Bristol 27

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sun Sep 23, 2012 8:02 pm

It's been a little while since any work has been done, but the summer heat is easing a smidge and I've started back. I got the old 1 1/2" seacock/thru-hull for the sink drain cut out. I beveled out the sink drain hole and the hole for the old 3/4" water intake on the other side. Epoxyed on four layers of biaxel on the out side of the hull on both holes today.

: holes filled.JPG (58.04 KiB) Viewed 49921 times

: engine string.JPG (47.47 KiB) Viewed 49920 times

Also back to scratching out the cracks in the head liner and filling with epoxy. (no pictures)
Hope to start to work on her a little bit each week for a while now.

TampaBay · Post by **TampaBay** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:05 pm

You can say that again about the heat. I think I could get outside today for 20 minutes, and not succumb to dehydration.

earlylight · Post by **earlylight** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:21 pm

70 Degrees F and sunny here in Maryland right now :)

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon Oct 01, 2012 1:14 pm

Last week I finished off filling the two thru-hull holes. Now I was able to start on the engine beds.

I managed to get two pieces epoxyed into place on each side after cutting them out and fitting them. Today I put the third one in on each side. One more to go, then tabbing them.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 7:14 pm

Still working on the engine beds. After getting all four plywood blocks epoxyed into place I cut out two layers of biaxial tape (one 6" and one 4").

I then epoxyed them in place. I used the extra epoxy to coat all the plywood also.

I plan on covering the engine beds with one layer of biaxial cloth lapping down over the tabbing holding them in place.
So while all that was wet I started on the starboard battery box. It is located in the starboard cockpit locker (forward end) aft of the ice box. This one will hold two 6 volt batteries. Most of the pieces are cut out, except the lid. Still have to glue-screw into place.

I am waiting on a few parts for the head and poobox (thru hull, valve, thru hull for the box) to come in so I can continue work there. If it will fit I want to put the thru hull-valve beside the head.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:23 pm

I haven't done any work on the boat since last fall. Saturday I decided to something, so I cleaned up an area.

Then I put two coats of primer on.

If nothing else that made it look better. I hope to get a coat of finish paint on it soon.

Last fall I got the two battery boxes epoxied in place. One is on the port side and the other is on the starboard side. A couple of pictures from then.

Also last fall I had ordered some plumbing parts for the poo box and only part of the order was sent. The supply place no longer had the thru hull with out nut and a thru hull with a hose tail piece. They only sent a valve and a 90 deg. elbow. I also found out that 1 1/2" pvc spa hose I had bought at the local Lowes is about 1 5/8" and to big for the 1 1/2" fittings I had gotten. So no progress was made in the poo box plumbing area.

I hope a little more progress will be made this year.

Crazer · Post by **Crazer** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:25 am

I'm glad to see an update on this project. Just keep chipping away at the little things, a little work and here and there is much better than no work at all!

boyle · Post by **boyle** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 1:22 pm

Just came across your posting on your boat Looks like it is progressing slowly but steadily. Though I must admit a lot faster than my rebuild has progressed.
I own a Bristol 24 that had been worked on poorly by a PO so it is even a larger project. Removed everything from the interior including the ballast and ground smooth. Stripped the hull and acquired a donor deck (to replace my badly damaged deck). Hope to get back to work on it this coming year and get it finished.
Keep the good work!

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:37 pm

Well it's been awhile. Three weeks ago I got some free time so I decide to work on the Bristol. I had decided that I had put the battery boxes in wrong. I had set them up for the batteries to line up for/aft. I wanted them to line up side to side. So I cut them out.

I rebuilt them (added a fourth side), refit them and epoxied them back in.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:53 pm

The next weekend I made the lids for both battery boxes and started painting them.

I also started working on the port wench base. The wood on the underside had rotted out. I got it all cleaned up and cut all the blocks out. I epoxied in one of the new blocks.

I went to mix up some more epoxy and was out. So I cleaned up and headed up to the house to put in an order. I ordered epoxy, biaxial cloth, 6 oz. cloth, 1 1/2" thru hull and some hose.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:22 pm

My order came in Friday so today I got some tabbing done on both of the battery boxes.

