V17 Haines rebuild - about to start

[matt fraser]

I'm just about ready to hook into my first fibreglass boat rebuild. My wife is still shaking her head. When I first bought it home my 5 year old boy asked if it was a shipwreck! My mates also think I have rocks in my head, but I can see the beauty in this hull. Plus its nice to read and hear all the good reviews on the old Haines V17 hulls.

The main incentive for getting this boat, and doing this project is that I spent a lot of time this summer past on the bay. I endured regular drenchings in bone jarring trips in my 4.75m tinny. So I want to get this boat on the water by December to enjoy the bay more next summer. The budget is limited, so I'll be doing most of it myself. Plus I love a challenge.

I've been searching the forums and learnt heaps from ausfish and past rebuilds. I look forward to sharing the rebuild on here, and will be relying on the collective experience from Ausfishers to help me through this one.

Last weekend I took to it with various tools to remove carpet, console, fuel tank, bow rails, gunwhale rubbers and various fittings. Now I have it back to the floor, and a big pile of junk to take to the dump.

What I've exposed so far is that the floor, stringers and transom seem sound. But the raised front floor and supports are rotten out and weak. So I will get into that next weekend.

So many questions I need to ask, I'll start with some hull design questions I've been thinking about.

1. Should I mess with a classic hull? I've read several reviews about how tender the V17s are at rest. Looking at the hull, I reckon building a big reverse chine starting from the highest strake would stabilise the hull considerably. Yet leave it with still a massive V. See the pic where I've coloured in a reverse chine on the left. Any thoughts? Has anyone tried or seen this done?

2. Pods - I want to put a Yamaha 115 4 stoke on it, should I consider a full width pod about 18inches long.

Check out the pics you can see how it was, and what I ripped out so far.

Cheers,

Matt

[dodgyone]

I honestly wouldnt mess with the hull design at all. 17r have a fantastic shape and I doubt you could improve it without taking away what makes it so good.
Im running a 150 Evinrude and that a fair bit of weight over the arse end. You can really feel it and it wont hold a slow plane.
Getting your fuel forward will help a bit though.
Will be following your project closely. Its what I want to do to mine if I had the time and confidence in my abilities to finish the job properly.

[Midnight]

Gday,
The reverse chine will make it bang like ya tinnie, well not as bad as ya tinnie, but it will make it bang all the same. The V17 hulls are a good thing.

Leave the hull shape as it is, you will get used to the rock n roll, and it will be worth it when you dont have buggered knees and a sore back at the end of the day.

Just be careful of putting too much weight on its bum too.

It will be a good thing, and your tinnie and itss aweful ride will be long forgotten hahaha

Have fun with it!

Cheers,
Myles

[Steeler]

Dodgy is right,you would be hard pressed to improve to what is still to this day one of the best hulls ever made in around this size.

I wish you all the very best and i too will look foward to your updates.

Steeler

[STUIE63]

I am another vote not to change the hull it is a classic because it is so good . one mod I would do is put trim tabs on it .
Stuie

[trueblue]

I have big reverse chines on my glass boat, and they are good and bloody bad at the same time.

very stable at rest, and great in smooth and semi choppy water. get out in the rough stuff head on though and it can be bone jarring.

cheers

Mick

[matt fraser]

Thanks everyone so far, that is a very resounding response, so I will go with that and just worry about the internals.

Apart from the fuel tank, I'll also have two big 130amp batteries and a livewell, so I will have to try and keep as much of this weight forward as possible.

Oh, any thoughts on a pod?

Cheers,

Matt

[JB]

All the best Matt, shes a big job . Can't wait to see it progress. I have limited knowlege about hull shapes, but i agree that changing a classic design sounds very risky. How will it cope with the weight of a 115 yammy?

Jas

[FNQCairns]

Nice find! I am going to go against the flow and say to make it exactly as you please, don't stand on tradition leave that to those blokes who have the cash to hand the boat over to someone then get it back like new.

You will find that hull does have a buoyancy problem at the rear compared to modern wide bodied/variable deadrise hulls (variable deadrise is how they pull the wide body's off). That hull is fine for 1 bloke to be in corner but when gaffing and when 2 in tight in choppy conditions it can be unsettling.

if it where my hull I would without doubt fit a half or even 3/4 pod that is also a hull extension...a well designed one would turn the hull into a real weapon...the length to width ratio would be even better and then there is the buoyancy and extra room available.

I would also consider (only of a pod is added) making the CC a rear CC, can be a little wetter but a person gets home from a day on the water in very fine shape.....on the body the boat feels like riding a cushion much like a boat double the length.

Good hull and i look forward to updates.

Here is one I did earlier, bertram 18 hull type...never finished it I changed long term plans because as luck would have at the time it fuel started it's crazy rise in price before I got it 2/3 done.

http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,28,00.html

[FNQCairns]

Nice find! I am going to go against the flow and say to make it exactly as you please, don't stand on tradition leave that to those blokes who have the cash to hand the boat over to someone then get it back like new.

You will find that hull does have a buoyancy problem at the rear compared to modern wide bodied/variable deadrise hulls (variable deadrise is how they pull the wide body's off). That hull is fine for 1 bloke to be in corner but when gaffing and when 2 in tight in choppy conditions it can be unsettling.

if it where my hull I would without doubt fit a half or even 3/4 pod that is also a hull extension...a well designed one would turn the hull into a real weapon...the length to width ratio would be even better and then there is the buoyancy and extra room available.

I would also consider (only of a pod is added) making the CC a rear CC, can be a little wetter but a person gets home from a day on the water in very fine shape.....on the body the boat feels like riding a cushion much like a boat double the length.

Good hull and i look forward to updates.

Here is one I did earlier, bertram 18 hull type...never finished it I changed long term plans because as luck would have at the time it fuel started it's crazy rise in price before I got it 2/3 done.

http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,28,00.html

PS just ignore the family':) , my wife refused to call the one above a 'boat' only ever a 'float' because that's all it was ever capable of and my boating/fishing/4wd trips according to her I have another "man date" coming up. My 5 yo daughter has since repeated this in class too.......sheesh!

[Jarrah Jack]

I saw a 16r on the water once that had the transom we worked to make it full height and a stainless bracket to take the motor, a 90 yam. The poor thing was well down in the arse with the extra leaverage of the bracket out from the transom...If you go with a pod you would need as much extra bouyancy as you can get with your narrow hull.

You've already done well if you don't have any rot in the floor, stringers and transom. Just keep water well away from em during the rebuild cause once the rot starts..............Love those hulls..

[dodgyone]

If you do decide to go with the pod it would definately be worth following the lines of the hull as already suggested. Really need the floatation back there. Love the idea of a rear centre console as long as you can get the weight balance right. Will end up being a mini cigarette style hull. Don't turn hard corners so well but awesome into the swell. Then maybe bump the hp up to 150 and hang on.

[matt fraser]

FNQ - thanks for that info and the link, looks like you were nearly done on that boat... "Man date"... that would have gone down well with the teacher!

JJ and dodgy, yeah I reckon a full pod will be the go, 150hp would be nice....But I reckon 115hp will do the job.

Righto next questions - Tools?

I've got a decent jigsaw, but my 5" grinder and 1/3 sheet sander are all but stuffed (Ozito - good for one or two jobs) but I'm going to invest in a new 4 or 5 " grinder and sander for the job.

Any recommendations on particular grinders and sanders, and what sort of cutting wheels, discs, sanding sheets etc.

Or other tools that will make the job as easy as possible.

I'm hoping to take out the front floor and some of the rear floor for inspection this weekend - and probably take it off the trailer.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

[Steeler]

Hey Matt.I reckon FNQ should give you a hand and have it knocked over in a couple of weekends LOL.

Steeler

[FNQCairns]

Hey Matt.I reckon FNQ should give you a hand and have it knocked over in a couple of weekends LOL.

Steeler

Yeah good one Steeler thanks for steping back:)

Never, never ever will i ever never, never ever do it again, hope I didn't understate my position:D

[Wayne_Red]

Have you checked the under side of the hull under the stringers for gelcoat cracks, dead give away for soft stringers. Be really sure there is no no rot or your project will be like building a brick house on sand. FNQ did a great with his floor on the rebuild but of course it comes with extra $
For sanding fg and old gelcoat I have used the really course 7" sanding discs lowest grit size you can get. Cutting through fg the 5" 1.0mm cut off discs are the go.
I feel itchy just looking at fnq's. grinding fg is like hitting your thumb with a hammer good when you stop.
A mate put a home made pod on his 17' milligan after he took out a stern drive. made it out of ply and glassed it over, wasn't flush with the bottom but added good boyancy. looked a bit rough but did the job
Good luck with it
Wayne

[death_ship]

they do sit low in the arse so i would go with the pod seeing as its already modified. the 115 will do the job just fine, i think i got around 36 knots at WOT and around 22 knots at 4000rpm cruising with the 115 4 yammy on my 17c. they are narrow and tender at rest and trim tabs would be an asset.

[dodgyone]

Mate. Youve got me excited enough to go and get the tape measure out this weekend. Might start knocking up a pod. Those Haines loose so much deck space with the regular transom set up.

[Si]

nice matt. i would be very interested in seeing the progress of this rebuild too. have you got a budget in mind? how much would a project like this cost if you dont mind me asking. i ask cos i have an old haines signature with variable dead rise hull and have floated the possibility of cutting the cabin away and turning it into a centre console with flat floors but in reality i know i wouldnt have the time or dosh.

mate as for tools - dont buy cheap stuff.

tip - when you cut the old floor out around the edges make sure you dont cut too deep or you may cut right though the hull.

[Jarrah Jack]

Mate. Youve got me excited enough to go and get the tape measure out this weekend. Might start knocking up a pod. Those Haines loose so much deck space with the regular transom set up.

You're right there dodgy I look at the setup of my 16r and wonder. Its got less fishing room than my 14 ft tinnie. Better send over that tape measure, you've really got me thinking now.

[matt fraser]

Have you checked the under side of the hull under the stringers for gelcoat cracks, dead give away for soft stringers. Be really sure there is no no rot or your project will be like building a brick house on sand. FNQ did a great with his floor on the rebuild but of course it comes with extra $
For sanding fg and old gelcoat I have used the really course 7" sanding discs lowest grit size you can get. Cutting through fg the 5" 1.0mm cut off discs are the go.
I feel itchy just looking at fnq's. grinding fg is like hitting your thumb with a hammer good when you stop.
A mate put a home made pod on his 17' milligan after he took out a stern drive. made it out of ply and glassed it over, wasn't flush with the bottom but added good boyancy. looked a bit rough but did the job
Good luck with it
Wayne

I've got more inspecting to do, I'm going to have to remove the floor completely as I want to raise it about 2 inches, so its level all the way to the edge. The gelcoat all looks sound though. Thanks for the tips on tools.

Matt

[matt fraser]

nice matt. i would be very interested in seeing the progress of this rebuild too. have you got a budget in mind? how much would a project like this cost if you dont mind me asking. i ask cos i have an old haines signature with variable dead rise hull and have floated the possibility of cutting the cabin away and turning it into a centre console with flat floors but in reality i know i wouldnt have the time or dosh.

mate as for tools - dont buy cheap stuff.

tip - when you cut the old floor out around the edges make sure you dont cut too deep or you may cut right though the hull.

I've got no idea how much its going to cost. Going into it blind. I did get a quote earlier on floor and transom replacement, 2 grand each. Thats why I'm doing it myself.

Anyone got a tip on a good place to buy ply, resin and fibreglass?

Cheers,

Matt

[dodgyone]

You're right there dodgy I look at the setup of my 16r and wonder. Its got less fishing room than my 14 ft tinnie. Better send over that tape measure, you've really got me thinking now.
Oh, I wouldnt worry about a 16r Jarrah, just sell me the 16r so I have something to fish with while the 17 is down. Can always find space for another classic Haines in the yard.

[Lucky_Phill]

Matt, this looks like an excuse for me to finally pop around.

I did a similar age Nova some time ago.

Did the complete strip and reno, every nut , bolt, paint, upholstery, trailer, fittings, etc, etc.

Luckily, I had a good hull to start with, but the rest was buggered.

It is always an enjoyable experience to do it yourself and the end result is, you know every little thing about the boat.

