prv
Well-Known Member
So, we broke the Contraption...
In retrospect, not wholly surprisingly. The Chinese builders used off-the-shelf plastic fittings more appropriate to a medium-sized inflatable tender, to attach the transom of what can be a fairly brutal mini-powerboat. As well as the fittings themselves being weak (and the plywood transom not having been roughed-up to take the glue), the area of attachment to the tubes is in my opinion far too small.
So, with any luck a mate's dad will be welding us a new transom more along the lines of a proper Zapcat - look at the nice big plates at each end of this example on eBay (though note they've cut off a chunk of tube along with the metalwork):
Any thoughts on what glue to use between the aluminium and the PVC?
I'm used to using the two-part Polymarine for normal dinghy repairs, and that's probably what I'd use for the PVC/PVC bonds in this job. But I have no idea if it sticks properly to aluminium, and the idea of using Sikaflex (either 291 or perhaps 292) is floating around in my head. Also the Polymarine glue is fairly expensive in small pots, so if there's an equally-good unbranded/non-yottie version that would be handy as we'll probably need quite a lot!
If anyone knows a cheap supplier of PVC boat material that would be good too. I've generally bought repair-sized bits of it from eBay, but again it felt quite expensive - I'm going to need about a square metre or maybe more, with all the layering and reinforcement I want to apply!
Cheers,
Pete
In retrospect, not wholly surprisingly. The Chinese builders used off-the-shelf plastic fittings more appropriate to a medium-sized inflatable tender, to attach the transom of what can be a fairly brutal mini-powerboat. As well as the fittings themselves being weak (and the plywood transom not having been roughed-up to take the glue), the area of attachment to the tubes is in my opinion far too small.
So, with any luck a mate's dad will be welding us a new transom more along the lines of a proper Zapcat - look at the nice big plates at each end of this example on eBay (though note they've cut off a chunk of tube along with the metalwork):
Any thoughts on what glue to use between the aluminium and the PVC?
I'm used to using the two-part Polymarine for normal dinghy repairs, and that's probably what I'd use for the PVC/PVC bonds in this job. But I have no idea if it sticks properly to aluminium, and the idea of using Sikaflex (either 291 or perhaps 292) is floating around in my head. Also the Polymarine glue is fairly expensive in small pots, so if there's an equally-good unbranded/non-yottie version that would be handy as we'll probably need quite a lot!
If anyone knows a cheap supplier of PVC boat material that would be good too. I've generally bought repair-sized bits of it from eBay, but again it felt quite expensive - I'm going to need about a square metre or maybe more, with all the layering and reinforcement I want to apply!
Cheers,
Pete
