1963? Hydrodyne custome deluxe 1700 restoration thread

Hi Brian:

My 1973 (co-owned) and 1975 18 i/o's had foam under the bowand gunnels of the topdeck, and under the floor. the 75 never took on water in the 16 years I owned it plus the 23 prior because it was trailered and garrage kept. The 73 was kept under cover outside by the co-owner and do not know what the status was toward the end. I would not foam beneath the floor but would do the foredeck and beneath the gunnels for the reasons stated by you. Its a bad day if you have to figure out how to get a boat off the bottom of the lake.

My 1985 20 i/o has the same foam under the foredeck and under the gunnels but not onder the raised floor when I replaced it a couple years ago. Ab Jr. must have figured out that too much of a good thing can sometimes be a bad thing with regard to under the floor foam.

Kevin-

 

Wow, how cool and close. Lets see, north of Huntington is Columbia City, my town! I am familiar with Huntington and the drive down 9 to get there. Will definitely have to look you up, would be a big help.

Haven't done much, been swamped with summer work, camping and Foster care has us with 8 - 9 kids right now. So yeah, not much has happened...... Need to get the transom in here soon. Will drop you a note, thanks for posting your contact info.

 

That is exactly what Ab Jr. told me years ago. Under floor foam absorbed water over time.

jim

 

Richard, trying to contact you.....

 

Been awhile since I posted, but getting back to work on the boat. Got it out of my garage and into the shop to do some glass work on transom. First off, the wood was all stripped out, scraped and the transom sanded on the inside. For the new transom I used two sheets of 3/4" plywood, the good stuff that has a bunch of fine layers. Very dense. First off we coated the new wood with polyester resin and let it cure.

On these old boats, there was a slight step on the inside where the top of the hull meets the bottom of the hull. The topside is about 1/16" further out than the lower half. So the first thing we did was apply two layers of 1.5 oz mat to the lower part to help fill this in. Then we put on a layer of woven roving and then another layer of woven roving that went from the floor to the top of the transom. A nice wet layup was done hoping to aid a good adhesion from the squish.

After the glass was wet, cabosil was mixed in with the resin and good layer of the slurry was rolled out all over the fresh glass. The 6" roller did a great job of spreading this out. The first layer of wood was then installed after the aft surface had been wetted down with resin. Holes had been pre-drilled at all the through hull bolts and fittings. At these locations, 3/8" bolts were passed through and used to pull the new plywood into the original glass transom. I was nervous, but it worked really well. As it was squished, plenty of resin came out of everywhere! Air bubbles first, then the slurry mixture and after that resin weeped for over an hour.

The next day, the bolts were removed and the holes sealed with new resin. A layer of 1.5 oz mat was applied over the installed wood piece and the second 3/4" piece of ply was installed and screwed to the first piece. Again, lots of squish and resin oozing out so it was a good bond. More slurry was mixed up and the area between the wood transom and the hull was filled in and glassed over. After that cured two layers of woven roving were applied over the whole transom assembly including the previous tabbing into the hull. This is the same layup that offshore boats have done when the transom is replaced, so this thing is plenty strong for the 130 HP that is going in it! I have a few pictures and need to get them posted soon.

 

I also did quite a bit of work on the trailer also. The trailer is pretty old, but the axle is good and it has new tires on it. The fenders were old aluminum sheet metal and had to go! The trailer was also a sky blue color and had lots of rust. So I removed the axle / suspension assembly, wire wheeled and scraped the trailer frame to prep for paint. A coat of POR15 to seal the rust and a couple coats of gloss black paint really changed the way it looked. I removed the rollers from the trailer and converted it to a tilting bunk design using the original mounts for the roller assemblies. Some 2x8's and carpet brought the boat rest up to new standards. I removed the old rusted out crank and installed a new nylon winch that I had. Some LED lights and a folding trailer tongue kit rounded out the package. All I have to do now on the trailer is finish up the new fender mounts and install them. But that has to wait a bit as the boat is currently upside down on the trailer as the bottom is patched up. Pics to follow.

 

We used three fork lifts to flip the hull. A bit overkill, but it made it easy. Pick the boat up using three straps and move the trailer. Then drop one rear corner until it was sideways. Move that lift to the opposite side and pick that corner back up, inverting the hull. Some skids 2x6's and foam padding allowed the hull to sit back on the trailer.

Two things being down now. First the bottom of the hull was attacked with a 7" sander to remove any sign of loose gelcoat. The port side of the boat had been re-gelled at some point, but had a lot of water blister damage. So much of it was ground down to the glass. It will be filled and sanded smooth, then coated with an epoxy two part sealer paint. Going with a total boat product here for this, as it is designed to be a barrier coat for the bottom of boats. After that, the bottom will be rolled and tipped in a white one part paint. Not the best, but I want a gloss finish, something easy and it will be a trailer boat, no dockage.

Also while upside down some of the balsa coring in the deck will be repaired. I had cut out part of the roving covering the balsa when I found some wet areas and rot damage. So all that is being redone.

Getting the transom done was a big step for me. I still have to drill / cut the rest of the items out, but I am making progress again. pics to follow again.....

 

Nice report, thanks. I am liking what I read. I like the mods to the trailer. I don't care for roller bunks.

jim

 

These two pictures show the transom wood pieces being coated in resin prior to glassing into the hull. Notice I notched around the brass drain plug. Once installed, these cavities were filled with a slurry mixture and glassed over. I did not want the drain plug close to the wood, so made sure there was a gap between them. The wood in the transom is about 10 or 11 layers of wood in that ply, pretty stout stuff.

The transom was also fixed where the upper and lower halves match up. I had noticed that they were loose, and the top hull section was sagging and hanging about 3/16" down. I was able to pull it back into place and glass that seam back together. Everything was through bolted to secure it or clamped where the outdrive hole was. Resin was also poured in behind the transom until it flowed out of the bolt holes. I am hoping this thing never comes back apart!