I would have taken more pictures yesterday, but I had to take my phone inside to cool off. This pretty much summed up how I felt by the end of the day as well.



I made a thickened poly resin with fiberglass shreds to fill all the gaps and seams and then tabbed the edges and seams with 1708 fiberglass. I used some teflon scrap pieces that were used to secure my original fuel tank to screw into the floor along the edges and at the joints to get them flush. I'll remove them Wednesday when I am off again after the tabbing has plenty of time to cure. Then I'll need to grind that area down again and tab those areas in with the rest. The floor was screwed down with 2" stainless screws that were thoroughly coated with 3M 5200 into the stringers and also the 2x2 I mentioned earlier. I can't fully fiberglass the deck since I will have to cut several holes to pour the 2 lb foam in when it arrives this week so I gave it a couple coats of polyester resin to waterproof it. Forecast is showing rain later this week and I don't want to take any chances on ruining what work I have done to this point.



I took this pic when I finished at 10 pm last night.

any more updates?

Sorry, I forgot all about this post. I haven't been taking many pics because I was just trying to get some work accomplished and I didn't want gelcoat and fiberglass resin all over my phone. I did not order enough 2 part foam so I had to wait almost a week for the second order to arrive. The floor is foam filled now. I put down a layer of 1708 fiberglass and a layer of chopped strand mat over that. I was told that the CSM would hide the overlaps in the 1708, but it did not. I'm not really worried about aesthetics since I hope to have it covered in shad scales and catfish slime in the near future anyways. I could have not overlapped the 1708, but then I would be sacrificing strength for looks. I put 3 coats of gelcoat on the floor and the last coat didn't cure properly. I think I did not use enough catalyst so they had to be sanded down and I started over. For the floor and decks I thickened the gelcoat with cabosil until it was a toothpast like consistency and put it on thick. Right before it kicked off I went over it again lightly with the roller to make some peaks for non skid. I sanded this lightly by hand with 60 grit to knock the points off and I have some nice non skid flooring now. I wasted over a month sanding, prepping, and gelcoating the exterior and bottom of the boat and still don't have it smooth and glossy like I want it. I have stopped messing with the exterior to start assembling the boat again. I reinstalled the console last night and will begin attaching the steering, motor controls, and wiring on Sunday. I filled in all the holes on my console and then cut new holes for the new switch panel and gauges. I will cut one more to flush mount my graph, but I haven't done that yet. Now let me see what pics I have.......

Check out Florida Sporstman : Dreamboat.

Wow Nice DIY!!!!....I had to do this to my old Cajun CC about 10 years ago...It took a few months also cause of work. But very well worth it

Boat is wired except for my navigation lights since my anchor light will be on my T-top. Motor and controls are hooked up and working great. Filled the gas tank and the Honda cranked up first try on the water hose. I replaced the wiring harness and controls for my hydraulic jack plate so it is finally working again. Replaced the seals on the Seastar steering and it seems to be working fine. I'll know for sure after a bumpy tow to the lake and test driving it. I finished sanding the exterior of the boat, compounded it, and polished the new gelcoat. I went ahead and installed my decals to prevent me from wasting even more time trying the make the boat look great. It is not perfect, but perfection will not allow me to fish any time soon. I installed the new keel guard, mounted the leaning post, installed the reupholstered cushions, and installed the hardware on the compartment lids. I actually lost a lid going down the highway because it wasn't secured yet. Luckily I know a guy that can do fiberglass and gel coat repair.....

I hope to take it to the lake on my next day off to make sure it still floats and to test everything out since it has been over 5 months since I started this project. If everything works, then I'll just have to weld my T-Top back together, install it, and then install some Bennett trim tabs. I am scheduled to head to the coast for 5 days in 3 weeks, so I'm hoping it goes smooth from here on.