Thread: 1996 Blazer VL100 Restoration to Crappie Chaser

Now that I have the hull marked up I can get ready to spray in additional flotation. Since I can only insure it as a 1995 boat which would never cover my work additional flotation will insure me of something to recover. I have fixed "Punch - Through" holes in the past so I do not see me dragging my boat to a Glass Shop if I sink it.

I've posted a picture of the cap before & after washing, to explain, simply wiping off the cap would leave traces of "Who Knows" what, accumulation built up in the past near 2 years. If I sand without a vigorous washing with lots of soap contaminants would get fully embedded into the substrate causing me grief later on. The cap was scrubbed with a stiff bristle brush and then a wash rag before double rinsing and allowing to dry.



While the cap was upside down I glassed over the holes that are no longer needed. Now I can comfortably fill & plug those holes with the cap upright while prepping the cap for glecoat. You can see I save the waste holesaw plugs from other work. This really makes fixing and filling the holes that need filling easy. Some thickened epoxy will be used to set the "Filler Plugs" then the excess epoxy cleaned up before doing a 12X grind on the topside and fiberglassing back level. Gas Filler, Vent, Rigging, even the Seat Base will be relocated. The step by step process will be in my next post. I like to lay everything out and "make a plan of attack first".



So I'm getting tired of this job's slow progress and a need for this to be finish and available for use is increasing. My other VL100 is rotten, I've put it in storage on a lake I fish to stretch it's lifespan out till my Champion is finished. I'm switching to a 2K Urethane on the cap. (ended up gelcoating) This will speed up the completion of the project. Properly applied 2K Urethane's can withstand 20 times the sunlight with minimum care compared to gelcoat. Since waterproofing the fiberglass is not my primary concern (gelcoat underneath) it will be easy for me to install the cap first then spray it not having to cut & buff the gelcoat later. Also the black gelcoat I was getting from Advanced Plastics is not available right now, the stuff I bought online just isn't "Black" enough. I can shoot clear over the Urethane with a shot of black tint added to it. This is an "Old School" trick to get the deepest black paint one can achieve. An example of how gelcoat sunburns is below. A good 2K Urethane won't do this.



I did end up gelcoating the cap because I had to gelcoat all the cockpit.

2K is low on labor high on material cost. Gelcoat is not a walk in the park. I decided to shoot gelcoat on the cap simply because I didn't want to pay $1K for materials to shoot a top quality 2K. I happen to be on the computer checking my shipment arrival date right now.
I ordered a gallon of Black Duratec VE Primer, a gallon of Duratec High Gloss Additive, & 2 - 2oz tubs Black Pigment to add to the Black gelcoat I have and to tint the Duratec High Gloss Additive. Out the door with shipping $311. Now I will need a full gallon of MEK to thin the gelcoat from the beginning till done. Spraying gel I will be spraying a good 4 hours to allow all the solvents to get out of each coat I spray. 2K I would be spraying 45 minutes max.

The Black primer is a adhesion promoter, tie coating, as well as filler for scratches. One good shot of that and some white guide coat for sanding and the cap will be ready for gelcoat. Yesterday and today I have been fitting & epoxying plugs in all the old rigging holes. tomorrow I can glass them up. When it's time to spray gelcoat if it orange peels in the beginning the peel is carried all the way through. It won't melt in like with 2K. You either live with it or sand it out. With gelcoat I can spray the entire cap off the boat, grind prep where the finish fiberglass tape will be going to tape the hull to the cap in the cockpit, do the glass work managing the repair area well, fair, and gelcoat. Sand and polish the overspray and be done.

So plugs are cut, glued in with thickened epoxy, ground down, glassed over, and skimmed.



Afterwards when cured I grind a little below the surface then fiberglass over. Note I only put resin where needed. The stressed areas have 3 layers to reinforce the damage areas. I only grind the glass to feather edge the transition areas leaving as much new glass as possible.



It looks like numerous impacts connecting the engine with something very solid judging from all the cracks in the glass. When exploratory grinding I found cracks in the fiberglass itself. So the splash well, rear area of back deck, are cracked too much to not repair. If I just sand and gelcoat all the cracks will resurface in the new gelcoat. If you go back in my post you will see I reinforced the transom the same as Champion built their boats. Blazer didn't reinforce the transom so the impacts pushed the splash well forward along with the center of the transom flexing and cracking up the cap in the process. These cracks are in a critical area and must be fixed. Energy travels in a straight line so the plane of the splash well transferred the energy forward around the center of the back deck. Since that area has a 1-1/2in thick plywood core the cap glass didn't have a chance. After all is repaired it will be skimmed with Gold Rage mixed with a little extra polyester resin.



The dust collector gets a workout.

Just when you thought you took a step forward you take 2 backwards. Good thing you found it now.

Nicely done work! That boat will be awesome when finished.

I love the attention to detail, and your ability to pass information on. Your also very willing to pass on information to help others out, which is really refreshing in an age where most, thankfully not many here on C.C, hold onto that information like it's gold...Thank you rojoguio for all the help and info your providing.

One of the things my bosses always fussed about was that I was slow.that was because I was tending to the little things they wanted me to skip. You and I could work together. Explain it to me, tell me how you want it and give me the tools and materials. Never had to have anyone go back on what I’d done. You do a very detailed job and cover bases as you get to them. Others have already said that you do excellent work. I have to agree. I also apologize for not giving likes or thank you to your posts. I just realized that I was looking forward to the next one and forgot to do so. I also love your shop. Not many folks have a box and pan brake in the corner along with all the other goodies that it takes to make a complete shop. The bad part about knowing a little something about a lot of things is the tools required are extensive. A big shop is a must. Truly a pleasure to my OCD mind to see the work you do. For lack of knowing what else to say, rock on brother cuz you do it well!

Skeetbum has said a mouth full. I have an extensive set of tools and am buy more every day.