1975 Vector pad design

[LakeFever]

I use a flat disk air grinder but it makes a huge mess of itch. I also use a 1/2” electric cheapo belt sander that works great and in the super tight places i use a vibe tool with triangle sanding pads. When you burn through take parchment paper to the outside and tape it over the hole/s. Then lay the glass and it makes for much easier work faring the exterior

[rgsauger]

And if you have a lot to remove, get the knotted wire brush for the four and a half inch grinder and it will make very quick work of moving a lot of material but is definitely not for the finish work. I found that putting a box fan in the boat with me blowing all the crap and dust away from me and outside helped a lot.

[PCS9136]

I have been using a large pedestal fan from harbor freight but a box fan in the boat is a good idea to help get some dust out of the boat while sanding. I have been making some progress but the last three feet or so will be a little more difficult. Instead of having balsa core in the rear portion it is solid resign and glass. The stringers were imbedded down in the glass. I am not sure just how far down I should take this part down. I figure I need to at least go down to below where the stringers were, but any suggestions would be appreciated. I also learned that mechanics gloves don't offer any protection on the top side of your fingers when a flap disc touches them. After losing a little blood I got some heavy leather gloves to use.
Thanks again for all the suggestions and advise so far.
I really appreciate the help.

[transomstand]

Somebody had at least a little knowledge. That area of all glass is the highest stress area in the hull. A little more beef there doesn't hurt at all, but they didn't need to make that mess. I'd just try and get as close to level with the rest of the hull as possible when removing it.

[PCS9136]

I thought I would give an update on where I am at so far. The transom came out pretty easy, it was being held together with aluminum plates on each side. Once the plates came off the rest was pretty rotten and came out without too much trouble. Though the plate on the back side of the transom ended up taking the glass off the back as well.
I ended up with a partial boxed section where the transom was, so I decided to clean that up to secure the new transom. There were some voids in the glass, so I used a small belt sander and Dremel tool to remove any loose material. I then filled that in with thickened resin and smoothed it out with resin and micro balloons. After that I added a layer of CSM and 1708. So that should be ready for the new transom now.
I would like to get some thoughts on the new transom.
The original transom was lowered in the center portion, I am guessing this was done to lower the engine to match the new pad design, however I would think the water displaced by the lower pad may not provide much additional floatation, and if a V6 is on the transom this lower portion may be an issue. I plan to use a jack plate with a small amount of set-back so I may be able to take the new transom straight across without this lower portion.
Any thoughts on how low the back of a Vector will sit with a 2.5 Merc or OMC looper?

[transomstand]

Transom height on a stock Vector is 23". Everybody jacks em up well above that with a 20" motor so going straight across should be fine. None of these boats have much freeboard at the back when at rest so any height you add should be beneficial.

[PCS9136]

Thanks for the info. I measured the transom height and going straight across should put me pretty close to 23 inches, so I am not real sure why it was cut down originally. But I agree added freeboard would be beneficial. If all goes well, I am hoping to start cutting some Coosa next week.
Thanks again for all the advice.
Phil

[PCS9136]

I thought I would provide an update on progress. It is not moving nearly as quickly as some other's but I am making some progress.
After getting down to clean glass it was time to start reconstruction. I laid down a layer of 1808 and CSM on the entire bottom.
I used Divinycell core in areas that will bellow the floor. The core was covered with another layer of 1808 and CSM.
The transom was made from 2 pieces of 1 inch Coosa with a layer of CSM in between. 1 inch Coosa was also used for the knees and stringers.
The floor was made from 1/2 Coosa. The floor is about 10 feet long so I needed to join an additional 2 feet to the floor.
I added a layer of 1808 to the bottom of the floor to help get some additional stiffness. I also cut several round holes in the floor so I could clean out the drain backs underneath. The floor was put down in thickened resign and tabbed into place with 6 inch tabbing.
After that I put down balsa core and covered the balsa and floor in 1808 and CSM.
Now I am working on getting all the wood out of the cap so that can be redone and fill all the holes that were cut in it.
Maybe it will be ready by next summer.

One question I have, when applying new gel coat will the gel coat hide the hull numbers, or will they still show through?
Thanks again for the help here and in all the other posts. Lots of good info in this forum.

[XstreamVking]

Doing nice work on it. I like your ideas! I would tape off the HIN numbers and not risk filling them in with gell, filler or paint. Some water cops can be very picky about the HIN being clear and readable.

[rock]

Nice project and your work looks good. You will end up with something to be proud of for sure.

Rock

[scott reierson]

Cool! Looks great. Thanks for posting the pictures. Love the sand bags and JD floor weights.

[LakeFever]

Looks great! Very nice material selection and placement that thing will be solid for sure. How many layers of 1708 did you lay on the transom?

[VkingMike]

I love seeing the different layups and designs people do. With glass, the possibilities are only limited by imagination.

[PCS9136]

For layup on the transom I used 1 layer of CSM to fill pores in the Coosa and blend into the hull. Then I put on two layers of 1708 with the second layer covering more of the hull then the first. Then I tabbed in the knees with 6 inch tabbing.
After that I covered the knees and transom with one more layer of 1708 extending out past the first two layers on the hull,
So in all there is 1 layer of CSM and three layers of 1708 on the transom.

The Coosa can be pretty porous. Some areas were pretty bad, but I did not use those areas on the transom.

[XstreamVking]

The knees in the center always make fuel tank placement difficult. But, I guess you have a plan for that?