Also got one of the bottoms epoxied in place.

Finished epoxying in the blocks in the port winch base.

Then I got the last layer of biaxial cloth on the engine beds.

Hope to get a little more work done tomorrow.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:29 pm

Also have a question. Can these be used on a boat for the v-berth? Toppers from WalMart.

Crazer · Post by **Crazer** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:16 pm

You can order custom cut toppers for a little more from a variety of online stores. That might be a better solution just in terms of usability and aggravation. I plan to do the same thing on the Wanderer.

Thanks for posting updates, this forum needs more projects!

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 11:14 pm

Work done two weekends ago.
I got a layer of biaxial cloth on the underside of the port winch base. Picture was before the epoxy was added.

Water washed, sanded then put two coats of bilge coat paint on the engine base.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 11:32 pm

And then this past weekend.
A coat of paint on the inside of both winch bases after water washing and sanding.

Some Poobox work.
Added a block outside

and one inside the box.

They are there to hold the thru hull fitting (bottom drain) on an angle for better hose attachment.

Then I cut the base for the Poobox for the new block on the outside.

The hull thru hull is just sitting there in the picture (not installed yet) but that is where it's going to go.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sat Nov 15, 2014 11:31 pm

Well the battery boxes are painted.
Starboard, two 6 volt batteries.

And port, single 12 volt battery.

Paulus · Post by **Paulus** » Sun Nov 16, 2014 11:59 am

Can they breathe? You don't want to accumulate Hydrogen gas (lighter than air) during hard charging periods...

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 4:25 pm

No vents yet. I haven't decided how/where to vent them. The cockpit lockers are open to the motor/bilge areas right now. Any ideas are welcome.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 11:06 pm

Bad news. I always thought the bottom was in good shape.

I was working on the starboard topsides sanding and decided I needed to get the bottom paint out of the way. So I sanded the top six inches along the water line. I didn't like what I was seeing and sanded a bigger area.

And a close up.

The gel coat is full of blisters and cracks. Oh NO.
So I tried to sand the gel coat off to see how deep they went.

And what do I find? A big one. About two inches across.

The little blisters do not go into the glass. The big one goes through the first and second layers of glass, as far as I can tell. Sounding some more of the bottom I found a couple more two inch ones. So the question now is, do I take all the gel coat off and then rebuild it back up with an epoxy barrier coat after filling the big holes with some glass?

TampaBay · Post by **TampaBay** » Thu Nov 27, 2014 12:28 pm

I've been reading through a few articles on the subject. Two authorities on the subject are David Pascoe, and Jan de Groot. Both of these guys have a lifetime of experience.

Jan: http://www.yachtworld.com/mustangyts/mustangyts_5.html

David: http://www.marinesurvey.com/surveyguide/
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/moreonblisters.html.htm

The general consensus seems to be repair as much as possible and continue on enjoying life. Also, you can consider yourself lucky that a previous owner didn't find the problem and then completely futz everything up with a mess of bad repairs. Even adding barrier coat is controversial; considering that laminate water intrusion is very likely to also be coming from inside the boat.

Here is a link to the West System blister repair guide. http://www.westsystem.com/ss/repairing- ... -blisters/

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:37 pm

I got some nice Christmas presents from the family for the boat.

I guess I'll have to start working on the inside systems now.
They then asked how long it will take to get it floating and I just had to laugh.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and looking for a wonderful New Year.

TampaBay · Post by **TampaBay** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 10:10 am

I'm checking out your Christmas loot. Can't see what that stuff is though, I think that the picture is just to small. I clicked on it and an image opened up, it was small too.

So what is that stuff?

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:29 am

Christmas things in the picture. Two Whale Gusher Galley Pumps for sink. One fresh and one for salt water. Two water Spouts for sink. One shower sump kit. Going to use it for the sink drain and the ice box drain. Power Distribution panel with eight positions, six breakers installed. And one battery main switch.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon May 25, 2015 8:58 am

Slowly sanding gelcoat off. I have gotten the starboard side mostly done. Have not gotten under the stands yet. Figure I will move the stands after I finish redoing the rest of the area. Have not figured out how to get under the keel and keel blocks. Might end up skipping that area.

