86' supra sunsport rebuild

[Okie Boarder]

I would totally remove the stringers instead of trying to reuse the shell of the fiberglass. Do like Salty said and cut them with a sawzall blade as close to the hull as possible. If you're really nervous about getting them back in the right place, do one at a time. Cut it out, grind, clean, cut, shape, fit and bond in place, glass, then move to the next one. You have the other stringers there as reference points to get a level surface for the deck and to take measurements you might not have thought about.

I used resin sanding discs rather than flapper discs. I primarily used 24 grit IIRC.

[lively]

OB- so what do those disc mount to0? cause i think i have almost every tool known to man lol .. are those peel and stick ?

[Okie Boarder]

Just a hard plastic / rubber backer that attaches to the grinder.

[lively]

ok ill do some looking and hopefully get this foam out , i haven't ordered my resin yet due to shelf life .. i think poly is what im going to use ....

i have 38"x40' 6oz of chop strand mat / 50" x 40' wovin rovin 10 oz

and will be using douglas fir timber for wood replacement

do you think this will be suitable for the stringer and deck ?

[Okie Boarder]

I used primarily 1708 biaxial cloth for all the structure and mat/cloth combo for the deck. Salty used woven roving for his structural pieces so he can speak more to using that. I know he has mentioned before you want to use poly with woven roving. IIRC I used 50" width 1708 and I think I used a total of 25 yards, but I'd have to go back to my tracking spreadsheet to see exactly what I used,if you want the specifics.

[lively]

OB - yeah man check it out for me would ya ?!

I bought 56yrds today of stranded mat for 80$ of Craigslist !! i was doing late night shopping and found this guy local ... what would use just strande mat for , deck? or could i bond stringers with it too ...?

Hey lol i know my ?s are adding up sorry .. but for the (peanut butter mixture) do i use that for my stringers to bond to the hull ? and where else would i need that thickness at ?
Thanks a million guys!

[Okie Boarder]

OB - yeah man check it out for me would ya ?!

I bought 56yrds today of stranded mat for 80$ of Craigslist !! i was doing late night shopping and found this guy local ... what would use just strande mat for , deck? or could i bond stringers with it too ...?

Hey lol i know my ?s are adding up sorry .. but for the (peanut butter mixture) do i use that for my stringers to bond to the hull ? and where else would i need that thickness at ?
Thanks a million guys!

I'll look in the next couple days and let you know for sure. I primarily used mat for the deck. From what I recall reading about it, mat provides good strength because of the random alternating orientation of the strands, but it takes quite a bit to get a build up thickness desired. The 1708 has a biaxial cloth with mat stitched to it, so mat does serve a valid purpose.

The thickened epoxy (peanut butter) will be used any time you are wanting to bond. Stringers to hull, ribs, deck, etc. You will also want to make up a mixture that is similar to lay fillets with prior to laying the glass down.

[lively]

ok sweet , i was also told i could cut up some of the stranded mat and use the strands while mixing to make it thicker is this true ?

and to make it thicker do i use the cabosil powder ? and mix ? i mean how do i know how much to mix ? thanks for the help man it sure makes things make since

[Okie Boarder]

I used just cabosil for the bonding and about 20% cabosil and 80% glass bubbles for fillets. Basically you just mix in enough to get it the right consistency. The first couple times it will take a bit to figure out what will work. You basically want it to be thick like peanut butter or frosting. You should be able to hold it vertical on a spreading stick and mot have it "drip" off.

[Salty87]

these thoughts are not in any particular order, just some things i noticed trying to catch up

with poly, you need to lay down chopped strand mat or the cloth/woven won't wet out well. the mat acts like a sponge and holds the cloths down. the chopped mat helps with strength but not really a whole lot. it's pretty light by weight. def better than nothing.

cabosil works good in poly but keep in mind that it doesn't add strength. if anything, it weakens the resin a bit. shredded csm is much better. in reality, a combo if the 2 is best.

another method to consider is PL Premium Construction Adhesive. home depot carries it in big caulk tubes. it's probably not cheap compared to resin bought in bulk but it's convenient.

i found a local supplier of 5 gal buckets of poly, those are so much easier than 1 gal cans when you're glassing stringers or other large items. check around for industrial suppliers. i know this isn't local to you but this gives you an idea of the type of company i'm talking about....http://www.joscoproducts.com/ . that's where i got 5 gal buckets in austin.