Doing yeoman's duty off the coast of Malibu beach in the late '70's

June 2004- Before the knife is wielded

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)

Not looking too bad for a 30 year old. One of the reasons that I chose this boat was due to it's lack of vinyl trim. The seats you see have been recovered but all else is the original textured gel coat finish. I new that vinyl, after a few years in the Southern California sun, would look horrible. I have been vindicated.

(Insert New Description)

The operation begins. Prepare the patient. Out with the seats. It didn't take any effort as the mounting screws didn't have much to bite into.

You can see that the original flooring (Nautolex) is a bit faded, but it has held up remarkably well for its age. It endured 12 of its first 29 years in the California sun. It is still intact and I will definitely replace it with like in kind. Rest assured that the color will be a little less 70's.

Out with the Nautolex flooring to expose the gas tank panel. The panel had been sealed with some kind of tape that came up with the vinyl flooring. It most likely had come un-adhered to the plywood sometime ago. It will be interesting to see what the tank bay looks like.

The rest of the flooring does not look too bad but there is no wood beneath the fiberglass in many places.

The gas tank looks good from the top. The attached side rails that support the tank cover are partially rotted and the ferrous screws used to attach them have disintigrated allowing them to sag down. That explains the depression in the floor over the tank.

This is my first exploratory cut into the floor. This was one of the weakest areas. The seats had simply been screwed throught the 1/2" decking with no backing. Through the years the leverage from the seat assemblies allowed the holes to enlarge and let water in. Naturally, the plywood had no protection on the bottom side and just began to rot away.

Also worthy of note, the flooring had been nailed to the stringers with ferrous nails. The factory foaming lifted the floor slightly off of the stringers and the nails were almost non existant.

After some consternation I was able to pop the gas tank off of its foam bed. Lo and behold a veritable sea of water. I could actually see the water between the sides of the gas tank and the stringers before the tank came out. It will be interesting to see the shape of the stringers as I progress.

Yuk!

Cleaned up the tank bay and moisture continues ooze up through the glass cloth in the bottom of the bay. Good evidence that there is more wetness on the outboard sides of the stringers.

Begins the removal of the foam in the exposed area. Every thing is wet so far. My intent is to only remove the flooring, a section at a time then determine if I need to go further. So far, the conclusion is yes. I must go further.

I found it was easiest to use the Sawzall to cut the foam along the stringer then cross cut it in sections and pry them out. It's working well.

I've finally cut the forward floor out across the middle of the boat. Fortunately I do not need to go any further the just forward of the front seats. My foam removal technique continues to work well.

The big surprise is that my stringers are made of mahogany. No wonder Gulfstream went out of business. Even though it is apparent that things could have been done to avoid this project the construction and materials of this boat are excellent.

Although everything is wet there no rot except for a small amount on the starboard gas tank bay stringer.

Now it will be on to the motor mount stringers and side bays. Moisture is still coming up in the gas tank bay floor.

I think that I will wear the gunwales out from climbing in and out of this boat.

I have left about four inches of the original flooring so that I will not have to recreate the hull bond with the new floor. Fortunately there was no rot that close to the hull.

This is the last that we will see of this for a while.

Unfortunately I forgot to bring the camera when my son and I lifted the motor out of the boat with my forklift.

Now it's onto removing the flooring adjacent to the bilge and removing the fiberglass covering on the motor mount timbers. I'm waiting with bated breath to see whats been holding up an in, the 600 lb motor.

All cleaned out. No further deterioration found. The moisture that kept showing up in the gas tank bay had been coming out of the foam between the motor mount stringers. As it goes back together I will eliminate the 4.5" space between by filling in with solid epoxy treated wood.

It has just been miraculous that rot has been at a minimum. Makes my job a lot less tedious.

Teardown and cleanout has ended. Reconstruction begins. I've begun to fill in the space between the motor mount stringers with solid wood. Now there will be some meat for the outboard motor mount bolts to bite into. It is hard to get a machine fit on these inserts so when completed I will litteraly fill any gaps with liquid epoxy.

After filling in the remaining space between the MM stringers, I reinstalled the new cap over the top of them, with peanut butter and stainless screws. All new lumber was kiln dried douglas fir with multiple coats of CPES.

