New to Me - MA 18 w/ Questions

[Wanaflatsfish]

Great info.....keep it coming......

@ OP  are you doing the work yourself ?  

 

BTW, I'd definitely check your tank...you have the skiff open and you can essentially insure you have another 20 years with a new tank with Epoxy coating.

 

As you saw on my thread, we were able to get it out without cutting the cap.

 

dc

[whichwaysup]

Good golly day, two MAs under the knife and build threads on both of them.   Think there was a third on here somewhere.   Anybody else enjoying this as much as I am?    

Always fun to watch the life cycle of a hull - from "new, hot, and popular" to "considered top of the line" as it matures, then to "coveted classic" and finally to "rebuilt classic" as the line gets older.    The MAs are definitely moving into this later realm with the Potter hull seacrafts and some other famous hulls!

[CRD Dawg]

Hey thanks. Hopefully I can pass along a few things I’ve learned along the way. I will definitely have even more appreciation for the hull once it’s done, since I’ll have a little better understanding about how it was put together.

Not doing the work myself. I’m very lucky that one of the best detailers and fiberglass shops in town are both 10 minutes from my house. As for the tank, it is original. It is the only thing that leaves me any major concern. While I’m doing quite a bit of refurb, it’s all below deck and on the outside of the hull. The boat came with almost $5k in receipts for top deck refurbishments, so I decided to roll the dice and not redo much of the work that was done by getting into a tank replacement. During the inspection, the surveyor ran a bore scope all thru the boat and did not see any visuals that would indicate a possible problem. Not saying that is a guarantee by any stretch. No smells noted. Service receipts from just before I purchased, noted the tank had 25 gallons siphoned, “no trash noted”, vacuumed dry, sender pulled and replaced. Time will tell, hopefully I get a few more years out of it. Fingers crossed!

[CRD Dawg]

Next item to address was the dreaded stringer. This was on hold because the 11x19 hatch for the splashwell was on backorder for months. Finally came in and fit perfect. Needed the hatch to determine the hole we could cut. It is a Jim Black service door, part number 582-1119-05. 
 

No more pie plate. 

We got the access needed to address the inward stringer delamination with this splashwell opening. This is early stages of repair. Unfortunately, it was determined that we needed to get to the delamination on the outside of the port transom knee by cutting thru the release well floor.

 

Here is the access in the release well floor. Bow is to the left, stern towards the right. Used the splashwell hatch dimensions here as well. Again early stages of repair. You can see in the top right of the rectangle that the new glass has been laid in place.

 

Here is the repair up close. There was some extra grinding done because in some places, the bilge paint was so thick and cracked, we wanted to make sure any other suspect cracks in bilge paint were just that. After some exploratory, we were comfortable that the 2 spots I noted earlier were it.

[CRD Dawg]

So since we had used the dimensions of the 11x19 hatch in the release well also to gain access, for consistency sake, we decided to use the same dimensions in the starboard side hatch floor as well. The battery tray had cracked, and since I was planning to move the cranking battery under the console anyway, I didn’t need to retain the recessed tray. I thought it might also be nice to be able to monitor the area below, like the starboard stringer, the foam in that area, the back side of the trim tab pocket (thinking about the water weeping tab holes), and have better access to the bilge hose. Had to make some composite inserts to fill the recess since the cutout dimensions didn’t span the recessed tray.

 

Also decided to add a pie plate in the outer wall. I wanted to be able to replace the bilge thru hull and hose. There was some foam to remove. Also removed about 4-5 inches of rod tubes.

 

Last access point I wanted to add was below the helm seating storage floor. There was an off-center pie plate in the floor of the hatch and gave view to really nothing. Wanted to open up that access so I found a 13x36 hatch to center in the floor. Nice thing is that now I can have that hatch all the way open, even if the helm hatch is closed, to help allow more air to circulate in bilge.

 

 

[CRD Dawg]

Next item to address was the keel, with rash starting near the bow eye going to about mid ship.

