Thread: building a T-bucket starting with building the glass body

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I did not get a chance to grab pics tonight. the city is shutting down our water for the next 12 hours and said it will be at least another 36 before we can use it again. I had to fill the tub, make sure all the plats were deep watered it will be almost 90 tomorrow.

Back to the car. The molds do have tubular supports running down the side to help hold it together. I am thinking about boxing the bottom with wood to support it. we'll see. I am thinking I might order my glass and resin on-line, the closest place to buy it is about 70 miles away and with gas the way it is shipping looks cheaper.

I have not decided on weight of glass yet. the mold is pretty stout and does not weigh much.

Don- how thick was your body?

Thanks,
Zachairah

[QUOTE=oddcarout]

Don- how thick was your body?

You know Z, I really couldn't tell you, it is a bought body and probably chopper gunned as are most of the $ 500 ones. It is a Speedway to the best of my knowledge, and much heavier than the Total Performance one on my Son's T. Probably twice the thickness.

I think you could do well to lay yours up as heavy as possible, this is one place where bigger is probably better. In the early days of fiberglass boats the boat builders weren't familiar with the properties of this new found product, so they laid them up almost as heavy as the wooden ones they had been building for years. Those were some of the best built boats out there and held up well.

At one time I owned a 1965 Chris Craft 27 foot cruiser, and it was one of the first ones that Chris Craft did in glass. It was a tank, and one time I cut a hole into the bottom of it to put a transducer in and the glass was one inch thick in that area ! But the boat never had one stress crack develop and we took that boat into some really bad seas 50-80 miles offshore, and it never creaked or shuddered.

So the point is, if you lay up more than the 2 mat = 1 cloth setup you were talking about, it might pay dividends. I think the body would tend to retain it's shape better too. The body shop that painted my T and my Son's T told us they had a terrible time getting his straight enough for paint, but that mine was much easier. TP makes a very thin body for some reason.

Like I said, lay up what you have mentioned and see what you think. Also, prices for resin, cloth and mat are all over the place. You should be able to score polyester resin in the $ 20+ per gallon range, and if you buy mat and cloth by the yard (not in those little prepackaged deals) you should get it pretty cheap too. (I forget what I paid)

Have fun!

Don