Super Jet Project Dance-floor

[Req]

After a year of riding a waterlogged square nose with footholds in the wrong place (for me) its time to finish my other hull. I started last winter however due to convenience I rode my second hull and put it on hold over the summer. Its time to get after it.

As the title suggests I am going to glass a large tray (22" x 36"). Additionally I will be molding a full width front toe hold, I will be reinforcing the engine bay, tray area, and the pole mount area, I am also planning to do a nose fill. I am going to do a mild rocker and a 2" chop as well as shave the hood.

I started like most and drew some lines where I wanted the new gunwale to be and started cutting.

I was tired so I enlisted the help of mini-me and had a beer.

Mo better

That is all I did in 2017, next post will be this winters continuation.

 

[Req]

Here is my engine shelf at my local builder. I help out there and he is going to help me with the power plant on this ski. He is porting and polishing a 62t cylinder and cases for me with aggressive case porting and epoxy. I got 83mm Sudoco ART pistons, two choices of head (ada@37 or EngTrix@~34), Kawasaki 750 reeds, 760 electronics, and a donor 61x for the crank.

 

[Req]

Moving back to the hull. I ordered various parts that will be installed. I leaned heavily on the cold fusion sale .

CF pole mount and hood hooks

SS bow u bolts, 1/2" water strainer, CF bilge and pissers, blowsion bow eyes, Rule 360s


3x 1/2" SS tubes for pump feed and stock bilge, Kawasaki 750 throttle cable, 2.25 SS exhaust tube


US composites epoxy resin 3:1, yellow die, 1708 biax, 2oz glass, Glass spheres, Cabosil


So those are the supplies I plan on using, next post will be some fun sanding.

 

[Req]

Sanding is not fun but at least I am mostly through it. I have a few dremel bits and some sandpaper to pick up so I can finish however I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.













More to come once I have something to post. I need finish sanding the bottom of the tray for reinforcement. Once I reinforce the engine bay and the lower tray/gunwales I can start the process of laying extruded poly foam for the floor and glassing in the floor on top of that. Additionally I am doing some reconstruction on the dash and taking the center contour and extending it full width, also I am making a plug for a full width toe hold that sticks in the engine bay above the midshaft.

 

[Sanoman]

I see you live in Tennessee! What part of the state do you live

 

[Req]

I see you live in Tennessee! Where do you live?

Jackson, between Memphis and Nashville.

 

[Sanoman]

Well,we are as far apart as you can get! Going to the Daytona freeride?

 

[Req]

Well,we are as far apart as you can get! Going to the Daytona freeride?

No, but I am trying to make the spring Southern Fried Freeride.

 

[Big Kahuna]

Sanoman, will the circus be ready by SFF?

 

[Sanoman]

Maybe...

 

[Req]

So I did a little bit more sanding and removed the turf off the nose and the dash as well. I am wondering when I am supposed to stop, I keep having these little small areas of white that are lingering longer than expected even though I am sanding the piss out of them.





I also measured out how much material it will take to do one layer of reinforcement on the engine bay and lower tray and came up with just under 3 square yards for one layer. Is one layer enough for the engine bay and lower tray section?

I figured for rebuilding the tray I would need 4 layers on the tray floor as well as the gunwales, coming to 4 yards. Do I need more?

I ordered a total of 7 yards of 1708 and 1 yard of 7oz so I am thinking I am a bit low on my supply of glass. I have 2.5 gallons of resin which I suspect is enough.

If anybody has input on my glassing plans I would appreciate it. I want it to be strong however it is a lake ski that will never see the ocean, Parker Strip AZ is the most I will beat this hull up.

Thanks

 

[Req]

Just got off the phone with US composites and ordered 5 more yards of 1708 and a yard of 9oz S glass. From what I am reading on the X four layers should be enough to re-do the tray.

 

[Roseand]

Why 1708? not all is designed for use with epoxy resin(the epoxy doesn't break down the binder). Pretty sure I talked to tom21 about this year's ago and went with 12 or 17 oz biax with no mat and it was much easier to work with too.
Just looked, the US composites 1708 is compatible with epoxy but IMO I'd still highly recommend working with 17 or 12 oz biaxial with no mat.

 

[Req]

Why 1708? not all is designed for use with epoxy resin(the epoxy doesn't break down the binder). Pretty sure I talked to tom21 about this year's ago and went with 12 or 17 oz biax with no mat and it was much easier to work with too.
Just looked, the US composites 1708 is compatible with epoxy but IMO I'd still highly recommend working with 17 or 12 oz biaxial with no mat.

I guess I just rolled with the information I had at the time when I ordered my first order and never really saw conflicting info to suggest I do it otherwise. It seems many people use 1708 for the tray and engine bay, Im not saying its the best however. The guy at US. Composites suggested it pretty adamantly but there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Unfortunately the order has been filled so I will just roll with it. It may be a bit harder to wet out but strength should be pretty good from what I understand. Anyplace that will not be covered in turf or in the engine bay will be covered in 6oz or 9oz glass.

 

[Req]

So I took the plunge and chopped out part of the firewall. I am going to make it plumb with the center profile. I really dislike the shoulders left over from the irregular firewall in the gunwale area most widened superjets have.

I am going to lay some fiberglass on a piece of tempered glass, remove it, cut it to shape and rivet it to the backside of the dash, extending to the outer hull. I will then fare it in to the hull and dash and glass the joints. This should leave a dash that follows the center contour all the way to the gunwale instead of the 1" misalignment.

The green glue became malleable after about 5 minutes of love from the heat gun and I was able to drive a wedge under it and separate it. The firewall composite is pretty pooptty, it actually ripped at the thickest section when I removed it and exposed a rather resin rich short strand composite that is pitiful. I will be reinforcing the entire firewall after seeing this.














More to come...

 

[Sanoman]

Interesting on cutting out part of the bulkhead.Never have seen someone cut that area.Modify on bro!!

 

[Req]

Here is a video of the progress. If you want to hear the musings of an idiot for 5 minutes here you go. It goes over what I have already covered so no real new info.

 

[Req]

I needed some fiberglass sheet to reshape the dash as well as get my feet wet in fiberglass. I have never touched anything like this before so I wanted to make sure I tested my technique and I could inspect the cured glass thoroughly, before I start glassing the hull.

I cut a piece of foam and covered it in packaging tape. I then waxed the surface with carnuba wax and wiped it off. I mixed 8 oz of resin, wetted the surface out and layed two 12" x 15" squares of 1708, wetting each layer out thoroughly. This used about 7oz of the resin.





I will post pics of the sheet tomorrow for critique.

 

[Req]

Here is the result. The Weave side turned out about perfect in my opinion. Much less resin it would have been a bit dry, much more a waste.



The matting side was a learning experience. It is just a touch dry however I would call it acceptable. When I pre wetted out the foam I did not wet out the backside of the 1708 so most of the resin had to drive down through the weave. I should have wetted out the backside of the 1708 in addition to the surface.



I think its usable for my purposes. Additionally the plate weighed out to 13.7 oz. That means 7 oz of resin and 6.7 oz of cloth, seems about right.

 

[Lumberjack]

Wow never seen this done before. Should turn out way more AM looking than most SJ wide trays. Wish I had the time and patience for this kind of work.

Subd