Trojan Boat Forum

rbcool wrote:The reason I mentioned sand vs water is if any water gets to the foam, it might expand just a tad

Ron

Upon casual inspection, the foam looks closed cell, hence dry, but after sawing and rasping some of the high spots off, I find it is wet! Therefore, your idea might be true, it could have swelled.

foofer b wrote:

rbcool wrote:The reason I mentioned sand vs water is if any water gets to the foam, it might expand just a tad

Ron

Upon casual inspection, the foam looks closed cell, hence dry, but after sawing and rasping some of the high spots off, I find it is wet! Therefore, your idea might be true, it could have swelled.

Time to put heat lamps or heat gun on the foam to dry it out. Bet you turned a hose on it to clean it up didn't you?

put the two halves together the best you can then silicone the gap!


just kidding, the chalk / paint idea shoul dtell you where the high spots are

rbcool wrote:The reason I mentioned sand vs water is if any water gets to the foam, it might expand just a tad

Ron

I am thinking sand in the top hull to push it down.

ready123 wrote:How about running a couple of big straps with ratchets around the assembled hull (side to side) and tighten it.... will that pull it together? If so you can use that to hold it together as you glue it.

Great idea. I will try that. That will help with too much spread or sply in the bow area too.

Thank you guys so much. I love it when brainstorming actually works and comes up with some great ideas. Weighting with sand, chalking for high spots, shaving foam off, strapping with come alongs, and as a last resort, more glass-West system. Will get on it tomorrow after church. Thanks again, FB

I'm hoisting a mug of Rum&Coke to a sucsessful plan

Ron

Foofer,

If you use West System to hold the inner and outer shells together, be sure to add some chopped matting or fiberglass strands in the mix. Under stress the resin and adhesive silica filler alone will crack. Adding fiberglass strands to the resin will give you a mechanical bond as well as adhesive.

My plan is to use Marine 4200 quick cure between the hulls, and to use small SS machine screws every foot or 1.5 feet to bolt it together. Sound like a good plan?

Originally it appears to have had some type of metal fastener- staples perhaps, and an adhesive.

I still think the heat pad thing would have worked.

Larry

foofer b wrote:My plan is to use Marine 4200 quick cure between the hulls,

I would not want to use the 4200 as it does not setup as rigid as a two part glue... something that would concern me as you have this problem of the halves not matching perfectly.

I think the west six10 would be good

foofer b wrote:My plan is to use Marine 4200 quick cure between the hulls, and to use small SS machine screws every foot or 1.5 feet to bolt it together. Sound like a good plan?

Originally it appears to have had some type of metal fastener- staples perhaps, and an adhesive.

Sounds like a good plan to me
But I would put the screws every 8 - 12"

Ron

Hi Foofer,

I agree with Micheal about the 4200, it's a great sealer but it's not an adhesive. It seems to me that at this joint you'll want a permanent watertight seal. I believe that you're on the right track with massaging the two hulls until you get the best fit possible. Once this is accomplished, I would suggest bonding the two halves together with West System Epoxy as opposed to screws. I'm unclear on weather this is a flange or lap joint however since this joint will be under some tension to get it into it's correct position, I'm betting that screws would fail at some point.

I have repaired a similar joint in the past which had to be drawn into position with clamps. The first time I repaired it, I prepped the area, filled the gap with West System mixed with their Silica bonding agent then clamped it all together. It lasted about a year then failed in tension where it had to be clamped into position the tightest. I cut the two halves apart and did it over again only this time I included chopped fiberglass in the mix which added a mechanical component to the bond. (This is most important where the gaps are larger) It's been 7 years now and this repair is still holding fast.

Hope this helps,

I'm looking forward it seeing the next step Paint what are you planing on using? and who are you applying brush roll or spay?