IV. Dismantling everything / V. Separation of the upper & lower shells of the body. Wash & scan / V+0.5. Removing units
IV. Dismantling. Scan
The next step after scanning the boat externally is scanning the inside. It's a little more complicated here. There are two main tasks:
- Scanning internal hull elements (stringers, reinforcement elements, inner surface of the boat). It is necessary for work to replace the internal elements of the case and knowledge of their exact location relative to the case and each other.
- Scanning the location of all non-plastic elements: power plant, reverse gearboxes, etc. Also, in order to understand where to install these units … and how they were originally installed - there are errors.
According to the above. Internal scanning takes place in two stages: first with installed units, then, after their dismantling, their installation locations are scanned. As a result, it has a scan of the entire inner shell of the boat without and with aggregates.
Next comes washing, since during scanning all surfaces are matted with white to give a matte light surface. Secondly, we have new places that we could not get to before, in which there is dirt and grease particles. And if there are cavities in the structure, then there is even more dirt.
In our case, we left the transmission and powertrain to accurately align the scans with each other and removed them only after separating the halves of the boat and the internal scan that followed.
V. Separation of the upper & lower shell of the body. Wash & Scan
Important step. Since we want to assemble the boat in the future, we must act carefully and precisely.
There are several options for gluing shells, but most often two types of fasteners are used: chemical and mechanical.
Chemical methods mean the use of resins, glue, sealants, etc.
Mechanical fasteners mean bolts, rivets, screws, etc.
In our case, the combination was as follows: epoxy resin filled in the form of strips (strands) of fiberglass, copper rivets, and bolts. During assembly, non-original technology for fastening the halves may be used due to the availability of modern materials. The seam of the halves must ensure tightness, strength, and elasticity of the seam, allowing the load to be evenly distributed between the halves of the vessel.
The halves of the vessel must work as a single whole. After separating the halves, and possibly even during the original manufacturing, the halves will not have a uniform, identical gap between each other; accordingly, it is necessary to think about how to align this gap. A large amount of glue or sealant will not save the situation - their purpose is to work in a small gap. I would also warn you to use sealants in this place, as well as where sealing is required, that lose their elastic properties over time, often due to drying out. For this reason, silicone sealants are extremely rarely used in boat building.
All chemistry options and mechanics are removed only mechanically. We are always interested in pure laminate, to which something can be glued, painted, etc.
The bolts are removed mechanically, sometimes using an angle grinder. Rivets can often be drilled; especially complex ones can be cut with chisels, as can adhesives and sealants.
The chisels are 5mm thick plates, in plan they are a rectangle 3…5 x 10..15 cm, sharpened on one or both sides (chisels or chisels, respectively). They are different, for different situations. They can be used as a knife, or as a chisel, hitting the back with a hammer and cutting away laminate layers, molding layers, adhesives, sealants, etc.
When gluing up the body, we find a corner or straight section that is easier to reach and begin to cut off the glue with a chisel. Then we leave it in this place for a while and take the next one. We step back from the past and begin to cut down the gluing area. Thus, using 2..4 chisels and gradually rearranging them, we can go through the entire perimeter of the boat.
After separating the half of the boat, we remove it upwards, exposing the insides. In our case, we see a power unit with a transmission, a power set in the form of stringers and a mountain of dirt and debris. Therefore, the next step is washing areas previously inaccessible to us.
After washing, we apply white and markers and start scanning.
V+0.5. Removing units
After scanning, we dismantle the engine and transmission. We wash everything to remove dirt and oil. We scan the installation locations of the engine and transmission.
Sometimes this removal of aggregates can be done before separating the halves. Strategies can be different and there are no clear rules. If we follow the scanning path, to combine the scans, we scan with the units; after they are dismantled, the places where they were installed are scanned. It is also important to scan or measure the location of the power train, engine foundation, etc.
And try to compare the facts (figures) with each other in the future. Was there a constant roll on the boat when moving in a straight line? Or the reasons for the unequal behavior of the boat when turning to port or starboard. You need to find information piece by piece and put everything into one puzzle.
