NICKYPOO's Ballast Thread

[rmason256]

Very professional!!

[NICKYPOO]

Thanks fellas. I was kinda getting burned out on it there but, now that I'm starting to finish sections up, the end is in site and its helping to motivate me.

[IDBoating]

Thanks fellas. I was kinda getting burned out on it there but, now that I'm starting to finish sections up, the end is in site and its helping to motivate me.

I know how you feel. The 1000th time you crawl in and out of those tight spaces it starts to get really old. Take heart, you're nearly there, and it will be SO worth it this summer and the many great summers to come!

[chpthril]

Thanks fellas. I was kinda getting burned out on it there but, now that I'm starting to finish sections up, the end is in site and its helping to motivate me.

It is really looking great. I cant wait to see it all finished!

[NICKYPOO]

Thanks Mike. I just ordered the latches for the new hatches today. I'm making another "as I go" change. I'm doing 4 total hatches. The two hatches already shown on the ballast lockers and then the center section will have two that open opposite the ballast lockers so that that section will be accessible from either in or out of the boat. I mocked it up as just one hatch that was hinged along the back edge but, seeing as how its really only good for gloves and lube and whatnot, it really needs to be accessible from the platform. I thought it would be pretty bitchin to have it open the same as the ballast lockers, making it accessible from either the platform or the boat. It's too long not to be kinda funky as one panel so, I'm splitting it into two. Should be when done. I gonna get all that fabbed up this weekend and hopefully all the other little details so that I can move on to finishing. Once the finish is done, it'll be on to upholstery. Sheesh, its been a lot of work.

[NICKYPOO]

Per usuall, I didn't get as far as I planned. I did however get the chases for the sides of the ballast compartments fabbed up. The Starboard side houses all the wiring for transom components (taps, speedos, lights). The port side houses the fuel tank vent line. They also house the sac vent lines where they make the turn up to the thru hulls. The ended up being fairly complex pieces since every individual piece has angles cut on all four sides of them. It was also a cut one piece, fit it, cut the next piece, fit it, cut the next piece, fit it session. Well, I guess every piece has been like that. I also had to make a support for the now dual hatches for the center section. It was a genuine PITA because of the angle. The top piece was obviously easy but the pieces under it had to slope from 0 to 9/16" in 10". So that's a piece that measures 10" x 1 1/2" x 9/16"-0". Basically a really big, 1 1/2" wide sliver. It sucked. Ahh, the joys of custom fabrication.

The pics don't really do the chases justice. The turned out pretty slick. They look kinda funky I think because of all the angles. It's hard to tell but the whole piece slopes down away from the edge at a 20* angle. It makes it look kinda of distorted through my absolutely hashed camera phone lens.

[NICKYPOO]

Here's a little better shot of the angle.

[Wakeman22]

NICKY, You do excellent work.

[NICKYPOO]

Thanks Wakeman.

[halfwatt]

that wood work is amazing...looks awesome man.

[NICKYPOO]

Thanks halfwatt. I think anybody could do it. It just takes the time to think it through and the patience to build it one piece at a time.

Just for the hell of it, I decided to count all the individual pieces in the center tray. 40. It's kind of like counting all the holes in your boat. Try it sometime. It's way more than you think.

[NICKYPOO]

Progress...

[NICKYPOO]

What's unbelievable is the mess I've created in my garage. It's gonna take me a week to clean it. I just want to finish so I'm spending every available moment on fabrication. Clean up at the end of the day has fallen by the wayside. It's shameful.

I think the hard part now is not saying F it, good enough.

Still not 100% on the finish but, I'm pretty sure it'll be truckbed liner. I got a quote of $350 from Line X. I like their stuff without the texture beads. Nice and soft and rubbery and thick.

[NICKYPOO]

I'm almost happy with one hatch. All hatches shown so far are mockups. I still have a little shaping to do on this one and fab up the inner panel but, its close so far as the hard part goes.

Latches came in. Southco M1 Medium stainless w/ locks. Nothing fancy.

[NICKYPOO]

For the last couple weeks, I've spent my ballast project time cleaning up the hull in preparation for getting it sprayed. Two quarts of Bondo Glass and a hell of a lot of sanding later, it was ready for today's appointment.