1981 Double Eagle gets a second chance

[DanJ]

Might be an obvious question, but is your gelcoat waxed? Unwaxed poly resin or gel will forever be tacky to the touch, until it’s gone over with waxed product or PVA. Also gelcoat needs to go on fairly thick to actually kick off and set up properly. Temp and catalyst plays a roll too as I’m sure you know. I’ve found out the hard way myself more than once HA

I think my MEKP was bad. It was waxed gel coat and it was definitely thick enough. Also Humidity was good so other than it being a pain in the butt to remove and start over its no big deal. I will do a test with new MEKP to make sure. It was a new can of gel coat.

 

[Doubleheader]

I think my MEKP was bad. It was waxed gel coat and it was definitely thick enough. Also Humidity was good so other than it being a pain in the butt to remove and start over its no big deal. I will do a test with new MEKP to make sure. It was a new can of gel coat.

Interesting, never had mekp go bad…

 

[Gong Show]

It's highly volatile, so if the container is not 100%, it can go 'bad'.

 

[tyee604]

I think my MEKP was bad. It was waxed gel coat and it was definitely thick enough. Also Humidity was good so other than it being a pain in the butt to remove and start over its no big deal. I will do a test with new MEKP to make sure. It was a new can of gel coat.

Yes mekp does go bad and is uv sensitive if left in sunlight too long
Best stored in cool dark place and it has short shelve life
Gelcoat requires 2% mekp and maybe more in cooler climates

 

[DanJ]

Finished the anchor locker bulkhead glassed both sides and tabbed in place. Still have to add the access door. Also put some primer down after removing the plastic tabs left behind from the interior.
The order of the pictures did not come out right but you get the idea. Also everything that is white primer will be covered in marine carpet so not worried about making it to pretty

 

[DanJ]

Getting the battery trays ready with a couple coats of epoxy primer.

 

[DanJ]

Anchor locker door added today as well as scuffed the floor with 80 grit getting it ready to add seats and helm bulkhead. Also gave the boat a rinse inside to get rid of some dust. On a side note I opened up the drain bolt on the pod during the Sunday heatwave and the air pressure that came out was surprising. Good to know it is air tight an no pin holes.

 

[DanJ]

Was able to work a couple days on the boat and got a lot accomplished. Helm bulkhead cut and fibreglassed. I used regular fur 5/8” for this as it’s not something that will get wet and it’s glassed anyways so saving $100 a sheet made more sense. Also built the side storage and glassed as well. Big news is the seats are ready for test fitting and I will play around with the set up before I glass the bases to the floor. Can’t wait for paint just to make everything look fresh and new.

 

[Sttr]

Looking awesome Dan!
Can’t wait to see some paint. Are you planning to keep the colour or will you be changing it up a bit? Those seats will look great with any colour scheme. I personally like the yellow with a bit of black and grey

 

[DanJ]

Looking awesome Dan!
Can’t wait to see some paint. Are you planning to keep the colour or will you be changing it up a bit? Those seats will look great with any colour scheme. I personally like the yellow with a bit of black and grey

My thoughts are Interlux Kingston Grey on the hull sides and white top with a black boot stripe.

 

[DanJ]

Over the last couple weeks I have only had a couple days to work on the boat. Put down some primer on the hull sides after I installed the side shelves. Slowly coming along .

 

[DanJ]

A little more work on the 81 Double Eagle. Starting to plan out the placementt of the diesel heater also put in the holders for batteries.

 

[salmonkiller01]

A little more work on the 81 Double Eagle. Starting to plan out the placementt of the diesel heater also put in the holders for batteries.

If you can mount your diesel heater higher and have the exhaust drop down saves you from needing a goose neck to keep water out. Mine has a 1 meter exhaust run dropping 10 inches. Just a thought

 

[DanJ]

Cut and fit the cuddy door today once I had it fit I removed it and glassed it. Also spent more time on the layout of the diesel heater, just waiting on a few parts now. Also test fit the helm so far so good

 

[DanJ]

Pictures

 

[salmonkiller01]

Cut and fit the cuddy door today once I had it fit I removed it and glassed it. Also spent more time on the layout of the diesel heater, just waiting on a few parts now. Also test fit the helm so far so good

Let me know if you need a 1 meter exhaust tube. Bought the espar exhaust 2m and it came in 2-1 meter runs have one in my shop that i will give you a great deal on they were 45 bucks each on amazon will sell for less than half that

 

[DanJ]

Let me know if you need a 1 meter exhaust tube. Bought the espar exhaust 2m and it came in 2-1 meter runs have one in my shop that i will give you a great deal on they were 45 bucks each on amazon will sell for less than half that

Are you in Nanaimo?

 

[salmonkiller01]

Are you in Nanaimo?

Yes, will send a PM

 

[DanJ]

Cuddy door is in and painted. Diesel heater is in but need to work on the exhaust and wiring. I was hoping to paint the floor today but it was just two damn hot in Port Alberni so worked on getting the helm mounted. The heater is mounted on a separate board attached to the back of the cuddy bulkhead so I can easily remove the whole system. I did not want to put the exhaust through the hull hence me trying to run it up and out not sure I am happy with this idea.

 

[DanJ]

After some advice and some additional research I am going to scrap the whole exhaust and go with a much better quality marine rated muffler and pipe.