Removing upper half of boat

[nightvision]

Hi All,<br />I'm restoring a 30 year old 15 footer trihull fibergass 55 hp outboard motor boat. The floor board is rotted so I started cutting it up. When I got to the bow there are wood that I like to remove but just can't because of the bow seats. Anyway, I was considering removing the 1/3 upper part of the boat to get to the floor board. It looks like the two half of the boat are connected a the bumper gaurd and held together by rivets or pins. If I was to remove the bumper guard I think I can remove the rivet/pins and I can take the top half off. At that point I might be able to paint the boat too. Anyway, any suggest on how to remove the upper half and putting it back would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SS66]

Re: Removing upper half of boat

Im in the middle of doing this exact step you mentioned. Since I like to work alone, Im going to get two 8 foot long 2x4's and a $10 hoist from Northerntool.com to lift the top off. Im not sure how much mine will weigh, but just to be safe Im going to assume 300 lbs. This is a 16 foot boat. Good luck

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Removing upper half of boat

I had my neighbor and his wife help me lift my upper half off. Once you seperate the two halves, it is easy to remove. If it is held together with rivets, you can just drill them out.

 

[SS66]

Re: Removing upper half of boat

Jason, How much did your top half weigh roughly? Is my 300lb estimate close?

 

[matantiques]

Re: Removing upper half of boat

I recently did the same to my 16' fiberglass lonestar. Once I removed the rubrail, I was able to pop the rivets with a hammer and a flathead screwdriver. I went around the top lifting one area at a time until the top was loose then I slid it off next to the boat. The top weighed anywhere from 100-125 lbs. Not too heavy for me to lift bymyself but I got all scratched up. I would recommend doing it with a couple other people and not try to be conan the barbarian like I did. Best of luck.

 

[outonbizniz2]

Re: Removing upper half of boat

I removed mine alone with a couple of ropes.<br /> See pics

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Removing upper half of boat

I just removed the deck on my 15-foot Starcraft a couple weekends ago. It took me and two buddies to do it and it went quite easily. Of course, mine is a closed bow - no added weight of built-in seats, etc. in the forward part. I had to drill out most of the screws that held the deck to the hull as they were steel - heads were pretty much rusted off. This will also allow me to replace all the wiring and steering components without standing on my head and contorting my 6'4" frame to get at them.<br /><br />Pics of mine are on my site:<br /> Chinewalker's Place <br /><br />- Scott

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Removing upper half of boat

I had stripped everything off, the windshield, controls, everything, and it still was a bit awkward. I would say mine probably only weighed around 200 lbs, but it was a pain getting it off, having to lift over our heads. Once away from the boat it was much easier to move around. It was lighter going back on because I had cut about 50 lbs of material off for the center console conversion.