Re: What will it cost me?
The cost depends on the materials you use. If you go epoxy on marine grade wood, you are looking at a considerable increase over polyester over a/b ply. The question that should be asked is whether you need to go overkill or not. Really, it isn't what they used when they built the boat (polyester over regular wood), it is how they did it. You could rebuild with poly and non-marine, do it carefully and correctly, and have an end result that will last longer than you'll ever need it to. You could go epoxy over marine grade and have it last longer than you'll ever need it to. <br /><br />You will recieve many replies that will tell you that epoxy is the only way to do it, and those replies will not be correct. Epoxy is only one of several ways to do it. Just remember, any boat built conventionally uses poly throughout, and consists of the same secondary bonds (stringers glassed to hull, floor glassed to stringers, etc) that you would be doing. Does epoxy bond better than poly? Yes. Does poly bond well enough to give you a safe reliable rebuild? Yes. <br /><br />So there you have it, and now you can see why a cost estimate is difficult to give. I will say that for just the floor structure, you are looking at $300-$1000 depending on your choice in materials. Then you are looking at additional cost for carpet, seating, etc.<br /><br />So now, since you could be staring at a bank account destroying figure to rebuild the boat, you have to wonder if it is worth it. The cons are: You will never get the money back, it won't increase the resale value, and it will end up costing in the range of simply finding another hull. The pros are: You will know the hull is sound, you will be able to get years and years of worry free service from it, you will know how to rebuild boats, and you will be free of potentially buying another hull that needs work.<br /><br />Also, by doing a rebuild, you can change things that you may not have liked wbout the layout. It gives you choices that simply getting another hull does not. You can also take your time, do it as the money comes in. If you enjoy this sort of thing, a rebuild is worth it despite the cost. If you just want to get out on the water, then another hull is a better bet. Good luck, and check out Realguns rebuild, he hooked up a Bayliner real nice....
