|
Click on photos for larger view.
|
|
|
Steering system
|
|
Here's my plan for controls: I'm going with an old-look steering
column that will connect to a teleflex helm behind a bulkhead
in front of my feet. The transmission shifter will be a big
lever coming up through the sole.
|
I purchased this steering wheel and column off eBay for $25. This
is how the steering wheel arrived. It was severely cracked and chipped
in many places. Rather than purchase a new replica, I decided to
try and restore it. I used the approach described on
http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqstrg.htm .
(04-OCT-2007)
|
This is what it looked like after one pass of epoxy filler and sanding.
(17-NOV-2007)
|
Close-up after one round of fill and sand. At this stage, I used 100
grit paper. I did my filling using West System epoxy with West System
410 "Microlight" fairing filler.
|
|
(26-NOV-2007)
|
Close-up after two rounds. The scratches from the coarse paper are gone,
and I am working mostly with 220 grit.
|
More filling and sanding.
|
The filling and sanding process took about five or six iterations. As
recommended on "Bugfix", you do most of your inspection by feel.
|
This picture was taken after one of many coats of primer. I used
an entire "rattle can" of sandable auto primer, through iterations
of "prime, sand, fill, sand". Each iteration was about 10 minutes
of work. This was spread out over a week or so. The primer
highlights visual issues that you could not see or feel at the
prior stage.
(09-DEC-2007)
|
Close-up during the priming phase.
|
Close-up of the handle after several rounds of priming and sanding.
In total, I probably sanded off 95% of the filler I used, and at least
75% of the primer.
|
Here is the front of the wheel, after paint.
(14-DEC-2007)
|
The finished wheel. Fitted with a chrome "button" from
Glen-L. One of these days, maybe I'll seek out the horn
ring that will fit this wheel. But for now, I am happy.
|
This is the tapered shaft and hollow steering column. I still
have to prime and paint the steering column.
(26-NOV-2007)
|
I like this angle... it shows the detail on the front and
back of the handle.
(15-DEC-2007)
|
Overall, I am very happy with this result. I hope that
the paint holds up, and that the cracks don't reappear.
Preserving this wheel was not about saving the $250 that it
would have taken to buy a replica. I easily spent
that in labour. This was about having a 50+ year-old
piece of history as part of my boat.
|
The steering column will hang beneath the dashboard with a stainless
steel u-bolt. I am still trying to decide what colour to paint the
column ... white? black? grey?
|
In this shot, I am positioning the steering column in against the
bulkhead so that I can position the teleflex helm in front of
the bulkhead. (The wires hanging down under the column are my
wiring harness).
(16-DEC-2007)
|
|
|
This is a side view of the steering column and the starboard
half of the front bulkhead. The Teleflex rotary helm will go through
thus bulkhead, just as it would usually go through a dashboard. The
bulkhead and my dashboard are parallel. Both are at a 20 degree angle.
That way, the Teleflex helm shaft will be perpendicular. I will
couple the shaft from the helm to the long steering shaft on the
inside of the column. To the left, you can see my forward
positive flotation tank. I used expanding foam cast in a large
plastic storage tub. It is held in place with ratchet straps,
so it could be removed.
|
Gunwale |
Here's a cross-section sketch depicting the deck to sheer junction as per plans.
(21-APR-2008)
|
Here's how we'll be modifying the junction.
|
We routed a rabet for the gunwale. Battens were sprung down both sides to lay out
a rabet to accept the mahogany gunwales.
|
|
|
Gunwales in place. I added extra to the bow to create an overhang that will hide the top
of my cutwater.
|
Fairing the gunwales.
|
|
Rub-rail Nose-cap. I bent this from my Stainless Steel rubrail. It will
cap the nose.
|
|
Covering boards |
Covering boards. I had 3 @ 11" boards, and 1 @ 14" board milled down to 3/8"
to be my covering boards.
|
Ready to go. The top of the boat hasn't been this clean since Guntersville !
|
Setting the finishing board pattern. I worked with Kraft Paper and a batten to set the
desired finishing board shape, then transferred the pattern to the mahogany.
