1971 170 Aquasport Rebuild

[Rickk]

The very first post I made was asking for direction on how to handle the tank. No one answered so I went with my gut.

GW - the boat originally had a tank above the sole inside the console - not a very efficient use of space, leaving all the batteries out in the open in the aft eating up all the space by the transom. So, I decided to find a belly tank and found this one for a decent price. I didn't want to spread the stringers out more than what I have them now, so it entailed cutting into them.

Joel, I hope to recoup some of the strength by filling them back in with the pieces I just made. Only 1.5" of the top was cut out so most of that strength is still there. I will be foaming them in also.
I thought about just cutting slots in them and sliding in the tank but it would have been a nightmare getting it out if necessary. I think that your idea would make it about the same approach as the slot.

I will have trapzoid bulkheads fore and aft of the tank too.

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Those plastic belly tanks like to expand A LOT, so make sure you allow for that.

[tech_support]

I will have trapzoid bulkheads fore and aft of the tank too.

that will help.

The very first post I made was asking for direction on how to handle the tank.

Sorry i did not catch that, it just never occurred to me that you might cut the stringers to make a poly tank fit. Those tanks cannot (should not) be foamed in, so they need to rest on a shelf/bracket of some sort and be held down with straps/braces. Looks like you have room for a shelf on the bottom, and the recesses in the top of the tank are for braces.

Its too late now, Im sorry, but for anyone else thinking about a similar project, I would recommend getting a tank made for the space. In the context of the total cost of the boat, its not too expensive.

[Rickk]

So I got back at it this weekend. Started by cutting the fillers down.






Cut, ground and dry fit


Dry cut the lam which was to be fillet, 3/4oz tab, 1.5oz tab and then a full cover of 1808 - took a couple hours to cut it all up.


Then we took the plunge and put it together - tried a resin board this time which worked super.




Next weekend I'll grind the putty that oozed to the front and get the front/inside ready for a layer of glass. There are some tough curves to get the glass to traverse on the inside though.




Looks like twins!


More to come.

[tech_support]

really nice work there

[Rickk]

Thanks Joel - I think I'm going to run another layer of tabbing on the filler on the inside just to help strengthen it. More grinding today and hopefully get both sides finished.

[Rickk]

I ground down the fillers inside and out and layed one more layer of tabbing, 1708 this time, on the inner portion. Even with medium hardener it took hours to kick, so we watched the race, checking on the progress of the glass but it really wasn't along far enough along to flip it over and work on the outer side - always next weekend I guess. The inner is done though.

[Rickk]

Got the outside of the stringers done today with the exception of grinding the finished product so it's ready to tab into the boat - will do so in the morning.
I did a little build up to fill in where I had ground out some some air bubbles and then lam'd a 3/4oz across the entire filler and then 1708 across the entire filler too. I hate corners, especially with cloth I had some air bubbles until just before the resin started kicking, was hard rolling for like an hour in places. I took these pics before the resin kicked, so I was a rolling fiend for a while after that.








A little scruffing and this part is done.
Tomorrow we'll put the stringers in the boat and try the fit of the tank. With some of the rounding of the corners in the filler, it might be tight and need a little adjustment.
Next it's on to building the support for the tank and cutting the bulkheads fore and aft of the tank.

[Rickk]

Scruffed the glass this morning and then tossed the stringers in the boat and placed the fuel tank to check it out.


I'm thinking I'm going to go with 4" PVC, split, for the support of the tank - 3 across bow to stern. 1 from the front area in front of the tank area to the back, aft of the tank area and 2 under the tank, the length of the tank. Should support the tank nicely with the notch in the stringers being the 2 extra supports. The difference in height is 2 1/4 to 3 1/2" from the back to the front so I should be able to get that depth from a 4" piece. Still thinking though.

[Mad Dog]

Looks great Rick! You are doing a great job.

MD