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installing polymer

Southern Airboat Gallery Archives

Come On Dad Put The NOS On Already LOL
NARALOGO11
start of new boat
2011-11-29_17_08_35
IMG_20120128_121941
Airboating in the Atlantic out from St. Simons Island
S

snookstalker

Well-known member
Am in the proccess of installing polymer on my 14 1/2 glass hull. Am concerned that as I get towards the bow that I may have difficulty getting the polymer to conform to the curvature of the bottom without buckling up. Any experiece- advice? Thanks, Dan
 
Sounds silly but let the hull set up side down with the poly sheet on it for a day or two in the hot sun the sheet will conform to the hull allot. Also remember on the front edge and the sides to gap the screws closer together. And for the front cut on the leading edge set the circular saw to make a 45 Degree cut or bevel.
 
Snookstalker,
I used 3"deck screws and aimed them where I thought the bolts would go through. Put them in to they are snug. As the sun heats the poylmer, keep tightening them. When you get the poylmer down to the hull, remove the screw and replace it with stainless ones. At the area in the front corners, you will have to put in more screws and closer spacing. I used some 1/4" bolts with larege area washers on the tough spots. Let the sun heat it and keep tightening down every hour or so. Then replace them with screws. I used silicone on all my screws and nuts. I do not have any leaks in them.
 
Sorry for butting in on snooks post but since ya'll are answer queston about poly I have one to if you don't mind :D

the mud boat I am bluiding will have keel coolers on the bottom of the boat so basiclly there will be two rectangular tube form the stren about 14' forward and they will stop about 2 foot form the bow. My Question is could I place poly or that slick stuff inbetween and on both sides of the keel coolers and would it make a difference since I can't cover the coolers? :?:
 
I'm going to be installing polymer on my 13 ft. BIG-O fiberglass hull. This hull looks identical to a laser hull. The question is should I use a 5x10 or 6x10 sheet of poly. Will the 6 ft. wide one affect the handling of the hull due to the poly being close to the chines of the hull. Or if I go 5ft. wide, will it be enough protection for the bottom. I'm 7ft.2in. across the back. There is a picture of a laser hull on the Airboat pro website with a six foot piece and it looks real close to the chines. Also How well will the through hull scews and nuts do on the curve of the hull, will it seal good enough? Comments good or bad appriciated.
 
we put a 6 ft wide piece on a glass hull and it did not mess with the handling we nuted and bolted the whole sheet on. going that wide helps protect the edges when running dry your less likley to put a hole in it
 
Thanks cchardt, you helped me make my mind up. I live in Port Orange. Is there a place to get poly near by. Diamondback sells 6X10 sheets for $225, Alumitech wants $252. Classic was about the same. I tried calling Grasshopper airboats but they never returned my call. Is there a local distributor or someone that sells it that you know of. Thanks again. WADE
 
I don't know of any one It's harder to find the 6 ft wide most places have 5 ft wide I just know how easy it is to crack the sides of a glass hull If I had to do it again i would get 6 ft wide Is your boat 12ft long if so I would get a piece to go up the middle so it don't get caught on any thing (THATS WHAT I WOULD DO) but thats me.it would help loading on the trailer or going up a steep bank had a 12 footer and wish i would have put a longer piece on it I now have a 14 footer with a 13 by 5 ft of polymer on it
 
My hull is 13 ft. I'm with you though, the extra protection sounds better. The 10ft. long sheet seems to be good according to the measurements I took. The bow rises quickly off the bottom. I would be very suprised if my boat would even go across ground. It is only a direct drive 472 with a 72x44 wide stick wood prop. My new hull weighs 270 lbs. I'll more than likely be in the water all the time. Thanks again for your response.WADE
 
I bought my polymer from Diamondback Airboats. 1/4 in. 6ft. by 12 ft. They sell it in all sizes. It even had the uhmw sticker on the back side of it. The sheet was a 5x sheet with a 1x piece welded to it 12ft. long. Hope it doesn't come apart. I'm sure it won't, DiamondBack builds a great boat and I'm sure they use quality materials.WADE
 
Put the poly on and you will be suprised what you can run on with your dd 472. We have a heavy fiberglass boat with a 455 olds dd and poly on the bottom. I can run sandbars any time I need to. I can eve stop on one and drive off again. I have an aluminum old panther with a 500 dd and poly and I can drive down the gravel road by our campsite with it. Let us know how it runs when all done.