Next up is to coat with epoxy, patch holes, fill/fair all the little holes, sand it all smooth, then build up layers of epoxy.
Then start the port side.
Sounds easy enough. Yea right.
I was so hoping to paint the topsides and deck this Summer. Guess that will happen next year if I am lucky.
On a side note. I might have gotten a place on the Coast on the water to keep the Bristol at. Looking at building a floating dock. Has anyone used the polyethylene floats for a floating dock?

Cruiser2B · Post by **Cruiser2B** » Sat May 30, 2015 11:20 am

Lloyd,

I feel your pain with the bottom. I too figured I would just sand paint off and be done with it but like you found an entirely new project. My Alberg 30 has issue with voids and pits between gelcoat and first layer of glass. Right now I am in the process of removing the paint after that I will decide on a path to repair.

Good Luck!

galleywench · Post by **galleywench** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:01 pm

Grinding the bottom is just plain awful. I've done a lot pretty bad boat work in my travels and this ranks right up there with the worst. It sure does look nice a purty when you finish up though. Since you have time, break it up into manageable bites.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:53 pm

Some more pictures of the work.
Bottom paint sanded off.

Gelcoat ground off.

Then sanded smooth. The hole in the picture is where the glass was bad all the way through the hull.

Starboard side sanding done.

After cleaning the dust off and acetone wiped the first coat of epoxy is put on.

Then a coat of epoxy filler over all of it.

Holes being patched with epoxy/cloth.

Also started sanding the bottom paint off the port side. Rain was blowing in on the starboard side so I moved around to the port side and continued working.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 1:31 pm

Back on the starboard side I used epoxy filler on some spots this past week.

I water washed/scrubbed the spots then sanded them.
This morning I vacuumed, then acetone wiped the starboard side bottom.
Then I gave it three coats of epoxy.

Next up is water wash/scrub the epoxy then give it all a light sanding. I hope I do not find anymore places that need filler. Then start the epoxy with aluminum power for the outer coats.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:46 pm

Update, no pictures.
Water washed/scrub the epoxy, then sanded it lightly, vacuumed it, acetone wiped it, then three coats of epoxy with aluminum powder. It all went well I thought. I checked on it late that afternoon and I find small air bubbles had popped up over the hole area. They were spaced out pretty well, so it was not a total failure. Oh well, guess I will give it another try.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 10:19 am

I gave the aluminum power coat that bubbled up a light sanding after water washing it. Then on the July 4th weekend I gave it two more coats of the aluminum power epoxy mix. The following weekend when I went to water wash it, it was still sticky. Crap. I did something wrong, what, I am not sure of. I am thinking that some how I didn't get the second coat on soon enough and that caused it not to cure right. Not sure. All I know is I had a big mess. So I started scraping and sanding the mess off and that has taken me a couple weeks.
So this morning I gave it a last quick once over sanding to see if I had gotten it all. Then wipe it down, acetone wipe it, and then one coat of epoxy. Hope this one cures right this time.

Cruiser2B · Post by **Cruiser2B** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:23 pm

Lloyd,

thank you for posting your progress, and especially your success or lack of with the epoxy. I have just stripped down my Alberg 30s hull and am going to begin coating it in a few months when the humidity drops.

I love the B27, I used to sail with a guy that has one, Winter Dreams. We would have some fun racing them on Chesapeake during the winter.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sat Aug 08, 2015 9:43 pm

Thanks for the kind words, Cruiser2B. I've been following your blog about your boat and just saw your last post. Your bottom problem looks different then mine but sounds like it is caused by the same problem. Voids between the glass and gel coat. You see how I've been dealing with mine, is it the right way or the easiest, probably not. I think I could have just coated it to reseal the gel coat and been just fine. Good luck with repairing your bottom.

As for what I have gotten done. The last coat of epoxy cured just fine. After a week I water washed it, light sanding, acetone wipe then another coat of the aluminum powder/epoxy mix. After another week, today, water wash, light sanding, acetone wipe then a coat of epoxy, no aluminum powder. This might be it for this side for now till I move the boat stands. We'll see.

