Rebuild Started - Wooden Runabout - now finished Jan 2021

[Bronteboxer]

Hi Guys,

If you were reading the general forum section in July, you may recall me posting some shots of my boat under 'New Member - Beal Park'. I said there that once I started the rebuild I would transfer to this section - well its here! I stripped out the hull this weekend and made a start.

I have posted some photos on Photobucket as they are too big to get onto here - http://s1342.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... r/library/

I have a few tricky problems to solve (i had already voiced this on my first post) and I am looking for experianced advice (please not give up now!) For some reason only beknown to the builder, steel screws were used in the hull - nowhere else. These have reacted to the poor quality over filler used and gone rusty, pushing up the filler whilst it was in storage -34 years. Its a bit of a mess in truth, but the upside is there is no rot anyhwere and no delamination of the ply.

I have taken out a few screws as a test - see shot of three rough looking holes where they have come out. They do come out and the screw thread is rusty so I don't think I can just overfill the head and leave them.

Advice please on what to do next as there are over 200 of these little bad boys - the screws are about 3inch centres but that varies and they are about half an inch in length. The ply hull to frame would as a take a bigger gauge as a replacement.

So do I take them all out:
1) Refill the holes with JB weld (already advised as product from this site) Drill and rescrew using a larger gauage into the original hole. Some of the screw tips have broken off in th base of the hole, so would require drilling out - probably a challenge as a hard material surrounded by soft equals a drilling problem in my experiance.

2) Just use a larger/longer gauge without refilling. Placing new holes adjacent if required as an old bit of screw is stuck at the base)

3) Fill old holes and then drill between the old screw holes and fit into new centres, between the old postions. Would that create 'weak line' along the screw runs as they would in effect have holes every 1.5 inches - (with the old holes filled with JB Weld)

4) or any other suggestions.

Plus what material should I use for the new screws stainles steel, brass or the marine stuff which i can't remember the name of right now!

You can see from the shot of the internal structure there is only a very minimal occasional opening on the paint where the hull ply and frame meet. This does not expand even when I stand on the bare hull. It all seems very well glued and firm.

Is it worth baring the wood and neatly running a fibreglass tape over this internal seam joint for strength?

I am obvioulsy planning on taking all of the paint off the deck and external hull.

This will only be the start of the questions I am sure as when I get to the finishing tasks I will need much advice on paint, varnish, application etc. I haven't got anybody locally as far as I can tell as I have asked on the fourm for local members to get in touch, but sadly nothing as yet.

And finally - check out the boat name. This is why the boat survived! when it was named in the late 50's it had a very different meaning. The bloke who had it previously got so fed up of the comments made when he turned up for his boating, that he laid the boat up and said it would not see the light of day until the world changed. Well we all know what happened..............Question is; do we keep the name for old times sake or change. The jury is out at this end. My dear lady says change it (or else) but some mates say keep it for the laugh - I think that will be on me...........? Plus as the name saved the boat from extinction, it seems somehow fitting for it to stay. Maybe I should have a vote...

And very, very finally, I ams till looking for a 30/40hp ouboard as suggested by this site for power..........anybody know of anything?

I look forward to your help.

Cheers.

[Alacrity]

Re. your steel screws, I would plump for option three. Use A4 grade s/steel screws in between the old holes then drill & plug the original holes - get a plug cutter & cut some hardwood plugs to epoxy in the holes. Using epoxy is a better option than JB weld which is better suited to metal in my book. This way you will retain the strength in the joint. West Epoxy (or SP) is a fantastic product designed for this sort of use. They have a very good user guide see here for their 'how to' info.