The reconstructed bilge/mount bay has now been reglassed with two layers of glass using pigmented resin for both layers. The first layer was biaxial mat. I used this to make sure that any twisting of the wood underneath would not rip the waterproof covering glass as it had on the factory covering.

Also note the transom drain tube installed in the forward bilge bulkhead. All of the water seen in earlier pictures had no where to exit. Even so, foam would have blocked it's path. More on that coming up.

Next I applied a standard 10 oz cloth over the top. I used the white pigment because I will be painting the whole backend of the boat with Interlux Brightsides and wanted a white undercoating in the event of any scuffs.

I had taken meticulous measurement of the 4-3 lag motor mount feet. I filled the original ones with epoxy prior to re-glassing the mount timbers. After glassing I redrilled new holes, chamfered the glass around the holes, ran in the stainles lag bolts and then began to flood the holes with CPES. Over several days I would refill the holes as they drank it in. Now if any water wanders down the holes A) the bolts won't rust away, B) the water will not be able to penetrate out into the stringer causing ROT. I'll probably give each hole a big squirt of 3M 4200 before I run the bolts in for good.

As you might imagine this bilge will be here when the whole boat disintegrates around it.

A brief respite from the woodwork, I decided to heal the gas tank. Although there had been no leaks there were alot of pits that could have caused a problem with any future exposure. I scraped, washed, sanded and cleaned with an aluminum wash before I applied the MarineTex epoxy putty. I then resanded and applied Liquid MarineTex to the whole tank. This should make it impervious to any future corrosive environments.

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)

As mentioned before, screwing seat bases to 1/2" plywood is a formula for trouble. I have letted 2 x 8's into the outer stringers, chamfered the outer ends of the 2 x's and used epoxy peanut butter to affix them to the inner hull. Now when I reinstall the seat bases the screws will have something to bite into and there will be no holes thru to the foam. I'll also use larger diameter stainless lags to hold them down and flood the predrilled holes with CPES.

Also note the installed strips beneath the edges of the original flooring edges. These have been appropriately treated and will give me a surface to set the new flooring onto.

Now the plot thickens. Dissolving rope. After much discussion about the need for and the means to, for under deck drainage, I hope this is the solution.

This is a continuous extrusion of bio-degradeble packing material. You would normally see this cut into sections to resemble styrofoam packing peanuts. When this material is exposed to water it literally disolves. So.............

Several things to note here:
1) the application of the dissolving rope
2)biaxial tape has been applied part way up all sides of the stringers and bulkheads.
3) the entire inside of the hull as well as the stringers, has been given a generous coating of epoxy to prevent any water asbsorbtion or seeping through the hull.

The object of the 'dissolving rope' is to allow passage ways for any intruding water to exit thru the forward bilge bulkhead and into the bilge.

Hmmm! What's going on here? Looks like the City's recycle yard. This was the result of an extensive iboats think tank operation. The object was to provide waterproof bouyancy while reducing the cost of expensive foam.

After being commited to it, I decided it was not a good idea. Even though I stuck with it in the forward floor area I ended up removing the bottles along side the gas tank bay and bilge.

The reason was that foam does not flow well over obstacles. I made another application after this picture. Much of it I had to sawed off so that when I laid the floor there would be room to pour foam thru the provided holes and have it rise up and adhere to the bottom of the floor.

Had I tried this experiment with the floor in place I would have ended up with a very poor foam job. Sometimes you just have to try new things otherwise no progress is made. This is one that just did not work well.

October 17, 2004. The weather has set in. I've just missed the annual Boy Scout troop crab trip out to Tillamook Bay, OR. I and my Gulfstream have been an integral part of that event for the last 4 years.

Had I not taken a signifigant amount of time (this summer) away from this project to prepare my 17 y/o sons first car, I would have been able to finish this project on time. Even though the rains have set in the temperatures are still mild enough to continue work. Basically all that remains is to set the floor in, finish foaming, glass it over, and paint the back part of the boat and bilge. Then I'll be able to set the new motor back in. I can lay the new floor covering later.

With a temporary roof over it's head, I will concentrate on getting the new motor ready so it will be available when the floor is completed.

On Dec 2, 2004, disaster struck. The new motor I had built, along with the original motor, was stolen from my storage facility. The new motor was a stroked 302, out to 331 cubic inches. I was devestated. I am not sure what I will do now. I had $4000.00 invested in the motor and am not in a position to duplicate it.