Cheers Phill
.
.
..
.
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[Si]

http://www.jeffwebster.com.au/shbw.html

you may have seen this before. this guy puts out some good mags that have a few good articles on DIY floor, stringers and transom replacements showing a step by step process with a heap of pictures. shows all the tools and equipment required. You can pick these up at a newsagent if they still have copies. need to get the right mag though - i think its the boat workshsop one. if they dont have have copies then you can order back copies through the website attached of which i have. very informative mags - not just about rebuilds.

[matt fraser]

Matt, this looks like an excuse for me to finally pop around.

I did a similar age Nova some time ago.

Did the complete strip and reno, every nut , bolt, paint, upholstery, trailer, fittings, etc, etc.

Luckily, I had a good hull to start with, but the rest was buggered.

It is always an enjoyable experience to do it yourself and the end result is, you know every little thing about the boat.

Cheers Phill.
.

That would be great if you could come around Phill, I look forward to it.

Matt

[matt fraser]

http://www.jeffwebster.com.au/shbw.html

you may have seen this before. this guy puts out some good mags that have a few good articles on DIY floor, stringers and transom replacements showing a step by step process with a heap of pictures. shows all the tools and equipment required. You can pick these up at a newsagent if they still have copies. need to get the right mag though - i think its the boat workshsop one. if they dont have have copies then you can order back copies through the website attached of which i have. very informative mags - not just about rebuilds.

yep, thanks, I've been studying that one since before I bought the boat. Closest thing to a DIY boat rebuild manual.

Cheers,

Matt

[FNQCairns]

I found my 3 most beloved tools/bits where the metal cutting disks, the tungsten tipped blade that suits a 4 inch grinder and the belt sander. Without these 3 I would have walked away hardly started. With preparation as the key to locking new polyester to old for a high quality end result the belt sander made all the difference. I ruined 4 of those:(

First thing to buy is a high quality very well fitting mask that has replaceable particulate filters...cannot stress this high enough!! and always wear it.

The vacuum cleaner was also also a godsend.

[Wayne_Red]

This is the pod on the milligan. Simple but effective. Adds good bouyancy, really improved the boats performance, it just simply goes up on the plane with no hole at all to climb out of. + adds a mile of room inside. Motor doesn't sit low either.
Wayne

[Jarrah Jack]

Oh, I wouldnt worry about a 16r Jarrah, just sell me the 16r so I have something to fish with while the 17 is down. Can always find space for another classic Haines in the yard.

It would love to do a try out in those northern waters then go round to Darwin and show those GS's how to handle the chop.

[matt fraser]

I found my 3 most beloved tools/bits where the metal cutting disks, the tungsten tipped blade that suits a 4 inch grinder and the belt sander. Without these 3 I would have walked away hardly started. With preparation as the key to locking new polyester to old for a high quality end result the belt sander made all the difference. I ruined 4 of those:(

First thing to buy is a high quality very well fitting mask that has replaceable particulate filters...cannot stress this high enough!! and always wear it.

The vacuum cleaner was also also a godsend.

Thanks for that, I'm going tool shopping saturday. Got the mask already, might get a few spare filters.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

This is the pod on the milligan. Simple but effective. Adds good bouyancy, really improved the boats performance, it just simply goes up on the plane with no hole at all to climb out of. + adds a mile of room inside. Motor doesn't sit low either.
Wayne

Thanks for posting the pic Wayne. Its not pretty, but obviously adds greatly to the boat. I'm pretty keen on doing the pod, but a full width one.

Cheers,

Matt

[Cheech]

With getting the weight forward, I moved my twin batteries from the stern to a box in front of the port side seat. Made a noticeable difference, and that is on a 21ft boat. I sourced the extended battery cables from a welding supplier. Cost about 150.00 for the length I needed, but was worth it.

[Jarrah Jack]

I found my 3 most beloved tools/bits where the metal cutting disks, the tungsten tipped blade that suits a 4 inch grinder and the belt sander. Without these 3 I would have walked away hardly started. With preparation as the key to locking new polyester to old for a high quality end result the belt sander made all the difference. I ruined 4 of those:(

First thing to buy is a high quality very well fitting mask that has replaceable particulate filters...cannot stress this high enough!! and always wear it.

The vacuum cleaner was also also a godsend.

Is it worth wearing those white coveralls for those really big dust times to help stop that dreaded itch?

[matt fraser]

I went out and got myself a new 4" grinder along with a cutting blade (meat axe).

I managed to get about an hour to test it this arvo. I geared up with my paint overalls (with hood), gloves, face mask, and face shield. Finally ready to go, the cutting blade made short work of the glass and ply.

I took out the front deck first and found pleny of rot. Then got into the main floor. all the flooring itself was very solid, the outside stringers were rotten out, but the main two stringers look mainly ok.

There are areas in the outside stringers, and front stringers that look like even the fibreglass has rotted, or been affected by something, The area has gone black, ply rotted out completely and there are holes through the fibreglass - some that I can put my finger through???

From my limited experience, I reckon the stringers are original, but the floor has been replaced at some stage. I'm guessing this because - the inside hull underfloor and stringers are all green. Areas that have been obviously modified are grey or black.

I'm going to redo the stringers completely just to be safe, plus i'd like to widen them about 30mm to accomodate the 80 litre stainless fuel tank in the centre of the floor - plus I'm raising the floor by about 30 - 50mm.

It was pretty quick work with the grinder, but its going to take a lot longer to get everything back to the hull, without damaging it.

I had that itchy feeling around the wrists and neck - much, much more of that to come I suppose.

Saturday's job will be making room in the old shed to fit the Haines and prepare a frame. This will be an all day job. Then that will be it for the weekend as family commitments kick in.

Cheers,

Matt

[Blaster Bretty]

G-day matt! mate you can get all your supplies from BOAT CRAFT PACIFIC http://boatcraft.com.au/contact.html
These guys are good and stock everything you need, they have the epoxy resin which is the good stuff, its waterproof not like the polyester resin which will eventually soak up water if it gets in!
They have all the various types and grades of fiberglass matting you will need, chopped strand and the woven cloth stuff too! they even have the sandable filler powder to mix with the resin to make a fiberglass bog to fill any holes or it can be used for glue!
They also have some composite foam laminate materials to build your consoles or decks or what ever, you just cut it all to shape with a stanley knife and glue it together then glass it all over and "hey presto": all done!
A very friendly bunch they are, they actuall supply some of the boat builders in this area so they know what they're on about!
And no I dont work for them but I do buy there stuff as I have already rebuilt one boat and am in the process of another!
They are also very well priced, I should know, 3 kids, mortgage and not a high paying job!...LOL go have a squizz anyways matt! they are about 10mins from rochedale south!

Bretty

[Steeler]

Slap some talc powder on you at the exposed areas before you work on it,sure helps with the itch.

Steeler

[Jarrah Jack]

I suppose you already know but I thought I'd say it with so much of the frame going is to keep the intrigity of the hull shap while you are doing the frame.

You've really got stuck into it..This is going to be one of those great threads I reckon.

[FNQCairns]

I suppose you already know but I thought I'd say it with so much of the frame going is to keep the intrigity of the hull shap while you are doing the frame.

You've really got stuck into it..This is going to be one of those great threads I reckon.

So right, the hull will relax and you might end up with anything once you start laminating.

on the same line that bulkhead I see in the pic..leave it there until you have another one fitted and glued however in your redesign because the moment you cut that the hull will spring out.

[matt fraser]

Once I get the shed cleared out today, I'll get it off the trailer and make up an extenal frame on the floor. I've got some very long sleepers from when I rebuilt my retaining wall. So I should be able to make a very solid frame/cradle to hold it together, while its being worked on. But I'll keep the bulkhead in and just do one stringer at a time.

Have a look at this pic, can anyone tell me if its normal for fibreglass to rot, and distort like this. Or could it be that the glass was just too thin in these areas when initially laid, and once the ply rotted out, the glass started to distort?

Is it possible that fuel or something else? could have gotten in there and affected the fibreglass?

Matt

[jeffo]

G'day Matt, just found your thread now. I gotta say reading through it....it brings back some good memories and also makes me feel sick inside.

Here is the thread I had running while converting a 445r to a 445f.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=137109&highlight=haines+hunter+445+conversion

One peice of advice I will offer is not to set yourself a time frame. I thought mine would be over in 2-3 months- instead it took about 10 all up. That was working on it almost every day after work and weekends.

I am stoked with the result but i really wish i had taken the boat to a pro to rebuild the stringers and bulkheads. Although i was able to modify a few things along the way doing it myself.

Its a long dusty process, i hope your neighbours are as forgiving as mine were to the noise of grinders in the evening and on weekends.

If i was ever to do it again I would offer less for an old hull and have a pro rebuild it back to having the floor in. Then do the rest myself.

Are you planning on using ply to rebuild stringers? I wish i had taken some advice given to me and made mine out of glass not ply covered in glass.

I have to partly disagree with a few about weight distribution. I think I put a few to many kilos forward and not enough aft. Every now and then when running with a following sea, the nose bites in a bit throwing some water into the boat. It does how ever make it great into the sea.

[Blaster Bretty]

Had a look at that pic of the rotten area matt and yes fiberglass will weaken and separate if put together with polyester resin! you can use polyester resin but it must be sealed over with epoxy resin as a last one or 2 coats, this will keep the water out!
Mat looking at that pic you have got a huge job ahead to replace them stringers!
I saw a vid on you tube of a bloke who rebuilt his stringers out of thick foam and then glassed them over! to me this is great because the foam will give added flotaion as opposed to timber! timber will still float but the foam will float 5 times better and still be as strong as the timber with a few layers of glass over it!
Did you check out boat craft pacific yet! I went in there this morning and bought another 5 meters of 200g woven cloth matting for my project and 4 brush's for a total cost of $37..... but silly me forgot to get more sandable powder for bog..."sheesh" gotta love these boat builds eh!

Bretty

[gr hilly]

G-day matt! mate you can get all your supplies from BOAT CRAFT PACIFIC http://boatcraft.com.au/contact.html
These guys are good and stock everything you need, they have the epoxy resin which is the good stuff, its waterproof not like the polyester resin which will eventually soak up water if it gets in!
They have all the various types and grades of fiberglass matting you will need, chopped strand and the woven cloth stuff too! they even have the sandable filler powder to mix with the resin to make a fiberglass bog to fill any holes or it can be used for glue!
They also have some composite foam laminate materials to build your consoles or decks or what ever, you just cut it all to shape with a stanley knife and glue it together then glass it all over and "hey presto": all done!
A very friendly bunch they are, they actuall supply some of the boat builders in this area so they know what they're on about!
And no I dont work for them but I do buy there stuff as I have already rebuilt one boat and am in the process of another!
They are also very well priced, I should know, 3 kids, mortgage and not a high paying job!...LOL go have a squizz anyways matt! they are about 10mins from rochedale south!

Bretty

mate i live just around the corner and i have done for 45 yrs and never new they were there what good info this is one of the great things about this site you bloody beauty.

cheers hilly:o:D

[matt fraser]

Thanks Jeffo, I've read your thread before, but it all means so much more now I'm actually in the process - very timely reminder.

Now that you are down the track, are you enjoying the haines and happy with your job?

Thanks for all the advice, I'm still not sure how I'm going to do the stringers.

Ply makes sense. Foam glassed over - I don't get how that can be as strong as ply glassed over? Fibreglass stringers sound ok, but maybe very expensive?

Bretty, I checked out their site, and it look goods, thank you very much. I'll be dropping in soon.

I managed to get the shed/s sorted and cleaned out today. Now starting to look at ways of chocking the hull - lots of good info in Jeffos thread. I'm a bit tight on space as the shed in only 5.3m and the boat is 5.2m. Also the slab is on an agle downhill, which is going to make things interesting, maybe I should do the stringers on a flat bit of the lawn?

Matt

[jeffo]

A year on Matt and Im really enjoying the boat. Its done everything i wanted from it-done a few trips in the rivers with it and for the summer we caught 30 billfish to 250lb from it.

If you read back through my old thread you will notice some advice on glass stringers ( i think from blaze). Having now done the job i reckon all you would need to do is find some long sheets of flat alloy or plastic (what ever glass wont stick to), wax it up and just start laying glass on that until you end up with sheets of glass about 5mm think and big enough to cut your stringers to size out of. They would be easier to shape than ply and so easy to lay up on the hull.

Bretty- While im a long way from being a pro i think you will find that when using polyester resin (unwaxed) for the final few coats it just needs to have wax added to it to stop water penetrating. Or you can flow coat the lot.

