Seacock Replacement

[Christian]

Todd,
You nailed it! I will actually bag both sides...

Barrie,
I can't wait to see your project.

Captainmaniac,
I already am...

Christian

[bjanakos]

This hull is indestructible In this area it is at least 3/4 in thick!

You will grow to love how Trojan built these battle wagons. Very few vendors have built to the same standards as Trojan did in our vintage.

They used to build 1" thick wood hulls, so when they transitioned, 1" thick fiberglass made sense.

I saved the core when I dilled through for my transducer.... I ended up saving it. I could not believe how thick it was.

[Christian]

bjanakos,
It was more akin to a core sample LOL...

I ended up going home this morning. This cold is killing me. I did manage to prep the last un-used through hull hole though! all 3 are ready to glass.

I got home, had a shot of Nyquil, 2 Tylenol and a glass of rum. I slept like a baby
That did not stop me from thinking about how i'm going to plug the holes though. I was thinking of what Todd was saying about keying the plug. Since I will not be going the full 12:1 ratio, I need something to make it safe. With all the "medication" I came up with this. It is a modern take on basket weaving... This should keep the plug in place in case I hit something! I'm sure it will be better than nothing. Again it's all about sleeping at night! Here what the concept looks like:

IMGP2022small.jpg (78.34 KiB) Viewed 8128 times

The idea is to weave in the hole with 1808 if that make sense...

Christian

[bjanakos]

I think what Todd meant was that you should bevel the holes on either side so that they are sort of an hour-glass shape before you fill. This will give you the mechanical hold you need and the plug would not be able to slip through.

[yorklyn]

Bingo

[yorklyn]

I did not go crazy when I beveled the opposite side. I beveled it enough to allow for sufficient glass build up to key the inner and outer together where they meet at the hole that was being filled. once again I am not an expert , this is just how i did it on my boat.
Hope you feel better. Keep up the good work!

[Christian]

Thanks for the input guys!
I did get that. That's what I did prepping the holes. I just wanted something extra. Call it creeping elegance...

Christian

[Christian]

Hi guys!

Very slow progress today but I did manage to start the two gas guzzlers! I also found out iI had the optional neutral switch installed! Don't ask me how I know but suffice to say, I had to pull out the wiring diagram!

Christian

[Barrie]

Hey Christian, Hows the projects going, sea cocks, through hulls and glassing. Hope you're making good progress and possibly close to putting it in the water. Hope all is well

Barrie

[Christian]

Hi Guys!

Sorry I have not updated in some time. I was busy with other priorities... Anyhow, through hulls are all replaced and extra holes glassed. Boy did I have fun! The first hole I glassed was almost a month ago but I got in trouble big time. Weather was hot, and it looked like thunder storms in the horizon. So! I prep the hole, clean everything with acetone, cut my patches for both inside and outside, I prepare my fancy weaving under pressure! clouds are now really dark and wind is blowing. A drop here and a drop there no big deal right? Wrong! Big big deal! it start to pour and pour a lot! thingy get my vacuum bag system ready to go and I take the jump. I mix a batch of epoxy with the slow 206 hardener. I place my weave and start applying the patches. Half way, epoxy starts to set... I mix a second batch and push on. I complete the inside, go outside and continue

At this point, I need to tell you that I only have an extension cord to run the fridge. No shore power or batteries are connected.

So! As I was saying, It is raining hard. Real hard... Water in coming in the boat from everywhere. Lots of it. Water level in the bilge goes up and up and finally, you guessed it, covers my freshly glassed hole.

At this point I say out loud F&^%$ it close shop and go home...

2 weeks later, I am back, remove the glass and start over. this time I get smart! I check the weather, It nice and cool, no storms on the horizon and I pre-saturate the patches before applying to the boat. This time I got plenty of time to do everything no problem. I unfortunately did not have time to take pictures nor did I use my fancy vacuum bagging system... I did complete all 3 holes.

Here is a picture of the aft head condemned through hull hole...

IMG_20150704_184715s.jpg (146.3 KiB) Viewed 8058 times

Now for the outside.

IMG_20150704_184847s.jpg (129.19 KiB) Viewed 8058 times

All I need to do now is clean it a bit and fill to make it nice and flush with the hull.

[Christian]

the next day I tackle the 9 seacocks. I came up with a pretty efficient method to do this alone. I chamfered all the bolt holes on the seacocks from the underside (side that will sit on the hull) to help make a seal. I measured and dry fit all the through hulls. Then, I put the sealer on the base of the seacocks, slide in the 3 bolts in the flange and drop the seacock in place. I go outside, install the through hull just snug. I push in fresh bolts from the outside making sure there is sealer on them (this pushes out the bolts previously inserted from inside) and tighten the through hull properly. I then go back inside and torque the nuts with a torque wrench. Tightening the through hull before, made the flange of the seacock turn just a bit and pinch the bolts preventing them from turning while torqueing. That's it. Pretty simple! I was able to do 2 seacocks at a time using this method.

I am really happy with the results. looks clean and professional. IMHO...

IMG_20150704_184727s.jpg (100.5 KiB) Viewed 8058 times

[Christian]

Now for the next can of worms!

If I missed anything explaining how I did this, let me know. I will be more than happy to clarify.

Christian

PS: thanks for all the input guys! much appreciated.

[yorklyn]

Christian you did a great job!
I am all to familiar with tackling an "easy" two person project by myself . improvise adapt and over come!
Mother nature can be an itch!
Glad to hear you made out well. Keep up the good work!

[P-Dogg]

Mother nature can be an itch!

Some people, ahem, even have it so bad that their boat is in danger of flooding, while it is under repair indoors!

The new seacocks look nice.

[yorklyn]

not anymore P-dogg!