1980 Allison rs-16 questions

[loop]

So is the core still good?

[Chingadera]

Yeah hopefully it will still run good. I laid up the first section of gunwale rise. I cut it down the gunwale leaving me enough to glass to and raised it on a little taper. I raised it 4-5/8" at the transom and 4--3/8 midship down to a few inches up front. I didn't mathematically calculate anything I just looked and my bass boats, measured some skiffs here at a few dealers and looked at a few videos and photos of 15' model Allisons sitting in the water. I just wanted a little more height to deal with waves and help hold my fat rear in the boat. I just kept setting it up until it looked right and gave me what I wanted. The walls are extremely thin. I will be adding strength I'm sure with the 1708. The walls look to be of csm and finishing clothe only (light weight roven woving). I'll add some sponsons like the bass boats have and angle them to help with back wash when stopping. So far so good and she still looks great!

[Chingadera]

So is the core still good?

Yes the core is good except port side rear under the floatation box I found where the laminate had cracked creating a bad spot of core in that corner. I've got it cut out and I'll be making a repair to it. I haven't pulled up the floor yet but hopefully I won't find anymore gems of rot under the rotted flooring.

[Chingadera]

Well here are a few pics of the added gunwale height. I'm almost done with the starboard side. I am using a 1/8" thick sheet of aluminum about 5' long for a backing mold. So far it's come out well. I wish I had a longer scrap backer but I'm thinking the shorter piece has actually helped me maintain the wall shape and curve. I tapered it down at the front because the front running normally up and slightly up at rest. Also after mock up I realized I would have had a hell of a time reshaping the nose and I liked the factory line on it so I choose to taper it to minimize work on the nose and give me the height I wanted. It will minimally change the look of the hull. I am debating on adding small sponsons to help float the rear at rest. Also debating on how to build the sponsons. I could shape some foam and glass it on is my best bet I think. I want the added floatation but I want to try and fallow the lines and not make the boat look like a freak. I lucked out as a guy working with my dad gave him an American tank manufacturing 25 gallon aluminum fuel tank. It looks like it's a perfect size and at worst I may need to replace the sending unit as the tank looks to be in good shape. Sorry about the night photos but it's already in the high 80's at night here and it helps me with working time with the glass and keeps me out of the hot burning sun.

[loop]

looking good
i would consider cutting that gas tank down to about 15gallons. Even a 20' xb2002 only carries 24 gal. Would save you space and weight and that boat will get outstanding mileage anyway.

[Chingadera]

looking good
i would consider cutting that gas tank down to about 15gallons. Even a 20' xb2002 only carries 24 gal. Would save you space and weight and that boat will get outstanding mileage anyway.

Yeah dad mentioned the same thing about the tank. I'm going to see how it fits and if I have to I will cut it down. I don't want to have to take it to town for steam cleaning and sniff test just to cut and weld on it. (I just got done building a 210gal tank for my 26' robalo so I'm tired of welding fuel tank lol) if It fits nicely I may just leave it alone and not fill it up when I take it out. I won't be able to decide until I get my decks laid out and console and see where I want it.

[BarryStrawn]

Are you planning to put the original deck back on or just building from scratch?

[Chingadera]

Are you planning to put the original deck back on or just building from scratch?

Build from scratch, no use for the factory cap.

[tunnels]

Build from scratch, no use for the factory cap.

before you chop the old deck up put it to one side !!there could be parts of shapes there that are quite usable and could be grafted into your new deck and save hours of recreating !!
My old aft end DECK and transom and I saved and used parts of the old splash well corners and grafted a part of it back into my new deck ! saved hours of work

[Chingadera]

before you chop the old deck up put it to one side !!there could be parts of shapes there that are quite usable and could be grafted into your new deck and save hours of recreating !!
My old aft end DECK and transom and I saved and used parts of the old splash well corners and grafted a part of it back into my new deck ! saved hours of work

yeah I won't be chopping it up. I like the way it looks it's just not set up to stand on. I will either use it as a shop decoration or maybe sell it (not sure how much demand there is for an old cap) I will take another look and see if I can use any of it.

[Chingadera]

Well the weather isn't getting any cooler so I elected to pour my Arjay 6011 transom tonight. Everything went great! I got a 5 gallon kit and it was perfect. I got the 5 gallon kit for 200.00 bucks free shipping on eBay. By the time I priced marine ply and figured resin and materials it wasn't enough to justify not going composite. I had also looked into coosa blue water 26 after watching an episode of ship shape tv lol, that was a joke they wanted like 800 bucks for the sheet plus paying for it to be cut and shipping. That's what we call down here a crock of ****. I used a sheet of aluminum and layed up a backing skin then trimmed it to fit and glassed it in between some penski board kickers from some scrap pieces Kevin over at Fibertex sold me (he's always helped me) creating a pour cavity surrounded by fresh glass. I was an Arjay virgin as it was my first time but working with it was basically the same as carbon/nidacore imo. I'm not so sure it isn't the exact same stuff. I've also finished adding the wall height and blending the nose. I have emailed Darris at Allison to ask his opinion on adding angular spohnsons vs just leaving the transom flat. That's the only thing left for me to iron out with the hull. Then it's out with the floor, new stringers and deck and finally some finish work.

[XstreamVking]

Did that stuff put out a lot of heat doing it in one pour?

[Chingadera]

Honestly I have no idea, I poured it and walked away after a few minutes of tapping on it to work out any air bubbles and get it settled. I can say when I poured my 26' robalo transom it took three or four pails of nidacore which I poured all at once and it wasn't to bad. It felt pretty warm but nothing crazy.

[capt bart]

Pretty cool , man !!!! She's looking good . I like how you cut the hull sides to give yourself a little more desperately needed freeboard aft . At this rate you're going to be scootin' around in no time . capt bart

[Chingadera]

Thanks capt bart! I had never had this one in te water but looking at pics and videos of them with big v6-v4 engine I couldn't picture it working out well in any waves with me loaded up in it. Now I don't feel so bad about putting a v6 on her. I'll take some daytime pics soon when I get to the finish work. It's already so hot here that I have to work at night or build me a shade canopy and I'm to lazy to do that lol.