Minn 3 Rebuild

[Clint]

In my area we have grown a little group of people that like to race the Texas Water Safari. Started out at the first of the year we was going to do maybe two aluminum teams and try and recruit a 4th person to race with us. We had tried out the unlimited style canoe that I have but we are just not ready for that style racing yet. Ran across this Minnesota 3 the other day and pick it up. It's in rough shape but it feels solid and I think it can be revitalized into a race boat. So this weekend me and a buddy wielded out scrappers and sanders and took the boat back down to the factory skin coat.

Right now the plan is to get it ready to some patch all the dents and holes with thickened epoxy and some leftover 18oz fiberglass and then add a new layer of 4oz cloth just over the waterline. Top that with a few coats of graphite laden epoxy.

It looks like the person before me mixed up maybe some polyester resin and poured over the canoe? Put did not prep the boat. The surface under has not been sanded and you can take a scrapper and take the resin off. Here are some before and in progress pictures.

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

Wow- what a difference. Looking good!

Bob

 

[dougd]

Those before pictures are pretty painful to look at. Nice job on the sanding so far.

 

[Jim Dodd]

That hull looks like it has a bad case of Psoriasis !

Looking forward to the After pics !

Jim

 

[dogbrain]

Hi Clint, I don’t think you should bother with the 18oz fiberglass. It will leave too much of an edge that has to be faired. If you are going to put a new layer of 4pz on the bottom get s-glass, and use it for any patches on the outside prior to the full sheet. If the hull has soft spots, they should be reinforced on the inside ideally with overlapping layers of Kevlar. If the boat spends any time in the sun you’ll want to varnish otherwise the canoe will end up looking like it did eventually when the epoxy gets uv damaged and brittle. Good luck with your project.

Mark

 

[Clint]

Hi Clint, I don’t think you should bother with the 18oz fiberglass. It will leave too much of an edge that has to be faired. If you are going to put a new layer of 4pz on the bottom get s-glass, and use it for any patches on the outside prior to the full sheet. If the hull has soft spots, they should be reinforced on the inside ideally with overlapping layers of Kevlar. If the boat spends any time in the sun you’ll want to varnish otherwise the canoe will end up looking like it did eventually when the epoxy gets uv damaged and brittle. Good luck with your project.

Mark

Thank you Mark for the reply. I was worried that the 18oz would be to much for the outside patches. I already have the 4oz E-glass so I guess that what I'll go ahead and use. I know it is not as stiff as the S-glass. As for the inside, I have never worked with Kevlar and was trying to avoid using it. Could this be a place to use the 18oz fiberglass? Just trying to use what I have on hand but, if I need to order something else I can.

 

[goonstroke]

Nice job liberating the original hull.

I'm with dogbrain, if it were mine I'd use 5oz kevlar patches on the inside to deal with any holes/soft spots. When some rock is trying to bash its way into your chine that extra tensile strength would be very helpful. Kevlar really isn't that bad to work with. It's just a) hard to cut (three hands helps) and b) not to be sanded willy-nilly.

I hear you about materials on hand, but I dunno about that 18oz glass ... donate to local Corvette club?

 

[dogbrain]

If you want to use what you have, which I totally understand, then I would do multiple overlapping layers of the 4 oz. instead.

Mark

 

[Clint]

Nice job liberating the original hull.

I hear you about materials on hand, but I dunno about that 18oz glass ... donate to local Corvette club?

Thank you. Can not wait to roll and tip some new epoxy on it and see how it looks.
It'll get used. It is what I put in the seat mold while making fiberglass seats.

If you want to use what you have, which I totally understand, then I would do multiple overlapping layers of the 4 oz. instead.

Mark

Thank you Sir. I'll do that on the outside and look at getting some kevlar for the inside patching.

 

[Clint]

This weekend got all the sanding and scraping finished up. Wiped it down with acetone and mixed up some thicken epoxy. Filled all the deep gouges that was left and put some patches over some of the areas. Then laid the 4oz fiberglass over the bottom up to somewhere around the 4”-5” waterline. Took and leveled up the canoe and then set up the laser to establish the line around it. Rolled on the first coat of clear epoxy Saturday night.


Closed up the shop and had a heater on all Saturday night set at 80. So Sunday morning everything was all set and dry. Got it back outside and did a quick wash with soap and water. Light sand with 120 grit and another bath. Back in the shop and set with the laser to establish the same line around it. And started mixing epoxy with graphite. Was able to put the first coat on and wait for 3-4 hours till it was just tacky and then roll on a second coat. Again left the heater on it Sunday night.


Went out while ago and was able to put the final coat of clear on the sides. And I think the outside is done for now. I have the Kevlar ordered and should be this week to patch all the inside stuff. So another weekend and it should be ready for the water!

 

[memaquay]

Looks great!

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

Awesome job!

 

[lowangle al]

That's quite the transformation, great job.

 

[Boatman53]

That looks pretty sharp. Well done.
Jim

 

[WilluCanoe]

Wow! That looks like a lot of work, but once you finish it I can imagine it will all be worth it. I got to believe when you put so much effort into taking it from what it was to what it is going to be, the paddling will be that much more enjoyable.

 

[Clint]

Thank you everyone. It has been a lot of work. but well worth it. We will have a good boat to race in and trip in later. If it doesn't end up wrapped around a boulder in the first 6 miles of the race!

 

[dogbrain]

Nice work. It will be good for another 20 years of use when you're done.

Mark

 

[Clint]

All righty. Took the 3 man out on its maiden voyage last night. And it hums down the river quite nicely. We figured out where we would like to mount the middle seat and where to mount the rudder.

But need some help. Side swiped a branch under the water on the side. Heard a pop and a small crunch. No water coming in the boat so we was good to go. Made it back to the truck. Looking at it this evening. I seen the gouge. Did not break through the Kevlar but popped the glass I had on it. So I started pulling on it. Worked a pretty good size spot where it appears to have torn the glass from the boat. Is this normal? Just curious, never have dealt with composite that much. So not sure what kind of “shock wave “ of damage radiates from a hit.

 

[Alan Gage]

That is not normal. I don't know what could have caused it but suspect something kept the resin from adhering to the original hull as it should have. In my experience fiberglass doesn't peel off when there is good adhesion.

Did you use epoxy resin? If I remember right you sanded hull down so I would have thought any surface contaminants would have been removed. How fine of a grit did you sand to before patching? Anything else done to the hull before patching?

Alan

 

[Clint]

Alan. I sanded with 80 grit the entire boat. Blew off with compressed air, then wiped down with acetone. Let that flash then mixed up thickened epoxy and filled in gouges and a few holes. Where there’s was complete holes we went ahead and patched with 4oz and then immediately covered with a full sheet of 4oz cloth. Rolled on regular mixed epoxy at about 65 degrees room temperature. When we was done I set a heater under the canoe and set it at 80 and left it for the night.

I peeled the glass as far as I think I can. It looks like it has stopped.