Plastic Classic Forum

This is my project. I have finally taught myself how to upload pictures. (I am a bit of a computer idiot). The project has actually been going on for several years. I have completely gutted the boat of all mechanical systems and recored the deck, cabin sides, and cabin top. Removed the teak decks, (the source of many leaks), replaced many bulkheads, rebuilt motor mount beds, and prepped for paint on the deck. There is still much to do, but I hope to finish in a year or two.

She's a lovely boat, David - and you've done a lot of work on her, congratulations! Now, of course, you have to provide us with pictures of the work you've done, since we all seem to thrive on others projects (pain?).

I hadn't heard of the True North 34 before, so I Googled - wow! 26,000 lbs on 34'! That's a solid cruiser! You will be comfortable when others are tossed about wondering about their selection of boat, no question. Did you get a chance to sail her before you started your work? What's she like?

Cheers,

Chris

Unfortunately the boat was not in good enough shape to sail when purchased. she did come with an extensive brand new set of sails. Here are some more pictures focusing on the engine area.

Thought I would post some new photos

Just got back from a full day on the boat. The first few hours were spent sanding the hull. Boring but it is finally coming to an end. One more coat of filler, hopefully the last. Then I sanded parts of the interior. The old varnish is tuff to get off but i am making progress. Then I worked on some fun stuff! I have been working on the electrical system. Here is a picture of the busbar panels I only have three of the six busbars attached. The two on the left go to the AC system while the ones to the right will be the DC groups. When finished the whole area will be painted white for better visibility. I have followed the advice given on this web site and have added a 3/4 picture frame to mount the actual panel on. This gives me more clearance and should make for a neater installation. This shows a box I am thinking of adding to accomodate a VHF and Good times radio. It will have a red LED light underneath it for nighttime visbility. Probally put some powerpoints there also I am not committed to it yet, but I think I like it. Finally I finished putting the cabin liner on the port side side, varnished some of the trim pieces and installed them. What do you think?

Hello David, - great project! That's a pretty solid and beefy boat for sure. A major project to be sure but it looks as if you have a good handle on it. I see you're located in Texas so I would imagine your "winter" weather is not too severe there and you can probably continue working all through the winter.

Nice photo's by the way, and a good record of work done. Your handiwork implies you may have done this kind of thing before? - certainly it is all looking very professional. How are you removing the old varnish below - simply by sanding or are you using a stripper?

Keep the pictures coming as you progress - we are all very interested in this type of project.

Very nice boat, I love looking at all the brightwork. Is that a Universal diesel engine for repower?

Yes it is a Universal 5434, purchased off ebay, rebuilt by me, and running smoothly. Now I just need to find a crane to lift it the 13 feet to get it into the boat! Sometimes these boat chores always seem to lead to more chores and more money. How does Tim say it, "What the boat wants, the boat gets!" Or something along those lines. Anyway I can't wait until the day I get it in the boat.

I spent three days at the boat this week. mostly sanding, it gets old but is so necessary. I try not to rush things because I want the finish to be as good as it can be. But man am I ready to put things back in order. I did get a couple of things redone. The first was to get the first coat of finish on a galley cabinet. I then hung it where it will go. Originally it had a face that went all the way to the counter top. This caused a problem with losing things in the bottom. I could not see into it and blindly sticking your hand in it was easy to miss small items. I have decided not to replace the bottom half, instead I will build a dish storage area for plates and cups. I have spent so much money time and effort sanding, the hull is looking pretty good but I still have more to go.

A fine little ship she will be !

I have spent the last two weekends sanding, sanding, and more sanding. When does it end? I decided that I need to see something get finished. I am going to prepare the cabin top and put the finish coats of paint on it. I am drilling holes and chambering out the tops to ensure the sealant has a place to stay. I am also applying varnish to the woodwork prior to painting so that if any gets past the tape it will be on the varnish and not into the wood. Here are some pics of work done.

Another day of sanding. Progress is slow but I am making headway. Today I mounted the grab rails. These were painted a hedious purple color that was hard to get off. They look much better now.

She is coming along very nicely. I'm sure you will be happy to get all of the sanding completed and on to some of the more enjoyable tasks.