[PinHead]

Matt..there was a thread here a couple of years back..about white ants chewing the bum out of a boat..the people rebuilt it themselves..it came up a treat..I can remember the name of the boat now...Play something I think it was..there may be some helpful info on that one for you also.

I found it..it may be of some help or give you some ideas:
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=66409&highlight=white+ants

[Smithy]

Matt,

here is the one Greg was talking about above.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=66409&highlight=playpen

Good luck with it. It is going to be a project for you for a lot of months like Jeff's turned out.

[Apollo]

Matt

Best of luck with this one. Ask your wife to take photos of your kids for the next 6 months so you don't miss out on too much.

I have built several boats to 23' and it is worth it, but it will take long and cost more than you think.

Couple of points:

Pod: Mark (trymyluck) had a pod on his savage with a 115 on the back. It suffered a bit from the weight, so he converted it to a full width podd and filled it in. I couldn't believe how much better the ride is. Like a different boat. The added bouyancy is a real bonus. Although his is alloy, it certainly was a winner for a narrowish boat with a big donk.

The itch: Get some barrier cream and apply it before you start. It washes off in the shower afterwards and stops the fibreglass dust contacting your skin - well worth it.

Vacumm: just be mindfull of using a vacumm cleaner to clean out the dust. If they are not thoroughly cleaned, the dust can clog everything. We had one clog, overheat and go up in smoke.

I was given the advice when I started to start fast and finish slow - wisdom there.

Best of luck

Steve

[matt fraser]

Jeffo, thats fantastic to hear! great to hear you are making great use of your Haines after spending so much time working on it.

The glass stringers might be the go, would 5mm glass be thick enough? As a rough guide how many litres of resin, and how many metres of glass cloth will be required for the whole job - not just stringers ?

Pinhead and Smithy, thanks for that! Big job alright, I'm pretty daunted after reading that......crikey.....

Steve, Thanks for all the tips there, taking them onboard.

The boat is off the trailer sitting in the backyard at the moment. The shed I'm hoping to do the job in is dodgy as. uneven floor, very low roof, very tight for space, no lights or power. I'm tossing up doing the stringers and floor on the lawn where its level. and then moving it to the shed to finish the rest. The pod will have to be the last job, because once that's done, it won't fit in the shed.

I'm not going to get much time to do much this week (other than ponder). Hopefully the weekend will be a chance to start something.

Cheers,

Matt

[nicko233]

matt sounds like you got a live one there good luck,i did the floor in mine a couple of years back good job but takes a long time my stringers are all fiberglass so no probs.be carful of grinder blades with teeth they can bite in tight corners.my mate just bought a cootacraft new but is fitting the floor himself after some mods they use a product called divinycell,Divinycell is 50 times stronger than any marine ply.he had a hell of a time getting it out, might be worth a look as stringer material.
nicko

[jeffo]

Hi Matt,

I wouldnt have a clue how much glass i used (i didnt want to keep a tally of stuff really- i would probably cry at the expense vs getting it done by a pro).

I went through nearly 3 x 20L drums of un waxed poliester resin for the whole job.

As for stringer thickness out of glass, I would only be guessing. I would lay up 5mm think lengths out of the boat then glass them in with a few more layers to thicken them up to maybe 10mm? I dunno.

I convered my ply with 1 x 400gsm chopped strand, then layed it in the boat with 3 x 600gsm chopped strand layers and that ended up about 4-5mm thick of glass over the ply.

Im sure there are plenty of other options out there also.

Have a run through what "pilchard jones" told me in my thread also. He has done a few conversions over the years.

I think the most advantageous thing to come out f doing it yourself is the confidence you get working with fibreglass, resin ect. Im sure it will be of worth to me on future boats- I wont go back to a tin boat for outside work now!

[matt fraser]

matt sounds like you got a live one there good luck,i did the floor in mine a couple of years back good job but takes a long time my stringers are all fiberglass so no probs.be carful of grinder blades with teeth they can bite in tight corners.my mate just bought a cootacraft new but is fitting the floor himself after some mods they use a product called divinycell,Divinycell is 50 times stronger than any marine ply.he had a hell of a time getting it out, might be worth a look as stringer material.
nicko

thanks Nicko, Divinycell has come up a few times, I'm trying to find out some more info on it. Like where I can get it and how much?

The Haines is now in the shed on a frame, and ready for some serious work. So I'm about to do some serious shopping for materials.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

Hi Matt,

I wouldnt have a clue how much glass i used (i didnt want to keep a tally of stuff really- i would probably cry at the expense vs getting it done by a pro).

I went through nearly 3 x 20L drums of un waxed poliester resin for the whole job.

As for stringer thickness out of glass, I would only be guessing. I would lay up 5mm think lengths out of the boat then glass them in with a few more layers to thicken them up to maybe 10mm? I dunno.

I convered my ply with 1 x 400gsm chopped strand, then layed it in the boat with 3 x 600gsm chopped strand layers and that ended up about 4-5mm thick of glass over the ply.

Im sure there are plenty of other options out there also.

Have a run through what "pilchard jones" told me in my thread also. He has done a few conversions over the years.

I think the most advantageous thing to come out f doing it yourself is the confidence you get working with fibreglass, resin ect. Im sure it will be of worth to me on future boats- I wont go back to a tin boat for outside work now!

Thanks again Jeffo, that all sounds good. Still tossing up that option, divinycell, or just ply? Hanging out to get into it. Plenty of enthusiam, big lack of knowledge still holding me back.

Matt

[matt fraser]

Another question on tools.

I'm just about kitted out, I've got the 4" grinder, jigsaw, and borrowed the old mans circular saw and elec planer. I've also got a sheet sander which is pretty light duty.

I've been recommended to get a belt sander, and other guys said they used a boat building sander.

I got a quote from Trade Tools on a Makita 9924DB 76mm industrial belt sander for $315. Should I get that, or see if I can find a boat building sander? or go for a cheaper belt sander?

Cheers,

Matt

[Jarrah Jack]

Being a jarrah man I own seven sanders and there's one thing about the makitas, they just keep going. Even when I feel like replacing an old one and want to find a reason they still don't stop. The makita you'll have for life whereas the cheap ones remain that especially when you can't get parts and end up in the bin.

[FNQCairns]

The superfine polyester dust that the sander will create gets into the sander and gums it up, personally I wouldn't buy expensive a run of mill sander, an air sander would work well i do not know the boat designed one but suspect it must sidestep the dust problem at least.

another thing with belt sanding fibreglass is it creates 10 times the heat of sanding anything else that i ever have.

2 choices when doing it, sand lightly and 6 times longer or get stuck into it create a lot of heat and dust in one go then when the sanding plate is so hot (i actually melted some of the sanders plastic parts that mated to the plate)it's untouchable but before it separates the glue that holds the belt together.....find something else to do for 30minutes (there is always something els prep that will need doing) then go again. i found that some brand of sanding belt would hold up to the heat created far better and others wouldn't so check out a few different brands as you go.

I used a beast of a sander from a company that no longer exists but it had a whopping motor of 1100watts or the like and was the only one with the guts to get stuck into it.

The sanders dust bags are near useless but better than nothing, you can lso hook the vacuum up to the sander.

[FNQCairns]

On your stringers, personally if i where to do your job for myself i would first cut away all the crappy chopper gun fibreglass covering them, then get at preping the entire surface area.

This prep would include whatever form of the stringers still available, then in any area where the stringer is entirly rotted out or simply not viable i would cut it at an angle, then buy some CD ply of equivalent thickness and replace using glue (can use an epoxy paste here or a polyester paste).

All of the stringer surface areas that have holes/divets/evacuated out rotted areas i would prep and fill with polyester paste (basic polyester resin and carbosll (sp) filler), then shape toward final prep.

i would lay all of the stringers up with 600g chop strand and a triaxial mat, then repeat, the chop strand works as a competent mating surface for the triaxial mat.

What this will do is cut out entirely the problem of creating new stringers, the glass over the stringers will hold it's own even if the stringers dissolve over time and it sidesteps all the time/cost and boat shape changing dramas of creating new stringers from scratch.

You will of coarse need to lower the height of the original stringers (unless changing floor height) to accommodate the extra 6mm or so the fibreglass will add, consider also the added width.

Choosing triaxial or even biaxial (each always with a bond layer of chop strand between) will near halve the layups, time, materials and also decrease costs overall but not dramatically.

Don't forget to fillet everything by an inch at least (2 would be better)and to be sure that no right angles exist, if you come across a right angle like the one that exists stringer to hull bottom fill it with polyester paste (can also use a hardsetting marine polyurethane sealer)and sand it until the transition is easy for the glass to conform to between surfaces.

Thats enough typing for now my finger is getting sore.

[MyWay]

Matt
good to see you are kin to do in short time.
That is what I told me wife it will take only 2 mounts, and after 1. 1/2 year it is almost finish got motor yesterday so should not be far

one think i can tall you it is not easy as it looks on photos or reading post in forums .
I did enjoy every minute i spend on it was like hobby

good luck and keep us update


myway

[Jarrah Jack]

FNQ....How would an eight inch sander/polisher go for most of the hard work. I use mine for all the rough stuff. I guess the dust factor would be the major concern.

If you are worried about gumming up a good sander wouldn't cleaning it with the air hose solve the problem?

A last question ..Is there any reason why you can't use treated pine ply as a base for the stringers, at least it won't rot?

Cheers

[jeffo]

Matt, i got away with a jigsaw and 4 inch grinder and a dremil. They are about the only tools i used. For the grinder I had sanding disks in different grades, a diamond blade for cutting and heaps of flapper disks. They were great for sanding back the hull.

[sooty_mad]

Matt
Good on you. I recently did a conversion job on a 445R to centre console. (Search Rebuilt Haines 445).
Double your time estimate and budget but well worth the effort to get the boat just right.
Best of luck... David

[FNQCairns]

FNQ....How would an eight inch sander/polisher go for most of the hard work. I use mine for all the rough stuff. I guess the dust factor would be the major concern.

If you are worried about gumming up a good sander wouldn't cleaning it with the air hose solve the problem?

A last question ..Is there any reason why you can't use treated pine ply as a base for the stringers, at least it won't rot?

Cheers

JJ yeah I forgot I did use one of those not real often on the inside though and I only have my experience to go on right or wrong.

One of those flapper disks on the 4 inch grinder was great for the tricky tight stuff, as you would know the final prep is almost a sculpture...I guess because the person doing it owns it and who would like go back on a do over:)

I found that the dust would get dragged into the workings then because it is plastic dust it would melt and fuse, this was only really an isue on the stuff that got real hot and made worst by the suck through fan inside, my sander/polisher today is still going great guns. The grinder is in the bin as is all of the belt sanders.

Gee it's horrible work, in hindsight I went overboard with mine, wouldn't do it that way again.

Matt depending on what you choose to do and how, when a layup hardens over time (days/weeks even) it contracts, because you are laying up inside and depending on the areas you are doing it can and will pull the hull into a rocker shape or effectively suck the outer original glass inwards...worth keeping any eye on.

The more expensive the polyester resin used (Vinyl Ester - good stuff to work with but it stays a little surface tacky compared to iso and basic) the less this will be an issue, still it remains a created problem that can catch a person out and potentially end up scraping the hull.

[matt fraser]

great info there, its all starting to make sense. I went and visited John Brider at Tenesse boats yesterday, and he helped confirm what I've learnt from everyone here. I'm going to go with foam stringers.

This weekend I'll get into preping the hull further.

I know you blokes all keep telling me it will take double the time and expense expected, but I'm going to try and prove you wrong. I just want it to be well built, and fishable, I'm not going to be too predantic on the finish.

So I'm still aiming for a pre-christmas launch.....hopefully.

I'll have some more pics after the weekend,

Matt

[FNQCairns]

great info there, its all starting to make sense. I went and visited John Brider at Tenesse boats yesterday, and he helped confirm what I've learnt from everyone here. I'm going to go with foam stringers.

This weekend I'll get into preping the hull further.

I know you blokes all keep telling me it will take double the time and expense expected, but I'm going to try and prove you wrong. I just want it to be well built, and fishable, I'm not going to be too predantic on the finish.

So I'm still aiming for a pre-christmas launch.....hopefully.

I'll have some more pics after the weekend,

Matt

Look forward to the pics when you get there matt, just a little more advice, hope it helps.... be careful with the amount of catalyst you use when laying up over foam, the foam traps the exotherm with nowhere for it to go but into the air and it starts feeding on it's self nuclear reactor meltdown style :) at least one of my first attempts did:o live and learn.