[sean-nós]

It looks like some of the ply might be delaminating in this photo, would it be too big a job to recover the boat with new ply It might save you a bit of work when you think of all the filling you have to do, You will get a better idea when you start sanding If you want to fill them I agree with Alacrity thickened epoxy forced into the hole is the way to go it will be as good as a screw if not better you may not need to plug the holes with wood if you are going to paint it just leave the epoxy a little bit proud and sand smooth, all the screws will have to come out or they will just keep popping through your finish, if the head comes off use the plug cutter over the screw and then pull it out with a long nosed pliers I have no screw in the hull of my builds as the epoxy is strong enough you could also run some epoxy along each side of the frame to bond it to the ply that way you may not need to use any screws. They may have been stainless steal screws in the hull as when stainless is covered and deprived of oxygen it will corrode as stainless needs air to stay stainless I would also tape up the seams or fiberglass cloth the hull but thats just me

[Howstar]

looks like James bond been shooting at it,

Would it of been better leaving the old screws in and putting news screws in,it does look like the plywood is going as well,

don`t know much about plywood boats but might worth finding another project , I hope i am wrong

[Bronteboxer]

Bond fans eh..... I am not shaken, but I am stirred by your ref to Bond..........

No, I’m not looking for another project. I will be Blofled, before I am beaten and will pull my Goldfinger out and get it sorted. I Kananga let it defeat me and. I am not Scaramanga of hard projects. It needs an outboard, but not with a Stromberg. I am getting on with it and won’t let it Drax its feet. Khan you see how fab it will look, I Khan. Once done well and its painted Orlov it will be a different boat. It might need a bit of work, but I am not planning on Zorin up loads of wood, Koskov, I don’t have those skills yet, its my first boat project. So Sanchez and a pot of coffee at the ready in the workshop for long days. Plus probably lots of Trevelyan around the jumbles looking for bits. Should I launch it with Carver or push the boat out to Champagne when it’s done? I think it’s really worth doing as its such a great loo – King little runabout and its survived so long it doesn’t want to go to its Graves yet. Looking forwards to getting on the water so will be Chiffre away at this project all winter. I might be a bit Greene on boats, but I want to learn and one thing is for certain I know the finished job will not be handed to me on a Silva platter…………

For non Bond fans - there is every (18) major Bond baddies in the above!.......Bond got them all and I'm going to destroy all the baddies in the boat..........!

[Rapier]

I'd personally strip it properly and evaluate; to a point you can really see what's under the paint. I had a similar boat which needed some work, but in concentrating on 2 specific areas, I missed some rot when I was at a stage it was about to be painted. If there's little or no rot in the plywood, stick with it - it's a nice size and nice design (similar to Bell Woodworking boats I've seen) and it was not a fortune to buy. The experts are on hand, not only here, but the West Systems, SP and Sikaflex tech people are always willing to advise what to use and how to do it.

A very useful booklet is the Gougeon Brothers (West Systems) 'wooden boat restoration and repair' , it was about £8 from my chandlers a few years ago, but the net seems to bring up many sources. It's particularly useful for planning repairs, when you're like me and not a boat builder.

[Howstar]

Yoi after thunderbolt it and live at lie.as long as you can do before a blue moon raker it should be fine

[Bronteboxer]

Rapier (and others)- thanks for the positive comments to date on the runabout. It was good to share the picutures at Beal Park and discuss it with you, so you will know that I am keen to do this. The size, condition and 50's design are just right for me. I have been watching the responses and just letting them drift in before I put together my next query to amalgamate the ideas and thoughts into next steps. You are correct, I have already committed to stripping every bit to get the full extent of issues. I think it looks worse on the piccies than it seems in the flesh. Having prodded, poked and pushed everywhere there is nothing soft and the bubbling apparent in the shot is very limited in area, but as I get the paint off it will become clear. This was just my first shot to get things moving and start the serious job of trying to work out how to tackle things.

Please keep the comments coming chaps, it is all really useful stuff and much appreaciated.

[Alacrity]

A very useful booklet is the Gougeon Brothers (West Systems) 'wooden boat restoration and repair' , it was about £8 from my chandlers a few years ago, but the net seems to bring up many sources. It's particularly useful for planning repairs, when you're like me and not a boat builder.

I think that book is the link I put up in my earlier post??

[Rapier]

I think that book is the link I put up in my earlier post??

Yes, well done - afterthought on my end... Is one of my bibles, the other is Fibreglass Boats by Hugo Du Plessis..might be relevant too, despite the title because it deals with materials and non epoxy resins too.