Restoration of 1981 C-22 swing keel #10580

[CloudDiver]

One of my fav new cheap additions to the shop, to make sure the temps inside are good for epoxy kick-off times and painting... Yeah, its almost 80 in my garage and this is in November. For those of you not living in such 'tolerable' winter climates... Sorry bout yo' luck Suckas!

 

[CloudDiver]

Thats all for now... I did some more work on the window cut-outs which I will post in the thread I dedicated to that. I really have been 'farting' around on these other little projects that really could have waited until later. I should have had the hull flipped over 3 weeks ago and I'd be done painting the bottom by now. Well, no sense in rushing anything. All in good time.

 

[Time_Out]

Keep up the good work! Restoring one of these boats takes time, but in the end it will be worth it.
Just keep in mind that these are pleasure boats, and messing about with them should bring us pleasure! I have found, as I have progressed through the restoration of our boat that I am finding the same sense of satisfaction and pleasure from that process as I have from any other hobby I've ever had, maybe more so! And a C22 is much more useful and enjoyable by the entire family than the R/C airplanes that I've built!

 

[CloudDiver]

Very excited...

Yesterday I loaded the keel into the cradle and put it in my truck. I was holding off on doing the keel restore until I was ready to barrier coat the hull bottom. I wanted to do both at the same time since I will use Interlux Interprotect 2000, and I wanted to use the entire gallon not wanting any mixed epoxy paint to sit.
Well, I noticed yesterday that several cracks were forming in the cast iron around the keel pin and got me worried. Residual moisture in the cast iron is causing rust just under the surface. I'm pretty sure they don't go deep, they will just cause further 'scabs' that will pop off. that was enough motivation for me to just get the thing out to sand-blast and then I will use straight epoxy to barrier coat, then apply my fairing compound with grey pigment. heck, I have a gallon of WEST 105... I'm fairly certain I won't use close to that whole gallon doing just the minor repairs around the hull.
Anyway, here are some pics of how I use my Cherry Picker, a motorcycle/atv lift, some heavy saw-bucks, and various dunnage to get it up in the cradle and then up in the truck. I managed to do this single-handed, but trust me, it helps to have a friend!

 

[CloudDiver]

Should be blasted by tomorrow afternoon

So I dropped the keel off at RW Little (Blasting, Powder Coating shop) on Pacific Highway in San Diego. For sand blasting alone they asked for $120, which I thought was a bit rich. In the past when I was quoted for the full job of blasting, hot spray galvanize, and epoxy primer they said $500 to possibly $600. This is just to give you an idea of what you might pay to have someone do the full job, not including fairing.
For those of you wondering, the hot spray galvanize is superior to cold spray (thicker, sticks better) but is not at all required. If you've seen DIY swing keel jobs (check YouTube) they use 2 cans of Rustoleum Cold Galvanize. There is nothing wrong with it, its just a quick way of getting the keel sealed from any air moisture as soon as it is fresh from blasting, but it just isn't required. I bounced this idea off WEST System technical support and Catalina Direct tech support, both said the same thing. You can use straight epoxy or you can use an epoxy primer like Interlux Interprotect; either way you just need your first coat on there ASAP after blasting.
So mine should be done tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday), so I will go straight there after work and head home. Get it out of the truck and right up in the air on the hoist and hit both sides with the first and second coats of epoxy. I can't wait to get this keel sealed up and looking like new again!

 

[CloudDiver]

Gotta move fast!

Sandblaster was done around noon, so I took the afternoon off work to pick it up. Damage to cast iron around keel pin was worse than I thought. Had to run by West Marine to get some high strength micro fibers to add to epoxy, more on that and picture to follow. For now, unloading the keel and setting up to get barrier coats and repair filler on. Luckily its a very dry day so I have no worries about moisture intrusion before I get started...

 

[CloudDiver]

Keel Barrier Coats

Over the last two days I have applied the barrier coats and filler, so now everything is sealed up nice and I can tackle the finer fairing and repairs to deep gouges as I please.

The first pics are the keel fresh after sandblasting. You can see the worst of the damage, especially above the keel pin hole. Its important to get the porous cast iron sealed before any moisture can get to it, and wear gloves to avoid transfer of finger oil.

 

[CloudDiver]

Barrier coats and filler

Within 3 or 4 hours after the sandblasting was completed I had the keel home, unloaded, washed on both sides with acetone, and the first coat of resin on one side. My first coat I used 206 slow hardener to give me time to work the resin into the porous cast iron with a stainless steel brush. In retrospect this wasn't needed, the resin is thin enough to get in there effectively with just the roller and brush. Plus, using the slow cure was a long wait time to flash and get tacky before I could go to the next coat.

First pic is the first coat of resin followed by filler, I used colloidal silica to make a wet peanut butter paste. I used 20 pumps for the first slow cure batch which was enough to coat the whole side and mix the silica into the remaining resin to make the filler.

 

[CloudDiver]

At this point I starting using 205 fast hardener for the remaining coats. I mixed up one more batch of filler after the pic above and made sure all the deep voids were filled level. Following this I applied 2 more coats of resin with white pigment added. The white will help with final fairing and shaping, I will use grey pigment mixed with my fairing compound so there will be a nice contrast.

