Restoring a 1986 Stingray SS

[Stenella]

Hey new here, Just got my first boat!

Picked up the Stingray from someone moving out of state for $500, complete with new engine and a 1976 Shoreline trailer.

Its sitting in the back yard now with the tarp over it. The previous owner started gutting it and replacing the deck. He said all the stuff needed to finish the job was included. I brought it home last weekend but between school and rain storms I haven't had a chance to go through everything.

I know I need to finish and glass the deck. I have never done fiberglass before but I've been told its not too hard. I have heard different ideas on how to do it; One person told me I only need the fiber around the corners and stress points, the bulk of the deck just gets rolled with epoxy. is this correct? I see lots of pictures around here of people covering everything with the glass fabric. Also, is this something that I can do over the winter? I don't know how temperature affects the fiberglass.

The engine needs a new distributor cap and a tuneup, but runs fine. the hull is in good shape (except for some mildew where the tarp sat) and the paint looks very sad. Do I have to sand off all the old paint before repainting?

One more thing I am a bit confused about is redoing the seats and trim. What material do you use underneath the vinyl to make it puffy? the previous owner was using cut up foam pool toys I think it looks terrible and hurts my bum to sit on.

I am going to go through and take pictures this weekend. I got everything boat related (down to the cinder blocks) the guy had. There are several very large pieces of marine plywood, rolls of vinyl, 3 new deep cycle batteries, radios, and god knows what else all piled inside. I would like to work on this through the winter and have it ready come summer, even if its not perfect I can't wait to get out there!

I do wonder if the boat is worth putting a ton of money in to. The link below pictures the same boat, but in great shape for only $500 more than I paid, I have not had much luck finding the resell value of my Stingray.


This is not mine, but its identical to what I have if anyone is curious!
http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/boa/466851106.html

 

[Steve Mahler]

Re: Restoring a 1986 Stingray SS

Before you jump into the floor or other projects, have that motor checked out. The 470 3.7l merc is a bit of a handful to work on, and may have issues that could run up a big bill. Once you have a clean bill of mechanical health, then I think you need to look hard at stringers and transom (I have NEVER redone a runabout that doesnt need stringers, but I have only worked on a handful so far) and the gel coat can probably be wet sanded and buffed, re painting is probably not needed.

good luck

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Restoring a 1986 Stingray SS

Allot of people do there boat projects in the winter time out of or off season. Glassing is not hard but can get kind of messy lol. I would fiberglass the hole deck. I would buy the fiberglass by the square yard not by the square feet. Sounds like you already have most of the stuff needed for the restore so that would be that much more money you will save, being if what came with the boat is the correct materials. Don't forget to check the stringer, (that's what supports the floor). Then if the Transom is rotted (what supports or holds the motor), then you will half to take the cap off if it is a 2 piece hull.

 

[Stenella]

Re: Restoring a 1986 Stingray SS

Alright, was able to get the cover off today and take a look at what i got...

Didnt look too bad, Lots of toys to go through.

but, then I started noticing little things... the floor had soft spots even though the previous owner said he put in a new one. It appears he replaced the middle, but left about 1" from the sides, and under the consoles.

the wood was soaked, I guess the tarp I had leaked

I brought the wood inside the house to dry out, I dont think its rotten at all, just wet. Is this still okay to use?

I pulled the floor up, the guy used 2" galvanized drywall screws to hold the boards down. I got a little nervious when, towards the back of the boat the screws were just spinning in their holes....

Rot. The entire rear cross piece was gone.

So, I started to poke around and pull away some of the rotted wood, I disconnected the gas lines and went to remove the tank, it wouldnt budge

It appears Stingray filled the gap between the stringers and the tank with that sticky foam stuff filling the rest of the hull. The tank is prettmuch glued in.

I tried all day to get it out. There was one corner where I was able to get a pry-bar under it (rear left) but it wouldnt budge. I used a long knife to try and separate the foam from the tank. I ran it all the way around and it still wont move.

Is there something i'm missing? does anyone have an idea how to get the tank out?

I want to replace the rear cross piece and the rotten part of the long ones that run bow to stern. I would like to cut it and just replace the rotten half, everything past the gas tank is in good shape.


