Restoration project (Lido 14)

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Bob Martin - 14 Sep 2007 01:01 GMT

So I've reclaimed our family's old Lido 14, and I'm going to start the restoration process
on it. The guy that had been "taking care" of it for the past few years let the poor boat
just sit and gather dirt. He sanded the hull down (apparently intending to repaint it),
but never finished the job.

Basically, the rudder and centerboard need substantial work. I've done some fiberglass
work before, so I can reinforce the rough areas and seal the rest with epoxy.

The hull needs some fiberglass work too, especially on the transom (old epoxy has cracked
and started to pull away from the wood in some areas) and the floor of the cockpit. I
also need to replace all of the fittings, which brings me to my questions:

1: How can I repair the cracked transom epoxy? Do I just cut/chip away the delaminating
parts, and reseal?

2: What epoxy/fiberglass combination would work best for all these repairs? I'm used to
using woven plies from doing work on aircraft, but it appears the boat has glass mats that
seem to be just random jumbles of long fibers.

3: How do I repair holes where fittings attached? I have a feeling that a lot of them
have either stripped out or rotted, and I don't want to be putting my mast fitting into
rotted wood. Can I overdrill the hole, plug with a dowel or similar, then glass it in and
redrill the hole?

4: Finally, how should I go about getting the hull repainted? I live in an apartment
complex, which rules out spraying it myself.

Thanks in advance

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Jonathan W - 14 Sep 2007 03:32 GMT

> So I've reclaimed our family's old Lido 14, and I'm going to start the
> restoration process on it. The guy that had been "taking care" of it
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> Thanks in advance

You can use either mat or woven cloth for your repairs, use epoxy resin
as opposed to the polyester it was built with.

Check out http://www.gougeon.com/ or http://www.westsystem.com/
for a wealth of information on using epoxy for repairs, One step for
stripped fastening is much as you suggest, except you saturate the area
with resin and fill the hole with one of the many fillers, to re-drill
and re-set the fittings.

Good painting results can be had by rolling on the paint and tipping it
off with a brush. I mostly just brush out what I'm painting, but I've
been doing it for 45 years.....

Have fun.

Jonathan

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I am building my daughter an Argie 10 sailing dinghy, check it out:
http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr

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roger - 16 Sep 2007 22:05 GMT

> So I've reclaimed our family's old Lido 14, and I'm going to start the restoration process
> on it. The guy that had been "taking care" of it for the past few years let the poor boat
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
> Thanks in advance

On the transom and floor of the cockpit, where it is delaminating from
the wood, this is a potential concern for rot. I would pull it off,
chip it off as you say and inspect it for wood rot before reglassing
it. You seem to know how to glass it from aircraft work. I would use
glass cloth and matt with epoxy resin, any brand, to reglass it.

For the holes where the fitting are attached: if the holes are just to
be filled, I would drill them out oversized, back with tape on inside
and fill with a epoxy/filler combination. I like to use epoxy with
fiberglass fibers as a filler. It has good structural qualities but
any commercial filler will work. If you are going to reuse the holes
to attach fittings, I would over drill them, fill them with said
mixture of epoxy/filler and then redrill them to proper size. This is
the most popular way to do it. Forget the dowel idea because the wood
will just rot again.

Repainting in an apartment complex parking lot? I would to the "roll
and tip method" lots of information on this on the net.
Stick with white paint as it flows out the best. You can even get
away with just rolling it on with white if you don't mind a little
orange peel look. It is all just my two cents. Good luck and enjoy
the project!

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roger - 16 Sep 2007 22:14 GMT

> > So I've reclaimed our family's old Lido 14, and I'm going to start the restoration process
> > on it. The guy that had been "taking care" of it for the past few years let the poor boat
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
> orange peel look. It is all just my two cents. Good luck and enjoy
> the project!

Just one more thing, before going out and buying what you think you
may need to restore this lido 14, I would consider pulling back all
that delaminating glass to see what horrors may be hiding underneath.
Maybe it won't be worth all the effort and cost? But of course that is
your decision and judgment to make.

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Keith Hughes - 16 Sep 2007 23:04 GMT

<SNIP>

> Just one more thing, before going out and buying what you think you
> may need to restore this lido 14, I would consider pulling back all
> that delaminating glass to see what horrors may be hiding underneath.
> Maybe it won't be worth all the effort and cost? But of course that is
> your decision and judgment to make.

I did this same project about 20 years ago, my first foray into
sailboats. It was a bit of work, but a fun winter project. I used glass
roving and polyester resin, and had no issues with delamination in the
10 years we had it. YMMV - epoxy is better, and more expensive.

In addition to the advice you've receive so far, I'd add that you should
inspect the centerboard trunk very carefully for signs of cracks and
delamination - especially around the L-shaped braces laminated into the
sides (about center) of the trunk. These were aluminum, in my vintage
Lido, and cracks in the glass let in salt water. On first examination,
looked like a little glass repair, but the oxidation from the braces
caused a lot of delamination, and I had to strip the whole bottom. Just
an FYI...

Keith Hughes

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Boat Forum / Building / September 2007

Restoration project (Lido 14)