[Jarrah Jack]

Look forward to the pics when you get there matt, just a little more advice, hope it helps.... be careful with the amount of catalyst you use when laying up over foam, the foam traps the exotherm with nowhere for it to go but into the air and it starts feeding on it's self nuclear reactor meltdown style :) at least one of my first attempts did:o live and learn.

Wish I could see a video of that ;D Mate of mine who was making yacht hulls wanted to see what too much catalyst would do. It caught fire.

[FNQCairns]

Wish I could see a video of that ;D Mate of mine who was making yacht hulls wanted to see what too much catalyst would do. It caught fire.

Yeah me too ...now LOL. Hose calmed it down thankfully, smoke everywhere, stinks:-[

[matt fraser]

I got stuck into the haines today, took out more of the rear floor. I cut the floor back to the hull on one side and took out one stringer. It was very easy to get the ply out as it was a soggy mess in most places.

Bad news, the Transom is also soggy at the bottom. So there goes the budget and timeline.......!

As I'm raising the floor about 40mm, I'm going to make a mini stringer on the chine where the floor used to meet the hull/stringer.

I'm planing on getting the stringers and floor done as much as possible first, and then do the transom before finishing the stringers back to the transom.

It looks like John Brider (Tenesse Boats) has a mold for a front deck that will fit neatly into mine. Complete with rod locker hatches and dry storage compartment. So that will take a lot of work out of the front deck for me!

Hopefully, I'll get a bit of a run at it again tomorrow, and will get to start glassing in two stringers...

Anyway here are a couple of stringer pics, nothing too exciting.

Matt

[jeffo]

I would put my money on most of the old haines' running around being rotten out. Mine looked imaculate when i bought it. No stress cracks or anything in the gel coat. It was in the best condition of about 15 old haines' I looked at, but under the floor there wasnt a solid piece of timber. Makes you wonder what some people are running 30 miles out to sea in! Just goes to show how strong fibre glass is I spose.

[Jarrah Jack]

Hey Matt Will you be looking at divinycell for the transom as well, because the yank boats have moved from timber totally, there must be a product that you can use. Yacht builders have been using the more advanced products for many years.

All the pics you are taking will come in handy if ever you come to sell the boat. Any buyer will know that the job has been done properly.

I hope that Jeffo is wrong and my boat is as good below deck as it is above but the trouble is that until the floor is ripped out you never really know.

[matt fraser]

Yeah I reckon you're right Jeffo. I know in mine, the glass around the stringers is very inconsistant and it let water in, in lots of places. Plus with no floatation in the floor, I supposed they were built to try and be air tight under the floor. So once water gets in, it doesn't get out easily. Luckily they seem to use enough glass to keep them together. By using foam in the stringers now, the foam doesn't give any structural strength, so I need to use extra glass, but at least it wont absorb water or rot.

Jack, yep, like Jeffo, some of my floor and all the transom felt solid, until I started diggging. I don't know what I'm going to use in the transom yet. At the moment, I'm thinking about ply still. But I'm open to a composite if anyone has a suggestion.

One good thing about the transom gone, is that once the transom is cut out, I can build a better pod (full width and shaped to the hull) and then put in an upright (90 degree) transom, for better use of space.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

July 7th Update

I've got two stringers down with a couple of layers on and another couple of layers of glass to go on them yet. Also finished taking out the other side of the floor where it meets the edge of the hull, ready for another stringer.

I've sourced multipanel to use as my bulkheads.

Latest plans on the transom. - I think I'll be replacing it from the inside, with Multipanel below floor level and ply above. I've learnt a lot from following svranjic's post on transom repair.

Unfortunately haven't touched it in over two weeks though, due to long weekend fishing trip, and then did my back and have been pretty much out of action since last tuesday.

Probably won't get back onto it until next weekend - if the back has improved. Big time blowout already - yes you told me so!

Sorry I haven't got any good news or pics atm. very frustrating....

Cheers,

Matt

Ps looking for experienced tips.

It came with a good stainless 80 litre tank that fits neatly between the stringers. but the filler cap is on the tank. Which (from past experience) can be messy to fill. A - you have to get into the boat to fill it. B - its difficult not to spill fuel as you lower the nozzle to the tank.

With the floor level being raised 40mm, and spare length underfloor, I'm seriously considering getting an ally tank made, that I can run a hose to a side or transom mounted filler. I should be able to fit around 120 litres without too much trouble.

Questions - how much would a custom 120 litre tank cost? Is it worth the trouble of the extra work and expense?

Or can I get the stainless tank modified easily to add a tube that connects to a remote filler? And just take an extra caddy if I think I'll need it?

[Hornet Rider]

July 7th Update


Questions - how much would a custom 120 litre tank cost? Is it worth the trouble of the extra work and expense?

Or can I get the stainless tank modified easily to add a tube that connects to a remote filler? And just take an extra caddy if I think I'll need it?

Hi Matt,

Great thread, thanks for sharing your project. Lots of informative posts from everyone. Hope you get it on the water by time santa arrives. I replaced the fuel cell in my boat from 78ltr to 120ltr. Got lots of quotes from reputable suppliers but was referred to Phil at Viper boats by 'Chimo' on here. Phil built me one, pressure tested & ISO stamped. Price was better than any other quote. Excellent quality, great bloke & would highly recommend him. He's recently moved from the GC to Nambucca Heads on 02-6568 7868.

cheers, HR

cheers, HR

[plecco]

matt what sort of foam are you using for your stringers and what did it cost
i was told to use the high density green foam in sheets 2400 x 1200 x 25 mm
in 36 kg density for $38 a sheet or the 80 kg density for $78 a sheet i guess the strength comes from your layers of glass

thanks

mark!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[matt fraser]

To all those who told me how long it would take to do this project - you are right! I was wrong, very wrong!

I've done bugger all in the past few months, but got back onto it, with the crap weather of the past couple of weekends.

So here are a couple of pics to show where I'm at.

Mark, I'm not sure on the details of the foam, but its black, closed cell, impervious to just about everything and cost me $200 for a 1.8 x 1.2 sheet - bloody expensive. I'm also using Multipanel as stringers and cross supports, also expensive, but they are partly structural.

Enjoying the project when I get a chance to hook in, and for the time I've spent on it, I'm happy with how its progressing.

Cheers,

Matt

[Si]

To all those who told me how long it would take to do this project - you are right! I was wrong, very wrong!

I've done bugger all in the past few months, but got back onto it, with the crap weather of the past couple of weekends.

So here are a couple of pics to show where I'm at.

Mark, I'm not sure on the details of the foam, but its black, closed cell, impervious to just about everything and cost me $200 for a 1.8 x 1.2 sheet - bloody expensive. I'm also using Multipanel as stringers and cross supports, also expensive, but they are partly structural.

Enjoying the project when I get a chance to hook in, and for the time I've spent on it, I'm happy with how its progressing.

Cheers,

Matt
Thanks for the update, although i missed it when you sent it. Boat is looking good. shame about the transom but at least you can do yr pod design and get more room and have a brand new transom that you know is sound. You may have stated this somewhere before so apologies if u have but are you going to go with a side console or centre console? I like the look of the side c and you can walk along the boat without too much instability but the cc is better for fishing. Be keen to see another update. cheers!

[pilchardjones]

Gday Matt,
I just found this thread. hope you got the photos i emailed.

A couple of things that I learnt during my rebuilds:

1. it's so much easier working with an offsider to hand you things, mix more resin etc etc. the times when i was working by myself were very slow going.

2. If you are bogging in a radius eg at the base of a stringer, after you screed the curve into it with say a 200mm long piece of 20mm PVC pipe or similar, roll one layer of pre wet matting over it. Pre make up say 700mm x 100mm lengths of 600 chopped strand matt, and wet them out on a work bench, then roll them over the wet bog - half on the stringer vertical face, half on the hull. This will allow you to "push" high points in the bog down and save on sanding later. It also locks the stringer down in case it gets a bump.

3. a router was invaluable for radiusing all the ply edges.

4. always tear the chopped strand mat olong a steel rule or some sort of straight edge.

5. if you can afford it - get someone else to do it!! its messy and time consuming. but it is fun to do once.

good luck with the project - its looking good.
steve

[SM....]

G'day Matt,

Some snaps of my project

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=64569&ads=1&d=1294960926

[matt fraser]

Gday Matt,
I just found this thread. hope you got the photos i emailed.

A couple of things that I learnt during my rebuilds:

1. it's so much easier working with an offsider to hand you things, mix more resin etc etc. the times when i was working by myself were very slow going.

2. If you are bogging in a radius eg at the base of a stringer, after you screed the curve into it with say a 200mm long piece of 20mm PVC pipe or similar, roll one layer of pre wet matting over it. Pre make up say 700mm x 100mm lengths of 600 chopped strand matt, and wet them out on a work bench, then roll them over the wet bog - half on the stringer vertical face, half on the hull. This will allow you to "push" high points in the bog down and save on sanding later. It also locks the stringer down in case it gets a bump.

3. a router was invaluable for radiusing all the ply edges.

4. always tear the chopped strand mat olong a steel rule or some sort of straight edge.

5. if you can afford it - get someone else to do it!! its messy and time consuming. but it is fun to do once.

good luck with the project - its looking good.
steve

Late reply, I've been a bit sidetracked....

Steve, great info and pics thanks, I also found an old F&B with your rebuild in there. Great info. Unfortunately I haven't got an offsider though, so I've got to be very careful with how much resin I mix, and how much laying up I take on each time. It would be awesome if someone could do all the cutting and grinding (and getting covered in glass dust!) I've gotten most of that out of the way now, and enjoying putting stuff into the hull much more than taking it out.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

G'day Matt,

Some snaps of my project

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=64569&ads=1&d=1294960926

Looking good there SM, kicking ass!

Matt

[matt fraser]

Its been a while, but I have made a bit of progress in the last six months or so. My efforts have been hampered slightly by a new edition to the family in May. All going well on the family front though, and steadily progressing on the haines.

I added the planing plank and ran the information in a seperate post here - http://ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?173596-Haines-V17-Adding-a-Planing-Plank&highlight=planing+plank

Since then I've added the main stringers, and the front section of stringers and the transom.

The middle section stringers are 1.8m long, and there are six of them, four are made from foam and the centre two are made from 2 x 12mm Multipanel laminated together with a layer of glass.

I have added a bulkhead of 25mm multipanel, this is because I am changing the floor height, so that it is lower at the front for more storage, I will have a removable esky in the middle, when removed, the front deck will be like a bowrider set up.

All stringers have two layers of glass on them at the moment, just to set them in place and get everything in and level. Once I have the transom in and stringers extended to the transom, I will add another four layers of glass to strengthen everything up.


The front stringers are four foam stringers and the centre 12mm multipanel. It was a lot of work removing the front stringers as it gets pretty tight and cramped towards the nose of the Vee. Dangerous work with the 4" cutting disc, fortunately I still have all my fingers. This front section now has five layers over all areas. Plenty of work in cutting out the correct size mat to lay up, you have to become a bit of a dressmaker to get it all right.

It makes a big difference doing good preperation - cutting all layers of mat (roughly and inch wider each side with each layer) prior to bogging your stringer. Then as the bog is setting lay up five layers one after another - working quickly to roll in each one, before adding the next and rolling it in.

More to follow,

Matt

[matt fraser]

Next step was to finally do the transom, I removed all the ply from the inside with the 4" Cutting disc and a wrecking bar to lever it out. It was a pretty messy job, the transom was wet and rotten at the bottom, but quite dry as I got higher. It took a bit of work, but fortunately the ply seperated from the glass well, so I didn't have to do much grinding.

Once it was all out, I did a bit of grinding, bogging and then added a couple of layers over the inside just to strengthen it up a bit before adding the transom.

After many hours of research into foams, I finally decided to go with Multipanel, over Divinycell, Coosa board, and a few others. The reason was the density, price and sheet size suited my application best. The transom was made with a sheet of 32mm and a sheet of 25mm laminated together with four layers of 450 chopped strand.

Once that was set and cleaned up, I bogged and clamped it into place. Thanks very much to Brett from on here, for the use of his clamps which he made up for his 565 transom job.

Once dried, I bogged again, and glassed in around the edges I added 50mm foam to the top edges, as these are not structural, and then finally added six layers of 450 mat.

I let that all dry and sanded it back thoroughly and decided to add another three layers of 450 just to sure it all up.

