Small final touch ups

Can’t believe how many hours I spent in this bilge

A lot of life pondering spent in hear song with 15 gallons of lightweight filler 16 boxes of sandpaper and 36 shop across filters lol but I think once it’s painted it will be worth it ..

Figure if the tank was foamed in originally then it should go back in that way
I would place rubber strips down where the tank will contact the hull, then fill with 5 lb foam

I only used thick rubber strips . that foam attracts or can hold moisture .

Also best thing I ever did was paint the bilge under the engines black, really helps my OCD.

Made some progress this weekend. Spent some time with lasers and tape measures and stand and levels lol making sure it was completely straight. Took a lot of time but the bottom has been all blue printed already and the board ran very good before so I wanted to make sure we were on the right track. After that we were able to build the front fuel tank bulk head and make the fuel tank stringers all the stringers are 2 layers of 1/2 laminated with 1708 to make a 1 1/8 stringer to bet glasses in. There curing and being ready to cut to length and install next weekend !!!

New core

Laser lines and leveled

Laminated some parts

These builds always amaze me and wonder where the skills come from. I thought I saw somewhere that your a fire fighter which explains the time available. Where did you get the knowledge to do all this work?...especially on the truck and boat!

Yes I’m a full time firefighter. I work one 24 hour shift then I’m off for 3 days so gives me time. I do small house remodel jobs to on the side. I grew up with my dad owing a body shop so always had the mechanical touch. To be honest a lot of these restoration are not that difficult just time consuming. The average person could do any of what I’ve done so far with a little research some patients and some trial and error. I have spent many hours on the phone talking to glass Dave and others about certain parts of the build. I a very good friend who owns a machine shop and helps me with the custom parts. Thing is I could never afford a new cigarette topgun. But when I’m done it will be all new. And for me being able to say I built that boat from a bare hull gives me a warm a fuzzy feeling lol. All the boats I’ve had I’ve done small stuff painted the bilge maybe a interior or stuff but in the back of my head always wondered is the transom soft ? Is that fuel I smell ? Are the stringers wet ? So I decided I was going to go all out and start over. I have really enjoyed building it it will probably take one more year to be in the water but will really be worth it . I have a lot of custom rigging I’ve been working on , all new trim pumps with billet tanks. All new lines the entire water and fuel will be AN fittings even bilge pumps and stuff so it will be really slick can’t wait to post the progress !!!

Keep at it. I love following along and thanks for taking the time to share!

Where are you a FF at?

Avon Ohio