Small interior projects. I cut out a bottom shelf for the ice box and a couple of cleats to hold it up. Coated them with three coats of epoxy to seal them up. Also got the cleats epoxied into place.
Trimmed the head plywood base to allow a space for the thru hull on the left hand end of it. Also gave it three coats of epoxy.
Will take some pictures tomorrow if I remember.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:53 pm

Ok, I took a few pictures.
First one is a shot from the front of the new bottom.

Then a shot from the back of the new bottom.

Cleats being epoxied into place in the ice box.

Then the cleats showing the drain under them. The drain is not epoxied in yet.

New shelf in place in the ice box.

The head base laid in place.

And with the head sitting on the base.

Also started grinding/sanding on the port side bottom.

Picture of the voids I find under the gel coat (dark spots).

And a void along the leading edge, port side (long dark spots).

And that's it for now.

pjesus · Post by **pjesus** » Tue Aug 11, 2015 3:46 am

Silently following... nice work.

Tell me more about the icebox. Are you gonna fit a standard one over the shelf or build a custom one?

TampaBay · Post by **TampaBay** » Tue Aug 11, 2015 11:30 am

Making good progress.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 6:04 pm

Pjesus, Was thinking, if you just looked back in the posting you would see what I had done to the ice box. So I looked back in the posting and guess what? I never posted anything about the ice box rebuild. It was one of the first things I did on the boat after I got it. It was probably before I started posting about the boat on here. But to answer your question, I pulled out the old ice box and built in a new one. I will try to dig up old pictures of what I did and post them some time.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 11:50 pm

Ok here we go. Building the ice box which was back in 2002/2003, I think.
First shot is how it was. The old box was side loading with a hatch from the cockpit. It had space under it for your feet laying in the bunk. It had a nice liner that I couldn't use. Very poor insulation.

So I ripped it out.

Cut the end of the bunk to fit it in down to the hull.

Fitted in the plywood sides.

Added in cleats around the top.

Then put in two layers of 2" foam. After that I put in 1/4" plywood to cover the foam. Covered the plywood with a layer of biaxial cloth. Faired that out and sealed it up with a couple coats of epoxy.

New box.

And a shot as it is now.

I have a few more pictures of the hatch in the cockpit I will post tomorrow.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:55 pm

Taking out the cockpit ice box hatch and closing it in. Back I 2002/2003.

Laid in a layer of glass for the new inside surface.

Put in a layer of balsa.

Put a couple layers of glass, then faired it out. What it looks like now.

pjesus · Post by **pjesus** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 6:51 am

Hi Lloyd.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to find and share the pictures. It looks really nice! An icebox is something I'm missing on my boat but I haven't had the guts to build one yet.
Why did you decide to close the access hatch? Looks like a nice feature (I had never seen it before).

Lloyd wrote:It was one of the first things I did on the boat after I got it.

That's what I call good project management! At least you will have cool beer during the rest of the restoration! :)

Keep up the good work and sharing.

Cheers!

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:58 pm

Taking the ice box cockpit opening out was an easy decision. It just plain messed up that corner of the cockpit. It stuck up about three inches and was just in the way. Also, since I was rebuilding the ice box by lowering it there was no way to use it anymore. There is going to be a small instrument cabinet on top of the ice box where the hatch was.

As for work done this weekend;
Some grinding and sanding on Saturday.

And then some more grinding and sanding on Sunday also.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 5:53 pm

And a little more of the same stuff, grinding and sanding.

And I found an old patch job when I sanded the bottom paint off. You can see it in this picture. The gel coat was already gone and I could see where patches with cloth had been made. I sounded out the patches and about half of the area didn't sound good. It sounded like it wasn't adhered to the lead behind it. I will leave it for now and decide after I have finished getting all the gel coat off on this side if I will grind it all out and redo it. We will see.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:48 pm

More of the disappearing bottom gel coat.

So the grinding is done and a couple more hours of sanding and I'll have it done.
Then I found this old bad patch.

It is about ten inches to the front of the port cockpit drain tube. Ground it out and it looks like an old filled in drain tube.