All that sounds quite easy as I write this, but there is probably about 40 - 50 hours work there over 3 weeks....

The total transom thickness is about 75-78mm which is 57mm of Multipanel and 18 - 20mm of glass. If anyone thinks that won't be enough to handle up to 150hp, let me know. I'd rather over than under-engineer it.

Next up is finishing stringers. Hopefully this weekend?

Cheers,

Matt

[Cootac]

Matt thats a top job on that transom ,the way transom should be.
Now you and one day, future owner dont have to worry about a rotting transom.
Little bit more $$$ for it but worth it in the long run.

[matt fraser]

Thanks Mark, thanks for your information on transom builds too. Your boats are built tougher than any others I've seen, so if it looks strong enough to you, I'm very happy.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

Its been slow going, but every few weeks I get a crack at it for a day here and there, plus an hour or two after work somedays.

Once the transom was in, I had to finish the ends of the stringers to the transom. Firstly cutting and shaping them to fit. Then cutting out the two layers of mat to suit.

Then I bogged them in, followed immediately with two layers of glass (before the bog dries)

Once dried for a day or so, I sanded them back, then I put four layers of 450mat over the entire length of the stringers. With six stringers, It was quite a big job just to cut out all the layers, making sure they all stepped out an inch or so each layer, then putting them in place and cutting around all the ends and edges so they neatly folded into position without having a mess in the corners, where the stringers meet the bulk head.

Then laying them up.......... more fun.

She should be pretty solid!

[matt fraser]

With the transom and stringers finally done, I could finally work on the floor. As I have stepped levels in the front (just because I wanted to create more extra work for myself). I had to put in drainage - I went with 15mm PVC pipe. I holesawed the holes required, then glued up the piping in position, then bogged everything up as required, then glassed over it.

I decided to foam fill the hull. So I waited for a hot day, put the tins out in the sun for a couple of hours (as temp should be 20 degrees plus) measured out specific 1:1 ratio, aerated, mixed and poured. I heard it went off quick, so I poured quickly, but nothing happened for 10 - 15 seconds, so I thought I must have stuffed up somewhere. But then she started to rise, and rise and rise! Ok

Anyway, got a handle on it, sawed off excess, and stuffed in in the next cavity before pouring the next batch, all good. Once the area was reasonably well filled, I bogged to the top with microballon mix bog, then sanded, then bogged again several times.

I was going to put a multipanel or polycore floor, but I got the bog so level and smooth, I just put four layers of glass over and its solid as a rock. Once the front section was done, I did the middle section, which took a bit more work mucking around with the drain holes, but all worked out really well.

I'm looking at using 10mm polycore for the bulkheads to support my cast platform, so I cut them out to size, ready to glass two layers either side.

I'm pretty happy about getting some flooring in, and preparing to work upwards finally!

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

Here are more pics of the above post.

Also, I finally cut all the bracing and side support ledge out, and cleaned up the inside of the hull a fair bit. Bloody messy crappy job. But the hull looks a bit cleaner.

I still have a fair bit of grinding and sanding to do though, as it seems to have several different layers of paint, gelcoat, bog, etc before I get to the glass.

She is starting to look a bit like a boat again........

Cheers,

Matt

[murf]

how much you gunna sell her for when your finished? :-X

top job and a lot of messy work done

cheers Murf

[Nathan Tuskes]

thier is a reason i didn't foam fill mine, that looks like a hell of a lot of work!

[matt fraser]

how much you gunna sell her for when your finished? :-X

top job and a lot of messy work done

cheers Murf

Hey Murf, I don't plan on selling it for a long time, if it doesn't work out as planned I'll lose a bit of money, but will have learnt some lessons.

cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

thier is a reason i didn't foam fill mine, that looks like a hell of a lot of work!

It was actually pretty easy, the Q Cell bog sands back really quickly. If I was going to put ply or foam sheet floor over the top, it would have been more time (and expense) cutting it out and glassing underneath etc, plus I would have had to glass over the foam to seal it before putting the sheet down anyway.

I'm stoked with how it worked out, solid as..... But I will use sheet in the main deck area, as it will work out better with the fuel tank cover panel and other things.

Cheers,

Matt

[Blane11]

Hi Matt,

Keep up the good work, its all coming together nicely.

I was wondering how much extra work the foam would be.

Its interesting for me to see the methods you have used. Like you, I spent a LOT of time researching before actually doing anything, and can see how you've taken bits from various rebuilds on the net, and applied them to your requirements rather then find one and assume that everything in that one is 100% correct.

Cheers Brett

[matt fraser]

Thanks Brett,

Compared to doing stringers and transom, foam filling is a quick and painless job. Stir it, mix it, pour it, wait for it to expand (30 seconds), wait for it to cure (10-15 minutes) cut off excess with handsaw. Pour again if you need. If you are going to put a floor over, you just have to glass over with two layers to seal it. Then bog your floor on and glass over.

The research is an ongoing excercise, as you know. You need to study or re-confirm things as you reach each step of the process. Still so much to learn....hopefully not the hard way.

Ausfish has been great, either direct info, or members have pointed my in the right direction to find it.

Cheers,

Matt

[Si]

matt, you have done a really good job here mate. very impressed. transom looks very neat!

excuse my ignorance but out of interest and basically trying to get my head around a job like this why doesnt the transom extend all the way to the 'top' inline with the top of the gunwale. i note there of those black extenders, not too sure they were originally part of the transom or not. I guess it doesnt need to....

I'm assumming those holes you drilled through the middle transom were to help with clamping it in place.

Are you making any provisions for a kill tank or live well?

anyway, cant wait to see the finished product. i bet you cant either.

[matt fraser]

matt, you have done a really good job here mate. very impressed. transom looks very neat!

excuse my ignorance but out of interest and basically trying to get my head around a job like this why doesnt the transom extend all the way to the 'top' inline with the top of the gunwale. i note there of those black extenders, not too sure they were originally part of the transom or not. I guess it doesnt need to....

I'm assumming those holes you drilled through the middle transom were to help with clamping it in place.

Are you making any provisions for a kill tank or live well?

anyway, cant wait to see the finished product. i bet you cant either.


The Multipanel sheets (32 and 25mm) laminated don't go all the way to the top corners of the transom, basically due to sheet size. I built them to reach the height of the motor well - which I have extended from the original 20inch to the XL shaft 25inch height. The top corners don't need a lot of strength, so I made them from the black 50mm, non-structural foam I have.

You can see in the third photo in post 81, the area I have applied bog ready to clamp in the transom. You can see the old transom height and where the bog is applied to accept the new higher transom.

The holes are the motor bolt holes and down the bottom where bungs will be put - both used as bolt holes to clamp transom in firmly.

Definitely having a livewell, which will also be insulated enough to use as an icebox, when required. Not sure on the kill tank.......

Still working things out as I go,

Cheers,

Matt

[OPTI]

geez matt i some how missed this thread ,good job ,this is as big as a project can really get .looks like your nearly on the home straight now .its amazing how time can get away ,will be worth it in the end,carnt wait to see her on the water.cheers dave

[matt fraser]

Thanks Dave, your project has been inspirational and educational!

[Si]

The Multipanel sheets (32 and 25mm) laminated don't go all the way to the top corners of the transom, basically due to sheet size. I built them to reach the height of the motor well - which I have extended from the original 20inch to the XL shaft 25inch height. The top corners don't need a lot of strength, so I made them from the black 50mm, non-structural foam I have.

You can see in the third photo in post 81, the area I have applied bog ready to clamp in the transom. You can see the old transom height and where the bog is applied to accept the new higher transom.

The holes are the motor bolt holes and down the bottom where bungs will be put - both used as bolt holes to clamp transom in firmly.

Definitely having a livewell, which will also be insulated enough to use as an icebox, when required. Not sure on the kill tank.......

Still working things out as I go,

Cheers,

Matt

cheers mate. its looking good.

[matt fraser]

Its been a busy couple of months, not much done on the boat, but I'm trying to get another run at it.

I've done a bit of work on the front deck, I decided to use 12mm corefill that Jeff from Volksgas put me onto. I cut the pieces to size, then cut out layers of 450 chopped strand, and laid them up on formply. Using three layers on each size it ended up rock solid, yet pretty light.

Lots of stuffing around measuring, cutting, laying up, grinding, bogging in, glassing in. But here is what I've done so far.

[matt fraser]

Before I get too much done internally, and add too much weight, I had to make the hull mods I wanted, and that means flipping it over.

So I put it back on the trailer. Its been on the shed floor for around 12 months, and I did the transom rebuild internally. So now I could access the transom from the rear,

As I had raised the transom to 25", I had a fair bit of tidying up to do. I bogged with microballon resin bog, sanded, bogged, sanded, bogged, sanded. Finally I added three layers of 450mat over the top, its relatively flat and neat, but going to take a lot more work before its ready to paint.

I also started on my boarding steps, as you can see in the last pic.

Great to be back into again and on a roll.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

Time to start Cutting! Warning to the Haines Hunter purists - Do not look at the pictures below.

As I detailed earlier in the thread, I laid up a plank and glassed it in internally. Now it was time to flip it and cut of the Keel.

So I headed down to John Brider's (Tenesse Boats), and we dropped her on the grass. With the help of John's hoist and fellow Haines rebuilder, Nathan. We managed to get it over safely and onto tyres.

Then John took to it with the cutting disc!.......... He was pretty worried about the plank positioning, and not wanting to cut it. It was certainly nerve racking, but as it came off, it was looking good.

The glass in the hull was about 12 to 15 mm thick, so there was a lot of cutting and grinding done, and lots more grinding to do. But I am pretty happy with the plank positioning its working out as planned.

Over the next week or two, John and I are going to tidy up the plank and add some layers of glass, add reverse chines, sand back the gelcoat and paint it. I'm happy to be working with a professional for this stage.

Cheers,

Matt

[pilchardjones]

looking really good matt - i'm impressed
steve

[Jarrah Jack]

You and Firecat would make a great team. Can't wait to see the reverse chines.

[matt fraser]

Who's Firecat?

Plank now ground down, sanded, bogged, sanded, bogged and sanded, now ready for glassing.

Chines prepared and Multipanel chines bogged on, ready to be backfilled with Qcell/Resin bog.

On a roll.....

[Blane11]

Looking good Matt. Such a major change with the planing strake, I'm keen to hear how it performs when you get it on the water. Sorry if you've already said, but did you end up getting a motor?

Cheers
Brett

[matt fraser]

G'day Brett,

No motor yet, still looking for a good second hand Suzuki DF140 or Yammy F115 - 25" shaft. May get a new one yet. Either way it will be January before I have the $ to buy.

I see you got a DF140, any tips on where to look?

The Plank will make a big difference, a fair slab of flatness there, I won't know if I've done the right thing, or stuffed it up until she hits the water.

Cheers,

Matt

[Jarrah Jack]

Who's Firecat?



Here you go

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?69784-Markham-4.9m-nbsp-Anyone-own-one&highlight=markham+whaler

[Blane11]

I got lucky with the motor, only 8 weeks old with 30hrs on it. All clocked up testing props to see if they could get it pushing the boat it was attached to. Lucky for me his boat was too wide and heavy for it.

I was checking eBay, trading post, and boat sales twice a day. I stumbled across it 30 mins after it was advertised. I ended up spending more than I had planned but I have the balance of the 5 year warranty so hopefully it was worth it.

[matt fraser]

Here you go

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?69784-Markham-4.9m-nbsp-Anyone-own-one&highlight=markham+whaler

Ok, yep I rembember it now....radical rebuild alright.

[matt fraser]

I got lucky with the motor, only 8 weeks old with 30hrs on it. All clocked up testing props to see if they could get it pushing the boat it was attached to. Lucky for me his boat was too wide and heavy for it.

I was checking eBay, trading post, and boat sales twice a day. I stumbled across it 30 mins after it was advertised. I ended up spending more than I had planned but I have the balance of the 5 year warranty so hopefully it was worth it.

Well done getting that deal Brett, it will be great for your boat. I've been checking same sites, but only once or twice a week.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

Got a bit done on the weekend. Filled in chines with Qcell/Resin Bog, then lots of sanding/shaping. Using a longboard makes the job of getting everything straight much easier.

Finally glassed on chines today, one layer of 225, three layers of 450.

[matt fraser]

More skim bogging and sanding and she was ready to prime.

Here is the first coat on (Duratec) about $180 per gallon, one gallon on, about one to go.

