I am working to restore my Rhodes 19 - given to me as a gift. I have dropped the keel - sandblasted, filled, fared, and barrier coated it - and it is now sitting in my garage ready for reinstallation.
My next piece of work is to fabricate and install new ribs. I have looked at the Steware Marine web site that shows restoration-in-progress pictures of boats like mine, and it appears that they install the ribs and then drill through the existing holes in the bottom with a hand-held drill!! I have zero confidence in my ability to drill a hole six inches through the center of a two-inch thick rib without coming out the side. There has to be a better way.
I'm thinking of pre-drilling the holes in the ribs before they are installed, which means I will have to be extra careful when I install the ribs, so that everything lines up with the keel.
Any ideas, suggestions?
My next piece of work is to fabricate and install new ribs. I have looked at the Steware Marine web site that shows restoration-in-progress pictures of boats like mine, and it appears that they install the ribs and then drill through the existing holes in the bottom with a hand-held drill!! I have zero confidence in my ability to drill a hole six inches through the center of a two-inch thick rib without coming out the side. There has to be a better way.
I'm thinking of pre-drilling the holes in the ribs before they are installed, which means I will have to be extra careful when I install the ribs, so that everything lines up with the keel.
Any ideas, suggestions?