Did another day at the boat. Another day of sanding. But also another day of varnishing. I have made the decision to varnish the wood with a couple of coats before painting. My hope is that any overspray, ( i will tape everything off but I have been sanding paint off that teak for months) will come off easily. I love the look of varnished teak I also did some work inside. I had to try the fit of the portlights again. All of the cabin had to be recored. The thickness of the walls is a concern. I am going to have to manipulate things a lot to make sure everything comes out right

It has been sometime since my last post. I have spent a few days on the boat. Most of them uneventful, sanding, more sanding, and sanding. In early July I convinced my wife into going to the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic Conn. If you have not been you must go. It was three days of boats and boating. Wow! The craftmanship was unbelievable and inspiring. Here are some of the better examples. Another home built boat shows wood inlay. Its been awhile but is this music "Row, Row, Row your Boat"? Another example of a home made boat Once back I felt inspired to do some work on my own boat. However the heat here in Texas has been unbearable. it just seems to make everything go so much slower and takes so much more energy. However I finally got to where I was ready to place a final primer on the top of the cabin. I just want one part of this project done! After spending two more days of sanding and filling I decided to go for it. It seems that several more cracks in the gel coat keep showing up. Is it possible that since I have been sanding the gel coat thinner the heat is causing it to crack? At any rate on a fateful and hot Saturday I went for it. Disaster! It seems that my new Devilbliss paint gun won't work with the 1.0 mm tip I bought to go with it. I do not beleive the needle seats well in it. It leaked all over the place. In desperation I atempted to roll and tip the remaining paint. I had already mixed the paint with the spray reducer. Did I mention it was hot. The paint dried as fast as it went down. I threw in the towel on the roll and tip. With my tail between my legs I cleaned my gun and changed the tip back to the 1.8 mm. The paint sprayed without drips but the coat was heavy. I went ahead and sprayed the rest of cabin top. I was disappointed in the results and left the boat feeling defeated. Throughout the week I began to rethink my approach. I decided to retry using my spray gun with the larger tip but reducing the amount of paint being sprayed. This saturday was no different heat wise than the last, even worse, 98 with a heat index of 108! Maybe global warming is a fact. At any length the sanding was difficult, I had to remove all of the brush marks, drips and runs. finally aIl was ready. The next layer of paint worked out relatively well. Only a few runs but nothing that would not sand out easily. I am not ready to use this method on the top coats. Too risky. I am thinking about the purchase of a new gun with the smaller tip. and a lot more practice.

I also began work on the cockpit area. It does not need much before it can be painted also.[attachment=4]

The boat is looking great. If it's any consolation, it is not much cooler in Florida. I have to do some work around the house today, no doubt I will sweat through at least 3 shirts.

Nice looking grab rails. I think the gel coat cracking might be from moisture trapped beneath. I've had minor issues with hairline cracks in the new paint on the coach top which is the only area I didn't recore.

I had not really considered moisture. The boat has been on the hard for over six years and is normally kept under a tarp. However, I suppose with the thinning of the gel coat water could be entering and then causing cracks. What do you think can be done? Any suggestions?

Are they hairline cracks or something worse? Is this a cored area that you're working on? Prior to the repairs was there any water leaking in through fittings or cracks?

In my case I know there was a bit of moisture in the core, but the coach top wasn't soft or soggy at all, so I didn't recore it. In the worst area I sanded off the paint, used a chistle to scrape off any loose gel coat, and expand the cracks, then filled with thickened epoxy and repainted. Seems to have greatly reduced the hairline cracks in the paint.

The cracks are hairline. You might be right about the core. I did not replace the core in the cabin top. When I started the work I sounded the entire boat and drilled holes in the bottom skin to look for water. This resulted in a recore of the cabin sides and the deck. I completed the sanding on the cabin top today in prepration for the top coats. Still some cracks but there are all in the raised area where non-skid use to be. After all this time I am just going for it. I need to finish something! I am ust praying the weather holds up. There is a 30% chance of rain!

