Audio, I was just wondering why you didnt mechanically attach that fairing? Greg

Audio it looks great by the way and I had forgotten about all of the grinding and filling you had done prior. Greg

What do you mean? With bolts? I decided not to do bolts baecause I could not figure out a way to make the thing fit perfect and not move around. I want it to be a real smooth look like it was made in the mold that way. This weekend is a no go as well as I have to design another sytem and then hang out with the fiance as she is out visiting from Cali.

Jon

Hey Jon, you got to get back to work on this I'm getting withdrawal symptoms. Chop! Chop! Damit.:eek: :eek: :eek: :p

FINALLY
 

Ok I was finally able to get a couple hours in on the boat this weekend. I took the day and washed the truck did a oil change and started to wax the truck. Well 6 hours later and I was only done with the drivers side I said SCREW THIS and went back to work on the boat. I cut the starboard side of the fairing down and then figured out the angle of the lip that is going to hopefully deflect the wind up and over our heads and not have it come around and hit us in the back of the head. In this picture you can see that I left them long so that I can figure out how I am going to trim them out when I am done. I am thinking of just doing a nice rounded edge.

In this one you can see the wood insert that I made. It is made of marine mahogony. This will serve three purposes. One is it added a TON of strength even with out it being bonded in there. Two is it will give me a smooth top surface to glass over were the Nida Core has all those open holes. Three is it will give me a place to screw things into if I ever need to bolt something to the top of the fairing. This is the middle of the fairing

Is that your brand new paint job that I see sanded?

Cord the grinding is not in the new paint. I only painted the hull last year. This year I guess will be the cockpit area and a blend up on the deck. Next year will be the deck and then the interior. I am thinking there is no end in site :D:D

Jon

Ok took the evening and made some more progress. I bonded the inside of the window with two 10" wide pieces of glass at each corner. This will add a large amount of strenght to the fairing.

View from farther back.

This is the Port Corner. First I tabed in the corner like the center. Then I took the inside piece of the fairing and bonded it to the outside. The next picture should show more of that.

This showes the inside of the fairing. What is happening if you look close is I am twisting the inside piece. At the front it angles slightly in and parralles the outside. As it works back I am bringing it more vertical to make it match up with the back. Also you can see that it gets wider as it moves to the back. I hope this gives it a more "built in the mold" look.

Today I got to get the Starboard side all set. To bond the pieces together I am using Vinalester Resin and Micro balloons (actually West system 404). You want to make sure you scrape every last bit of excess material off the boat as this stuff DOES NOT sand well at all. I also am putting paper all over before I bring anything with resin into the boat. All these pictures have the paper removed as I have been taking the pictures when I am done for the day.

All clamped up.

It is hard to see but I have tabed the inside of the window then Put the inside piece of the NIDA core in place. By doing this I have made a SUPER strong bonding area at the corner.

Jon, looks good. When you are done, are you going to use paint or Gelcoat?

You have done a nice job, but I would like to make a suggestion that micro balloons or any similar filler are not intended for high strength structural bonding. They can be used as a fillet if a radius is desired where parts meet from different angles, but only after the parts are bonded with the appropriate fillers. Micro baloons simply act as an easily sandable filler for the much harder epoxy resin. Of course I am assuming that the bonding is done with epoxy and not polyester resins. Colloidial silica. chopped glass fibers, or a combination of the two make a much stronger bond.

Also I have a 1/2" thick black plexiglas windshield/fairing for a Cigarette Mistress/ Awesome that is free for the taking. Just pay shipping. I have the packing and it is free. This was never installed on my 35'Awesome. I believe that this will fit the 28' Cigarette as well. The wings are seven feet long. Height is about 8". If anyone needs a winshield fabricated out of aluminum and glass, look at AJR Windows in Vancouver, BC. They are wonderful folks and did my new Awesome windshield. Call with any questions. 303-674-1607. Bob N.

Ren. The stuff that I am using is not really Micro balloons. I also hear ya on the not for bonding thing. This whole thing is going to get covered with about a 1/16th to a 1/8th inch of glass when we are done. The mix of 404 and Vinallester is stricktly for holding it all together. Even as it is not due to the way the NIDA core is I can jump on the weakest part of the winshield with all my 210 pounds and it does not even budge. Anyhow more pictures to come this evening :D:D

Jon

Jon, I accept the destruction test results! There is a product available that you can use as a tie tie layer between epoxy and polyester gel coat that allows the gel coat to cure properly. I do not know if you are looking at plain gel coat on the exterior or vinylester since you mentioned that. I have used West Sytem epoxy extensively, but I have had no experience with vinylester resins. Are you using vinylester? It is very hard to find out here in Colorado in reasonable quantities. Bob.