[Shallowminded6]

11 hours ago, CRD Dawg said:

Next item to address was the keel, with rash starting near the bow eye going to about mid ship.

Whats their fix for it? They going to shoot it with more gel coat I would think? Pretty common spot for it to wear out, i did marinetex over some of the spots on my boat where it started to wear thru the gelcoat. 

[CRD Dawg]

Yep, gelcoat was used. He was able to order the colors based on year and model. He tested drops on a few places on the hull for both colors. Since the green was not blended but covering the whole panel, that being the transom, I told the glass guy I wasn’t super concerned if it was a half shade off. I don’t think you’d ever really notice. Well it turned out great. I was more concerned about the keel since it was being spot sprayed but it turned out as a great match also. Just need to gets pics up to date real time. Hope to get more up in the next few days.

[CRD Dawg]

Getting back to transom work and headed to paint booth. Trim Tab pockets sprayed first, then remaining vertical portion of transom, then top of transom. You may notice in pic 4 that they decided to “re-fair” the transom in the splashwell a second time to better round out the transition from vertical to horizontal one more time. I think the bright lighting in the booth highlighted a few places they wanted to retouch a bit.

Interesting to me, the coating that was applied to the gelcoat after initial curing. Was a little surprised when I stopped by and saw this at first. I believe this was to help indicate where wet sand and buff had been done once started, so as to not overwork a specific area. Pencil markings used the same way on top of transom.

 

 

 

 

[RacerxV6]

Looking good CRD Dawg, keep'm coming.

[CRD Dawg]

So the project bounced around a bit, as different areas of the boat were in various states of cure. Here’s first pass of bilge paint around stringer repairs. 
 

 

Kinda hard to get your bearings in this pic. This is the repair to the outside of port transom knee in that small pocket below the release well drain area, bow is towards the left as noted.

[Wanaflatsfish]

Nice work.

 

dc

 

[CRD Dawg]

Back to the keel. The shop sprayed from the bow eye to about a 1/3 of the way back or so, and as much as maybe 10” I guess on either side of the keel in places. This was where I was more concerned about color match, but came out great. Addressed some gelcoat chips on a few of the strakes as well. There is some minor rash/abrasions from midship to stern remaining that didn’t buff out in the first phase of the project, but the glass shop & detail company who share a building and work together on projects, advised against spraying all the way back. They felt remaining abrasions were very superficial and not worthy of respray as we were not trying to make this boat a driveway queen. Hopefully it will actually be fished. Pics underneath make the strakes look somewhat asymmetrical, but I didn’t want to spend too much time wiggling around under the boat just to get the right angle. Did a repair around the garboard drain area as well. It appeared to have been R&R’ed once, and a small portion of gelcoat damaged in the process. Wanted the new drain to have a clean smooth surface to bond to.

 

[Wanaflatsfish]

Looking better every day

 

dc

 

[RacerxV6]

Really nice work

[CRD Dawg]

So here’s the keel after initial wet sand and buff, not complete getting but close. And no, the energy drink is not mine, can’t stand the stuff. I drink coffee if I need caffeine.

 

 

 

 

[whichwaysup]

I may have to trailer my MA down to your detailer and fiberglass guys to redo the nonskid and get her looking even newer.   

 

man they really do a nice job!

[RacerxV6]

Man, that sure does look nice.....can't wait to see the finished product.

[CRD Dawg]

Been a while since I updated. Funny how life and work can get in the way of your hobbies. All good though, had a couple spring breaks (with kids at different schools) to coordinate. Boat has been in the driveway for about a month while I’ve been doing some clean up work and small projects before I turn the boat over for re-rigging. I’ve learned paint and glass work is a messy job. I do plan to post a few things I’ve found as I’ve been doing my prep work as time allows. Here are pics as they were getting close to finishing up transom. Still a little wet sand and buff to do, but getting close. Color match from transom to hull sides was better than expected. I guess hull sides weren’t that faded after all. I will say there was no “ghosting” of the old Maverick logos when they were removed. Entire hull from rub rail down was then ceramic coated after final re-wet sand and buff. Hope I don’t regret the ceramic coating. I’ve read opinions on both sides.