A no sh!t warning... pay attention to the pot life on your epoxy. I got a little too into detail with one batch, I only poured about half the batch onto the keel and was rolling and brushing it while the other 8 or so ounces was in the plastic mixing pail when it started to bubble and steam. It got real hot real fast and I had to rush it to the trash can and dump the quickly solidifying resin before it melted the pail!

 

[CloudDiver]

Between the first resin seal coat, fillers, and two additional white barrier coats it took about 6 hours. I called it quits around 11pm because I had to work in the morning. I had wanted to get it flipped and immediately proceed to do the same to the other side. Getting the epoxy coats layered on top of each other just after they get tacky ensures a very strong chemical bond and prevents sanding between coats. This is critical when you have fill all those nasty voids. If I had planned better and had a helper I could have gotten this done in one day.
Sitting overnight inside my shop probably didn't hurt the underside one bit. It was about 70 degrees inside the shop and the weather has been dry. So here is the the keel flipped over the next day, notice the infamous MEXICO stamp in the casting. I washed this side again with acetone to ensure I displaced any residual moisture and I had to sand the epoxy that overlapped to this side. Other than that the process was the same, except that I used 205 fast hardener for every coat, but I was much more careful with each batch.

And after an overnight cure, fully encapsulated and ready to wash off amine blush;

 

[CloudDiver]

In case you wondering how I handle the 550 pound bulk myself, here is a pic of my cherry picker with the sling I use to flip the keel from side to side;

 

[CloudDiver]

Before I get to the final fairing and painting I have to address the huge chunk of material that is missing above the keel pin. That I will repair witch actual glass cloth. More to come on that later, at least now I happily have it sealed up in resin!

 

[$tingy Sailor]

Thanks for the play by play commentary. I'm a couple of steps behind you working on mine. Almost done grinding and finding lots of hidden damage.

 

[Seahorse24]

Looks like a nice boat. I hope you will continue to post photos of your progress. My son and I are restoring a 40 year-old sailboat. Your photos and explanations help.

 

[CloudDiver]

Thanks!

I will keep the pics coming. I enjoy the work. It keeps my hands and mind busy while using the skills passed down to me by my Dad and Grandpa. I take pride in my ability to fix things and improve on them. I enjoy the process of restoration just as much as sailing and showing off the finished product.

Looks like a nice boat. I hope you will continue to post photos of your progress. My son and I are restoring a 40 year-old sailboat. Your photos and explanations help.

 

[$tingy Sailor]

What made you decide to sandblast it? A while back, it sounded like you were going to skip it. And if you don't mind me asking, what did it cost down in S.D.? I'm trying to get estimates up here in WA state.

BTW, mine also has a big cavity next to the MEXICO stamp and bands of bubbles.

 

[CloudDiver]

Sand-blasting Cost

It was $120, but I was expecting more like $80 to $100... Can't win 'em all.

I decided to do the sandblasting because the amount of time and royal pain in the butt to do it manually just isn't worth it. The wire wheel on my grinder is MUCH more destructive to the cast iron, where a grind stone would clean the surface well but leave stuff in the dimples and pores. Sandblasting is just the most efficient, less destructive to base material, but most importantly leaves a clean and textured surface for the epoxy to grab on to.

With some jobs you just have to say to yourself, what does this cost to have done professionally and what is my time worth to me? In this case the cost for professional sand-blasting in money WELL spent.

What made you decide to sandblast it? A while back, it sounded like you were going to skip it. And if you don't mind me asking, what did it cost down in S.D.? I'm trying to get estimates up here in WA state.

BTW, mine also has a big cavity next to the MEXICO stamp and bands of bubbles.

 

[CloudDiver]

Some observations from Keel over-haul

Yesterday I finished up the major fixes on the keel by filling in the last chunks of damage on the leading edge and boring out the keel pin hole to 1 & 1/4", followed by setting the stainless bushing in with epoxy (pics to follow later).

Having done 3 barrier coats of epoxy plus filling the major damage areas with thickened microfibers I pretty much burned up a gallon of WEST 105 resin and most of the 205 fast hardener. Before I paint it still needs fairing which is mostly minor but now I need to drop $100 on another gallon of resin. I realized that after the first 'soak in' coat of epoxy on the cast iron I should have gone ahead and added my colloidal silica to the second and third coats. That would have given me the ability to fair the surface as is, rather than adding additional fairing filler. Basically what I have now is over-kill on barrier coating, because I will add probably two coats of thickened epoxy for fairing, followed by 2 to 3 coats of epoxy primer, and then top coat. Even after sanding I think I will have what equals 6 barrier coats.

 

[$tingy Sailor]

That sounds like a reasonable price. If I can get it done for about that up here, I will. I don't trust the rust treatment to penetrate the keel as porous and as extensively rusted as it is. If it were just surface rust, that would be different.

You shouldn't have to worry about your keel ever again with all those layers!

 

[CloudDiver]

No water products

That was something I kept in mind when deciding to pull the trigger on professional sand-blast. I didn't want anything water-based to ever touch the raw cast iron, even 'rust treatments'; Just more mess to clean up and the potential for moisture deep in pores.

Sand-blast, get it home quick, splash with acetone, get epoxy on quick.

That sounds like a reasonable price. If I can get it done for about that up here, I will. I don't trust the rust treatment to penetrate the keel as porous and as extensively rusted as it is. If it were just surface rust, that would be different.

You shouldn't have to worry about your keel ever again with all those layers!