It has been a long time since my last entry. Many things have happened since last August. I painted the cabin trunk top, but before it dried it rained. Total ruin! I have since sanded it all off, and am waiting for a weather window before I attempt it again. I have had my engine placed in to the boat. I now need to measure the shaft and have it machined. I have also been working on my new main hatch. When I purchased the boat the PO had built a dognouse that looked more like an outhouse. If you look at the picture below you can see the doghouse behind the dingy. It was ugly. The new hatch is made of 3 layers of cedar strips 3/8 inch thick. I epoxied them together and then added a covering of fiber glass cloth. Once painted with AwlGrip I added teak strips for an accent. They were made from the old deck

Just got my chainplates from the machine shop. Theylook pretty good. .[attachment=0]new chainplates.jpg They did not put the holes in the right place on the top however. In order to have them pass through the bulwark I have to raise them a couple on inches. Other wise they top hole would intersect the deck. I think it will be okay.

I also got some primer put on the cabin top and the foot well. I am ready to put the topcaot in these two areas.. Next trip I hope to sand and prepare forthe top coat on the cabin top and foor well. I also had the shaft work done for the engine and should be able to permanently mount it. It seems like progress is coming! but the work is tedious and slow.

All I can say is WOW !!!!!!. You are making progress and she is certainly looking great. I'm sure you feel like progress is slow, but as long as you keep plugging away, you will eventually have a gorgeous .classic that is well founded and ready for some sailing adventures. Keep up the great work and keep us posted..

I got paint on the boat today. Finally I am seeing an end to at least on aspect of this enourmous task! I sprayed the topcoat on both the cabin top and the foot well. I am fairly pleased withthe work, however, before I left I noticed some debris in the bottom of the footwell. Its the best I can do painting outside though. I also noticed a few speck of dust on the cabin top but at least no bugs!

Fresh paint, looks great. Also like your detail on the new hatch. Keep it going.

Great job, its amazing how the paint makes everything start to come together.

More Sanding on the old boat but we are making progress. I have built out areas for my chainplates on the hull. The old chainplates were through the deck and very weak. I have moved the two rear chainplates on each side to the hull. In order to get them to contour to the hull I had to build out some raised areas. No pictures of that yet, maybe next week. I do have pictures of a couple of small projects I have been working on at the house. The first is the lid to my navigation table. I repaced the rotting top and instead of using formica, (thats what it had before) I decided to laminate the chart for Galveston Bay onto it. When I was rebuilding the top it was discovered nothing was square. Seeing I did not want to rebuild the cabinet I went back with what I had. You can see a little of the crookedness if you look close. I also have been working on the bowrail. Its rough but I hope to have it all welded and polished soon. I have also just purchased several hundred dollars worth of hoses and wires. i hope to have the engine install complete in a couple of weeks.

You are progressing nicely. I like your idea of the chart on the chart table lid. I look forward to the photos showing your progress. I guess we all like the photos as they seem to tie the entire project together in a logical way that we can appreciate.

The last two days I sanded over 16 hours on the hull. My hands and arms are numb. Even though it still looks ugly and blochy and desperatly needs paint, but you should see how smooth and fair the hull is. These pictures don't do justice.00_1231.JPG[/attachment]. I have also finished the stand-offs for the chainplates.

I spent two more days sanding. The hull is getting smooth enough I might choose a dark burgundy for paint. Still have a couple more days of sanding ahead of me. I hope the effort pays off. I have also been working on the engine instrument panel. The old panel was made of aluminum and a huge hole was cut in the foot well to accomodate it. The decision was made a long time ago to move the location to the front of the footwell instead of the side of it. I have reduced the size of the old hole and will place an outdoor shower in that location. The new location penetrates into the cabin underneath the steps. There is a cabinet with louvered doors it will penetrate into. I built a epoxy box that is glassed into the footwell to place the panel into. I hope to keep any water out of the cabin and to keep the panel out of harms way by recessing it into the box. Here is a picture of the old panel. The new panel looks a little better. When building this panel I was looking for a material that would not rust or corrode. I decided to build my own. This panel is actually a piece of cardboard soaked in CPES. I then put one layer of glass cloth on and faired. The result is amazingly strong, lightwieght, amd stiff. It was really an experiment; but, the result worked so well I decided to use it.

Clever idea for fabricating the panel. How heavy was the cardboard you used? I will be interested in how well it holds up. Please keep us posted.

