79 Howard resto

[nrbr]

Let see if I can navigate the new page correctly lol. My uncle gave this 79 Howard complete . We ran it a few times and it had some leaks and handling issues. Turns out there is some delamination on floors and stringers. Since its been in the fam for awhile we made the decision to fix it. To date we removed the bolt on strut and replaced with a stainless drop thru from Bergeron. All new car plates, fancy turnbuckles ect and made a new bus bar. The bottom had been drilled and injected with west systems, 2 gallons so far. Now we pick up on pics I have with preparing to cut and peel the glass off stringers and cut /replace all bulkheads

 

[ElAzul]

Cool! Any pics of the whole boat? What power?

 

[nrbr]

Cool! Any pics of the whole boat? What power?

I'l have to find Some! Power is BBC 496 tunnel ram 2 650's . Had a velvet drive that is currently for sale to fund a whirlaway

 

[J.P.]

Are those clean outs for the gas tanks, if so that sounds like a good idea to have.

 

[nrbr]

 

[nrbr]

View attachment 602621 View attachment 602622 View attachment 602625 View attachment 602626

Got time to cut on the Howard today. All bulkheads out and one stringer. Few hours of grinding then I'll go buy a clear 18' 2x8 and stick it back in

 

[nrbr]

Plywood was delaminated inside of itself so it is gone. Another day of detail grinding then I'll begin milling the stringer(s) and procure some end grain balsa wood to replace plywood. Also a shit ton of resin.

 

[nrbr]

Forgot to mention I'm doing only half of the boat at a time so it retains its shape during the rebuild

 

[nrbr]

Are those clean outs for the gas tanks, if so that sounds like a good idea to have.

They are! Tanks are going in the trash though as there are to many things wrong with them to save

 

[nrbr]

Nothing to exciting but got a lot done today. Ready for a stringer

 

[HydroSkreamin]

Keep at it, man! Half the battle is getting out there and digging in. You’re doing it!

Following your progress.

 

[nrbr]

Got the balsa , mat, cloth, resin , acetone , and buckets today. Made a jig to hold transom . After work tomorrow (hopefully) I'll fill in chines and strakes where west systems didn' t make it in with fiberglass. Then balsa over the top

 

[nrbr]

Reason I'm filling the drop chines is because I'm going to grind them off when I flip it back over

 

[Maestro]

Nrbr check your pm

 

[Headless hula]

I can smell the glass dust from cheeseland. I do not miss that shit.
Keep after it. Lookin good.

 

[nrbr]

Chines and strakes filled today! After properly jigging boat. Gotta try and grab some 1708 after work Monday and see if I can get the balsa down on this half. I had got a roll of 3 oz but we changed our minds today and decided 1708 would be better for a boat like this

 

[nrbr]

Nrbr check your pm

10 4 let me see if I can figure out how

 

[nrbr]

Pit down a layer of 1708 then 3 oz mat and finally some balsa!! We are debating on putting 1708 on top as well before the cloth. Either way well put one layup then begin the stringer.

 

[lenmann]

The balsa looks great!

So, the stringer gets laminated in place on top of the balsa core? Looking back at your earlier pics it looks like the original stringer was laminated over the plywood core so if the balsa is replacing the ply then the stringer would go on top. I didn't think balsa had great compressive strength, or at least not as much as plywood. All the other stringer replacements I have seen were bonded directly to the fiberglass hull and balsa laid around them. Then again what I know about boat construction has been learned here on RDP...

 

[cofooter]

The balsa looks great!

So, the stringer gets laminated in place on top of the balsa core? Looking back at your earlier pics it looks like the original stringer was laminated over the plywood core so if the balsa is replacing the ply then the stringer would go on top. I didn't think balsa had great compressive strength, or at least not as much as plywood. All the other stringer replacements I have seen were bonded directly to the fiberglass hull and balsa laid around them. Then again what I know about boat construction has been learned here on RDP...

Several manufactures did stringers over plywood back in the day (Sanger being one big one). Others bonded the stringer directly to the hull. I have also not seen stringers over balsa but not sure why that would not work as well. It is end grain balsa, so much more compressive strength than if it were flat grain. Looking forward to following the re-build, just tore into my Sanger this week to do the same thing.

 

[cofooter]

Several manufactures did stringers over plywood back in the day (Sanger being one big one). Others bonded the stringer directly to the hull. I have also not seen stringers over balsa but not sure why that would not work as well. It is end grain balsa, so much more compressive strength than if it were flat grain. Looking forward to following the re-build, just tore into my Sanger this week to do the same thing.

Just saw this, looks like stringers over Balsa. Mako boats.

 

[vdcruiser]

Nice work, is this a 19' Howard/Schiada ?

 

[nrbr]

Nice work, is this a 19' Howard/Schiada ?

Thank you it' a 20' Howard 1979

 

[nrbr]

The balsa looks great!

So, the stringer gets laminated in place on top of the balsa core? Looking back at your earlier pics it looks like the original stringer was laminated over the plywood core so if the balsa is replacing the ply then the stringer would go on top. I didn't think balsa had great compressive strength, or at least not as much as plywood. All the other stringer replacements I have seen were bonded directly to the fiberglass hull and balsa laid around them. Then again what I know about boat construction has been learned here on RDP...

The reason we decided to lay the stringers over the balsa (after it gets layups on either side of balsa) is to prevent "stringer transfer " . Basically the stringer trying to push the thin skin of what was left of the hull down. It' the first time I've done it in a pleasure boat. The canary flatbottoms are built this way as well.

 

[nrbr]

10 oz of material layed in and ill go searching for stringer wood next!

 

[cofooter]

Nice work, is that epoxy or poly? That 1708 is great to work with. Looking forward to seeing your progress, my project is right behind you.

