Vintage Inboard Cruisers to Centre Console Conversion

[gazza2006au]

Was planning on an early day starting work but fell a sleep its killing me cant get jack all done, got my resin just its dark and lots of moisture in the air at night

Really need to work on the boat

Was googling last night and found a new product for transoms called "corecell pvc" cost $220 a sheet 25mm thick i plan on getting some in 15mm for my pod but by the time i wake up shops are closed by the time i go to bed shops are opening i am living the shittest life at the moment its depressig

[catshark]

it will be daylight saving soon enough, then you will be crackin along just fine, just small hurdles at this stage , its winter after all , chill
some interesting ideas researching materials for pod , is a alloy pod still an option. could be less work and you can weld alloy. work to your strengths.

[gazza2006au]

I can weld aluminium pretty good Cat but i really suck at setting up the machine and i am hopeless at cleaning the alloy last thing i tig was some 38x3mm tubing welded it piece of piss with my current repco tig but it would be way easier to vacuum infuse a pod i am thinking of using the core material i mentioned with carbon fibre but right at this moment i really want to finish the stringers still a month and a bit of winter its killing me not being able to work on the boat its getting depressing i have the mood to want to do it just to many factors in the way

My original idea for the pod was glass than carbon in 10 layers 600gram cloth now i think what would be strong is that core material with 3 layers of carbon each inside and outside of 600gram cloth this cloth is higely strong in this thickness and to throw a core in there too super strong but carbon is brittle so may need over engineering

[gazza2006au]

Cat im going with your idea bring the bottom of the pod up this should allow me to have an external lip all around the outside

I am still researching this but looking to use the carbon cloth with a product called lantor its basically a thin ultra strong core material 2mm to 4mm thick its pricey stuff almost as much as the carbon, gotta make sure the vinyl ester resin has uv additives

[gazza2006au]

I was up a bit early for part of the day made a call to a local AA Fibreglass supplier and asked about a structural foam in 15mm and was told they can get in Divinicell i think this was one of the first foams out of the US in to AU its not a laminated foam like Coosa or Thermolite i was told so it needs laminating i was told its a rigid foam and won't collapse under vacuum

anyone in here use or know anything about modern day composites? trying to work out if to go

Divinycell https://atlcomposites.com.au/category/9/Divinycell-Foam in 15mm thtickness

or if i should go this stuff in 4 layers with a layer of carbon cloth between each layer

Lantor 4mm its a laminator bulker https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/COREMAT-...0AAOSwWWJayAVe

anyone who can help with advice? will be buying it on monday

[billfisher]

Aren't you using timber for the rest of the construction, ie transom, stringers and floor? If so what is the point in doing the pod differently? And with a home made composite of an unknown standard and strngth to boot.

[gazza2006au]

If i went plywood inside the pod there would be no way of telling if or when its rotting out if i go foam and glass than there will be no worry

Plan was to go 6 layers of 600gsm carbon fibre that is a really heavy and super strong laminate but it needs a core to make it extrordiarly strong

There are videos of people laminating the soric/lantor core mat than standing on the piece supporting 75-80kg will try get some videos from youtube

[gazza2006au]

Video below, Bill i want the pod built far superior to the rest of the boat its going to hold the most value out of the boat and engine i really need the pod to be very strong but i dont really want to throw carbon fibre on cheap plywood if i went plywood i would go woven roving or double bias maybe even a thin quad cloth

[gazza2006au]

Have made a plan im going with a all fibreglass pod no plan on thickness or overall weight just yet but it will be one layer of roving one layer of mat i have decided to just use epoxy with a super slow hardener it may take time to cure i will put a spot light on it for a few hours after glassing

Was reading poly stinks and its toxic to breeth so thought vinyl may be the same i know i can use epoxy

Going to use gel coat and either pva release or that wax in a tin will decide this week

Sun will be up in an hour i will get cranking need to mod the pod and glue it together than i will do some gluing on the stringers

[gazza2006au]

Ended up with this guys the pod will be taking from the inside of the mould so it will be roughly 32mm smaller all round there are some minor gaps i was going to glue but i will use clay instead save my resin for better uses and easier to pull the mould apart and dispose of

if there are any minor imperfections in the finished job i will either live with it or grind them out and paint in 2k paint but i am hopping it turns out micky mouse

i have absolutely zero experience with moulding so if anyone see's anything in particular i am doing wrong please let me know before i screw it up

[gazza2006au]

Was up for 20 hours last night no sleep into the morning went and done some gluing not the best job i decided the best way to glue was to fill in my strake with glue as i dont think i would be able to glass down inside the strake and stringer it would have been 10 to 15mm gap so i just filled it with glue right along the stringer, made 7 cups of 400mls resin which was about 550mls including fumed silica so about 3.5 litres of glue i am running out of supplies i should be picking up some cups and sticks today to get back into it

[catshark]

so when you make the plug mould inside the chip board. then you layer all your material over the plug to form the new pod , thats right isnt, and will you be wrapping this carbon stuff around together with your chopped matted and so on

[gazza2006au]

Thanks for the like CT

Hey Cat the chip board was just a mould i was going to layer the inside with cloth and chopped mate to around 20mm thickness than pop the chip board off and dispose of it this would have left me with a full fibreglass pod no wood at all in it just one solid laminate but i have changed the plans i am going to reconstrucy a plywood pod and fibreglass over it internally and externally

[gazza2006au]

This will be the new pod likely from 25mm plywood so i can use any left over plywood for my bulk heads, picked up 25 mixing cups today along with 25 mixing sticks that's another $25 all though i am not really keeping track on the boat cost.. only keeping track of the trailer cost

I'm in deep about $7000 $7500 so far for boat, motor, trailer i will be happy if the finial finish comes in under $10,000 actually i will be really stoked

now i am getting some day light work done i am seeing some progress it was getting really depressing planning a big day working on the boat than 5am comes around and i go to bed just like i am sleeping my life away, can't live with being medicated can't live without it a trade off i live boarder line being sane i guess

when the boat is all finished and done i will be happy its a whole learning experience from zero experience i have learnt a lot and still a lot to learn i have found i am very shy to venture off products i am using it sucks really i am finding my self wanting to use all double bias cloth for the build even tho i have a whole roll of woven roving just sitting there.... also stuck on this epoxy resin i tend to find little things about not using other resins like poly or vinyl one thing would be i would need to glass the pod in the front yard and i think the neighbours are already kicking up a stink about me working on the boat i was out there yesterday and i was seen in the boat and it appeared the neighbour wasn't too happy but didn't say anything directly to me

turtle win's the race i guess as far as progress goes, bit by bit a little here a little there nothing happens over night unless u have a fat wallet and pay to get it done

splash well isgoing to come out i am going to run a bare back transom just run some braces from the transom down to the floor or possible thru the floor to the two main stringers the pod should i hope break any waves coming over the back and just splash up the transom

[gazza2006au]

Not going a head with the pod guys it doesn't measure up on the trailer it would be massive over hang, No more work on the boat being the end of winter our days are heating up super fast and its bloody hot i am a p.... working in hot weather so from here on its wetting a line and reelaxing, treated my self yesterday to a new tool 120 litre air compressor to paint the boat next winter, really hopping once the weather cools down after summer that i can get the stringers finished and get the floor down plus get her painted