Transom bracket painted and installed. Prior to installation, the brackets and frame clips were sandblasted, primed with DuPont 2580CR self-etching urethane primer, base-coated with Imron Urethane white and topcoated with Imron Urethane metallic silver.
Fitting the sheer clamps to the breasthook. The breasthook was bulit up using two pieces of 1" x 3" mahogany stock and 3/4" marine plywood. The strips will provide a stable landing for the sheer clamp screws.
We applied the last three epoxy barrier coats on Saturday
We applied the last three epoxy barrier coats on Saturday.
The first two coats were catalyzed with West System 206 Slow Hardener. Each coat was tipped off with a squeegee made from a 7" foam roller cover split lengthwise. Instructions on how to make the tool are printed on the West System roller cover packaging. The epoxy was allowed to cure for three hours before recoating.
The last coat was catalyzed with West System 207 Special Coating. Normally used in clearcoat applications, it flows out better than the 206 hardener since it's mixed at a 3:1 ratio instead of the usual 5:1 ratio for 205 and 206 hardeners.
The 207 flowcoat should reduce the final sanding to a minimum. Once fully cured, the hull will be sanded with 40 grit sandpaper to prepare it for primer.
On Friday night, the hull was washed with water and scuffed with a Scotch pad to remove sanding sludge
On Friday night, the hull was washed with water and scuffed with a Scotch pad to remove sanding sludge. On Saturday morning, the hull was cleaned with DuPont Plas-Stick Plastic-Prep 2319S. It's a ready-to-use unprimed plastic parts cleanner designed to remove mold release agents and other surface contaminants and eliminate static. Click here for a product usage guide. The substrate was wiped with a 2K tack rag (made for plastics and urethane finishes) before applying the primer. A medium wet coat of Polyval Polyur 559 Black Epoxy Primer was applied with an HVLP spray gun. This industrial 2 component coating is rated for immersion service (very rare for primers) and is available in red, gray, white, yellow and black. We chose the black because it highlights surface imperfections better than the other colors. After curing for 4 hours, we blocked out the hull with 100 grit sandpaper on a 24" flexible sanding board. The primer did a great job of filling most of the 40 grit sanding marks left from the initial sanding. Low spots (mainly along the chine at the fiberglass overlap) were filled with System Three QuikFair epoxy filler. Other lighter-colored spots are sanding break-throughs or high spots. Two rounds of DuPont 4007S 2K Ultra Productive Primer-Filler were applied to the hull and block-sanded with 100 and 180 grit sandpaper. This was followed up with a coat of DuPont ChromaPremier Sealer which was then sanded with 240 grit sandpaper. (14-AUG-2006 - 17-AUG-2006)
The shop was cleaned up, the painting tarps were hung on the walls and furnace filters were slipped into the rear screen
The shop was cleaned up, the painting tarps were hung on the walls and furnace filters were slipped into the rear screen door. The hull was washed with plain water, dried with Torx wipers, prepped with Plastic-Prep and tacked with a 2K tack rag. A medium coat of DuPont ChromaBase Basecoat (white) was applied and allowed to flash for 15 minutes. If this was an ordinary boat, we'd clearcoat the white and we'd be done. Since this is a Hot Rod, it's gotta look hot !!
We'd normally use DuPont Imron as our topcoat, but the pigment required to mix the Corvette Yellow was no longer available. Switching to PPG solved the problem. Three coats of PPG finish off the job. This is a single stage, two-component acrylic urethane topcoat which should provide maximum scuff resistance.
The hull was left to cure for 4 days after painting.
While we're waiting for the last wood order to arrive (Douglas Fir for the carlings and intermediate deck beams), we pre
While we're waiting for the last wood order to arrive (Douglas Fir for the carlings and intermediate deck beams), we prepped and painted the Velvet Drive transmission.
The transmission was stripped of old paint, sanded to bare metal, metal conditionned, degreased with DuPont Wash & Wipe, primed with DuPont DTM Urethane Primer and topcoated with Dupont Imron urethane.
