Clackacraft Rebuild
- This topic has 67 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated Apr 10, 2019 at 10:04 pm by
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Jay,
You really lucked out if you found a driftboat trailer here locally….especially for a good price. To give you a point-of-reference….15 years ago a driftboat trailer for sale in Georgia was a rarity. I either had to build my own or special order through a dealer. I finally ordered a Hyde trailer….which is a Cadillac if I might add. $1500 bones…..ouch!
Thanks for posting your reports…..I’m watching this thread closely.
That’s awesome Jay! If you do bring the boat home, please post a shot of your three ongoing backyard board projects. Hahahaha. (The main boat, of course, has been technically finished for years, but we all know there’s no such thing as a finished boat project…)
Zach
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Zach Matthews wrote:</div>
Jay you should throw us up an update photo while you’re at it. The hull’s done, right?I wouldn’t say that. Its getting there for sure though. I wish I could have it at the house this weekend to work on but I definitely wont be around the shop for the next 3 days.
Back when we were building kayaks out of fiberglass. Yeah, I know I’m getting old! We would mold the rim for the spray skirt using an old piece of garden hose as the form. I bet if you find the correct size it will do the job nicely. I really enjoy this thread! Keep up the good work.
Alright, to fix this jacked up sh*t in the front I am going to mold some glass onto PVC so that I have something to build off of.
I wrapped the PVC in wax paper and covered it with epoxy and cloth. I should have something to work with by tomorrow.
I am going to do my best to get both of these panels bonded in place this week also.
The good news on that front, Jay, is that I think the casting deck you’re having made is going to fit to and cover over that repair anyway. And also reinforce it. Although it looks to me like this thing is going to wind up being even stronger than before.
Zach
The molded tubes worked out good. I taped the the bottom edge and clamped it along the inside of the gunnel. I used west system six10 to bond it.
It looks pretty simple but it took a lot of staring at it and scratching my head trying to figure how to make it up out of thin air.
Now I can do the same thing on the other side and will have the bow point. Just need to clean the laid up glass a little and trim the edges.
That’s awesome Jay. And of course the Clacka-built front casting harness thingie will fit down over that point, so I guess all you really need there is the support structure.
Boat is looking great! Can’t wait to do some attack runs.
Zach
So the bow point is coming together and looking pretty good.
Good idea Zach on how to shape the stern. I took a couple scrap pieces of insulation board and super glued them together. I traced the port side and then flipped it over and traced the shape onto the boards. I took my DA sander and shaped it and finished up with this.
I took that shape and covered it in wax paper, then laid some heavy glass mesh over it that resulted in a rough form that I trimmed to fit.
Im satisfied with the end result, and now have something to build up on.
This project is not dead, and neither am I!!!
After a short hiatus from November through the February I am back at it. I have moved the boat home, as work has picked up considerably and I have no time at the shop to get the hard stuff completed. Once it is all back in one piece and sanded inside and out I will drag it back to work and get it prepped for paint. Got the front deck made and in my hands with more interior bits on the way,
Had some help from Our Dear Leader over the weekend and got the details worked out on how to properly glass the side panels into the gunnels. We are approaching the deadline of Memorial day at full speed now. Time to get cracking.
We should have gotten the lifting video from the front angle. I talked to my buddy Verlyn at church about this and he made a good point. In auto body work after a crash, you try to reverse the damage, right? Pull at the point of greatest impact.
That’s kind of what we’re doing. I think the boat sunk, then wedged, probably with the hull straight downriver. The force of water flattened it out, popped those side rails, hogging the boat. Something ripped the mid bench and front seat out too; it might have rolled.
By the way:
hog
hôg, häg
verb
past tense: hogged; past participle: hogged1. informal keep or use all of (something) for oneself in an unfair or selfish way.
“he never hogged the limelight”
synonyms: monopolize, dominate, take over, corner, control More
antonyms: share2. (with reference to a ship) bend or become bent convex upward along its length as a result either of the hull being supported in the middle and not at the ends (as in a heavy sea) or the vessel’s being loaded more heavily at the ends.
In auto body work after a crash, you try to reverse the damage, right? Pull at the point of greatest impact.
Yes.
Maybe it came off a trailer at high speed? I don’t think so though. It must have been one hell of a gnarly river that tore it up. Someone on the internet has to know this boat.
I think the damage came about in a less dramatic fashion….Dude backed into something…..popping the sides out. It’s looking good Jay!
Steve I could see that for side-damage only, but what about all the hull damage and the front nose being ripped clean? Also the transom is actually the cleanest part of the boat.
One of these days someone is going to sheepishly come forward and admit what happened.
Zach
The mishap will probably wind up on Facebook or Youtube eventually. Everything else does. 🙂
Just for kicks….Jay should Google the hull ID number. Many states have boat registration databases online…..something might show up. I’m not sure if the ID number is on there….but in Georgia you can get the owner’s name and address by running the registration number.
The mishap will probably wind up on Facebook or Youtube eventually. Everything else does.
Just for kicks….Jay should Google the hull ID number. Many states have boat registration databases online…..something might show up. I’m not sure if the ID number is on there….but in Georgia you can get the owner’s name and address by running the registration number.
Tried that and nothing came up. Maybe once I get the thing presentable I can post before and after pics on Clacksa’s facebook page.
Finally bit the bullet and took a wrecker bar and an angle grinder to these side panels. Turned out to be a great idea.
I chiseled and cut this piece away and cleaned up the edges.
This is how they are assembled to begin with. Once the panel was ground back and cleaned up, it fit like a glove. Now i just need to lay up some 4 inch heavy fiberglass strips along all the seams and I’m good to go.
THAT’S AWESOME, Jay. Well done. Looks like you did a really clean job too. Did one side come with a floor tab and the other not or was the tab destroyed on one of them?
Also was it laid up initially with woven roving or did they blast it with wet chop? Either way now that you’ve figured out the rocker and you’ve got those panels out, you’re basically just waiting on them to get you a damn bench so you can finish assembly and paint.
Memorial Day still looking like a good deadline?
Zach
One side was just busted up. Once I got the panel off, you could see where the molded piece stopped and the glassed in tabs began. I cut away all the glass used to attach the panel to the boat and sanded it down.
They use heavy duty roving on all the seams. Still shooting for Memorial Day, but we shall see. I think the biggest hold up is going to be waiting on parts. Still a shit ton of work left to do though.
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