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  1. #1
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    The Project Begins... 19ft Sterling Tunnel

    I took delivery of my new boat yesterday, and immediately began the process of re-rigging. I knew I was going to need to replace the transom, and although the previous owner assured me that the floor was solid, I assumed differently so I wasn't too disappointed when I found the floor to be as bad (if not worse) than the transom...

    The pics show my survey holes - I cut several 1-2" square holes with a chisel and hammer (being very careful not to go through the outer layer), and exposed what was VERY wet balsa core. (see photos).

    So, this weekend will be building a jig to set the boat on (so that it doesn't redesign itself during the rebuild), and then removing as much of the old stuff as possible.

    I will post updates. Also, anyone who sees specific errors (or want to offer encouragment), please chime in.

    -David, AxisMoto
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PicT1.jpg   Pic6.jpg  

  2. #2
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    Your resto

    Hi David,

    I live in Mesa and I am presently waiting till fall to finish the restoration of my PowerCat. (link below)

    I feel your pain, I just did a total transom, core, and deck wood replacement myself.


    Anyway I'm always looking to meet new people and watch projects. Good luck, and keep the pictures coming, maybe we could hook up some time.

    What are your plans for power?

    Jeff
    http://www.powercatboat.com/Group/JBowman/JBowman.html

    A Member in good standing of Dicksmarine, Mesa AZ. "The Land of Misfit Toys"

  3. #3
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    19ft Sterling - power setup

    Hi

    You can stop by anytime and see the progress - my shop is at I-17 and Thomas (we are a motorcycle performance and parts shop).

    I have a pair of 2.0L Mercury V6s that I'm rigging up. With proper tuning, I'll get almost 200hp per motor, so it should be real fun.

    I'm building my support jig this morning so that I can finish pulling out the floor coring. I should be able to start putting it back together tomorrow - my store is closed on Sunday and Monday, so those are the days I can get stuff done...

    -David, AxisMoto

  4. #4
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    The project..Starting to get it back together by tomorrow?

    Wiil do Dave,

    I'll keep in touch.

    Starting to get it back together by tomorrow?

    I had about 20 Hours into the grinding before I could start on my rebuild. Once the floor is up you'll need to check the core and I presume stringers, they are probably bad too. The one thing I learned is that everything took about 5 times longer than I thought it would.

    Don't rush it, doing it right pays huge dividends down the road. With 400 horses on the back there's no room for short cuts..


    Pictures. we need pictures..

    Jeff
    http://www.powercatboat.com/Group/JBowman/JBowman.html

    A Member in good standing of Dicksmarine, Mesa AZ. "The Land of Misfit Toys"

  5. #5
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    Building a cradle for it is an excellent start IMO.

    Twins should be a ball!!

  6. #6
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    Day 2 - I'm itchy, so I must be doing it right...

    The two projects for today were, first, to get the boat off of the trailer and onto a support jig. Second, remove transom core and most of the rest of the boat (leaving only outer hull).

    The motor was off, and I had already stripped the rest of the rigging and interior, so the boat was fairly light. (It should be about 600-700lbs (I think), but there are GALLONS of water "inside" this boat.

    Photos here show lifting front onto sawhorses, and a good photo of the bottom (which appears to be in great shape, with the exception of two 3" square patches - I can fix those when I redo the floor).
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails liftfront2.jpg   bottom.jpg  

  7. #7
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    Here the stern is set onto the sawhorse, and then once the trailer is pulled out, the hull is set down on a support jig. I used three 1x8s, rigged together to support the rear 15 feet of the center pod and both tunnels. I then used stacks of 2x4s to wedge into other key areas to add support, in addition to a beam across the front to support the sponson fronts.

    For those of you thinking of trying this, using two 8 foot saw horses is the MINIMUM that would have supported this boat - they were flexing pretty good, and it bent one of the sawhorse brackets (meaning it was close to failure...)
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails liftrear.jpg   rearonjig.jpg  

  8. #8
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    Transom Surgery - Initial Cuts...

    Using a circular saw, set to 1/2" cut depth, I sawed across the top and around the back edge of the transom. It had fully delaminated, and I found the entire transom plywood loose inside of the fiberglass "jacket".

    It is obvious to see where the problem was - there are several places where wood is used as core or support (as in the transom, and knees in the corner), and in places where the glass was just used around the edges to hold the wood in place, water was able to get between the wood and glass - destroying the adhesion, allowing the wood to rot. The fiberglass sheet between the wood in the transom was simply a loose stringy mess resembling cheese cloth - it had certainly long ago lost any structural support it was providing.

    Photo 1 is the transom cut, and two shows with the first fiberglass shell removed.

    More tomorrow (I have to go to work on Tuesday, so I want to try and finish all cleanup so I can glass next weekend...)