So today I broke into the dash board :rolleyes: :rolleyes: This is a picture after I removed the guages and took out the wiring.

Ren3: Yes I am using Vinylester resin. It is easy for me to get out this way. I purchased a 5 gallon pail from a company called Composites 1. You may want to check on the web as they are nation wide.

This next picture is after I broke out the sawzall and cut off the top half of the dash. :eek: :eek: :eek: This was going to allow me to get the desired height that I wanted for the dash and also made it so that the angle for the throttles was going to work out nicely.

Then I took the saw to the side of the boat and made room to start fitting the throttles. If you look to the left of this picture you can also see that I cut off the front of the dash and removed the steering wheel. I decided that there were just WAY to many holes in the dash to try and plug up and that it was going to be easier to just redue the entire thing.

Then the template for the new dash. This is somewhat what the new dash will look like.

And the new piece cut out of the marine mahogony. This is a little over sized as the cost of it makes me want to cut it down just a little at a time.

This is the new front dash piece being bonded onto the boat. I have the old layer of glass behind this piece of wood. What I did was to take new glass and lay it on the back side, btwn the new wood and the old glass. I then took a piece of wood and put it behind the old glass and then clamped it all together to make sure it was a nice tight fit and there were no boubles. Looks better already with out the million holes. This will also allow me to move the wheel up to a higher location.

The things that we do so that our female counterparts can get some sun! Do I have this Mantra correct? Bob.

Jon it is looking great . Are you going to be ready for the water this year ? Every time I check your progress you go and expand the project. By the way did you get my email ?. Great job I like what your doing with the dash , very cigaretteist. Where are you going to mount your kill switches mine are tucked in that corner thats why I built the box around them. regards Rick G.

RickG: Yes I did get your email. Thanks. I still really want to see what you are up to with the foot rests. I will be in the water this year although probably later then I hoped. HOWEVER the boat will be safe and that is what is important.

Jon

Powerboat Tours on the board HOOKED me up with these Mcloed Bolsters. I am really struggling on the location of them.

Hey I have wings :D

This is a closer shot of the one above. It shows the lip to hopefully deflect the wind and bugs up over our heads. This also shows the Mahogony insert that I put in there to allow for things to be mounted into the top of the fairing at a later date. One of the problems with NIDA CORE is that it will not allow you to screw anything to it with out a wood or some other filler.

Jon,

Mrs. Chart and I are reading this together, and she responded to your comment about struggling with the location for your new McLoud bolsters -- "Well, send them to Chesterfield MO boy, 518 XXXXX Drive"

Chart

Jon, after careful measuring on my 302, I have to agree with Too Old and Chart, there is no way the bolsters will fit in your 302, Charts 302, or Too Old's Mistress. I suggest you send them south for my 20 foot project Formula. I will even be gracious enough to pay the shipping so you don't have to look at them and think of what a mistake they were.:D

Ok back at it again. This week I made some real progress. Took some time on Thursday evening and today and this is were I am now at. After a lot of consideration as to how to finish off the inside I decided to go with bracing on the inside. This will serve two purposes. One is it will strengthen the deck and the fairing. The second is it will give me a KILLER place to put some tunes. FINALLY a proper location for front speakers :D:D After all if you are doing it yourself do it the way you want it to be :D

Man working all these angles was not for the week at heart Especially when you are playing with 200 buck a sheet plywood!!!! I made up dummy pieces with cheap stuff before I made the real deal.

This is the drivers side. I hope to be able to put my GPS in this area with the speakers to the outside. In front of the hatch there will be a bulkhead as well. This will make it real easy to clean the boat. Before you could not get up in that area and it always had dirt in there.

The problem with NIDA Core is that it is nothing but air in the middle. If you ever want to screw into to mount anything you are all done, it aint gona happen. Also if you are glassing over the top of it you have to be carefull. So to solve this problem I took the plywood and capped off the fairing with it. To the back I wanted a slight roll to the fairing so I curfed (think that is what it is called) the lower part so that it would bend.

Hopefully this week I can find some time off and the steering stuff will arrive. Then I can mount that up and complete the dash. With a little luck in about 2-3 weekends I will be ready for glass. :D:D

Jon

I wanted to thank you on the heads up a month ago on buying Nydacore from Composites 1. I bought some out of their Salt Lake City center and plan on using it for coring for cabinets and under the bedding area and couches in my Cigarette. It will save me a lot of weight and be significantly stiffer than foam core. Good luck on the fairings. Bob.

Bob that is what it is all about man :D:D Did you know that you can get the NIDA core with wood manimated to it as well? Just an idea for your cabinets :D:D

Jon