Cheers

[bigjimg]

I have enjoyed following your build to date,she is looking more like a Signature as work goes on.Good work.Jim

[frankgrimes]

Got a bit done on the weekend. Filled in chines with Qcell/Resin Bog, then lots of sanding/shaping. Using a longboard makes the job of getting everything straight much easier.

Finally glassed on chines today, one layer of 225, three layers of 450.

Looking fantastic mate! For those of us that are ignorant, why did you fill in the chines?(To accommodate the plank?)

Mick

[matt fraser]

I have enjoyed following your build to date,she is looking more like a Signature as work goes on.Good work.Jim

Thanks Jim, yes it will be more of a signature than a hunter by the time its done. Hopefully it will be a good alrounder like the signatures.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

Looking fantastic mate! For those of us that are ignorant, why did you fill in the chines?(To accommodate the plank?)

Mick

The idea of the chines (and plank) is to give it more stability at rest, the sharper the angle, the better 'grip'. It won't be doing a lot of hardcore offshore work otherwise I would have left it standard. The chines I added are about 40mm high at the transom and taper off at the second strake. They will create a bit of downforce getting up on the plane, but I will be able to compensate for that by trimming out. Once the chines come out of the water on smooth water, the hull should get up on the plank quickly and then go well.

Downside - harder ride in rough water.

Here is an early thread I started on planks when I was still researching, heaps of info there if you've got time to read it all.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?173596-Haines-V17-Adding-a-Planing-Plank&highlight=planing+plank

Cheers,

Matt

[Cootac]

Matt the bottom of your rig just looks fast what hp are you thinking to put on her.

Have you got any idea of the total weight hull only.

[matt fraser]

Matt the bottom of your rig just looks fast what hp are you thinking to put on her.

Have you got any idea of the total weight hull only.

G'day Mark,

Its looking like its going to be a Suzuki DF140 at the moment. The V17s are only rated to 140 I think? but I could probably get it re-rated if I really want to. But I think that will be plenty of speed for me.

Not sure on total weight, but I've put over 300kg of resin back into it so far and around 75kg of glass. I'm guessing 600 - 700kg. It probably won't be as heavy or solid as your hulls, but somewhere in-between original HH and Cootacraft Gunshot.

Cheers,

Matt

[wirlybird]

getting along there mat

how many flyes landed in your Duratec?

[Vromme]

Great work Matt,

I have been following this one from the begining, looking forward to seeing end result. I did a project boat like this several years ago (before all the help you can get now with the internet!) and have some idea of just how much work you have put in already.

I like the way you went around removing/reglassing the keel, looks like you have nailed it. Very ballsy to make the mods you have so far.

You could almost glass back the keel leaving the transom end open, couple of breather holes up front and have a water ballast system, like Sea Devils have. That way you have the best of both worlds in terms of ride vs stability. I'm biased though as thats my current boat. Obviosuly trade off is draws more water (which I think youre trying to avoid).

Keep up the pics and progress.

Cheers

Roger

[matt fraser]

getting along there mat

how many flyes landed in your Duratec?

Only one bug surprizingly! and he'll get sanded out. It goes off pretty quick, one of the reasons we went with Duratec - Don't need a spraybooth.

[matt fraser]

Thanks Roger, Still a long, long way to go, I'm glad you can appreciate the hours that go in. I reckon most people only ever do one big rebuild for a very good reason!

Yeah flooded keel would have worked well, but I do want to bream fish the flats. I was doing that the other day in my Bluefin, the shallower you can get the better.

Cheers,

Matt

[Blane11]

Hi Matt,

Sorry about the late reply, but don't worry about that transom clamp, when I finally get around to chasing some bream on plastics I just want some pointers. Do that for me and I'll call it even.

Boat is looking great, I wish I had flipped it over and sanded and painted the hull.

Only two weeks and I'll be on the water in mine!!!

Cheers
Brett

[wirlybird]

Only one bug surprizingly! and he'll get sanded out. It goes off pretty quick, one of the reasons we went with Duratec - Don't need a spraybooth.

i allways seem to get the worlds population of flys sniffing my paint jobs out.

Good luck with the rest of the build

[matt fraser]

Hi Matt,

Sorry about the late reply, but don't worry about that transom clamp, when I finally get around to chasing some bream on plastics I just want some pointers. Do that for me and I'll call it even.

Boat is looking great, I wish I had flipped it over and sanded and painted the hull.

Only two weeks and I'll be on the water in mine!!!

Cheers
Brett

No worries, thanks Brett.

You've done very well, you must be getting excited now, just in time for summer too.

Cheers,

Matt

[OPTI]

good going matt,will be interesting to see how she runs with the hull mods

[matt fraser]

I'm optimistic the hull mods will help her do what I want, otherwise it will be back to the drawing board. I've made further hull mods over the past couple of weeks, well transom mods anyway.

I've added dual rear boarding steps. The aim being to make for easy boarding and also to assist in stability at rest.

These had to be glassed on before turning the hull back over as it is near impossible to glass upside-down.

They are made of a combination of Multipanel and black foam laminated together with glass. First step was bogging on the bases, crucial job to get them straight, level and even.

We then added the sides and inside knees for strength. I sanded and shaped them further, before glassing over with two layers of 450.

More sanding and then four or five layers of 450 and 300, difficult shape to glass, but lots of cutting and pasting glass and she came up ok.

Cut back and ground off the excess, before sanding. A couple of coats of Qcell bog, lots of fairing and they are taking shape nicely.

Trying to get the sides to line up nicely is taking a lot of work, as the V17s all have a bit of a hook in the sides just infront of where they meet the transom corner. It is going to be impossible to remove this hook or dip, but hopefully it will still look ok when done.

Anyway here are some pics of where its at.

[matt fraser]

Put in a big effort over the weekend, arms are wrecked from sanding.

Lots of bogging, fairing, priming, fairing, more priming, more fairing.

We finally got some gloss on the hull. Happy with the results so far! So much more work than I expected, but I should know that by now.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

Pretty exciting day on the project today, finished the final sanding and buffing on the hull, and got to bring her home.

It took a lot of hours to wet and dry the hull back, probably about 20 something. John ended up doing the lions share, as I couldn't put the hours in. He had to respray a couple of areas as well that needed a bit more.

John Buffed it this morning, and she came up really well. There are still a few little bumps and ripples, but they are very, very minor. I'm very happy with the results, considering how many mods we made to the hull. I couldn't have done this stage of the job with John and his expertise and tools. He has been fantastic to work with, and he has the eye, and the feel for getting the lines and finish right. At a spritely 72 he is and inspiration..

It was good to get her safely over, with the help of the transom lifting bracket, no weight went on the sides at all when flipping, and it was an effortless job. Back on the trailer and back home in one piece.

Next job is to glass the upper sides of the steps, then do the top decks.......

Could be a while till I get some serious time back on it though.......got some point to work up again.

[murf]

that is one sweet looking job on the bottom, but one launch here off the beach would fix that right up ;)

can't wait to see your true thoughts on the mods when finished

cheers Murf

[matt fraser]

A couple of quick before and after shots -for this stage of the job.

[wirlybird]

that first one gives me the itches

looking good matt

[pilchardjones]

matt - that is looking fantastic
steve

[Si]

looking great Matt. that hull work with reverse chines and planing plank has come up real nice. she will be a nice and stable at rest now. she is going to look a treat all decked out.

[ozscott]

Mate - beautiful build. Love the gloss. I forgot about the V on those - squared off flat. Interesting design that, and keen also to see how the mods perform. One thing I miss about my V16C is that I used to be able to sneak into the very shallow areas to fish oyster leases...cant do that with the Vag.

Cheers

[Jarrah Jack]

Rarely do you get to see the birth of a new boat with a unique design, thats what it is now really. not many would pick it as having been a HH17. As others have said it will be very interesting to see how it performs and if you could get it up along side an origional even more so.

[Nathan Tuskes]

looks great!!!! now the fun starts, rolling fibreglas out and watching the resine drip down onto the freshly painted bottom :D

[matt fraser]

looks great!!!! now the fun starts, rolling fibreglas out and watching the resine drip down onto the freshly painted bottom :D

yeah......no! she'll be taped up to the max, no way I'm going to let anything get to that hull. Too much work has gone into it.

You must be due an update Nath?

[matt fraser]

Rarely do you get to see the birth of a new boat with a unique design, thats what it is now really. not many would pick it as having been a HH17. As others have said it will be very interesting to see how it performs and if you could get it up along side an origional even more so.Can't wait myself, anyone got a 100hp + tiller I can strap on the back and take it for a squirt?

She won't perform like a V17, not sure what stickers to put on the side?

[17jack]

matt nice boat i have a v17 as well fully stripped it, starting to replace stringers. i was wondering how the boats going? its great reading all this info.

[BigE]

Matt
Nice build will be interesting to hear of the results on your hard work. I lioke what I see so far with the exception of the Chine running all the way to the bow, i think this will throw some spray running at speed in a chop making a wet boat. All in all a pretty extensive make over of an already good hull look forward to the results on the water.
BigE

[matt fraser]

Hi Guys,

Well its been a while, Home renos took over the first half of 2012, and the Haines got shelved.

I did manage to pick up a 2005 Suk DF140 and it should do the job.83885

After much looking around, I found the back deck I wanted to put in. From an Attack 470 tournament boat. So I took it down to the Gold Coast and Scott Corby and his crew grafted it in. Plus did a lot of other work, including 140litre fuel tank, bilge pump and livewell pumps etc.

Its great to see how the pros do it, with all the gear, knowledge and skill, they are quick!
8388683887

Its back in the shed now, I'm preparing to do the gunwhales.

Cheers,

Matt

[lucee81]

No time for the v17 you have a 13 that needs attention.
I will find out about the trailer this week for you and send you a message.
This little gem is looking good.

[matt fraser]

Yeah I better explain myself, I've picked up another no-name 16 foot bare hull - I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet......but it was cheap! Then I got Lucas' V13, which I'm going to convert to a tiller steer creek basher.

So last week I had three project boats in the back yard, plus the Bluefin in the front yard.

83888


83889

What can I say, I like boats!

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

Had to dig deep to find this, time to drag it back up.

Possibly the longest running project on Ausfish now, but I've been back into it in the last month. Here are some pics.

Working on bulkheads and under deck structure and rod tubes.

Also had to add channels to the rod lockers to make them waterproof.

More to follow

[matt fraser]

Took a bit of mucking around to get rod tubes bent right, and maximum length. All tubes can handle 7'6" plus rods in the left locker and the three extra tubes I added on the right can handle 7 foot plus. Capped them all so nothing can get stuck at the end of the tubes.

Bogged them in and then added expanding foam to hold firmly in position.

Added a lean seat mount, in the centre.

Lots of stuffing around with bulk heads and deck supports. Also put in anchor well wall, and cut hole for anchor well.

Most bulkheads are polycore 10mm with 2 or 3 layers of 450 mat either side. Mostly laid up on form ply so that it has a smooth finish. I've also used Multipanel foam in areas, this is easy to cut and shape prior to glassing, good stuff, just a lot more expensive than polycore.

[matt fraser]

More random progress shots,

The underfloor needs the seat mounts added and a bit of tidying up before I glass the floor in.

Floor is polycore again. I think I added a few extra layers of glass to this as it is bloody heavy, but solid.

The front deck is nearly ready to glass down now, just a the rod rack for the butt ends, and some tidying up I can glass it down.

Started on shaping the Gunwhales. I got this hull without a top deck at all, so I've got to make the gunwhales from scratch. starting with a sheet of coremat cut to shape, 250mm wide, and then I'm adding a layer of 50mm foam either side, shaping then glassing.

After not touching the boat for 9months due to other priorities, it is so good to get back into in in the last month. I've spent three solid weekends on it, plus lots of after work time. Really enjoying it, and after a month I'm immune to the itches again.

Cheers,

Matt

[Cootac]

Doing a top job Matt, lots of hours there mate it's going to be one of a kind in the country. Mark.

[matt fraser]

I've been making steadyheadway.

The cockpit floor was foam filled, but with lots of gaps, so I added Qcel Bog,sanded, bogged, sanded, bogged, sanded .... Got it nice and flat, then cutholes to suit the ally seat mounts that my mate Luke welded up for me - about18 months ago now. Bogged in seat mounts, then coated with resin to seal andadded a layer of glass for good measure.