In early November I decided that I needed a bigger, higher, more complete roof overhead. Costco had this four pole. powder painted 10' x 20 cover for $164.95. It was complete with all four sides but I did not use them. Now, as this picuture was taken (6/11/05) it was good to see my boat well protected thru the winter instead of having to rely on it's own cover.

The purpose of the 20" box fan will come clear later.

With the advent of warmer weather I decided to get back into gear. I sold a motorcyle on Ebay to obtain the funds to get a new motor. I have obtained a salvage 2001 Ford Explorer 5.0 liter motor with 36k mi on it. I will not attempt to duplicate the stolen motor due to the cost. Fortunately I had all of the peripheral parts safely in my garage so this will be a matter of changing the cam, flywheel, timing cover and oilpan to make it suitable to receive all of my previously prepared components.

(Insert New Description)

(Insert New Description)

The last couple of weeks I have been working to secure the floor, pour the foam and fill in any gaps and foam plugs with peanut butter epoxy. I've mixed more little cups of resin than I can remember. My yard is littered with little dixie cups that I use to measure the epoxy with. So far I have chosen proper volumes as I have not had any kick off on me.

It doesn't hurt that the temps are in the 60's. Once I get the resin out of the mixing pot I have a lot of working time.

The floor is held down with peanut butter resin and stainless screws. I better have done a good job of sealing this thing up because I don't think it would ever be able to be taken apart again. I think the hull will disintigrate and there will be an intact skeleton of mahogany stringers and slighly crowned floor floating off into the sunset.

Looking forward. In addition to the 2 x primary seat mounting blocks, mentioned above, anywhere on the flooring that requires mounting screws for any brackets, battery tie downs etc etc has had a piece of 1/2" ply glued to the underside of the floor in all appropriate locations. The intention, of course, is to give more bite for the screws and to keep any water from ever seeping down thru the screw holes.

Looking aft. You can see the box fan through the outdrive hole in the transom. This worked exceptionally well when it came time to clean the dust from all of the sanding. (I used three different sanders, all electric, to smooth down the epoxy. belt, random orbital and small square vibrating. all using 40 to 60 grit paper)

I placed the fan so it was sucking from the boat and just blew the dust into the fan with an air nozzle. Buda Bing, all went overboard without having to wrestle with that big ole wet dry vac.

The first of three floor sections to get glassed. As was the final coat in the bilge, all the flooring will be done with 10 oz woven mat. Only this rear section will be pigmented white. Once I apply the final coat of epoxy on the section, the entire rear end of the boat will be spray painted white with Interlux Brightsides. You can see how pigmented epoxy yellows by comparing the bilge with the flooring. I did the bilge back in November.

You may notice that there is no 'disappearing rope' in the gas tank bay. As I had laid the rope last Novenmber, it shrunk due to all the moisture in the air. I will reapply it before I set the tank in.

I've taken a new tack on the drainage system for the gas tank bay. I wanted a more positive system for this area as it is unavoidably subject to water intrusion. The laterals have been epoxyed into place and lightly glued to the centerline pipe comming from the drainage holes in the forward bay bulkhead. The centerline pipe has been greased up so that the foam will not adhere to it. It is intended that the centerline pipe be pulled out thru the forward bilge bulkhead once it is foamed over. As the pipe is rotated the lightly glued laterals will break away from it leaving them to drain into the cavity created by the removed pipe.

I prefoamed the center pipe to make sure that it stays put once I foam under the tank. I also wanted to be sure that I could pull the center pipe out before the tank was installed. It worked as planned.

Notice also, the vertical tubing that has been inserted into holes at the outboard end of the laterals. The vertical tubes have been greased and taped to the floor. They will be pulled out after the tank has been foamed in. No matter how high the foam rises on the sides of the tank, there will be holes thru the foam to allow any water that gets into the bay, out into the bilge.

The tank has been installed. It was a lot closer fit than when it came out. A combination of the epoxy coating on the tank and the slightly bowed forward bilge bulkead from the drying out after the initial tank removal.

