Don, I feel bad for Kirk and Mike at Wooden Runabout Company.
Well...I don't really. I'm not all that bad. But I did approach them with very specific goals on this project. My barrelback project is a gray boat in every way. It will need most, if not all, of its wood replaced.
The Gar was a different story. It was extremely straight and tight, the result of nearly ideal storage for 35 years. When it was being used back in the 30s-60s, I suspect it was used just as it was intended, as a Sportsman's boat. I think it saw a lot of action fishing, hunting, exploring Mississippi River back waters, and...hitting stuff.
The keel was cracked laterally, the bottom had holes in it patched with metals patches, the engine was hanging from two mounts...both on one side.
Other than the obvious problems though, the boat was amazingly original and sound...underneath all of the gunk, raccoon poop, etc.
After I got it cleaned out, most of the rot seemed to be in pretty isolated areas...and the usual ones at that...up front in the forefoot, and to the stern, where transom meets bottom.
As for the rebuild method, new outer planking was a given, as was inner. New bottom frames were needed on about half of the bottom frames. A couple bottom frames were repaired. This was desired, rather than wholesale wood replacement.
The chines were removed. I was prepared to replace them, but I was encouraged by those who do this for a living (Kirk and Mike) that the originals were just fine. The rot was isolated to the transom ends. With some clean up, and a new section with ample scarf, the chines were brought back to life.
A new keel was needed as the existing keel had the crack and some rot issues.
Once everything was cleaned, degreased, CPESed, and so on, new inner bottom was cut. My wish was to have the inner bottom look exactly as the original, that is with full thickness philippine planks laid a t 45-degree angle to the keel. The inner planking was CPESed, and bedded in 5200 just as one would on a plywood inner bottom.
The Purist in me wants an original bottom. The bill paying, side of me wants a bottom that will hold up for a heckofa long time. So, instead of cotton canvas, I have 5200 and CPES, neither of which will be visible on the finished product. I personally like this method. It is more work than plywood, as the planks all have to be dry fit, CPESed, bedded, edge glued with 5200 and so on. On top of that, there is a lot more time spent underneath the hull cleaning up the 5200 spooge on the inside. I have seen lots of 5200 bottoms where this excess 5200 is left in place. I hate that. The time to clean this stuff up is when is before it sets. It takes more time, but the job looks like original construction when done.
The inner planking was clamped, and screwed with temporary screws and fender washers, and left to cure for a week. Once the bottom had time to properly mellow, the temporary screws were removed, the outer surface lightly faired, and then CPESed again, to ready it for outer planking.
Oh, and one more condition, I laid on the Wooden Runabout guys...lots of pictures. In fact, I set up an ftp area on our web server where they dump about 100 photos a week. I know their every move! To the newer members here on this forum, this type of documentation is really the only way to fly, and it has been made relatively simple by digital cameras, email, and web servers.
Every time I am asked for a progress payment, I know exactly where the project stands.
Here are a few shots from earlier in the week:
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