Prepped the floor panel, which is made with 10mm polycore panel with threelayers of 450 Chopped strand either side - laid up on form ply so they are niceand smooth. A bit more stuffing around cutting the holes to suit two seatmounts and also a hole for a spin-out access hole to get to fuel tank sender gaugeif required. Scuffed up underside of floor for increased adhesion. Alsomodified underfloor to clear fuel breather hose.

Also had to replace the fuel breather line as I nicked it with the cuttingdisc, bugger!

Added a heap of bog to the floor, put floor in place and loaded up withbatteries, bricks and drums all strategically positioned of course to ensuremaximum adhesion. Let it set for a few hours, then started bogging and glassingaround the edges.

I created a channel along each edge that increased in depth towards the rear tomeet up with the drain pipes which go into the bilge. No self draining deckunfortunately, but there is a 1100 GPH Bilge pump to unload any water quickly.

Floor DONE! - Apart from lots more bogging and fairing prior to painting, butDone for now!

[matt fraser]

Next was adding the gunwhales, I started with a Coremat sheet, about 4 – 5mm thick. Cut it to suit the Gunwhale shape and 250mm wide.Using 50mm low density foam sheet, I cut this to suit under and over the Gunwhale. Then glued and glassed these on. Next I did the same on top of the sheet, as well as the anchor well area.

It sounds so quick easy when I write it in oneparagraph...... Yet about six hours of work over several sessions in reality,not counting the pondering and planning time.

Gunwhales needed to be shaped, so I made up what I thought was an ingenious tool to shape them, see pics. It worked better than I expected, as it runs on the top surface and the undergunwhale surface, it gets the top gunwales sanded to the right position on top without a lot of mucking around.

I shaped the inside of the gunwhale and around the anchorwell. Then as an after thought I added a ridge around the inner edge to stop water running into the deck easily. This required some 25mm pvc tube which wascut to bend around corners. I also made another tool to shape the gunwhale to make sure the tube was level all around. Lots of bogging and sanding x 5 to prepare for glassing.

Cheers,

Matt

[Rip it up]

Huge effort matt. Hope you have a powerful donk to power it.

Look great though.

[matt fraser]

Thanks! Yeah I have a Suzuki DF 140, should do the job I hope.

Cheers,

Matt

[Jarrah Jack]

Still going Matt! What a massive job. I like that profile sander, great thinking.

[matt fraser]

Yeah its been a stop start project, but I am on a roll atm and determined to keep the momentum going to the end.
Cheers,
Matt

[MEGA'bite]

Matt where did you buy the Duralux paint from
cheers Adrian

[matt fraser]

Its Duratec, you can get it from Volkglas, Slacks Creek - 3208 4850

Cheers,

Matt

[Smithy]

Matt,

good stuff!

How come you went with swivels seats at the driving position and not a lounge with associated storage like on the bass style boats?

[matt fraser]

Hey Smithy,

I designed it to have more cockpit space than a bass boat, (deeper and longer) The swivels are designed so I can spin around to fish out the back when at anchor or trolling - or for the observer when skiing. I've got adjustable seat slides which give me more room either way as required.

Also, there is more space on the floor for random bags etc. The seats will be removable too, leaving a flat floor for
sleeping on or carrying extra gear on family holidays.

Bass boats are good for cast and retrieve lure fishing, but not much else. Hopefully this will be a good allrounder.

Cheers,

Matt

[matt fraser]

A few pics of the consoles being made, hugely time consuming as I did everything the hard way again, in hindsight I could now do it better and in half the time.

I shaped one console out of foam, bagged it glassed it, then bogged and shaped further before spraying with duratec and more sanding/shaping. When done, I sprayed it with PVA (blue mold release) then brushed on Gel coat, then glassed over to make a mold.

Then it was relatively easy to spray mold with PVA and lay up in glass. Currently working on helm mount and inside shelf.

Still need lots of work to finish all work on the insides and mount everything. But it is taking shape - slowly......

[matt fraser]

9637796380963799637896381I also got the rear steps finished and modified the gunwhale strip to give it a nice shape.

Front deck also now bogged and glassed down after much sanding and bogging before flowcoating inside front of hatches/rod lockers.

[matt fraser]

The consoles are now nearly ready for priming. The passengers side has several drink holders, storage tray, and glovebox compartment, which will eventually have a lid. Plenty of storage for all sorts of things.

The drivers side, has Hydrive hydraulic steering helm, guages, 12 panel switch and vhf radio on front facia, plus space for a flowrite timer swith. The top panel is removable, to access all wiring inside.

On top of the top panel I managed to fit a HDS12 touch. This is a pretty big unit, and I had to modify the console, by raising it 40mm or so to fit the 12.

[matt fraser]

Last weekend was a big weekend on the Haines project. I finally got to glass on the consoles, these things took me many many hours to make and modify. So it was nice to have them to a stage to fit. They just took a bit of boggin on the bases, and then a couple of layers of glass around all the joining surfaces. They are now solid as a rock!

I also finally got to put glass over the top deck foam. There was a fair bit of prep work in bogging and sanding all the dints and bumps out before glassing. I laid it up in sections, with three layers, consisting a layer of 450 chopped strand, double bias, then another layer of 450 chopped strand.

It was a few hours of hardcore glassing, where I had to go hard to get large areas wet-out and rolled in before it went off, but fortunately it all went well. Another layer over the back steps and top of the transom too. Pretty happy with how it all went, now I am on to the bogging and fairing, as well as final glassing of little bits and pieces.

Cheers,

Matt

[surveyor]

absolutely awesome work loving the pics thanks

[myusernam]

Awesome job! on the port side console you have a cup holder hard up against the console cover. Did you try getting a stubby in and out of it? looks like there isn't enough clearance above it...

[matt fraser]

Thanks Surveyor, and Myusernam, you are right, that cup holder at the back wont take drinks, but it will be handy for a phone, well out of the weather yet very accessible.

Cheers Matt.

[MrNanks]

Great stuff Matt. You must be getting excited about getting to use it soon. Well done . Absolute credit.
I am glassing my livebait tank and baitboard at the moment and it takes so long just doing basic little bits. So I cant imagine how you have kept going at it.
Thanks for the photos and updates.
Cheers Dave

[Robbery]

I had a V17L years ago with a twin rig 70hp johno setup......best boat I ever owned ......it gave a real confident feel, with a great ride ,suffered a bit from falling off the plane in a following sea , but the trick was to just get up it and it never let me down...used to fish Deep Tempest no Problems from Bribie....so balance it right and you'll be very happy....well done, looks hot

[matt fraser]

Time for another update,

Speaker boxes - molded from a 10 litre bucket, I couldn't find a spot to flush mount them with them cutting into the inside deck storage, or somewher they wouldn't get knocked around.
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Tucked up neatly under the consoles - so they won't get kicked, or wet.

[matt fraser]

I also made the control box mount, drivers drink holder, and tube for control cables

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I finally found the seats I wanted, They are mounted on adjustable slides, so I can spin them around a comfortably fish out the back. Or for the decky to become observer for skiing.

They also have a flip up front bit, making it easier to drive standing up or leaning.

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Lots of other jobs like suring up mounting positions for bow rails and recessed cleats, making drainage piping for front deck channels to drain, electric motor mounting.

As the top deck is all 50 mm foam, any where I want to mount anything significant needs to be reinforced with extra glass or ply.

[the Master Baiter]

i wouldn't go a real big pod. Maybe just like jack plates as i had a pod of 600mm put on my old V17 and it made it feel a bit heavy in the butt. I had a 90hp 2 stroke and the 4 strokes are usually a bit heavier again. maybe a 300mm pod. Great hull. I wish my newer bigger boat handled like my lil old v17

[matt fraser]

Biggest job has been bogging and fairing (sanding) the top decks, consoles, rear steps and pretty much everywhere. Lots of bog mixes and sanding. It has been a time killer, lots of regular two to four hour sessions, pretty much on a daily basis.

9786697867

Finally ready to prime/spray bog.
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First coat of Primer went on thick, about 5 litres all up. It looked nicer all white, but also showed a lot of areas that needed work. Eight to ten hour sanding and then another coat of primer later and its getting there.

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Still more sanding to do and then more priming, but for now its back on the trailer and out of the shed.

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From a different angle and height, I can see there is more work to do around the steps, and some fine sanding here and there, but it is getting close to being ready for the top coat.

On the trailer, it looks different to when it was on the ground, but I think I got the styling and functionality close to what I was after. So badly want it finished!

Cheers,

Matt

[oldie]

keep the photos and info coming Matt

[wayno60]

Mate thats a labour of love....youve got a year to have it ready for the flatty classic....

Also what the idea/thinking behind the reverse chimes? makes it more stable when, running or at rest?

[Jarrah Jack]

Looks beautiful Matt. Love how you incorporated the steps into the lines. Is there flotation there as well, it looks it.

[matt fraser]

Hey Wayno, don't say that, if its not ready before christmas I'll be divorced I reckon.

Reversed chines for stabilty at rest. The combination of planing plank, fuel tank mounted central and low, reversed chines and rear steps are all there to try and increase stability at rest. Ride will be comprimised of course.

Jack, steps are all foam inside for stability and extra bouyancy for the DF140.

Master Baiter, I'm mounting the motor on a manual jack plate which sets it back around 4 inches, no pod. Thanks for the info.

I'll try and keep the pics coming as I get a chance. In the middle of a forced week off, with other commitments. I think I need the break to recharge the batteries.

Cheers,

Matt

[MyWay]

the best v17 rebuild so far
keep the photos and info coming
every detail is thought twice over

[myusernam]

I feel your pain. I did a similar project many years ago. cured me for life!

[matt fraser]

Back into it this weekend, I adjusted all the trailer rollers up so she sits much better on the trailer. Here are a couple more pics

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It still has that distinctive V17 shape from the front, but looks nothing like it from the rear. From the side, I am happy with the profile and how the consoles and steps work in ok with the lines.

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Cheers,
Matt

[hainsofast]

Looks unreal

[chris69]

Great to see how far you have gotten Matt,i liked the was you did your speaker mounts,too easy to use a every day item to use as a mold.

[wayno60]

How big are those doof doof speakers???? the size of the bottom of a bucket!!! Whens the wake board tower go on???

No all good mate, lookin good. So paint or wrap??

[matt fraser]

How big are those doof doof speakers???? the size of the bottom of a bucket!!! Whens the wake board tower go on???

No all good mate, lookin good. So paint or wrap??

Hey Wayno, they are just standard lowrance speakers, 200 Watts, just under 200mm across. Should be ok to listen to the cricket, or a bit of MMM. When I put the wakeboard tower on, then I'll get serious!

I'm going to paint her for starters. It would be nice to get it wrapped, maybe down the track. I'll just be happy to get her on the water and fish again!

Cheers,

Matt

[wayno60]

Mate all very well done, cant wait to see it on the water...

[matt fraser]

After much prep, I got some gelcoat on the sides.

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Made a meal of the first attempt, gun played up, I stuffed some of the mixture up, long story short, I ended up with runs in places, orange peel nearly everywhere, and patchy spots here and there. to top it off, I didn't like the colour.

So I took it all back again - some 12 hours of sanding later it was ready to go again.

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This time I did a better job, but I still made a few rookie errors. At least the gun was spraying well and I got the mixtures right. I ended up with a passable job, with a bit of orange peel here and there, but some areas of nice glossy finish. Although the darker colour shows up more imperfections I am pretty happy with the Oxford Blue.

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Just a few hours of sanding the peel out, wet and drying and polishing and she is coming up pretty glossy. Its not a show boat, but its looking ok, and getting closer to hitting the water with every step.

Cheers,

Matt

[Rip it up]

Nothing wrong with a 10ft paint job for a fishing boat. Can't see both sides at once and it won't stay gloss for long.

But still very rewarding to see a well finished home built boat. Congrats.


Damo's dodgy boat building factory.

[wayno60]

Still recon it will be in the water by Xmas........

[Jarrah Jack]

I'd love to see you take that boat to a HH convention and ask them to guess what it was. Looks great, you must be wrapped.
Do you dream about it much LOL

[chris69]

Looks good in the pics Matt,you no were the imperfections are but i dont think the fish will notice,get it on the water,you dont see the outside when your sitting on the inside.

cheers chris.

[ozscott]

She is a credit to you mate. Well done. Good to see the classics living on.
Cheers

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk

[LittleSkipper]

Amazing! Build start date June 2010. And still going. It's amazing how quick time gets away from you when you stated you wanted to get the boat in the water by Dec 2010, three years later Dec 2013 and your still hard into it. Now there's a man with alot of patience. I'm sure you'll reap the reward when she finally hits the water. Well done Matt.