  9. #9
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    Note that I kept a cross section of the "splash well" in place - this is an effort to keep both sides of the boat in line. When I cut off the bow cover, it will be removed in sections, leaving a network of support to avoid warping and sagging. These supports will be removed as the replacement structures are finished.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails trancut3.jpg  

  10. #10
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    You might want to consider putting some sort of flotation in the brackets for the motors, with a single engine the back of the boat will be almost underwater, adding a second motor I am sure will drop the transom below the water line. Yours is a center pod model so it may float higher than BL's full tunnel model. Should be fast with twins though!!!

  11. #11
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    Flotation....

    I'm thinking about this as I decide how to put it back together.

    Right now, there are two foam blocks in the corners (maybe 1 sq ft each). When I redo it, I am putting on a taller transom (splashwell will be 12" above where it is stock), and I am moving weight (batteries, gas tank) forward. There will be a large empty section in the rear. I have thought about adding foam, but this will only help if water tries to come in - I figure an empty hull will float higher than a hull filled with foam...

    -David

    ps - I am in the middle of Day 3 - more pics tonight...

  12. #12
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    Rotten to the core... Day3

    The new issue of BoatWorks (sub publication of SAIL magazine) has an article about "wet" balsa versus "rotten" balsa. The article implied that wet balsa is not really a major problem, as if you seal it properly, it shouldn't rot (no exposure to air). Of course, at 8lbs per gallon, I don't need 10 (or 50) gallons of water as passengers...

    Photos show about 75% of the floor/core out, and the transom removed. I'm trying to decide how much I need to put back - there are several design errors (coring only on top of tunnels, corners of layer one appear to be resin only, reinforcement knees were not properly laminated into structure, etc...) so with improved techniques and materials, I should be able to make it stronger and lighter.

    I have heard recently that the overall "best" cloth is a new S-glass - as light and as strong as Kevlar, but 1/3 the price... I was going to use a layer of Kevlar laminate, and then foam the sponsons (to bring them up to the tops of the tunnels) and then covering the entire floor with 4x8 sheets of (divinycell? balsa?). I'm wondering if I even need the first laminate layer, and also how thin the 4x8 sheets can be (I'm sure 1/4 is sufficient, I'm wondering if .050 would be sufficient...)

    I'll get some better photos of the transom tomorrow...

    -David, AxisMoto
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails floor2.jpg   rotvgoodcore1.jpg  

  13. #13
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    Transom surgery...

    Here are the photos of the transom, about 90% removed. You can see the knee on one side (that was surrounded by dry rotted, delaminated wood). There were also two drainage ducts in the bottom of the sponsons (to drain under the foam knee from inside the cockpit - I'll replace these with PVC pipe (as it was made with a plywood box, which had fallen apart...)

    As soon as I get the rest of the old material removed, I'll do a mock layup with cardboard to get my lines and order of assembly straightened out before I start spreading glue...

    I'm going to replace the foam in the bottom of the sponsons and then cover the entire floor with sheets of (some synthetic coring material, haven't decided which yet...)

    My question at this time is - will the foam backed by the floor core going to be sufficient support for the hull, or should I lay some glass (or Kevlar?) over the bottom prior to adding the foam? Any guidance would be appreciated...

    The main reason that I worry about the strength, is that if you look at the sponson, they have cloth on the tops, sides, and bottom, but the corners appear to be resin only - which can't be (relatively) very strong.

    -David, AxisMoto
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails knee1.jpg   transom1.jpg  

  14. #14
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    Man, the Sterling is a cool boat, but you would think they would have spent a little more time on fiberglass layup and construction

    I wouldn't put a floor in it, just carpet the tunnels. You will want that little space in the center sponson for storage and legroom when you go boating.

    Just for comparison, my 19' Daytona had the following for hull strength

    3" thick marine plywood transom fully sealed in fiberglass
    Balsa full length on top of the tunnels
    Balsa on the bottom, forward side of the outer sponsons back to the front seats
    No balsa anywhere else
    Narrow full length stringers (1" wide by 3" tall) on top of the tunnels
    Aluminum plate on both sides of the transom
    Aluminum knees to tie the transom to the stringers.

    The fiberglass work was really nice on the Daytona as well, all of the glass work was very smooth and finished.
    Last edited by Propster; 06-13-2005 at 04:45 PM.
    1990 Cougar 25 MTR w/twin 300 PM's

  15. #15
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    Sterling Info...

    Hi
    What else do you know about the Sterling 19ft tunnel? I have only seen one other one, and that owner knew nothing.

    I haven't been able find any other references, and mine and the one above that sold on Ebay a couple weeks ago are the only two I have heard of.

    I believe I determined that the factory was somewhere in Florida, and went out of business in the early 80s, and it appears they may have made some Hydrostream copies, but other than that, I know nothing.

    Any information would be appreciated.

    Thanks
    -David, AxisMoto

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