Making a dinghy ...

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Goal State: combine one fiberglass floor with a set of hypalon tubes, and add a motor to get a working Dinghy. Bought this dinghy used, the other day, mostly to get the motor. It had a small leak. Turned out that the bottom was in serious need of repair. So, lots of prep work, gluing, and a bit of painting as I hope to get this in the water, and have some decent local transportation, by monday or tuesday ....

... How's it going?

OK ... there's been a few more photos / bit more work on the dinghy, but I've had to slow down a bit ... exposure to acetone and epoxy, then played a couple of gigs last weekend and came down with a cold on Saturday night, spent Sunday fighting it, and Monday and Tuesday have been rainy and drizzly, so not a lot of outdoor or heavy chemical work for me for a bit. Today it's cloudy and does not, so far, look like a good day to do the critical floor to transom and floor to dinghy glues, but the weather may improve.

In fact, it looks like a fairly heavy rain is moving in, so it's gonna be inside tasks and no trips to town for a bit ...

Got the seams finally clean and put another coat of epoxy paint on the bottom yesterday ... today starts final assembly!

Got the bottom attached yesterday and started gluing the seams today ...

... Thanks for the update, it sure helps to be a jack of all trades, doesn't it. Beats knowin all those little I's and O'.

Thanks Bill ... sorry for all the updates, but i take a few pictures each day as I work on it. It's kinda like 1's and 0's - I always did like to make things complicated :-)

... Cool project indeed.... looks good!

... Looks like a pharmacy and you are a surgon!

... You can buy Tip Top in Panama City for around $40

... Ticket to Panama from Bocas $229.20. A saving of - $209.20

Splashed on Tuesday at start of hectic day. It had a few minor water leaks. Took it out of the water, spent rest of day on other stuff. Thinking that even the factory has to do spot repairs to new ones ... spent yesterday cleaning and regluing one seam and spot applying adhesive and clamps. Today, for the last leaks, using dabs of 5200, letting it set up a bit, and then clamping 3-4 spots. May add an extra patch of fabric to the tube/transom seams ... learnign a lot.

Step1 - detail clean the dinghy with soap, degreaser, a brush, and an abrasive pad to remove the sand, oil, and growth, especially from the seams where the floor will be glued to the body.

a fiberglass bottom ...

a 15hp Yamaha motor

... and a set of hypalon tubes.

Step 0 ... after much thinking and design, decided to change it from a folding transom to a rigid transom. Yesterday, I spent about a half a day cutting and shaping these wood inserts that will join the transom to the floor. They are painted with 2 part epoxy paint where they will be exposed. The bare wood surfaces will be epoxy glued to the transom and floor, respectively.

Step 2 - clean the outside edges of the bottom with sand paper and acetone ....

... removing all the old glue, paint, etc, to get a good bonding surface.

Step 3 - cut some new corner pieces out of aircraft grade plywood ...

... combine them with the previously cut and prepped hardwood pieces ...

to create a waterproof, strong attachment point for the bottom to transom seal.

Step 4 - spend 8 hours spread over 3 days, using 3/4 of a gallon of acetone, sandpaper, and 3M pads to clean the old glue off all the seams in preparation for regluing.

Step 5 - FIRST GLUE! Glue the pieces that need to be glued before the bottom is inserted, mostly consisting of the seams that run along the inside of the boat ...

Step 5b - glue inside seam before bottom, continued ...

Step 5c - glue inside seam before bottom, continued ...

Step 6 - and this is an important one :-) GLUE THE TRANSOM TO THE BOTTOM!! Took a bit of wriggling to set the bottom in the seams, then raise it to put the glue on the inside, then pry it into place, resetting the seams, drill 6 holes and put the screws in BEFORE the 30 minute epoxy sets up (in about 12 minutes here in bocas at 83 degrees) ... Yay!

Six 2" x 1/4" screws tightened while the glue was still wet ...

Step 7 - fillet and cover the transom with epoxy binder, and and prep for glue ...

Step 8 - start gluing the fabric to the bottom ... each glue done with 2 part Tip-Top glue ($75 for 16 oz ... using a whole can on the project) .... spread the glue on the fiberglass and seam, press in place, apply wood and straps as a clamp .... there will be about 7 glue sessions ... this is the first .. the port side

8b - after drying for 3-4 hours, setup and glue the starboard side seam

In gluing the seams, I used a full bottle of Tip Top ($70) and 2/3 of a bottle of West Marine ($60) 2-part Hypalon Glue .....

8cd - Glue the front seams. Each glue involves multiple layers that you can't see, each coat requires a mix, application of the glue to both surfaces, letting it dry, then attaching the pieces. Then another mix, and so on. When all the layers are glued, I put the boards on as a clamp ...

8e - The last fabric glue, the transom, tube, and bottom joints.

8e - detail of clamping (the red strap is another tie-down).

Done gluing the bottom! All clamps removed. Now to turn it over and finish the inside a bit ...

Step 9 - apply epoxy fillets. I also had to remove and replace the drain tube as it was damaged. 3 messy glues altogether on this little part ...