thill
Well-known member
Last night, I went out with the grinder and ground away most of the terrible welds. Lots of porosity, voids and burnt spots. TERRIBLE! I still can't believe I didn't just stop.
Filling voids is a pain. I had to do many little spot welds, then grind back to make sure they filled properly. In the end, I got annoyed and just laid full welds over them, then ground them down to the proper contour. There are a few little pores here and there, but primer and paint will fill them with no issue.
In the end I am pleased with the results. The welds are nicer than the bubble-gum factory welds, especially the end caps and outside edges. And I put a fillet in the corners of the engine cutout, rather than just a bead. The other welds are just simple beads, nothing special. Here is the rough product, before final sanding and priming:
![Resized_Resized_20230618_195323.jpeg Resized_Resized_20230618_195323.jpeg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/tinboats/data/attachments/97/97213-73840bcf5ee6fcb76ad64b3e9c6ba52e.jpg)
![Resized_Resized_20230618_195329.jpeg Resized_Resized_20230618_195329.jpeg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/tinboats/data/attachments/97/97214-5694b52e933c07c26216305ab7d30624.jpg)
![Resized_20230618_204452.jpeg Resized_20230618_204452.jpeg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/tinboats/data/attachments/97/97215-3c12b57b6507cbc4eff7f50b7d25d932.jpg)
I'm about to go out and smooth everything out and spray etching aluminum primer on. I will probably clean up some old touched up spots on the back skin that look a bit suspicious. maybe because they used tan paint on them. A wire brush will reveal what is really under there.
Once the transom is back together, I need to get back on getting the floor down and secured. I still have to cut the original floor back tight to the new flooring. I'll probably use a vibro-cutter with a half-moon blade.
The front floor of the boat is tight and dry, so no need to do much there, but I do want to put an aluminum backing strip under the joint so it stays nice and tight over time.
I'm going to just re-carpet it as it was originally. I thought about vinyl flooring, but I hate the roll and tuck thing, and I don't want to put much time and money into this one, so carpet it is.
In the end, the boat will be a bit better than original. I just need to burn through the rest of the project.
Filling voids is a pain. I had to do many little spot welds, then grind back to make sure they filled properly. In the end, I got annoyed and just laid full welds over them, then ground them down to the proper contour. There are a few little pores here and there, but primer and paint will fill them with no issue.
In the end I am pleased with the results. The welds are nicer than the bubble-gum factory welds, especially the end caps and outside edges. And I put a fillet in the corners of the engine cutout, rather than just a bead. The other welds are just simple beads, nothing special. Here is the rough product, before final sanding and priming:
![Resized_Resized_20230618_195323.jpeg Resized_Resized_20230618_195323.jpeg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/tinboats/data/attachments/97/97213-73840bcf5ee6fcb76ad64b3e9c6ba52e.jpg)
![Resized_Resized_20230618_195329.jpeg Resized_Resized_20230618_195329.jpeg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/tinboats/data/attachments/97/97214-5694b52e933c07c26216305ab7d30624.jpg)
![Resized_20230618_204452.jpeg Resized_20230618_204452.jpeg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/tinboats/data/attachments/97/97215-3c12b57b6507cbc4eff7f50b7d25d932.jpg)
I'm about to go out and smooth everything out and spray etching aluminum primer on. I will probably clean up some old touched up spots on the back skin that look a bit suspicious. maybe because they used tan paint on them. A wire brush will reveal what is really under there.
Once the transom is back together, I need to get back on getting the floor down and secured. I still have to cut the original floor back tight to the new flooring. I'll probably use a vibro-cutter with a half-moon blade.
The front floor of the boat is tight and dry, so no need to do much there, but I do want to put an aluminum backing strip under the joint so it stays nice and tight over time.
I'm going to just re-carpet it as it was originally. I thought about vinyl flooring, but I hate the roll and tuck thing, and I don't want to put much time and money into this one, so carpet it is.
In the end, the boat will be a bit better than original. I just need to burn through the rest of the project.