I used the 14" wide for the front piece on each side.
|
Cutting the front finishing board. The tape marks the overlap of the
mating piece. We wanted to get two 6' long pieces out on one 11' long board .
|
Test fitting.
|
Pattern for piece #2. Piece #2 was also 6' long, with mating pieces cut from one
11' board.
|
Pattern for piece #3.
|
All pieces are fitted and tacked down. I still need to do some fairing
on the inside curve.
|
Decking |
Lining up the deck planks. I used 3/16" plywood as my spacer between the planks.
(12-MAY-2008)
|
All of the planks were numbered and dry-fit prior to epoxying them down. I bought
a $125 Sanding Station at "Canadian Tire". It has a 4" x 36" belt, and an 8" disc. It
was VERY helpful in shaping the ends of each piece of decking. This is one tool that
I wish I had much earlier in the build process while assembling the frames and spiling the
planking. It would have saved many hours !.
|
I decided to add a fancy treatment for the fuel fill.
|
Some of the rear planks needed temorary hold-down help between the screw lines.
|
Everything is epoxied down.
|
I bored all the holes for the bungs. I used a 3/8" counter-bore to
match my 3/8" tapered plug cutter.
|
400 plugs ...
|
Here are the bungs glued in. I purposely set my drill press so that the plug
cutter left about 1/32". The bungs came off in "sheets", making them much easier to handle.
|
Here is the deck after first fairing with a belt sander. I knocked off all the
bungs, and leveled out the board edges.
|
Here is a close-up of the finishing board joint. I still have to fill some gaps in the joint.
|
The bungs turned out OK, but I didn't quite get the grain lined up as I hoped I would. Some of
them are a little off line.
|
This is the decking after 80 grit with the random orbital sander. All belt sander marks are gone.
|
I added a 1/4" radius to the finishing board. It still needs some clean-up sanding
|
|
This picture shows the "out-gassing" after the first coat of epoxy. It looks like the boat has a case of leprosy.
(24-MAY-2008)
|
As I expoxied the deck, I had a pretty bad case of "Out-Gassing". I had hoped to
get three coats of epoxy on in one day, without sanding between. As it turned out,
the gassing was so bad that I had to let each coat cure and sand it down. When I went
to my West System manual, the warning about out-gassing could not have been more plainly
presented. Somehow I missed it. Either warm the hull well in advance of epoxying, or start
your work in the evening, as the hull is cooling.
(24-MAY-2008)
|
In this shot, I am dry-fitting the mahogany panelling for the "ceiling". This view
is of the front cockpit, passenger side. (The ceiling is the interior finished wall). I chose
to form my ceilings out of 1/8" plywood, then vener them with 1/8" mahogany strips. The strips
will be epoxied on, but I will use rows of screws and cup washers for an authentic look. The
stowage compartment will be rounded, and a mahogany trim frame will be added. Those floorboards
will be covered with a white "marmoleum" look.
(01-JUN-2008)
|
In this shot, I am cutting the hatch out of the deck. When I framed it in, I left 1/4" between
the hatch opening, and the hatch edges. I used a long, skinny drill bit to drill upwards and
find my corners. It was straight lines between them. When I framed the deck, I tacked 1/4" ply
spacers in the gaps. Those needed to be removed. I also fastened supports under the hatch, so
that it does not fall onto the engine. (Pay no attention to that man with the bald spot sawing
without safety glasses).
(06-JUN-2008)
|
Here are the hatches. Originally, I was going to do one solid hatch, but the more I
researched the '50s style of this boat, the more I realized that the twin hatch approach
was more authentic. So I ran my circular saw down the middle to split it in two.
|
Now that the hatch is cut out, there will be some clean-up work on the inside of the hatch opening.
|
Here is the windshield template. Finding a local place to do the tempered glass took a
number of phone calls, but I found a great place in Scarborough that is doing them for
me for a very reasonable price.
|
The soles are out for the flooring treatment. The front flotation tank is out, too... I dropped
in the dash to start setting up the wiring. (pay no attention to those brown bottles on the deck).
(08-JUN-2008)
|
That's it for now. We'll post more photos as work progresses. I hope
you've enjoyed viewing the Monaco Project. If you have have any questions or
comments, feel free to send me an
email.
|
