April 18, 2001

The main project at this point was restoring the engine stringers.

Originally they were constructed with spruce laminated with plywood and aluminum. However, over the years the aluminum had corroded and squished the plywood.

To fix this, the spruce-plywood combination was routed down to the original thickness of the spruce and new plywood was laminated on to bring the stingers back to their original thickness.

Then, aluminum (6061-T6) was added running continuously from forward of the engine compartment, back past the cockpit. This is a change from the original design, and much stronger. The original boat had piece-wise aluminum between the frames, where now it is one contiguous piece.

The other main project of the day was to separate the aluminum tailfin from the bracket that mounted to the wooden part of the fin. All of the screws were corroded in place. A cutting torch was used to "blow" some out, while others were just heated and either unscrewed, or the heads broke off. Eventually the fin was removed.

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Next: May 13, 2001

© Ryan Smith, 2003-2007. All rights reserved

Date: 04/18/2001

Owner: Dragon Keeper

Size: 19 items

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Aluminum being glued to the left engine stringer. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 69	Note how aluminum on strings is one complete piece. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 72	Engine stringers at transom. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 70
Starting minor repair work on the bottom. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 72	Front, center - new bow frame being constructed. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 72	Left side of boat, bottom. Some of the bottom has already been cutout to remove dry rot. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 72
New frames. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 70	Larry Hanson gluing up the stringers in preparation for attaching the Aluminum. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 73	Overhead shot of back of boat. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 74
Detail of engine stringer. Note new, refurbished, and non-refurbished parts. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 76	Overhead of engine compartment. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 70	Overhead of bow. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 70
Dixon (left) and Mike Hanson using heat to remove corroded bolts from the tail fin. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 80	The "bendable" aluminum fin was attached to the wooden tail using a piece of channel. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 76	More heat to try and remove the bolts that hold the fin onto the channel. These were severely corroded. Date: 12/02/2007 Views: 67

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