engine stringer repair

[trojanmanXSagain]

Another question here. As the project boat here 1979 "f26" had the engine removed prior to my purchase I have some issues with stringers . The original engine was a 318 that the po removed for whatever reason and he installed a 440 , then he sold it to a guy named Jon. Jon got the boat and realized the engine was seized and removed the 440. then he scrubbed the boat to me and I can see a few extra holes in the stringers where I assume the 318 and then the 440 were lagged. what is the best way to fill these holes and prepare for the new engine and new holes to drill? thanks. And yes Aron its been THREE YEARS NOW!!!!! didn't wanna hijack the tranny thread so figured I'd ans it here.
As far as getting caught pretending to pilot the boat in the yard yesterday it was me in the flybridge doing the deer in the headlight look when I glanced over and saw the wife on the porch starring at me from across the yard. Of course then I did the manly thing and attempted to look like I was just checking on the shifter/throttle .wheel operation . This will be the 4th full gut job boat restoration and probably the last . I did have a fella from a mile or so down the road who owns a big hatterass? come by the other day and he did speak well of the Trojan boats and loved the fact there was a lot of finished woodwork in the cabin .Guess wood is just a love it or hate it subject when speaking in re guards to boats .

[aaronbocknek]

Another question here. As the project boat here 1979 "f26" had the engine removed prior to my purchase I have some issues with stringers . The original engine was a 318 that the po removed for whatever reason and he installed a 440 , then he sold it to a guy named Jon. Jon got the boat and realized the engine was seized and removed the 440. then he scrubbed the boat to me and I can see a few extra holes in the stringers where I assume the 318 and then the 440 were lagged. what is the best way to fill these holes and prepare for the new engine and new holes to drill? thanks. And yes Aron its been THREE YEARS NOW!!!!! didn't wanna hijack the tranny thread so figured I'd ans it here.
As far as getting caught pretending to pilot the boat in the yard yesterday it was me in the flybridge doing the deer in the headlight look when I glanced over and saw the wife on the porch starring at me from across the yard. Of course then I did the manly thing and attempted to look like I was just checking on the shifter/throttle .wheel operation . This will be the 4th full gut job boat restoration and probably the last . I did have a fella from a mile or so down the road who owns a big hatterass? come by the other day and he did speak well of the Trojan boats and loved the fact there was a lot of finished woodwork in the cabin .Guess wood is just a love it or hate it subject when speaking in re guards to boats .

yipes. 3 years. and another gut job at that. wow. love the deer in the headlights thing. and of course the quick recovery about 'doing something'. re: the hatteras. they used a lot of wood on the interiors of the older ones too. they had all those furniture workers in the carolinas doing the work, not unlike the amish working on the trojans. the one endearing feature that most people like is the vast amount of teak on my tri cabin's interior. it's a nice quality. looking forward to more of your deer in the headlights moments!
aaron

[todd brinkerhoff]

As long as the voids are moisture free, thickened epoxy will do the trick. You can also reinforce it with some chopped strand fiberglass.

[Big D]

You can use #406 colloidal silica to thicken the epoxy. It's a pretty versatile thickener that you can use for other applications later. I like to wet out wood with just mixed resin to allow for penetration if I'm going to use a thicken mix in the end. I would pour a little in the hole and spread it around with a long enough thin tool until all surfaces are coated. Let that sit for a while to allow for penetration. Before it cures, mix a batch and thicken it then fill the holes. This mix cures white. For applications that don't have glass over top of the stringer, you can add to this same mix some #410 Microlight which is a tan colour. This is also a great product as it is easier to sand for other jobs like fairing. Follow safety precautions when handling epoxy. The only other caution I have is to be aware of how much epoxy is being applied at once when used for filling voids as it can produce enough heat to burn many materials. I don't recall the exact maximum specs but if for example you are filling 1/2 inch diameter hole in wood that is 4 inches long, that may be too much volume to fill at once and that much epoxy will generate a lot of heat in that amount of space. It such cases, you add just enough to keep it safe, let it cure for a while until that stage of the cure has passed, then add more epoxy. Only mix enough epoxy that will be used right away, so if the hole is big enough that it dictates filling in stages, mix only enough for each stage or you'll be throwing epoxy away. The alternative is to wet out the hole, add a bit of thickened epoxy to take up some voids on an imperfect fit, and insert a peg made of the same wood. And very important point Todd noted above, the holes/wood must be dry.