The foam has been poured in along side to the underside of the tank. The risors pulled out as anticipated, leaving nice clean holes. The side rails for the tank bay floor will need to be installed in the gap currently occupied by the risors. I had set a depth on a sawzall to bring the foam down to the proper level. I then applied a coat of resin on top of the foam having cut thru the skin of the new foam. At each end of the tank, I applied an appropriate bead of polyeurathane caulk to seal the narrow gaps between the tank and the forward and aft bulkhead. Now any water that should get into the tank bay, thru the filler/sending unit access cutout will simply run off the top of the tank, down the sides and out thru the risor holes, down to the laterals and out thru the centerline pathway and into the bilge.

The detritus from the battle of the tank bay drainage and tank installation.

This is one of the many accumulations that have materialized thru different phases of this project. I have used an incredible number of mixing containers, sand paper, stir sticks, paper towels, empty product containers and in this case many pieces of piping and tubing. I'm sure that I could have filled two 35 gallon trash cans by the time that it is all over.

The gas tank panel has been installed, the whole middle section of the floor has been glassed over and the whole floor has received it's second coat of epoxy.

Full length view of the finished floor. Notice the cutout for access to the tank filler neck, air vent and sending unit. This was the source of my rot problem. Any water coming down the deck to the bilge would enter the gas tank bay. There was no way for the water to get out.

I will build a dam (material to be determined) so that any water coming down the deck will be diverted around the cutout and into the bilge. The dam will be inside the motor dog house so you won't see it or trip on it.

Should any water enter the bay, my drainage system will let it run over the top of the tank then over the sides of the tank into my vertical drain holes, down to and thru the laterals under the tank then out through the passage way running under the tank and emptying into the bilge.

Suited up and ready to to fill my hands with sanders. Got to knock the glaze off of the pigmented resin in the bilge and aft area in preparation for spraying the Brightsides.

I bought a case of Tyvek space suits off of ebay. About two bucks each including shipping. They really do the job but you have to be careful how you bend. They were not made for gymnastics. I recommend that you buy them two sizes larger than you think you need. I am generally large to extra large in my clothing purchaces. I should have purchased XXL's.

All prepped and masked.

DONE! A days work to mask and cover everything, vacuum, blow, tack rag, spray and unmask.

A brief interlude before resuming work on the motor preparation. Gulfstream constructed it's traditional fold down seats on top of beautifully made fiberglass bases. None of this stapled together wood covered with vinyl junk. The problem was that they did not sit high enough to suit me. Decades ago I made some extensions to raise the seat base for the drivers seat. Although they were coated in pigmented polyester resin, they were just about hollow inside with dry rot when I removed the seats pursuant to this project. These are the replacements for the originals plus a set for the passenger seat.

They are made from hardwoods that have been CPES treated, epoxy coated and now painted with a matching color industrial enamel. They have been shaped to conform to the contour of the fiberglass seat base feet. I'll show a close up of them once the seats are mounted back in the boat.

This is the plug that I made to lay up a deflector shield to keep water from running down the boat floor and into the gas tank bay via the access cutout just forward of the front bilge bulkhead.

Here is the finished product. It took about 7-8 layers of 10 oz cloth. I am pretty pleased with it considering I never made a piece like this before.

Here it is installed.

Ditto

Ditto

Progress by the yards! The new Nautolex flooring is down. I used a syphon paint gun to spray the contact cement on both the floor and the vinyl. I laid it in about 6 different steps starting from the middle working aft and the fore.

Pleased as punch.

No more wash and play water in the gas tank bay.

Ditto

The seats are in and anchored thru the floor into the letted 2 x 6 blocks underneath.

A close up of the seat assembly elevator blocks.

The 'new' motor picked up from the machine shop where it got stripped of all of it's fuel injection paraphenalia. I also changed the cam to a carburated '69 351 windsor grind but in a roller cam core.

Had to change the oil pan and the timing cover, add the Edelbrock intake and add roller rockers to compliment the roller cam.

Prime coated with Glyptol.

Overcoated with POR15.

Ditto

It is now ready to be hoisted into the boat. The intermediate housing has been bolted on, all of the motor mounts, classic Ford aluminum valve covers installed and oil primed and ready.

Can't wait.

Another view.

Saturday July 31 is the big day.

Can you think red motor in white engine compartment?

As promised. Saturday July 31. Forklifted the motor in with the help of a capable friend.

Need to add on all of the necessary periferals, install the outdrive and hook up all the wiring and cables. Rock and Roll time should be next weekend. Stay tuned, the odessey is almost over.

If it runs as good as it looks, I'll be in seventh Heaven.