The cardboard was taken from a box that held some gym equipment. Nothing sprecial! Approx. 3/16" thick, paper on the outside with a corrigated piece on the inside is the shape of a wave. I built this thing over 5 years ago. I have used it as the temporary instrument panel for the engine to test run it on a stand. Although it has not been exposed to the elements it has been pushed around and beat on for some time. The CPES completely soaked through it and has turned the paper into a composite like material. It was still too flexible when it dried so I, tore off one side of the paper, filled the groves on one side with thickened epoxy, and then placed on layer of fiberglass over the top. The result was a board that is stiff, lightwieght, and still 3/16" thick. When I did it I was just playing, but what the heck it worked. If it fails I have little into it except a couple hours time. I would probally replace it with a fiberglass board in the event of failure.

Interesting. I found that regular West System will not penetrate through a piece of notebook paper.

I spent two days at the boat last week. I never seem to get done everything I want; however, I am making some progress. I am working on getting my engine into it's rightful place. Currently it is sitting where the galley should be. There seems to be endless small tasks before I can set it back on the engine beds. I had to have the shaft cut down in length because the new engine is longer. I also had the machine shop drill out the old bolts on the shaft flange. They were hopelessly frozen. Four and one half inches shorter and sporting new bolts in the flange it is in. I also had to purchase new hose for the packing gland, new hose clamps and packing. This is getting expensive! I also brought my new dash to see what the finished product would look like when mounted.. I am painting all of the control panels red. I like the contrast and visibility. I was worried that the cubby hole built so long ago would not allow good visibility while driving the boat. I think it is okay, I like the fact it is basically out of the way. I have thought of placing a plexiglass door over it, but have not decided as of yet. Placing the primary bilge pump was the next task. I built a mounting bracket that would allow me to reach into the deep bilge to make any repairs. It is made of starboard plastic. I epoxied wood in the bilge to form grooves for this assembly to sit in. You have to reach through a panel in the quarter berth to access this part of the bilge. From the quarter berth to the bottom is about 3 1/2 ft. This is only one of three bilge pumps to be located in this area. This one is a Johnson 500 gph. I have a Johnson 2000 gph that will be mounted approx. four feet forwad of this location. It will also be about 8" higher I also have an Edson manual bilge pump that will have a strum box located directly adjacent to the smaller pump. This thing came with the boat and is massive. It supposedly moves a gallon with each stroke. I have also been working on the cockpit drains. Not sure if I like this yet. Wiring the dash is happening this week.

Wow, lots of progress. I really like that starboard removable bilge pump mount and that engine panel looks great. Keep up the fine work!

Looking great, really love that engine panel. I might have to do something like that on my boat. Is it lighted in any way? I need to somehow light the engine panel on my boat, as I tend to stay out past sunset. There's always another thing to do, that's true whether you're installing an engine or just painting the galley counter, as I discovered!

Most engine instruments have provisions for lighting. Check the back of each instrument and see if there is a small hole (roughly 1/2 in diameter) that a lamp socket snaps into.

Today I got the engine put in the engine room. The heat index was over a 100 degrees today. It made for slow going. I finished the installation of the ingine mounts and wired the dash. I also attached all the wires to the engine before placing it in the engine room. I next wired the engine because the connections will be difficult to get to when installed . I used a come-a-long to hoist the engine and place it into the bilge. It took quite some time because I was working alone. The engine had to pused back almost 2 feet past the lift point. I used 2 x 4's as cribbing on the front of the engine to pus it back. Finally it was in. Fantastic! I am a happy man.

Yesterday was another hot day at the boat. I continued my work on the engine. There was a problem getting to the forward bolts on the rear motor mounts. The oil pan sets below the nuts and you could not get a wrench in to hold the backup. I attempted to bend a Craftman 3/4 combination wrench without heating it. One large cheater bar later it broke in two pieces. Luckily for me the short piece fit right into the hole made for the nut. When turned it wedged against the side and held perfectly. The result was a very tight bolt, it wasn't very pretty in getting there. I wonder if Sears will replace that wrench? The next task was to construct the riser for the muffler. The engine sits completely below the water line in this boat. The muffler has to reach above the water line. I am building this out of galvanized pipe. Originally I was going to use stainless, but galvanize is much cheaper and should last a couple of years in the salt water environment. With exhaust gases and water I am not sure stainless would last much longer and be worth the cost. I will weld the water injection into a short nipple and attach on the downside of the risor. Everything showing will have to wrapped in insulation. The rest of the system will be rubber hose going to and leaving the water muffler. I also worked on the wiring. All of the battery connections were made for the motor. I began to bring all other motor connections to an area above the engine and close to the instrument panel. I am trying hard to avoid the rats nest this boat had when I got it. I am labeling everything. I was thinking of adding a port in order to service the water pump in front of the engine. However, it currently has nine inches of clearance to the bulkhead from the pump cover. I hope this is enough.

