Swift Big D home

[curbman]

I purchased my Swift Big D 34 years ago and raced it in the late 70's and early 80's. The boat has been sitting under a friends cabin at Lake of the Woods Ontario for 26 years. I picked it up and the boat is now home in Alberta and will be rebuilt. More to come as I get a chance to finish my shop first and start on the boat so it may be a while. The frame work is like new under the decks the boat was kept dry and out of the sun so this rebuild will be fun. Anyone with pics of the original setup on this boat please send me pictures I have some but no close ups. Thanks Richard

[arcticracer]

You have your work cut out for you. Thank you for saving it though! Good luck and have fun.

[curbman]

You have your work cut out for you. Thank you for saving it though! Good luck and have fun.

Thanks for thinking about the work part of this, I will post pics as I find time to work on this and I will. I am also putting an engine together for this boat.

[curbman]

So on with the project, I have purchased the original Sitka spruce, Okoume plywood marine grade. Now I am hoping to get some input on glue? A source for brass ring nails? and any other good information I can muster before I start. The boat is down to frames and all other parts will be made new. This Swift model number is UHD-112 the boat had Aluminum air traps and the question I have, is this a true Swift original or an addition someone added? The 52-F is what I am going to restore this boat to. I will enjoy rebuilding this boat but I need the most information I can get from everyone. I have had a good exchange with David Liebetreu who has restored one great Big Dee. This boat will be original inside and out when it is finished. Thanks ahead of time to those with input.

[Ron Hill]

I never saw a Big Dee with full length air traps. Are those original??

[curbman]

I never saw a Big Dee with full length air traps. Are those original??

I don't know for sure but look at this and judge for yourself. This is how they were attached and they were also molded to the inside of the sponson. I didn't get any pics of how the were attached to the sponson sorry. I am hoping someone will get in on this so I can get on with new wood or put the aluminum air traps back on. What do you think?

[Yellowjacket]

With the condition of your framing, you are probably going to need to use epoxy if the joint is broken loose.

I'm working on refreshing an older boat and it was originally guled with resorcinol . Resorcinol glues are great glues, but they need tight fits, high clamping forces, and are brittle. On my boat some of the joints in the framing had popped and the parts were loose. At the joints that were loose, the wood in the joint area had deteriorated and it wasn't a good idea to reglue it without grinding away the gray deteriorated wood. That left me with a gap of about 1/16 of an inch and when you grind away the bad wood. Those much kind of gaps are too large for resoricional.

Fortunately, gaps like that are perfect for epoxy. In fact, you don't want to squeeze out all the epoxy or the joint won't be strong, so a thickened epoxy is what I'm using in all of those joints.

To restore the joint, first grind out the bad wood, and then pre-treat with a coat of thin laminating epoxy (I'm using Raka, their laminating epoxy is very thin, 600cp and it will soak well into the wood). After that has soaked in, I bond the joint. For close joints, I'm using some wood flour to thicken it to a mayonaise consistency. For wider joints, bigger than 1/16 of an inch I thicken it to the consistency of peanut butter. If the gap is bigger than 1/8 of an inch I put in a piece of wood, and bond it in with the mayo consistency stuff. Most of the time the joints are just jigged, and if they need to be clamped, I only use light clampling pressure. So far I've had good results with the stuff I'm doing.

As for ring shank nails, I looked high and low and the best price I found for 15 gage nails was at Jamestown distributors ($17 for 800 3/4 inch long nails), or West Marine (1/2 inch long $5.79 for a pack of 100). I needed the 1/2 inch long ones and mine just got here today...

Good luck restoring a neat old boat.

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

I have 5lbs of 3/4" silicon bronze ring shank nails. These are going anywhere from 17 to 18 US dollars per pound. Will take 12 dollars US per pound plus shipping. You can e-mail me at randbenter@eartthlink.net or PM thru BRF if interested.

[Ron Hill]

I don't know for sure but look at this and judge for yourself. This is how they were attached and they were also molded to the inside of the sponson. I didn't get any pics of how the were attached to the sponson sorry. I am hoping someone will get in on this so I can get on with new wood or put the aluminum air traps back on. What do you think?

I wish someone else would chime in, but I doubt that Swift ever bolted air traps on like this.

[curbman]

I wish someone else would chime in, but I doubt that Swift ever bolted air traps on like this.

I think your right, they sure worked good with the 40H on the boat back in 77 I think with a 58A power head it will be different.