 

[nrbr]

Nice work, is that epoxy or poly? That 1708 is great to work with. Looking forward to seeing your progress, my project is right behind you.

Started with vinylester and switched to poly at the suggestion of local supply house. They say vinyl is overkill and waste of money for this project. It's 130$ more per pail which was enough for me

 

[vdcruiser]

I used some 1708 on my 21' Howard and had a hard time getting it saturated properly,I could still see the cloth. How did you get all of that resin down without it kicking off ?
I like the 20'ers, a buddy of mine had a flat deck and a cruiser deck. Why did you want to delete the dropped chines?

 

[nrbr]

1st stringer is down!! 2 layers of 3 oz saturated pretty good. I'll tab both sides before work tomorrow then wrap/tab 1708 over stringers and into balsa after work

 

[nrbr]

I used some 1708 on my 21' Howard and had a hard time getting it saturated properly,I could still see the cloth. How did you get all of that resin down without it kicking off ?
I like the 20'ers, a buddy of mine had a flat deck and a cruiser deck. Why did you want to delete the dropped chines?

I slowed resin down pretty good and used a metal roller to push air out. Followed with a hot batch to set it all off. My reasoning for chopping drop chines off is they are a "trip hazard " or will try to make boat spin out or worse in high speed turn. my personal opinion though not fact . Either way they'e gone shortly

 

[nrbr]

Stringers done and decided to put another mat and cloth over balsa.... interesting to note that the balsa that had just the 1708 wrapped over it off stringer cleared out nicer then the double mat cloth side. I would've hought the opposite

 

[lenmann]

Wow, looks great.

Are you pre-wetting the back of the 1708 with resin before you lay it or just putting it down in a layer of resin on the balsa and wetting from the top?

 

[nrbr]

Wow, looks great.

Are you pre-wetting the back of the 1708 with resin before you lay it or just putting it down in a layer of resin on the balsa and wetting from the top?

If the piece can be turned over easily while wet I prefer to soak the back but big ones I just brush it in and steel roller/squeegee the air out

 

[cofooter]

Looking good, so you tabbed the stringers with? And then one layer of 1708 over stinger and floor? Any more, or are you done with that side?

 

[nrbr]

Looking good, so you tabbed the stringers with? And then one layer of 1708 over stinger and floor? Any more, or are you done with that side?

Tabbed with 3oz then wrapped with 1708 and another mat and cloth over balsa and bottom of tab. All done and on to the next side (minus sanding and clear coating)

 

[cofooter]

Thanks, that helps. I'm trying to get back close to original thickness on my light lay-up Sanger flat that had .080 over the stingers and .150 lay-up thickness on the floors. Should be able to calculate the right combo of mat, 1708 and cloth to get there.

 

[nrbr]

Doesn' look like it but quite a bit got done today! Almost all plywood is up

 

[nrbr]

Balsa and stringer down. Gotta tab and wrap stringer then add another layup over balsa next

 

[nrbr]

Stringer in , tabbed and wrapped! Out of resin and sherfab doesn' open til the second . Curing time !

 

[nrbr]

Floors and stringers in and flowed waiting for sanding. Bulkhead is in and partially tabbed. Possible new fuel tanks wandered into my life today which was pretty cool

 

[cofooter]

Loo

Floors and stringers in and flowed waiting for sanding. Bulkhead is in and partially tabbed. Possible new fuel tanks wandered into my life today which was pretty cool View attachment 617661 View attachment 617662

Looking good, did you tab with 1708?

 

[nrbr]

Loo

Looking good, did you tab with 1708?

I tabbed front with 3 oz mat and 7oz cloth on side that shows. Reason being I'd like to keep the option to keep all the wood clear and 1708 shows through clear. I'll 1708 the backside tabs for strength and ease while working under the deck . Trying a new filter mask for that

 

[Riv33]

nice progress. keep it up

 

[vdcruiser]

You mentioned in your first post that it has some handling problems. What type handling problems were you referring to. Do you plan to change the strut angle/location? Nice work by the way.

 

[J.P.]

Nice work,..

 

[nrbr]

You mentioned in your first post that it has some handling problems. What type handling problems were you referring to. Do you plan to change the strut angle/location? Nice work by the way.

Sorry haven' been over here for awhile. It porpoised really bad as well as a strange chine walk. None of the 4 props made any difference and they were very different from each other. It had a bolt on strut like a tournament ski boat and had been replaced with a stainless drop thru from Bergeron before I started taking pictures of project. I never got a chance to try just that because of the huge delamination issues we found while it was upside down. I'm sure porpoise will be gone but will have changed literally everything you can change on a boat except paint job and steering wheel . Even turning engine around to drive off the front .

 

[nrbr]

Fuel tank bulkheads are in. This boat had a Chrysler out drive on it at one time and I could see the transfer outline of the patch so I sanded it, patched any holes and covered with 3oz mat and 7 oz cloth. Super fun job to do on the hard to get to vertical surface . I had filled holes for fins and shaft log previously (for new stuff that i can mount where i want)and called my dad this morning to say how glad I am that I'll be done glassing on this. He replied " oh you got the extra stringers for seats/ foot pedals in already?" so not quite done with glass but I can see the light!

 

[nrbr]

Nothing super exciting but got transom and bulkhead bondo'd up. Need to get trailer going to make it to spray booth.

 

[nrbr]

And here are the forgotten stringers had some oak sitting around so I'm trying that out

 

[wzuber]

And here are the forgotten stringers had some oak sitting around so I'm trying that out View attachment 626032

Looks really good. Your glass work looks very clean, nice straight lines and well saturated but not excessive, nice work. Driving the motor off the snout suggests circle racing in it's future. Do you plan to race this beauty? Those are some really nice tanks that wandered in. Your moving along nicely, keep up the good work.