1970 20ft SF Rebuild

[Kithogue]

Cool- thanks for the heads up. For the time being we are planning on going topless. If we do add pipework, we were thinking it could mount on the rod holder boxes.

That livewell we built into the console is from Fast Marine Products in Miami. Roomtomove threw the livewell and a leaning post (birdsall mini) on the boat when moving it north for the summer. Free shipping!! He normally stops in Charleston too...haha

We are really happy with the design, originally we didn't want to go as wide at the base but need the width to catch the rigging tubes rather than cutting through the stringer. The only place the original stringers were cracked was on the rigging cut out.

Final dimensions:
Base
Width 36" including rod holder. 30" above rod holders tapered to 28"
Height- 47"
Took most off the angles off the original console.

Cheers

[Kithogue]

Originally we wanted a leaning post livewell but with the limited space aft on these boats and the weight concerns with 4 stroke power we decided to integrate the livewell into the console. The round edges of the livewell make it nice for walking around compared to the original console.

The livewell is from Fast Marine Products in Miami it holds 30 gals. I think it ran us around $600.

We considered using the original console but it seemed easier to start fresh. We kept most of the angles off original just shrunk it in width and added some height to it. For the most part its made out of scrap 3/4" and 1/2 coosa". One pannel is made out of 1/2 marine ply because that's all we had left. Most of the wood ended up getting cut out for an access hatch. Some nice little details we added were the toe-kick at the helm, rod holders off the side, also planning on small storage hatch/tackle station above the livewell. One think I hate on our 23' is how the rigging comes through the floor in the middle of the console, it kills a lot of space. If we measured correctly.... The rigging tubes on this will come up on the aft corners of the rod holder bump outs, hopefully this helps maximize useful space under the console. Planning on batteries and then anything else that will fit.

Inside of panels laminated with 1 layer of 1708. Outside of panels laminated in 1 layer of 1708 and 1 layer of CSM. Next we tacked it together and tabbed everything from the inside, weight bearing seams with 2 layers 1708 and all other seams with a single layer of 1708. All the panels from the outside were tabbed with CSM. We cut off the back panel of the livewell so we have complete access to all the fittings from the inside.

So far we got one layer of polyfair on it. Pretty excited with how it came out.

[Old'sCool]

I may contract you to build me one of those

[Kithogue]

Originally Posted by Old'sCool

I may contract you to build me one of those

Wish I could pop a mold haha

[wattaway2]

Think your going to love it ! Looks very similar to mine in shape and size . I have a tapered seat instead of the live well in front but like yours it gives you just that lil bit more room up front getting around the console.

[Kithogue]

Finally going to address the remaining glass work on the topside of the cap. Need to finish laminating the exposed foam/coosa. I sanded some of the existing gelcoat back and will tie in 2-3 layers of 1708 covering the core material and blending it onto the existing glass.

There are some stress cracks on the STBD side close to the outside edge by the rub rail. After I sanded the gelcoat off it really didn't really look like much, the cracks were almost unnoticeable. I'm not sure my new glass will tie in that close to the outside edge. Wondering if i need to make a couple extra spot repairs.

How should fix the stress cracks? do they need to be ground out and glassed to keep them from showing again? Or is it fine to just fair and paint over them?

Also, are people adding glass around the outside edge of the cap to build up where the rub rail fastens? or just filling the holes good enough?

Thanks

[uncleboo]

I always read/heard you need to grind till the crack is gone or it will return. You guys are doing a helluva job!

[dirtwheelsfl]

The cracks are probably mostly in the gelcoat. Absolutely need to sand that off at the least. In the grand scheme though its not much more work to take all the gel off and do a layer of glass over the whole cap, doesnt really matter what flavor. Dont want any surprises popping thru final paint!

[Kithogue]

Haven't posted in awhile but we have made some good progress. Ill add some pics soon.

All the interior fiberglass work is complete. Exterior is complete as well minus some gel coat repairs we need to address on the hull.

I got a couple questions on finish work.

1. How do you get rid of the small imperfections in fairing? mostly the pin holes that don't seem to go away.

2. On the exterior hull there are lots of scratches in the gelcoat from lures ect.. Do these need to be ground out to glass and filled with fairing?

3. What size through holes you guys drilling through the transom for self bailing deck. We are thinking 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" opening

Planning to have interior/exterior sprayed with high build, primer and paint.

Cheers
Ryan

[strick]

Thanks for the up date. Your pin holes should go away during the primer stages. Scratches in the gel coat don’t need to be ground down to glass but spider cracks do. Thru hulls sizes are about right.

Strick