 

[CRD Dawg]

In the interim, I pulled the hatch lid for the console seat. It was poorly aligned, so I found some replacement Gemlux hinges with different hole patterns, so I could realign a bit. Not only are the console and seat a bit asymmetrical, they’re also asymmetrical in opposite directions (if that makes any sense), so making them align perfectly isn’t an option, but I made it better. The cushion that was there did not appear to be original, the backrest was gone after the console was redone, plus the seat cushion was way too thick so the lid could only open about 6 inches and held water somehow, so it had to go. I sketched this pad design on paper and took the lid to a local SeaDek guy. He said the asymmetrical nature of the seat made it a good challenge, but it came out pretty good I thought. Also, because of the location of previous holes, and location of limits of glass reinforcements inside the console, I couldn’t make the hinges exactly the same distance from the edge of the lid. You’ll notice that the starboard hinge is about a 1/4-1/3” closer to the center line of the boat, but not real noticeable. Came out pretty good I thought, considering the challenges.

[Wanaflatsfish]

who did the seat ?

 

things looking good

 

dc

 

[CRD Dawg]

Thanks! It’s a small business local to me called Kersey Machine. Not a SeaDek retailer so he can order any material that’s available and cut any design you want. He sent me a few proofs from his computer before cutting (on both items) just to make sure it matched what I had in my head. Does a lot of smaller projects like helm pads, poling platform pads, under gunnel pads, but does whole boats too. I sketched this last fall and sent to him and it came out just like I’d envisioned. Good prices for small, one-off type projects. 

[CRD Dawg]

So I did some clean up and found a few items I wanted to share. Both of the bulkheads (I assume that’s what they’re called) below the bow battery storage compartment, have holes cut in the bottom for water to pass through. But instead of being an upside down “U”, it’s a complete circle and actually creates a lip or high spot where water and crud collects below the bottom of the bulkheads. I cleaned out 20 years of wet grimy goo, along with a few old washers. Not a good design. Cleaned as best I could. Also noticed that the foam inside these bulkheads is exposed in that hole. Can reach up and touch the underside of the foam thru that hole. I guess to drain I suppose. Did some light sanding, cleaning and reapplication of new bilge paint since this area won’t be very accessible once trolling motor batteries are in place. First coat of paint here.

[CRD Dawg]

Went back to the pie plate access hole cut in the rear starboard hatch. The under gunnel rod holders run on this side were open at the end and I think just ended up supported by foam. This is an early pic. 
 

Kept cutting back until I was able to fully expose the bilge hose which was fully foamed in. Was able to remove bilge hose and plastic thru hull. Will be replaced with stainless thru hull and new hose. Haven’t decided, may cap off the rod holders but not glue them in place. Just want to minimize chance of water running aft and dripping into the foam back there.

 

 

[CRD Dawg]

Next was port side hatch and the foam there. Specifically the foam that exists on the outside of the stringers. When we cut the access hatch in the release well floor to repair the area of the stringer on the outside of the port transom knee, we really left that foam untouched, so I decided to do a little exploratory. Pic from before clean up and removal.

Found evidence that the foam had previously been wet. (I assumed due to black moldy color.) Kept cutting slivers away until no more wet foam. I ended fully exposing the pocket that exists on the outside of the stringers.
 

Once I removed the foam, I exposed this. The trim tab screws pierced the hull and created a channel thru to this pocket that was holding wet foam. Now I know why I was able to wick water out of the trim tab holes with Q-tips during initial prep for glasswork. (See earlier in this thread.) Ensured all was dry (with more Q-tips, ran a blower with hose wedged into this area on and off for several days) and coated with 2 part epoxy. Once this was done, I went back to the starboard side again and repeated this process. Found evidence of same conditions there.