Ryan's 2001 Round Nose Build (Warning lots of pics)

[Ryan_G]

I decided to build up a RN hull for the surf. My SN is starting to crack up a bit.

I Got this 2001 round nose hull to start with. She is a little rough, but I see potential.
This will be my first attempt to do any fiberglass work. I was also thinking of painting it myself.

Here Are some pictures after I cleaned it up. I scrubbed the inside with ajax and steel wool. I also used a 3M eraser wheel to clean off some of the ugly green turf remnants.

 

[Ryan_G]

It was then time to start the real dirty work "defoaming." I decided to just go ahead and cut the whole tray out so that I could easily reinforce the inside.

Once opened up I found wet foam as I suspected.

What I didnt expect is to find the mess that I did. I was also surprised at how much foam was in there. It completely filled my 55 gal. garbage can. This was a very tedious job that left me quite itchy for almost 2 days.

 

[Ryan_G]

Next I flipped the ski over and started prepping the bottom for fiberglass. "Notice someones attempt to smooth in the tubbies." I removed the front exhaust and ground out a pretty big area around it. I followed the instructions from the west systems site for patching a hole. I made it pretty thin on the inside edges. I also prepared the nose lip area for reinforcement.

When defoaming I found an extremely bad fiberglass job under the exhaust tube. Someone tried to patch a hole in the rear chine. I was able to pull up almost all the glass by hand. I sanded all the old stuff off to attempt to properly fix it.

 

[Ryan_G]

I found a crack on the bottom of my hull. I started picking at it to remove the old/bad material and this is what I was left with.

Then, I sanded it down to get it ready for glass.

This was my first time laying fiberglass. I think it came out pretty good. It was relatively simple because it was a flat surface.I laid 2 layers of 12 oz biax.

Next, the glass was laid on the nose area and filled the old front exhaust hole.

 

[tightithrash]

looks good, thats a good hull to start with other than some glass work. already got tubbies and foot holds.just needs some straps. cool deal.

 

[Ryan_G]

The next step was the long annoying step of prepping the inside for reinforcement. I sanded everything that was going to be getting glass. I also ground out as much green glue from the bond line as possible. Some of the tight spots and corners were a PITA. I also preped the handle pole bracket area for reinforcement. and filled the voids with foam.

The next step was to fill the area that was cut out for a dry pipe. I got it all roughed up and cleaned so that it was ready to be filled. Next I taped a piece of pealply along where I wanted to fill. I used pieces of cardboard to hold the shape I was looking for. I then filled it with a mixture of chopped strand and cabosil.

 

[FyrHazard]

Cool Post. It's neat to see an old beater come back to life!

 

[MADMAT]

Great thread!

 

[turbofab]

lookin good and good job on your first fiberglass job

 

[stredman]

Nice looking work... thanks for all the detail!

 

[tipafew]

Looks good.....Keep going!!!!

 

[Ryan_G]

Next I hung the ski upside down so that I could work in the nose area. I reinforced the handle pole bracket area with 3 layers of 12 oz nytex biaxle. I started the nose reinforcement by laying a layer of 12 oz over a damaged area in the nose. I also filled the voids in the nose with a paste made from epoxy resin and cabisil. I also added some of the paste to the front exhaust area to prevent air bubbles when reinforcing it from the inside. I then laid layers of 12 oz over the filler while it was still wet. I'm not sure how many, probably enough so that the main nose area has 3-4 layers)

Once that dried I mixed up another batch of filler. This time I used equal parts cabosil and microbaloons. I used this filler to fill under the hood seal area. I then added 2 layers of 12 oz over it while it was wet. I also did a little reinforcement on the hood latch area.

 

[Ryan_G]

Now the fun part....

I used Flash-FX's advice in this thread (http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/50756&highlight) to do my hull reinforcement. The temporary fabric hold spray is a lifesaver! I was also very pleased with the results of the masking tape template. I was able to find some cheap 4in wide masking tape from Harbor Freight that worked really well. So a HUGE thanks to Flash-FX!

I Started by making a masking tape template of the inside bottom of the hull. I then transfered it to some 12 oz. biax. The fabric spray helps with cloth as well as carbon. I then laid it in the hull using a gray resin die. I am very happy with how it turned out.

Once that dried I made another filler mixture of cabisil and microbaloons. I put the ski on its side and filled the bond line. With it still wet I laid 2 layers of 12 oz from the nose to the bulkhead. I also laid a third layer of 12 oz under the hood seal area by the handle pole bracket. My idea behind this was to tie the handlepole bracket reinforcement and hood seal lip reinforcement all together with the side reinforcement. And finely I laid a layer of 5 oz carbon over it all just for looks. I also went around the edges with a carbon tape so that it looked nice and clean.

Then I flipped it over and did the same on the other side. The tape templates are nice for the sides because you do not have to make 2.

 

[Ryan_G]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I need to get off this computer so I can get back to work on the ski.:beerchug:

 

[BruceSki]

really nice job and attention to detail for your first fiberglass job.

ive done a few fiberglass projects before and i don't think my stuff comes out as clean as yours looks.

 

[wydopen]

nice work..looks really good

 

[750SX]

nice work! It doesn't look like it was your first time.

 

[WILKEY]

nicely done

 

[oxnard111]

Wow I had no idea it was that beat when you picked it up from us... You have done a really really good job. Internal glass work looks killer. A++++

 

[Kennay]

Looking good so far dude. Don't get slack now