Disassembling the 18, couple of quick questions

Hi all - I finally have the boat back home and have been disassembling so I can refinish the hulls. I had a couple of quick questions:

i have the old-style rudders. it looks like i have two bushings that fit into the casting that the rod goes through. on one side the bushings were completely out and just sliding on the rod. i tried fitting them back into the casting but I can't seem to figure it out. on the other side it looks like they were pressed in and then slightly flared top and bottom to keep them in the casting? any ideas?

the previous owner has put large stickers as well as boat ID numbers on the hulls. i tried peeling them off...no success (and wow, that's some serious glue!). before I go buy a heat gun (which sounds dangerous on fiberglass), any other suggestions?

One of the side stickers seems to be covering up some damage. Looking inside the hull there appears to be no damage at all - it's about right in between the crossbars mid-way up the hull. However, the hull does flex a little bit there if I push on it - is this normal? My understanding is that there isn't any foam-sandwich on the sides. I'll know more once I get that sticker off.

I'm going to try just buffing out the hulls but I have seen numerous small "pinprick" holes which leads me to believe that I need to at least a layer of gelcoat (I already have to for the bottoms and for some other repairs).

Thanks everyone! Mike

Hi Mike,

I'm curious about your rudder casting/bushing issue. I believe the original castings were used as either a metal to metal contact with the rudder pin, or else used the thin nylon liners. In later years, Hobie developed thicker nylon bushings that could be inserted into the castings after the holes were drilled out a bit (I did this to mine not too long ago). Once I drilled out the holes, it took some tapping with a hammer to get them in, but at least they're a nice & tight fit. They're Hobie part no. 8062001. Only $10 to replace a set of four. As I recall, mine required a bit of shaping to fit into my original castings - specifically, I had to cut down the lower one and then file the "lip" down to get it to fit over the gudgeon.

https://www.backyardboats.com/getattach ... llers.aspx

Those stickers are probably baked on... good luck!

The side walls and decks of the hulls do have a foam core, it's the bottoms, lips and bows that don't have foam. The flex means that the sticker is probably hiding a puncture that goes through the outer layer of fiberglass to the foam core, but not all the way through. The moisture that has gotten into the foam has probably allowed it to start breaking down or lose it's adhesion, creating a soft spot. You'll have to sand down the area with a good taper, then build back the fiberglass and sand it smooth. Then you'll probably want to do the typical soft spot repair (drill breather holes and a center hole, then fill with epoxy), let it cure, and then cover the area with some new gel coat.

The pin-prick holes I believe come from the age of the gel coat... or perhaps it ended up just a bit more porous or with some small bubbles when they sprayed the gel coat initially... remember, the gel coat was laid into the mold first. I don't think you necessarily need to add a layer of gelcoat. If it bothers you, you could sand it down some and then add a layer, but that's probably more work than it's worth.

_________________
Mike

'79 H18 standard 'Rocketman II' sail #14921 RIP
'78 H18 (unnamed) sail #14921
'08 H16 sail #114312
'97 H21SC sail #238

I would go over the stickers using a cloth dampened with acetone. The acetone should loosen up the adhesive. Then use a razor blade on it's side to peel/scrape off the stickers. Be careful not to scratch the gelcoat. Then go back over the area with acetone to remove the adhesive residue.

sm

call me paranoid... but given that amount of fading that the stickers had over the summer, I'm guessing that they were applied shortly before the sale. I'm guessing the soft spot and the curious "circle" shaped cut/line on the sticker indicate some impact damage (although the inside of the hull looks fine in that area). I'll post pictures as things progress ... thanks for all the advice

i think mine have metal bushings also, (1978) i will check tomorrow.
Wife's hair drier on the stickers?