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98 Hewes LT 18 Rehab


Reel Loco

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  • 2 weeks later...

Had a good day today working on the LT. The weather was great. I decided to tackle that huge hole I put in the keel. Now maybe I'll sleep better!

First I taped a pc. of mylar plastic to the outside of the hull over the gaping hole.

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Next I backed up the plastic with a pc. of foam.

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This is a shot from the inside showing the plastic dam.

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I used alternating layers of 1 1/2oz matt & 7oz cloth. Each layer was cut 1/2" larger all around. I layed 4 layers at a time and then waited for the resin to kick before starting the next 4 layers. Altogether I layed 12 layers.

Pic after first 4 layers.

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Pic after 8 layers.

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Final 4 layers with the last being XM 1808.

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Shot of the outside after removing the plastic dam.

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I used the rest of daylight to finish cutting out pcs. of 7018 gl*** for the floor stiffners. Stiffners are ready for resin.

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I have one more place on the inside to repair by the forward end of the starboard stringer(where Reel Loco got a little too aggressive with the grinder :( ) and then it will be time to flip the hull upside down.

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My back is killing me!!! :(

I took on one of the floor stiffners with three layers of 7018 & resin. I think the stiffner won. I'm not looking forard to that again. It took a little over a half a gallon of resin so I'll be back to the store for more resin. Would'nt want to run out of resin near the end of the other stiffner.

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man, that boat is gonna be strong...

and i thought i had it bad doing 'pretzel man' to install the navman gauge the last month... really got me to thinking about a hinged console.

funny thing, i get all contorted so i can get in there, and remove the old fuel gauge... i get un-contorted to prepare to install the new gauge, and guess what, i didn't remove the old FUEL gauge, i removed the TRIM gauge...

i'll leave the rest of the hilarity of trying to figure out which wires went to what of where and why the trim gauge was quasi-attempting to read the level in the fuel tank, and so forth to your imaginations.....

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really got me to thinking about a hinged console.

Squid,

Hadn't thought about a hinged console before. What a great way to access batteries, wiring, chargers, electronics, etc. I'll have to think about that one for awhile. Can't think of why it wouldn't work.

My wife and I got a good chuckle out of the gauge fiasco. I FEEL your pain!

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i can't see a reason why it wouldn't work, if done properly... it would make good sense on a machine like these, where the console is hard to get in, or under to get any work done...

i volunteer you to be the first to make it happen... hehe. get to work, slacker. :)

yeah, my wife got a laugh out of the gauge flub as well...

the new jeep project should prove just as fruitful for do-overs, mashed or gashed fingers, overuse of certain swear words, head scratching, slag burned forearms, and head knots.

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By the time he's finished with the inside of the hull skiffin is going to be jealous. LOL

I saw that....LOL.

Great photos and documentation on the project, awesome craftsmanship also...

JG

Thanks for the compliments Skiffin. We weren't kidding about your your bilge though. It must be the cleanest bilge in Florida! LOL....

The starboard side floor stiffner seemed to go alot smoother today since I had one under my belt. Thought I might run short on resin but I ended up with maybe 1/2 cup left over. Well, one more small repair on the interior of the hull and it's time to flip it over. Oldsalt and I have been discussing the merits of painting the bottom white and leaving the sides yellow. My wife saw a yellow boat with a light blue bottom and thought it looked nice.

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RL

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This afternoon I cut out a small section (about 3"x8") of the starboard stringer. I needed to lay a backing for the Reel Loco grinder mishap where I penetrated the hull which happened to be at the edge of the stringer. :(

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I applied a small pc. of mylar to the outer hull.

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For the backing I applied two layers of 1708 biaxial cloth and epoxy resin.

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Re-inserted the pc. of foam & stringer material but ran out of daylight before I could patch over the whole area with a couple of layers of biaxial cloth and resin.

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....

Pics?...... of the jeep i mean :)

nothing to look at the moment, just a '92 XJ with the front end off of it... parts are trickling in, so it should at least be lifted and new front sheetmetal pretty soon...

but i'll post up a few photos as soon as i get back out there...

time to break out the plasma cutter and wire feed! it's welding time, boys!

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Sheetmetal is secondary!!!

Melting metal is exciting, hammers, clamps,prybars, sparks, fire extinguishers, silver burn creme, wonderful stories.

Built dirt track cars, the building is always a thrill and the occasional moments of extreme stimulation!

dad, spikemike, sis and i have done more than a few engine swaps, rebuilds, tweaks, fabs, etc. while building hotrods, muscle cars and jeeps over the years....

best street fighter motors ever (IMHO) are dirt circle track spec'd small and big block chevrolets..... nothing like a 400lb mouse motor that can crank out 500lbsft, and 550bhp, over and over and over and over again.... hehehe. but that's another subject... :)

this mule will have about 225hp out of the stock 6, with a few mods.... 3" lift ordered, and 31x10.50s on the way, though a huge debate is raging over the need for such lift... and going instead with 30x9.50s on a 2" lift... as we are leaning more toward the 'expedition' style of beef up, as this thing will see a lot of road miles on the way to a lot of sand, carrying a LOT of gear, towing the new skiff on adventures along the Texas coast.

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here is the before, awaiting it's new front sheetmetal.

first parts on will be the lift....welded, stainless tube roof rack, 3/16 steel front and rear bumpers with receivers on both ends, spare tire rack on the bumper... tires somewhere in there..

funny... i swore off Jeeps a long time ago.... and this is Spikemike's old field find from out behind his dad's place up in central Texas.... just served two years college girl duty (my daughter) up at college station... now back home for some new life!

4.0L HO, AW4 auto into NP231, dana 30 in front, 8.25" mopar in the back (hooray), and surprisingly good towing ability and power.....

and away we go. i hope spike doesn't get too upset with what i'm about to do to it.. :D

anyway, sorry for the derail....

Gary, i hope you get your Christmas wish... i hope you can float that baby this year...

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  • 1 month later...

Well, today was the big day I've been waiting for and been thinking about for months. I knew with my bad back that finishing the outside of the hull on my back was out of the question.

I needed to find a way of flipping the LT to finish the hull. That led me to Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage in Placida, Florida. I was apprehensive about flipping it as Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage had never flipped one previously. They were willing to flip it for a very fair price.

I am happy to report the process went exceedingly well and was done in little over an hour. Brady (the travel lift operator) was very professional and calculated each and every move he made with the lift. That put me at ease.

Following are photos of the morning.

Arriving early morning at the boat lift.

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Brady and his helper putting the lift straps in place.

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My friend Bob watching the rigging process.

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p><p>At this point a couple of bystander

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Breathing much easier now!

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Brady

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I built a temporary bunk for the bow end to rest on.

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Mission accomplished!!! :content:

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