I would think 9 inches would be more than enough I wish there was 9 inches clearance to the raw water pump cover on my Westerbeke 27.

The boat is over 70 miles away from my house. Small jobs have to wait until I travel to the boat or they can be done at home. One of the home projects has been to remove the patina from all of the bronze hardware. The boat has 11 bronze portlights, 10 rectangle and one round. The portlights were installed using a black mastic. The stuff leaked like a sieve but held like superglue. When I removed the ports it typically broke the cabin liner around them. Removing the stuff from the portlight requires scrapping with a wood chisel. I then use a wire wheel on my 4 1/2 inch grinder and finally a wipe down with acetone. There is still some reisdue but not enough to cause problems when reinstalling. Its then off to a bath in Lime Away, followed by a session with a brasswire wheel on my grinder. A little 220 and then 400 grit sand paper prepares the surface for polishing. After several hours of polishing the results are fantastic! Now if I can just keep them looking this nice.

All I can say is WOW !!!!! You certainly have far more patience than I do. How long does it take you to complete one port?

Depends on how much of the previous cabin liner is attached but usually all day. 6 to 8 hours. Many people say I am anal retentive. I just like things that go bling!

The dog days of summer are definitely here. It has been above 95 every day for the last month. Despite the heat I have been making progress. The engine is running! It took longer than I thought it would, but that seems to be par for the course. I have a video but can only upload a picture. Note the alternator fan, its a blur. The electrical for the engine is done. I am trying to make it look neat. I have built an electrical panel that covers the wiring. The breaker for the ignition circuit and the charge circuit from the alternator are located on the front. I also placed an engine hour meter and a fuel filter vacuum gage on the panel. The square hole will accomodate a battery condition monitor. The opposite side will house the 110 volt switch gear for shore power to generator. After the engine start, I placed the engine hatch back in its place. The first time in 10 years!!! The goal now is to prepare the head, deck and hull for painting. That means lots of sanding! I predict it will take fieve more work days to get to the primer coat

After years of not being able to access this forum I have finally been able to get back on! Thanks to whoever has rescued this valuable format for old plastic boats. My project has continued but it is not finished. Several things have interfered with my progress such as health, change of jobs, money, deaths in the family, money, etc, did I say money. I have made progress and would like to continue documenting the journey here. Soon as I can I will post some more pics.

Her are some pictures taken during the painting process. It was a long and tedious process. first there was months of sanding, fairing, sanding, and fairing. The end result was not very satisfying as the hull look like hell. It was smooth but badly needing some love. I started the painting process using Awlgrip paint system. I had not used a spray gun for anything like this before. I purchased a new Deviblis gun and just went for it. The first coat of primer made a huge difference in the appearance of the boat. At least it was beginning to be a single color. After this coat it was back to sanding. I had to do some more fairing to fix some pinholes and cracks in the old gel coat. The next step was to paint three coats of high build. This was some nasty stuff. It was too thick to use my spray gun with. I ended up attempting to roll and tip but the result was terrible. Brush strokes were deep and very pronounced. My buddy told me that if I was attempting the wood grain look I did well. I ended up doing a lot of sanding again to remove all of the brush strokes. However the thickness of the paint ended up giving me a very smooth and fair hull

Don't know why I lost all of the pictures in that last post. I really don't know why the one that made it is upside down. Let me try to post them one at a time.download/file.php?mode=view&id=2398&sid ... 69d44e7a35

Still upside down. Don't know why. At any rate this is after the first coat of primer.

This shows the high build. Not a pretty yellow. The yard owner ask me if this was the color I picked out. I told him heck yeah, I love baby poop yellow

I realized at this point I needed some kind of shelter around the boat to have any chance of a decent finish on the boat. After many hours of planning and research I decided to build a simple wooden frame and cover it with tarps and plastic. I built the thing over two weekends.