86' supra sunsport rebuild

[lively]

[Blackntan90]

Great pic's, can you get a couple more straps on that? Keep up the great work!

[lively]

what is the best route to remove this foam !!!?

I also need a little guidance , on Glassing to the old , do i need to grind or sand down to a rough texture to make a more curable bonding ?

on the cross supports mine are fairly rotted , what would be a better lay out for this boat ? Im trying not to remove everything just replace whats bad , and the deck that was on here was screwed into the cross supports and some parts of the stringers when i ripped everything out
can i grind them down and glass over ?


any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED due to i have never done any of this type of work ... thank you , kyle

[sybrmike]

Congrats on reaching the point of no return! Let the fun begin...

Foam stinks (literally - especially wet foam)! I used a sharp shooter garden shovel to cut it into sections and pry out in blocks (kinda like cutting brownies out of a pan). A floor scraper worked good for cleaning up the sides of the stringers and hull bottom. Wide putty knife for the nooks and crannies. Others have used air chisels, pry bars, etc.

Yes, you need to grind & rough up any surface you're glassing. 40-80 grit flapper discs in an angle grinder work well. Messy, itchy work. You want to knock down any ridges, humps, etc so that the glass will lay down flat.

[Okie Boarder]

I used an air chisel for my foam removal. Definitely need to grind te hull to flatten, scuff and remove any material that was attached to the hull itself so you can get a good bond directly to the hull from there. I'd take out all wood and replace if I was you. You've already gone to the trouble of seperating the hull and starting to tear into it...why not replace everything?

[lively]

ha ha , man i took a sawzaw with a 4" blade and have only got maybe half a side out lol it was so hot i had to quit for the weekend , ill try that (cutting brownies trick) ....

and i was noticing that pocket of fiberglass that is in the center of the bow and where the cooler would drain down on i was vacuuming up water and it just keeps coming out so i think i have a hidden pond of some sort ...

i am using a skillsaw to rip up the floor , but how would you go about cutting around the bow ? should i leave a overhang for floor reference ?

And another thing on these cross support bracing , can i remove bad , grind , dry , and glass over the notches to totally remove them and just glass in new supports in between the inner and outer stringers ?

Thanks for all the help bud ! this is going to be a fun winter

[Salty87]

and it was only 110 degrees or so? looking good

foam is a nasty pain in the butt. use whatever you have. sawzall and floor scraper did most of mine. the hull is tough on blades.

you've got many hours of grinding ahead. flap discs work great


once the foam is gone and before you grind, wipe the hull real good with acetone to remove any grease or contaminants. you don't want to grind that into the hull and then lay new fiberglass on top of it. it will hurt your bond between old and new glass.


just saw your questions....yes, leave a lip of floor all the way around as reference of floor height. 2" should be plenty because you'll have to grind it away before you're done.

notching stringers for cross supports is a terrible design when they are encased in foam. i think they're a bad design even without foam. most of us did not notch our beautiful new stringers after rebuilding. you've gone so far as to split the boat in 2, some corners aren't worth cutting.

[lively]

OK guys so lets say i gut the stringers could i grind off one side of the glass dig the wood out and lay new pieces into the same mold ?

my thing is the motor support ? is this a bear to tackle ?

i really just want some type of reference point for the stringer to lay in cause this is all new to me .... I mean i know i can do it just wanted to be prepared ahead of time ...

[lively]

and it was only 110 degrees or so? looking good

foam is a nasty pain in the butt. use whatever you have. sawzall and floor scraper did most of mine. the hull is tough on blades.

you've got many hours of grinding ahead. flap discs work great


once the foam is gone and before you grind, wipe the hull real good with acetone to remove any grease or contaminants. you don't want to grind that into the hull

and then lay new fiberglass on top of it. it will hurt your bond between old and new glass



just saw your questions....yes, leave a lip of floor all the way around as reference of floor height. 2" should be plenty because you'll have to grind it away before you're done.

notching stringers for cross supports is a terrible design when they are encased in foam. i think they're a bad design even without foam. most of us did not notch our beautiful new stringers after rebuilding. you've gone so far as to split the boat in 2, some corners aren't worth cutting.

HA ha i almost bought these sat at homedepot , hey what type of sand paper should i used for the gelcoat? (im painting the boat )

[Salty87]

OK guys so lets say i gut the stringers could i grind off one side of the glass dig the wood out and lay new pieces into the same mold ?

my thing is the motor support ? is this a bear to tackle ?

i really just want some type of reference point for the stringer to lay in cause this is all new to me .... I mean i know i can do it just wanted to be prepared ahead of time ...

with a sawzall you can cut the stringers out mostly intact. keep them for reference. keep the lip around the edge and set strings across. make your new stringers to that height. some people have made cardboard templates of their old stringers. lots of ways to skin it.