It will get glassed over with the rest of the bad spots I've found on this side of the port bottom.
I will be glad to be done with the grinding/sanding on the bottom. It is a killer on the arms.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 10:58 pm

So I sanded off the bottom paint on one side of the rudder. It is very rough and appears to be not very smooth/flat. Did these boats come with wood rudders? It looks like someone put a layer of glass cloth on it and then didn't fair it out. I decided to pull the rudder off so I could work on it. First step was to take the foot/shoe off. The bolts came out easily and with a tap or two the shoe came off.

One side of the shoe the bolt holes are recessed for flat head bolts and the other side the holes are threaded.

The rudder had some slop fitting in the shoe. The rudder pin is about 7/8".

And the shoe has a hole of about 1". So I might need to fit a bushing in the shoe to get rid of the slop.

The next step on getting the rudder out is to take apart the stuffing box on the rudder shaft.

And the big news is that I got through sanding off the gel coat off the port side bottom.

Next up is putting epoxy/glass in the bad places that I ground out, then sanding them smooth. Then start the epoxy coating on the port side bottom. Also get the rudder off so I can work on it.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sun May 14, 2017 8:35 pm

I'm still here. Sorry I gave up posting updates, If there is anyone left looking at this site to see this, I'll try to get things caught back up.

I got the rudder off so I could work on it.

I sounded the rudder, by tapping on it. I figured out where the glass skin was detached from the interior wood and drilled holes in it. I put epoxy in them and let it soak in.

That then left small holes to fill in. I resounded it, added a few more holes, more epoxy. I kept doing that until it sounded good. Both side were done the same way.

I then built up the rudder (on both sides) with epoxy filler to smooth it out. It had hollows and high spots to start with. I just kept adding filler and sanding, until it was smooth. Sealed it with epoxy, 2-3 coats of epoxy with alum. powder, 2-3 coats epoxy and done. Sorry no picture of the finished rudder. I still have to bottom paint it and rehang it.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sun May 14, 2017 9:03 pm

So I got the bottom reworked. Sealed it first with a coat of epoxy, then a coat of epoxy filler. Sanded it smooth then another coat of epoxy, 2-3 coats of epoxy with alum. power and then finished it with 2-3 coats epoxy.

After I got both sides done I moved the jack stands and did the same to those spots.

Stands moved.

Bottom paint and gel coat sanded off.

And all finished up.
I still have to put a coat of bottom paint on, to cover it all up.
If you notice in the last three pictures there's tape on the water line. I was working on the topsides also.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Sun May 14, 2017 9:29 pm

I finally gave up filling holes and such and put a coat of primer on.

All that did was make more holes and such show up. Did some more filling and sanding then more primer.

I lost count of how may coats of primer I put on. Sanding, primer, sanding, primer, seems like that's all I did for a long time. But now I think the topsides are ready for paint. I wish it was perfect but it will have to do.

While I was working on the topsides I also got these pieces primed and ready for paint.
I decided to try the paint on these pieces first to try it out.

So I rolled and tipped one coat of paint on. Got some orange peel. I gave them a light sanding with 320 grit paper. Then rolled and tipped a second coat on. That came out great except some dust and bugs, which I will have to live with. Doing it outside that's what you get. But I'm very happy with them.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon May 29, 2017 9:17 am

So it's Topside paint time.

I put two coats on. Roll and tip.I think the first looked better than the second coat. Ended up with more brush marks on the second coat. It is very shiny, which shows every spot that I tried to fix. Every spot. Oh well, it's done.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon May 29, 2017 9:32 am

Then the following weekend it was bottom paint time.
Masking off.

I got one coat of bottom paint on.

And not to forget the rudder.
Before bottom paint.

And after.

I used about half a gallon. Thought I would use up the bottom paint with a second coat but the rains set in. I'll try to get it one day after work this week. I hope.

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon May 29, 2017 9:37 am

Then it's on to working (putting primer on) on the deck, cabin top and cockpit areas.

Post by **CapnK** » Sat Jul 08, 2017 6:49 pm

Wow, looking nice, Lloyd, great job and good on ya for doing it! :)