...if i can get that tank out o.o

There are many more pictures of the boat in my Gallery.
http://www.lphin.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=20115

 

[Stenella]

Re: Restoring a 1986 Stingray SS

Did not get to do as much as i would have liked today.

Started pulling out the stringer to the left of the tank. I did not see any more signs of rot, but the wood was soaked. Id hit it with the chisel and get a splash!

the glass has pulled away from the beam for the most part. Once I cut through vertically I hit it a few times and pulled the piece out. Cleaning up the inch or so still stuck to the hull is very tricky. Im terrified of cracking the hull o.x

The machete makes removing the foam a snap. Also a great stress reducer.

I did see that there is foam underneath the tank, and it is soaked. I am wondering if its just the suction keeping the tank in there so tightly.

I am going to leave it uncovered for the next few days. The weather is supposed to be clear and I hope alot of the water will evaporate. I hope getting one stringer out will give me enough room to pry the tank up.

I am curious if someone has any ideas on lifting the tank. It is empty but i get the feeling it will need to be pried loose. I am not too crazy about the idea of prying it away from the hull. I do not want to crack it.

Was thinking of laying a 4x4 across the top of the boat and rigging some kind of pulley to lift it up.

 

[csendker]

Re: Restoring a 1986 Stingray SS

I think the expanding foam stuff pretty much glues itself to whatever it touches, so if it's under the tank you could be in for a treat. Can you get a knife/machete under to start to separate it while there's upward pressure? Pull up on the tank, scrape some, pull scrape and try to inch it up a little at a time?

My structure was totally shot - crappy design and poor installation (it's a kit boat from 1970...). I've torn it all up and am starting from scratch. I read somewhere that once wood starts to rot, even if part of it looks OK, it's all history because the little nastys that are eating it are throughout.

As for reusing the wood, don't know. It has to be really, really, really, really, really dry. The you'll want to coat it with epoxy until saturated (2 coats) paying particular attention to the edges. This will waterproof it, but if it's even a tiny bit wet, it will lock the moisture in forever. Same with whatever you use for the stringer & frame replacement. When done, I'm going to lay some fiberglass mat over the whole deck for the added strength.

As for winter work, I'm in Buffalo and working as best I can throughout the winter. I'll coat the wood indoors, but the install will be outside (weather permitting). Because of the cold temps, I think that it pretty much limits me to using epoxy resin (not poly resin). It's more expensive, but better I think (adheres to the wood better so I'm told).

 

[Stenella]

Re: Restoring a 1986 Stingray SS

So, a talk with the PO this week filled me in that he may have epoxied the tank into the bottom of the boat. WTF. I have no idea how do deal with this.

The next boat day is Saturday. I want to get a cut off wheel on the drill and finish pulling out the port stringer.

I do not want to pull the whole stringer out. It seems to run underneath the console towards the front and that is glassed into the hull. I would like to cut the bad part out and use a fresh piece of wood to the stern.

..but where to cut

My original idea (idea 1) was to slice right in the middle of the spacer towards the front of the gas tank, and use it as a way to hold the joint together. upon further thinking, it sounds like a terrible idea.

The second idea (idea 2) was to go a little bit further up and butt a new piece that runs to the transom to the end of the old stringer. I would cut some ply (thinking about 10" long) and sammich the old and new stringers between them, glassing and screwing the joint together.

Thoughts? I've been reading through the forums all week trying to figure this one out. There seems to be an even number of people for, and against partial stringer replacement. I cant see why a joint like Idea 2 could be a problem.

 

[csendker]

Re: Restoring a 1986 Stingray SS

WTF is right on gluing the tank.

On the stringer, I don't think it's the joint in question but the left-over stringer & potential future rot. I recall seeing that once the bad guys get in there and start eating, there's no stopping them, thus the total replacement.

That said, I'm not sure you even need the screws, the epoxy is stronger than the wood, just glue up the splice piece. However, I'd go from "Idea 1"'s location as far forward as you can, basically double up the stringer. I believe the primary force on the stringer is up/down, so the longer the splice, the better the joint.

I'm looking at 2 layers of ply to build my stringers out of, and as they're longer than 8', that's 4 pieces of wood per stringer. Stagger the joints and full-contact epoxy is all that's recommended (well, that and full saturation of all wood with epoxy), so a splice like yours shouldn't be an issue.