I understand exactly what you mean. Ironically, the bottom wood/balsa is still good. It seems that all the damage on the transom occurred from it being cut to allow clearance for the OB's but never sealed properly. Either way I hope to make it at least on par with stock, hopefully better.

T2x, I added two pics of the boats color. The boat seems to have been painted blue (white/off white gel under) with a gold accent. From what I was just told, the boat was this color when these guys bought it was exactly how it is. The apparently used this boat to tow Nicky Cutro out to the line in some of the races. True or not I have no idea.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...gust2nd004.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...gust2nd006.jpg

Fixx
 

wow what a project...just a little advise,,when buying the plywood,if you look at the side of the sheet of plywood you choose the more plys their are the stronger and stiffer the wood will be.. instead of grinding your way into the transom and if you have a compressor try a air chisel with a panel cutting bit,it will go rite through the bad fiberglass like butter and you will be able to pry the whole section off the boat instead of grinding it off to get to the bad wood..if your on a budget for the fiberglass materials i would suggest using vinyl ester resin,its almost as strong as epoxy but half the price..
man i'm itching just thinking what your going through.

Good advice, luckily.....if you can say that... I think the transom is so bad I could probably use a leaf blower.

The ground up glass does suck but a friend of mine who does fiberglass insulation told me that if I basically cover myself with baby powder it won't stick. It's been too hot for a tyvek suit just yet.

Fixx
 

talk powder closes your pours too! before i had a air system i would take a small shop vac and put it in the basement and i would put the vacuum side in the heater// a/c vent,turn the thermostat down to 60* and then i would put the blowing end on the shop vac to a swimming pool hose about 50' long then i would shove the other end into my tyvek suit..i looked like the Michelin man but hey it worker for me :drink:

Nicky Cutro Bought my Dad's boat, Black Duck. Why would he need a tow out to the line?

From what I was told, in smaller cats the weight is extremely critical, so they would use just enough fuel for the race. So they were basically towed out to save fuel. Maybe you could ask Nicky as to the truth of this.

August 5th

Spent most of the day running around doing errands and such but got to spend a few hours with 2 sanders today. The local Home Depot didn't have any stick on 6" sanding disks so with the advice from Nordic95 I went to my local car parts place that sells auto body supplies. The had basically nothing in stock so I picked up 100 disks of both 180 and 220. I'm only using it to remove the paint on the transom and sides but figured out today that the bottom is painted as well... Looks like the boat was originally a teal/turquoise color. Time for bed so I can continue in the AM.

Fyi, I'm using a Husky DA and Dayton palm ransom orbital (both pneumatic). The DA is faster for larger areas but I feel I have much more control with the palm.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...gust5th002.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...gust5th008.jpg

I definitely will and will report back...

I never saw a cat being towed to the start line.

But, I did see quite a few being towed to the finish line.

Myself included!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy Crap!
 

MAN DUDE YOU GO MY UTMOST RESPECT TAKING THIS ON! I don't know about these boats or the history on it I am desert rat out in Nevada. We have puddles out here no lakes.
I have to admire you for taking this on and doing all this work fiberglassing a floor repair I know nothing about and there is nobody around here that does.
This is really interesting can you put up a little on the history was it raced etc? Sorry if I am dumb on this/

Great job your doing keep the blogs going this is cool as hell!:evilb: