Thread:

putting the top back onto the bottm?

So i am almost ready to reassemble the two halves of the mini boat. But I have never done this before. I have a plan in my head that i am pretty sure will work. but i thought i would ask on here to see how you guys would do it.
so let me hear the right way to glass the two halves of a boat together.

Are you talking about bonding the hull to the deck ,and if so the surface must be preped properly , and seeing that you already have a general idea on how you just might want to do this , what fabric , and resin are you thinking of using , and just how pleasing to the eye would you like it to l@@k in areas that can be seen .

want it to look good on the outside. Was thinking of setting the deck on the hull and using chop mat and resin from the inside. Once that cures then shave away mismatched and uneven sections from the outside. Then glass using cloth instead of matt. after that cures sand and use filler, then block sand to get desired finish.

like i said i have never done this before

Originally Posted by bartel

want it to look good on the outside. Was thinking of setting the deck on the hull and using chop mat and resin from the inside. Once that cures then shave away mismatched and uneven sections from the outside. Then glass using cloth instead of matt. after that cures sand and use filler, then block sand to get desired finish.

like i said i have never done this before

Bartel please understand that i am not trying to be rude but need to ask more questions , and that is.......... are you trying to bond (Glass ) the hull to the deck from the inside , and then cap it from the outside or ( glass ) it along the perimeter of the hull where it meets the deck along the mateing lib or shoebox fitting to hide the seam , and is there anyway you could please post up some pics .

Yes i can take some pics tonight. Basically this miniboat was put together with a large lip on the outside of the boat. I just had to unscrew the top from the bottom. I am guessing it was secured with some RTV of some sort. My plan is to bond (glass) the top to the bottom and to cut off this exterior lip that looks horrible. Once the two halves are bonded i plan to cap the crease from the outside and blend it into the rest of the boat so that it looks like it was never there.

It may be hard to understand without pics so i will get some up asap.







hope these help

When I did mine, I used little wood blocks and scews to fasten the top to the bottom, I did this every, approx. 12" or there abouts. Having both halves fit as close as I could get them. Then take some glass and resin and tabbed the joint together in between each block. Once it cured I pulled the blocks off and finished in between. I just used wood screws into the wood block, but I predrilled the fiberglass as I did not wanted to stress the glass. Good luck with your project.

Hey guy , my first thoughts are , & if i was you .................i would prep the hull ,and deck for bonding prior to putting the deck back on, then put the deck back on , bond (GLASS ) the inside of the hull & deck along the perimeter , let cure , trim the outside , ( as need be ) prep , and reglass for caping . Just curious , how old is that boat ?

no clue on the age but i would guess 1980 ish. I think the company that made it used to be called C Jet or something of the sort but went out of business in the early 80s.

your idea is on the same line as mine. I am going to prep all surfaces on the inside. then screw the top and bottom together using that ugly ass lip around the outside. then when it all cures from the inside i will cut and grind away the lip and then fill and glass the outside till i get the desired finish.

Originally Posted by bartel

no clue on the age but i would guess 1980 ish. I think the company that made it used to be called C Jet or something of the sort but went out of business in the early 80s.

your idea is on the same line as mine. I am going to prep all surfaces on the inside. then screw the top and bottom together using that ugly ass lip around the outside. then when it all cures from the inside i will cut and grind away the lip and then fill and glass the outside till i get the desired finish.

Cool , and just a quick mention ,and that is ..........i would fill all voids with a putty made from Cabosil and resin prior to layup when bonding your hull to the deck so your fabric has something to roll into other then a gap or do it as you go along wet on wet , and have you given much thought to what type of fabric you are going to use when bonding the hull to the deck , and what type of resin .

what ever type of resin they sell at the home depot. and i will probably use both chop mat and weave.

do you have any other suggestions