May the F-26 Cleaning and Rebuild begin.

pilgrim32 · Post by **pilgrim32** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:22 pm

Ahoy Gang Sorry for the delay in posting some before the journey begins photos so here are few to start. Strange looking rudder and plate?? any comments?? Talk to you later Brian

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36731885@N ... 385440292/

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:05 pm

Some one has added on to the rudder to make it turn better . shoud be fine the only proplem that you may have is it may be harder to turn becuse they added only to the rear of the rudder not front . I dont think you will really notice . only a sea trial will tell .

randyp · Post by **randyp** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:46 pm

Agree about the rudder. A few have done this because of handling in a following sea (tends to yaw around), but it really doesn't improve handing all that much and on plane it may oversteer. Still....no need to replace it with a stock rudder. Just from the photos it looks like you should inspect manifolds as maybe that rust is more than just on the surface.

Check for soft spots, especially around the anchor mount area - usually this was not caulked when the chocks were installed and the balsa core got wet (I know from experience).

CHeck for leakage under or on the liner under the side cabin windows. Prone to leaking since (again) the handrail mounts had no caulk under them. If this is case then CAREFULLY back off the screws as to not lose the nut and spooge in some silicone then gently tighten just a bit to allow the silicone to set then tighten down 12-24 hours later for a water tight seal.

Your front cabin windows may also leak (again I know from experience). Over time the plexiglas has expanded in the heat and cracked along the edges under the funky rubber exterior trim. You may want to replace with Lexan, and I have previous post information on all of this (a nice job for after the season if you have the time and patience.

Cockpit floor condition? Not sure if yours is fiberglas or teak. Mine's fiberglas and I have no issues, but the teak ones may need reframing and replacing. Again there are previous posts in this forum on that.

I have original owners manual, including electrical and plumbing diagrams for our '77 F-26 HT. Both systems will probably need an update or replacement of some components.

I've had our F26 for 10 years and have done a lot of the above jobs myself - not all at once but over the past decade. Worth every cut and bruise it earned me.

These are great boats, especially for a couple or a small family, and the big cockpit is perfect for a bunch of friends for fishing, drinking, etc - not necessarily in that order.

Let me know if you want any of the manuals. I can email them to you as pdfs.

Have fun!

guglielmo6160 · Post by **guglielmo6160** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:32 pm

looks like a nice sound boat, good luck to you , and I hope you enjoy it,
are you going to use this season??

chumwithabottleofrum · Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:36 pm

I've "hawked" it on here before-so indulge me once again-there is a great book about old boat restoration-"This Old Boat"-by Don Casey. While dealing with primarily with blow boats a lot of the information is applicable to power also. One of the things he takes the reader through is how to modify the fiberglass hatches on old boats and modify them with a polycarbonate "insert" I did it with the hatch on my F26HT and boy did it dress the boat up. I can send you a couple of photos if interested-drop me an e-mail at h2oproof@hotmail.com if you're interested. The recurring problem that I had was habitual leaking of the cabin windows (the ones on the front of the cabin at 45 degree angle-I put together some information about how to remove and reset them-if your's leak and you're interested in the info, again, drop me an e-mail.

Mike McGaughey

pilgrim32 · Post by **pilgrim32** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:14 pm

Ahoy Gang Gave the girl a very soft and gentle scrubbing today on the exterior with dawn dish soap and bleach more bleach than soap? Still have a deep embedded black mold, on toe rails and fordeck do I use a stiffer brush or Blast Till I see the white of the gelcoat with a power washer or do I get the pump can sprayer with west marine product known as (marykate On & Off Hull/Bottom Cleaner) sounds like the west marine product would be the best. Don't won't to injure the neighbors with flying deck cleats and bow chocks once I fire the pressurewasher up?. Well you know what they say about neighbors if they can hear you there to close. So the journey continues! thanks everyone Brian (pilgrim32)

wowzer52 · Post by **wowzer52** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:09 am

I use Dawn dish soap and bleach with a stiff bristle brush, scrub once and let it sit for ten minutes then scrub again and rinse. This works great for me.

jimbo36 · Post by **jimbo36** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:38 pm

Pilgrim, Unless you planing on replacing all your caulking and sealants I would go easy with the powerwasher. I never use one on the boat. Too much power. Starbright Non Skid Deck Cleaner is the best I have found in 30+ years of boat cleaning.

randyp · Post by **randyp** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:18 am

I agree about going careful with the power-washer. It can also blast away gelcoat if you're too aggressive, especially in the non-skid deck surface "valleys". Teak deck is another one to be careful of with a power-washer, especially around seams, etc.

MattSC · Post by **MattSC** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:12 pm

To clean the nonskid, spread some tide with bleach (powder). Scrub with a stiff bristle brush and the nonskid should come out like new.

chucka · Post by **chucka** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:08 am

Brian,

Check this out: about On & Off
http://www.pointseast.com/forum/index.php?topic=57.0

It's caustic stuff, but it really whitens.
Chuck

Mac32 · Post by **Mac32** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:24 am

Pilgrim32
The key I found to cleaning the mold using bleach on the fiberglass is spray it on diluted (I used a cheap pump sprayer from menards) brush it in then lightly spray more to make sure all of it is covered then go do something else for a few hours while making sure it stays wet.

it took me scrubbing 3/4 of my deck before I discovered patience.

The other thing I added was some polishing compound to the deck before I scrubbed the deck because I found that the "pores" in the fiberglass that contained mold were much smaller than the brush bristles so the brush wasnt doing anything. I assume this is what comet cleanser does also (although I have not tried it yet. )

pilgrim32 · Post by **pilgrim32** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:29 pm

Ahoy gang. New owner of a 1978 F-26 HT that hasn't been on the forum for several months due to well the list is endless but I'm back in the Helm seat and ready to chart the next rebuild procedure. I've cleaned the interior and exterior and she cleaned up good,now on to the fuel tank removal, then the engine and transmission. Here's some pictures of the before and after cleaning and the start of the fuel tank removal. Yup removed sending unit and sticked the tank to check fuel level and applied paste for checking for water no water found but fuel is in the amount of 30 gallons thats in the area of 14 yrs old. Already siphoned out fuel and have it in 5 gal containers waiting for disposal. hope to remove tank,piping and tubing this week. Talk to you all later Brian (Pilgrim32)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36731885@N07/sets/

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 7:02 pm

She really looks nice cleaned up! Enjoy!

LSP · Post by **LSP** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:21 pm

Brian .... good to hear from you. She's looking good

Trojan Boat Forum

May the F-26 Cleaning and Rebuild begin.

May the F-26 Cleaning and Rebuild begin.

Trojan F-26 rebuild is back on course