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.
Read MoreOriginally 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.
