I chose to construct it. For this particular task, I thought it was the lightest and strongest way to do it. Believe me, Roger and I talked through potential design paths a lot.

Let’s be clear that spray rails are normally part of the mold design in a modern cat. Mine are a 33-year late afterthought. So the thought process of
- how can I get that shape
- how can I make it strong
- how can I keep it light
- how do I make it stay on the boat
Are all considerations at the beginning.

The 1” foam was locally available as core material at a boatbuilder, so it’s designed to be core for the bottom of a boat. It’s 5lb/ft^3 density. The spray rail materials, including glass and resin are about 22 lbs. just think if it was wood, it would be over 30 lbs/ft^3!! You can see why your fast pleasure and race boats are mostly composite instead of wood. And the foam won’t shrink, but the fiberglass does when it cures, so now we’ve made a really tight wrap for our foam. Remember, there’s a layer between the 2-1” pieces, 2 layers behind them to bind them to the original sponson faces, and 3 layers over the top of the foam, overlapping each other onto the original sponson faces and tunnel top.

The three layers of 1808 should be carrying the load, and the foam is backing it. We’ll see if my first attempt at embedding a video directly works. I’m guessing only guys with iPhones will see it, but here’s a shot:

If you can see and hear it, you’ll notice it’s rock hard. It’s closed cell foam, but it’s scored in squares so it’s flexible enough to match reasonable contours, and the vacuum pulls the resin into the scoring if you can see it in the video.

Hopefully I answered your questions, and I’m sure there’s going to be comments on my “accent”

 

[HydroSkreamin]

So close.

As you well know sweating the details at this phase make all the difference in the end. Just like re-painting a car, all the really important work happens in the prep.

Its looking really good.

Thanks, Lenmann, I’m trying! The details really are where it’s at, for sure. It’s really coming out nice, I’m not nervous or anything. Just want to finish it to a high quality and go run it!

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Very well explained and executed, i am pretty well feeling it’ll work great, however not trying to toss stones just wrapping my own head.... but seems some sort of bolting or fastening to the original hull is missing. I know you double glasses the backside to create a for what I’m understand a double sided tape effect, but other than the outer glass wrap to hold the exterior to the ..... well exterior of the hull.
The three layers I’m sure create a ton of strength specially after vacuum bagging but i just continue to go back to the foam, and think about the stucco on a house. Looks beautiful till it’s bumped with a little force.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Were you able to see the video? It’s rock hard as bare foam. I can walk on 3 layers of 1808. My floor in the boat is 3/8” plywood with one layer of 1808 on each side, to give you some perspective.

Realize that to move any of it you’re going to put some in tension and some in compression. There’s a lot going on with multiple layers of +/- 45° strands soaked in plastic. That’s what the bottom of your boat is. It’s not one continuous piece, it’s multiple widths and layers. That’s why we pay such close attention to surface prep, properly cleaning, proper chemical ratios, temperature and even saturation, without too much saturation. Anybody that thinks boat building is easy needs to be involved in every process the entire way, and I guarantee you you’ll have a different perspective.

 

[HNL2LHC]

Merry Christmas to you and the rest of the Cheeseheads up there helping you. As they say in the islands Mele Kalikimaka!!!!!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Merry Christmas to you and the rest of the Cheeseheads up there helping you. As they say in the islands Mele Kalikimaka!!!!!

Thanks, and same to you! Just had a wonderful Christmas Eve with the in-laws. My 3 daughters got me a really cool blanket/towel with one of my favorite pictures of the StressEliminator on it.

Back after it tomorrow!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Got the starboard spray rail squared up and blued, started sanding the transition from the tunnel top to the spray rail. My buddy Nick stopped by tonight for a bit of upper body workout sanding on the port spray rail.

Front view

Rear view

I spent a bunch of time last night making the pod transition at the tunnel top as symmetrical as I possibly could. I’m very pleased with it.

I’m off this week, getting really close to gel time.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

It’s just about time...

 

[lenmann]

That is looking awesome, fish swimming under your boat will be stopped in their tracks and float in awe of your amazing work.

Half kidding, the reality is that these are projects we do for ourselves, to satisfy a weird need for a bit more performance and to get a step closer to an abstract form of perfection.

How many man hours do you think you have in it this round?

I know on mine, just doing the bottom took about three times as long as I thought it would.

This is inspiring work and as I have said before thanks for bringing us along on the journey.

 

[98special]

I can't wait. It keeps me motivated during the LONG winter months.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

She’s in the “booth”. Today is the day, boys and girls.