Dan
 
nebraskaairboater, I'm almost done! Have aboat 70 more screws and bolts and washers. Got about 2hrs to go. Have about 9hrs in it now. She is fitting like a glove! Couldn't ask for better. Didn't even have it in direct sunlight either. Worked in the shade!!!! The count will be 420 bolts, nylon lockingnuts and stainless neoprene washers. It was a beauty I'm telling ya!! WADE :eek:
 
I have helped a couple of guys put Poly on their boats and we put it on our old flat bottom about 4 years ago. That boat is 16 x 8 on top and 7'wide at the bottom. We put 2 sheets that were 14 x 5 on the bottom then put a strip on each side. I think we had over 1000 bolts on that boat. On our boat and the ones I helped on we tried to have the temp in the middle of what we expected to see. When it gets hot the poly expands and when it gets cold it shrinks. We were affraid that if we had the room real hot then in the winter it would shrink and pull away from the bolts. Don't know if that is the way to do it or not but it has held up for a few years anyway. Good to hear it's goin good for you.
 
nebraskaairboater, I finally got it done. Can't wait to try it out. Still have to put my numbers and decal on. Hope to get the numbers and decal in the right spot and spaced properly so the man won't get me. Still need a couple of odd and ends, make sure all bolts on the rigging are tight. Thanks for the replies, WADE
 
Wade,
Been thinking about putting polymer on my boat also. You make it sound easy, what type of tool did you use in counter sinking the head of the screw in the polymer.
Phil
 
Phil, Nebraska is right. Classic Airboats sells the one with a stop collar on it. They also sell computer print outs for screw patterns and the screws at a very reasonable price. I fabricated mine with a high speed counter sink. 1/2 in. with the head of the screw 1/16th of an inch below flush on 1/4" thick poly. Installation is not easy and takes time. Whatch your stringer lay out and put your bolts so they miss them and the drain holes in the transom when through bolting! Place your measurments accordingly. Some cats use the self tappers on fiberglass, they look like stainless wood screws, I chose to through bolt on 6" centers in the middle and 2 inches apart on the outside edges. MAKE SURE TO START FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE POLYMER AND WORK TOWARDS THE EDGES, STERN TO BOW ALTERNATING SIDE TO SIDE AND WORK OUTWARDS TO THE EDGE. PUT SOME SCREWS ON THE STERNS OUTER EDGE WHERE YOU NEED IT TO KEEP THE POLYMER STRIAGHT. WHEN YOU START A NEW ROW PUT SOME MORE SCREWS ON THE EDGE TO WHERE YOUR GOING TO START A NEW ROW. I used a chalk line to strike a straight 6" pattern on the whole sheet. Then you can use a skill saw set at a 45 to cut the outer edges and where you have to round. Set the saw shallow and cut it when you get close to the edge. Used a 2x4 between the poly and boat hull. This was my first time doing this and I thought it went very well. Took my time with it also. If any more questions, I'll try to help as much as possible. GOOD LUCK!! Chucks airboat pros web sight has a killer picture of a finished hull. Go to the site and look at bottom coatings :D
 
to help find your stringers when the boat is upside down put a halogen work light under the boat. You should be able to see the stringers thru the bottom.
 
I'll be taking her out for the first time tomorrow. :D Hope I don't leak too much, all I have is one rule 1500 to keep her dry. I'm sure with that many holes there is going to be some leakage. I'll let you know how it goes. The handling is my main concern. Hope I don't make the paper. :shock:
 
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