Next Project- 1972 Vampire FJ boat restoration thread.....

[Dave S]

Yes..... just needs a Rude ................. heehee...............

[Tom Smyth]

not even if you gave me one...……..

[Tom Smyth]

structural work done on the underside of the deck. time to flip it over and start on the topside......

[Tom Smyth]

deck flipped over. few pics to show what it looks like before....

[Tom Smyth]

here are th epics....

[Tom Smyth]

this deck has its own set of unique issues. it was built as a race hull and the deck is so think it is scary to grind to reinforce and fill holes. Lots of spider cracks that are ground down as thin as I dare go, then filled with epoxy filler. Also have had a reinforcement layer applied on the underside to these areas for added strength. had to rebuild seveal areas onn the corners of th edeck as well. Deck weighs less than 100 pounds. Two people can run around the back yard with it.....A good multiple coat of epoxy primer and finish coats of Awl Craft 2000 should keep them from re appearing. a few pics of some of the holes that have been filled and almost time for a primer coat to show up all the bubbles and voids I missed..GREAT glassing weather down here, nice and HOT.....

[Tom Smyth]

Last major area to address on the deck is rebuilding the transom up to original height. As you can see it was cut down to set the prop shaft height at 5 inches BELOW the bottom of the hull for FS Class? I may be wrong on that class designation. Only halfway thick part of the entire deck... have to build a wood template to clamp in place and then lay in some layers of biaxial. Oh and lots of holes as you can see......

[noli]

.


checkout that woven roving, my Hydrostream has the same

but these boats are still around , aren't they





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[Tom Smyth]

cut a wood block to act as a mold for the transom cut out. Laid in 2 layers of 1708 on the sides and 4 layers on the top, overlapping top and bottom side. All clamped with wood front, back and top to try and make this into a transom shape again. will see how this works out tomorrow.... am sure there will be more work to be done here, but getting a good core is important.

[Tom Smyth]

after molding....

[Tom Smyth]

transom filling and sanding completed. hope to shot the preliminary primer coat in a day or two....

[Tom Smyth]

First Primer coat where all the blemishes jump out and say" you missed me !!! "

[Tom Smyth]

wellit is white again. Complete with Florida bugs in it.. oh well....gotta love florida the bugshine state

[W2F a V-King]

Sure looks good!

Bug or not !!

[Tom Smyth]

Test fit of the deck back onto the hull. Established position and fabricated the seat box. Almost look slike a boat again.