Cheers
Wayne.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)

[matt fraser]

Yeah don't remind me how long I have been going.....its been very stop, start though. I was dreaming when I started this, had no idea at all. Someone said it would take twice as long as I expected and cost twice as much as I thought, in hindsight I would have taken that!

Fortunately my wife has a fair bit of patience too, its fairly stretched at the moment though, so I am not going to get it on the water for Christmas.

Thanks for all the encouragement guys!

Cheers,
Matt

[wayno60]

So next years flattie classic it is then....

Ill even come up and give you a hand with the fit out if you want...

cheers
w

[NothinSuss]

Matt Fraser, all credit to you mate, rippa job, thats going to be an absolute cracker. Well done

[matt fraser]

So next years flattie classic it is then....

Ill even come up and give you a hand with the fit out if you want...

cheers
w

Thanks Wayne, but I don't want to rush it through!

[wayno60]

No, I think a nice even 4 year build sounds good...

[matt fraser]

Apologies for another lengthy pause on the project. I had to take a couple of months off from the project, but I am back on it, and more reports due soon.

[matt fraser]

Decided to edit

[matt fraser]

Mid way through December, I had to lock the Haines in the shed, and walk away. I had to admit defeat that I couldn't get it finished for Christmas. The strain of the project was taking its toll on family life, so I had to take time out to get priorities in order.

I had the seajay tinny to do a bit of crabbing and fishing over chrissy, and got a few feeds of crabs and towed the kids on tubes.

It wasn't until mid Feb, I started back on the Haines, with further sanding, and wet and drying the sides and prepping the topsides. The nightmare of spraying gelcoat was not over. I had to redo two area on the sides. The white on the topsides went ok, apart from batches going off too quick in hot weather, clogging the gun. Wasting heaps of materials and time. Not getting it on thick enough, then sanding through it, and having to respray again. Deadset nightmare!!!

In the end the finish is ok, but hard to get it to gloss up and look good. Should have taken this job to a professional to save the time and pain.

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Once the outsides and topsides were done, then I had to do inside, and spray the tops of the consoles black for the windscreen effect.
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The consoles are starting to take shape and form.

[matt fraser]

Next job was re-masking up again, to do the flecking.

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Peeling the last bit of tape off was a great thing!
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Paint on the sides is pretty ordinary, but it will have to do.
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Finally time to start fitting out! Seriously exciting to be bolting and srcewing things into position permanently.
Pretty happy with the consoles.

102050102053 102054

Wiring and carpetting next.

[chris69]

Great to here you on top of it now Matt and as they say no pain no gain and dont worry you not the only one i lost half a pot of flowcoat last week doing the anchor well with 1.5% catalyst in 5 minites,have fun with the fit out,cheers Chris

[matt fraser]

Cheers Chris, Its unbelievable how quick it can go sometimes.

Having a few issues loading pics, but I will have another go.

Made the Minn Kota mount out of starboard/kingboard. This is great stuff to work with. I will be making the anchor well lid out of the same stuff.

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The wiring was beyond my level of capability, so I took the boat to Scott Corby at Coomera. He did a great job setting up the all the fuses on a piece of kingboard.

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It was a pretty big job with a lot of electrical components involved. This was the monday of last week, and I was pushing to have it on the water for the weekend.

Monday night before I took it home, we dropped it in at the Coomera ramp just to see if it floated. After nearly three and a half years of owning it and working on it, and with the hull mods I made, I was pretty nervous. But it sat nicely, and after a walk around, I was impressed with the stability. Particularly at the rear, where I had added the steps - they worked very well in adding floatation and stability to the rear.

102055

Getting there!

[matt fraser]

The wiring and fitting out continued all last week, with the aim of getting the boat on the water Saturday, for a run and then fish a bream comp at Yamba on the Sunday.

Tuesday it was into Bayside Suzuki Marine (BSM) where John gave me the bad news my 2005 Suzuki was pretty much RS, as it had never been serviced properly, and the block was corroded out badly. Decision was made to fit a new 2014 Model DF140 lean burn.

Wednesday back to Scott at Attack boats for more wiring and fitting out. Big job, with so many electrical bits, as well as hooking up fuel filler and breathers, hinges, latches, carpetting etc.
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Thursday noon back to BSM where the new motor had arrived and John and Scotty started fitting it.
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Friday noon, ready to pick up with new motor as promised, well done to BSM!

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Friday arvo, home and packed up to go to Yamba, kids strapped in.

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It was a long trip with Friday arvo and roadworks traffic all the way along the back of the Goldy. We finally arrived at 8.30pm, and I kept working on the boat to fit transducers.

Saturday morning, the hatches weren't all screwed on, but sat nicely in place, and I made up temporary straps so I could open them easily. The last thing I did was put the rego numbers on the side (again temporarily) with white elecy tape. Finally it was ready to launch.

[matt fraser]

My wife and kids were there, as she slid off the trailer at the Blue Dolphin Caravan park Ramp. We christened her 'Tenacious V' with a splash of been and wine over the bow.

On the water, she was looking good, although still unfinished with no Gunwhale rubber and a few other bits and pieces missing, but very much seaworthy and with all safety gear onboard.

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Life Jackets on, and the kids were climbing all over the boat, checking everything out. The key turned and the Suzuki sprang into life and purred like a kitten. We idled around for a good while (as per run-in instructions) before giving it some revs and lifting it onto the plane.

I could certainly feel the weight in the hull, but once on the plane, it was so smooth and comfortable. We took it out to middle wall, and came across a pod of dolphins, that came up and played all around the boat. Before heading up the river. I gave the kids all a drive on my lap, and they loved it! Although very nervous to start with, the smile was broadening on my face with every minute.
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We headed up to Browns Rocks, where I was keen to try and christen it with the first fish. Dropping a Gulp Shrimp overboard, I was expecting a bream, flathead or jewie, but a little flounder or sole jumped on - First fish done! Nothing too exciting, but she was christened.

Heading back home, going through the rev range, and stopping to swap kids as drivers. We headed in for lunch. After lunch, I went and visited some mates for some Lowrance HDS tips, before picking up my fishing team mate, Ian and his girlfriend for an afternoon session.

Back to Browns Rocks, we got a few bream, flatties and a little Jewie. So settled on that as a plan to start the comp there the next morning.

So Tenacious V was finally launched and christened! What a day, so stoked with how it rode and handled, and very happy with the layout and stability at rest as well.

We had a few drinks in celebration Saturday night with Ian and Justine. It was a great night that went till around midnight!

A few more random pics
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Comp day next...

[matt fraser]

The 5am start was a bit rude, but we got organised and headed over to Iluka to check in for the start. I was stiill tying on leaders and sorting tackle, as there had been minimal tackle prep done in the busy lead up, and certainly none done the night before. I was the most ill prepared I had ever been for a comp. But just happy to be fishing from the new boat!

We headed off midfield, and ended up towards the end of the field, as I was still running the motor in, and not going over about 4500rpm. We hit fog half way to Browns, and I was very glad the track had saved from the previous day. We made it there no worries and as the fog lifted I was surprised there were less than 10 boats onBrowns. Word was that it was fishing unreal up the river, so a lot of boatsheaded upstream.

First drop with a Gulp 2”shrimp on one of my prototype Nitro jigs, was a 33 tip length bream,cool! From there it was a steady procession of bream and our bag limit of five was done in half an hour. Upgrading continued on a regular basis. This was a lot of fun!

It had been way too long since I had enjoyed catching like this! I was certainly soaking it up,after many, many weekends being stuck in the shed working on this thing, it was so good to be fishing on it!

Ian was going ok too, not getting the same numbers, but when he landed a 39cm tip lengthbream, we were stoked, and starting to think, hey we are going alright here. We got a few more around the 31 to 33cm mark, and the smallest in the bag was 29 at the time. So we were starting to think we could be in 3 kg territiory.

I hooked a ‘something’ that scorched off around 50m before busting me, had to be a jewie.

As the outgoing tide slowed the bite did too, so went looking down the front. I got another 32 ish upgrade at Middle wall, but then it went quite for us. We poked around middle wall, the front reef and the North wall, but didn’t get anymore upgrades, just one more smoking.

Our mojo had dried up, and we hit the weigh in at Iluka early, our bag hit the scales at 3.19kg, which put us in the lead early, but there were lots of quality bags following us in the line up. We were thinking we could end up in the top five.

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We headed back to Yamba to pick up the girls and kids, The boat is rated to six persons, so we were able to take the four adults and three kids no worries, and it got up andwent well still with the big load on board.

We came back to the weigh in to find we were still in the lead on the board, with about 10 bags left to weigh. We lasted until about three bags to go, when the guys from Ballina Marineland bought up a massive bag that went 3.78kg with a 1.24 kicker.

That is the biggest bag weighed on the Clarence in 4 or 5 years. Still we ended up second and got $600 cash and a mako sunnies pack and Atomic pack. An unreal resultfrom what we expected at the start of the day, we were just happy to be fishing.

Overall it was a great weekend had by all. Ian and Justine headed off Sunday arvo, but westayed for another night, and I finally got to have a swim with the kids, and relax and have a celebratory rum.

What can I say, she is now christened in style, runs like a dream, is so smooth and comfortable on the water, awesome to fish off, fits in heaps of people and kids, has great rod and gear storage, and can catch fish! I am a very happy man!

Cheers,

Matt

[chris69]

Great to here Matt,congradulations on the launch, the first fish and the comp and luv the name,how does the planing plank go, has it added to the hull getting onto the plan faster? cheers Chris.

[matt fraser]

Thanks Chris! It doesn't jump on the plane easily, it takes a few revs but I think that is more because of the weight. I definitely put a lot of glass in it. It cruises nicely at about 3900 to 4200 rpm. Havent wound it out yet. But it does around 30 knots ay 5000rpm.
I played with the nmea info on the HDS in the shed during the week, hopefully I can work out more detailed figures on the water tomorrow.
Cheers,
Matt

[matt fraser]

First run on Moreton Bay for Tenacious V on Sunday, I took out two of my neighbours for a run. Conditions were pretty good at around 10 knots mostly. She had a bit of plank slap at low speed, and we had a fair bit of weight in the rear. But more revs provided a better ride.

Headed from Cleveland out to Harries for a look, I put a few marks in the night before, and was fishing off the chartplotter sceen, as the sonar and broadband were playing up on the HDS.

It was pretty quiet with just a few undersize snaps, until this thing jumped on Tony's Gulp!
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It doesn't look like it but it went 80cm and 4.4kg cleaned. Its the first time Tony has been fishing in 25 years, and he hasn't shut up about it! We had a street party that night, so he got extra bragging rights, as he got to show it off to everyone in the street, and then they got to eat it

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We had a quick look at Peel on the way in for no luck. It was a sloppy trip from Peel back to Cleveland going across the Tide V Current. The boat handled it well, but we did get a bit of spray over the side.

I dropped the neighours in at the ramp at 9am, and headed back out for a solo mission, and to put some more hours on the engine. It hammered with just me onboard. Edged it over 5 grand, and she just wanted to go - the faster the better. I can't wait to be able to open her up, I have a feeling it will go well with the 21 pitch prop!

I was still having sounder issues, and I resorted to reading the operating manual! That still didn't help.....Eventually I disconnected the sonar cable and bang, the broadband was working like a dream. Running a three way split, with Chartplotter/downscan/sidescan, I started finding big bait schools on harries. After getting bitten off a couple of times on Gulps, I went to slugs and got some little schoolies, dropped a bigger schooly and got bitten off again twice. So there were some toothy macs around. But I didn't get anything of quality to the boat before I had to head in.

I had a ball driving it solo, stopped at one stage for a 'run-in' rpm break, and snapped this pic.

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Still no seadeck on the floor or gunwhale rubber, and various finishing touches, but I will get there.
So good to be back on the water!

Cheers,
Matt

[wayno60]

Mate I so happy for you.... all the blood, sweet and tears.

So by the sounds all the work has paid off.

Flatty Classic here he comes...

[matt fraser]

Thanks Wayne! lost a bit of blood, buckets of sweat, and it nearly bought me to tears a few times! But it has certainly paid off, loving it more everytime I go out.

Definitely fishing the Flatty Classic, and might even get a few practice trips in before then.

Cheers,

Matt