Dingy Rehab: Wood and Fiberglass Questions

[triton274]

Well I have been Lurking on this site for a few months now and figured that now would be as good a time as any to set up an account. Just over the winter I bought a Pearson Triton and am very excited to get her in the water. But right now I have some questions about fixing up an old beat up dingy that I just bought.

So a little bit about the dingy, It is from the 60, previous owner says it its a Dyer, though from the little online research I did I am not sure that it is. Right now it is in need of some love. It has the following issues with:

Fiberglass:
-there are several small (about 1/4 inch) holes drilled in the bottom of the dingy
-There is one crack in the fiberglass on the side chine of the hull

Wood:
-The wooden seats have rotten away and will need to be replaced
-There is a wood trim that goes around the entire inside lip of the dingy, this is missing a foot long section that will need to be replaced (the rest of this is fine and will just need sanding and finishing)

Ok so here are my questions:

1) For the drilled holes I plan on putting a few layers fiber glass cloth on the inside and using some type of epoxy to fill in from the out side. I am not really sure what specific products to use. If some one could post some links to what cloth/ resin / and epoxy would be good for this situation it would be super helpful.

2) For the crack I plan to cut out the damaged part and put in a fiberglass patch, once again if some one could recommend a good cloth/ resin combo that would be great.

3) For the missing seats I plan to make templates out of cardboard or paper to figure out what size/shape I need. Does any one have any recommendations for a reasonably priced wood that that will hold up well in the marine environment (I plan on using spar varnish on the wood, but would also be open to any suggestions.)? Same goes for the trim as well.

Here is a little picture of the Dingy on top of my car, I'll try to post some pictures down the road that show some of the issues mentiond above.

[triton274]

Started to work on it yesterday. Built some saw horses, took out the added flotation that ad become soggy and waterlogged after 50years of being left out in the elements. I also chizzled away at some of the epoxy that had been used to hold the old seats in place.

Yesterday got me thinking about painting the inside of the dingy, What kind of paint should I use? Any Suggestions?

[todd gustafson]

Looks like a nice spring project.

If i was fixing it up i guess i would clean all wholes and cracks to good solid wood by what ever means....grind/drill/sand..., make sure there is no rotten wood anywhere, fill all voids with epoxy filler. May not hurt to glass areas too.....From the picture it looks like the rib has broken free..... Clean and re-glass.

Depending how much money you want to spend instead of all mahogany the benches could be made with marine plywood (painted....and non-skid) with mahogany trim to save a few bucks........

I would use a one part paint.......but than i live in the mid-west......


good luck
Todd

[Figment]

Yes that looks like an early Dyer Midget to me. The hard part (should you chose to faithfully replicate original construction) is bending the wood of the rubrail around the bow. All the rest is just plain old boatwork.


sigh. and so my annual springtime search for a fixer-upper dinghy is renewed. Thanks.

[triton274]

My plan is to make her in to a functional dingy, I'm not looking to replicate how she came from the factory years ago. As for the seats, I think I would like to use some type of solid wood,any suggestions? And for paint I was thinking I would use some type of deck paint or bilgekote for the inside of the dingy. What are the virtues of each in this situation?

If i was fixing it up i guess i would clean all wholes and cracks to good solid wood by what ever means....grind/drill/sand..., make sure there is no rotten wood anywhere, fill all voids with epoxy filler. May not hurt to glass areas too....

Lucky for me there seems to be no wood core in the hull....

[Vark]

I own one of these and have worked on a few, I'd say grind down the area on the inside, fiberglass using either poly or epoxy resin then fill from the outside using epoxy with Cabosil, West System Colloidal Silica or other non water absorbing filler. Don't use polyester Bondo. ( absorbs water) Avoid micro balloons and Microlite if below the water line.
I live in Bristol R.I., (birthplace of the Pearson Triton) and Warren, the town just north of Bristol, is home to Dyer Boats which still sells every part for their Dyer Dinghies including pre-shaped wood rub rails.
You can use mahogany for the seats but you can also use clear, tight grain pine if on a budget .
Polyester resin is cheaper but more difficult to use. If you've never used poly or epoxy resin before use epoxy resin, it's more forgiving, Ideally you should use fiberglass mat first followed by fiberglass cloth "wet on wet" meaning while the mat is still wet with resin cover with cloth and continue to saturate with resin , mat holds resin while cloth lends strength, don't "over resin", use just enough to saturate the mat / cloth combo.

This place has everything you'll need:
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/main.do

[Hirilondë]

....then fill from the outside using epoxy with Cabosil, West Colloidal Silica ........ Avoid micro balloons........

I totally disagree. Cabosil, aka colloidal silica, aka West 406 is an adhesive filler. It cures as hard as a rock when more than a token amount is used. You might want to add just a touch to an epoxy filler mixture for adhesion, but using it as the primary filler will create a repair that is near impossible to sand. Actually, I would choose microballons aka West 407. It doesn't matter how porous the filler is when saturated in a proper epoxy/filler ratio. You can always add a coat of neat epoxy if concerned.

Clean the boat out, do the major repairs to the hull, fair and sand and fair and sand and........until satisfied and then paint the hull. Then add what ever wooden thwarts, rub rail and such details and paint or varnish them. I think you will find that marine plywood saves virtually nothing over solid wood. Choose what you can afford/justify.

[Vark]

I agree that Cabosil or West System colloidal silica epoxy saturated filler is difficult to sand especially if one has not developed sufficient sanding and grinding skills as may be the scenario here in which case micro balloons ( West 407) will work just fine, that said, these boats have hard chines which are vulnerable to cracking and breaking from beaching on rocky shores and moving about. Those in need of repair almost always have damaged , leaking chines. Once repaired by glassing the interior, filling the exterior chine crack or gaping void with a hard material such as epoxy saturated Cabosil or West System colloidal silica makes for a vastly more durable and wear resistant surface in these crucial areas prone to abrasion. Other areas in need of cosmetic surfacing will surely benefit using the softer, less durable but more easily sanded micro-balloons.

I too, would go with solid wood seats, varnished plywood is not nearly as attractive as solid wood and there may not be that much of a price difference between mahogany and marine ply, good clear pine is cheaper than both and you can find it at most lumber stores / Home Depot type outlets.

[earlylight]

I took on a similar project a few years ago and it is documented on my web site at: http://earlylight160.110mb.com/page1.htm
I used teak for the gunwale rebuild and at the bow where the curve was too tight to bend solid teak I used multiple laminations of teak veneer. There are some pics of this on the above link. Hope this helps.

[triton274]

Got a chance to work on the dingy today. Lucky for me a friend at that yard with a lot of fiber glass experience is also fixing up an old dingy. So I have been taken under his wing a bit on this to make the process go a little smoother. Ground out the 25+ drill holes in the hull and patched them with fiberglass. Here are some pictures.

[Hirilondë]

Ground out the 25+ drill holes in the hull and patched them with fiberglass.

Was the dinghy used as a planter or sand box?

[sscoll]

When you're through paint it something other than blue so you can find it when it comes adrift.
steve#532

[triton274]

Was the dinghy used as a planter or sand box?

I guess the previous owner had made a stand for it and filled it with ice at a party for drinks. A lot of the holes are from this; for dranage and mounting the stand.

When you're through paint it something other than blue so you can find it when it comes adrift.

I gota say I'm kind of taken with blue, I might repaint it something similar....time will tell.