HeadlessHula and my friend Joe came up and helped all weekend, getting about 4 hours of sleep each night. They’re staying an extra day to help see this thing get frosted today.

Hula cleaned my new spray gun purchased from Amazon and found the cup stripped and leaking right out of the box. Luckily he had a bunch of leftover parts from Harbor Freight guns and although the cup didn’t fit, the adapter bushing for the cup did, and we set up outside and shot about a 3’x3’ square, adjusting the gun and air pressure. It’s a 2.5mm tip and is adequate.

Thanks for following along and all the support. It’s great encouragement when I’m bummed about how long it takes to get “right”.

 

[Duramax]

View attachment 957926
She’s in the “booth”. Today is the day, boys and girls.

HeadlessHula and my friend Joe came up and helped all weekend, getting about 4 hours of sleep each night. They’re staying an extra day to help see this thing get frosted today.

Hula cleaned my new spray gun purchased from Amazon and found the cup stripped and leaking right out of the box. Luckily he had a bunch of leftover parts from Harbor Freight guns and although the cup didn’t fit, the adapter bushing for the cup did, and we set up outside and shot about a 3’x3’ square, adjusting the gun and air pressure. It’s a 2.5mm tip and is adequate.

Thanks for following along and all the support. It’s great encouragement when I’m bummed about how long it takes to get “right”.

Amazing as usual! I'm surprised you don't have a drain plug in your center sponson?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I'm surprised you don't have a drain plug in your center sponson?

Why would I want to let water in?

 

[Duramax]

Why would I want to let water in?

Haha, you are right my friend! I'm always surprised at how little water I have. Mostly because my stern sits so low in the water that I might take a little water on up between the hatch if that makes sense.

I told my wife we need to ship our Eliminator up next year to Shawano and plan for some river running with you guys.

I'm going to send you a DM soon. I want your opinion on a plan I have with my 21.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Haha, you are right my friend! I'm always surprised at how little water I have. Mostly because my stern sits so low in the water that I might take a little water on up between the hatch if that makes sense.

I told my wife we need to ship our Eliminator up next year to Shawano and plan for some river running with you guys.

I'm going to send you a DM soon. I want your opinion on a plan I have with my 21.

When I notched the pod previously it was sealed off from the world, and that’s why it didn’t have a drain plug then.

I’ve basically grafted this pod over the other, so it’s sealed off as well.

Let me know when you’re thinking of coming up. My weekends can get busy with racing, but anytime I’m home I’m up for a rip.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

A coworker showed up at my desk yesterday and said he had a present for me. I thought he was pulling my leg and sheepishly opened the box, and inside was this.

It’s from cleaning the ducts in the Shawano, WI Eliminator factory. He bought a couple boats up there in the 90’s and they had pieces of this layered gelcoat on the shelf and he took one.

My boat residue is dead center, I believe.

Odd but cool paraphernalia.

Didn’t spray last night because the prep wasn’t up to my standards previously, but at 1 AM it was. That’s a bit late to start a major spray project, so I called for attacking it with fresher minds, so we’re going to do it now.

Pics at 11

 

[Duramax]

View attachment 958465

View attachment 958466

A coworker showed up at my desk yesterday and said he had a present for me. I thought he was pulling my leg and sheepishly opened the box, and inside was this.

It’s from cleaning the ducts in the Shawano, WI Eliminator factory. He bought a couple boats up there in the 90’s and they had pieces of this layered gelcoat on the shelf and he took one.

My boat residue is dead center, I believe.

Odd but cool paraphernalia.

Didn’t spray last night because the prep wasn’t up to my standards previously, but at 1 AM it was. That’s a bit late to start a major spray project, so I called for attacking it with fresher minds, so we’re going to do it now.

Pics at 11

So cool! I grew up in that building. Awesome

 

[Headless hula]

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Hula always delivers!!

 

[Headless hula]

 

[Headless hula]

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Hell yeah!

 

[Headless hula]

PVA.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

She’s white.

I’m beat.

 

[Duramax]

View attachment 958754

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View attachment 958761

She’s white.

I’m beat.

Fantastic! What is PVA?

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Fantastic! What is PVA?

PolyVinylAlcohol-It's sprayed on over non-wax gelcoat to remove the gel's contact with air so it can cure. We don't want to use waxed gel because when it's time to sand the gel smooth, you have to remove all of the wax first. This comes off like Saran Wrap, in sheets.