1966 Duo Restoration

[eph445]

Hello Everybody,
I recently purchased a 14’ Duo year I believe is 1966 according to a photo of another Duo I saw pictured on http://www.theclassicboathouse.com/g...iberglass.html
The deck is going to need to be replaced. The original decking had already been removed and replaced with ?” green treated plywood which is very heavy. I was considering replacing the deck with regular plywood and covering it with a couple coats of fiberglass resin. I am also considering making this deck removable by using either ?” or 5/16” stainless helicoils inserted into the stringers in 4 places, fastened by flathead stainless screws.
Stringers appear to have been replaced also and seem to be in good shape. They were covered by fiberglass also. As you can see from the photo, each stringer is actually 2 pieces. Is this acceptable? I would think they each should be 1 continuous piece.
I figure as long as I have the hull (or bilge) exposed I may as well add a little reinforcement. Don’t know that it really needs it but I guess a layer of 1.5 oz fiberglass mat wouldn’t hurt.
Gelcoat is in dire need of repair. As you can see from the photo it is severely cracked throughout the entire boat.
Boat floats and doesn’t leak and motor runs decent, so until the snow flies I’m going to keep playing in the water. I don’t have warm shelter to work in so I’m going to do as much grinding and sanding until the snow buries me then by next spring I’ll be ready for fiberglass, gelcoat and paint.
Until then I would certainly appreciate any advice, guidance, instruction, warnings etc. All feedback is welcome. I’ve been browsing through “oops” thread http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=234392 and getting a lot of info there. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Happy Boating!
P.S. The biggest challenge right now though is getting these photos posted.

 

[josesharpae24]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Hey Nice Duo Boat,
I recently recieved a 1968 14ft Duo Boat and it needs to be fixed up as well. its a fiberglass hull but i dont know much about boats..the hull is hollow but the floor needs to be redone it is too weak. It needs to be sanded and needs a bottom coat of fiberglass and also top and bottom coats of marine paint. it is completly stripped. i have the seats and windsheild but no engine n no working electric. i would love to hear some of your input or advice if possible. to make it easier my email is josesharpae24@yahoo.com that way i would not have to log onto this site alot. thankyou and hope to hear from you soon!

 

[eph445]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Hey josesharpae24,
It sure is good to see there is another Duo owner out there. There is one other Duo owner that I found on http://www.cbhforums.com/index.php?showtopic=3931 but he hasn?t replied to my post yet. As you can see from my pictures my boat needs another deck also as well as some major gelcoat repair and paint. I?m also going to replace the seats since mine are quite rotten. I want to get it in the water at least 1 more time before it gets too cold before I start any work on it though. First thing I?m going to do is take the motor off and attempt to flip boat over so I can start prepping the bottom. I was first considering completely re gelcoating the bottom but from what I?ve been reading it appears to be quite an undertaking so I?m just going to settle for repairing it and painting. Hopefully I can flip boat without removing the top. From what I understand removing the top can be a lot of work also. I quess I?ll find out soon enough. I?ll keep you posted. Keep me posted as well on your progress.
Brian

 

[josesharpae24]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

I started to take off all theboat cleats, steering wheel and mehanisms, and screws an what not. I started to cut through the floor but the plywood was completly rottd and wet. what should i do first? I dont know where to start!

 

[eph445]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

How does the bottom look. If you need paint or gel coat repair it may be best to finish ripping out the rotten deck first to eliminate some of the weight so you can turn boat over to work on bottom. Thats what I'm gonna do. I need another deck also but I'm going to wait until I take care of the hull first. I haven't actually started any work on my boat yet. I wanna get it in the water just one more time before it gets too cold then the first thing I'm going to do is take the seats out and kick them to the curb. I saw some nice seats at Overtons that I want. Next thing I'm going to do is take the deck out, remove motor and windshield, then I'll be ready to flip boat and tackle the hull. Gel coat on my boat is in really bad shape but from what I've been reading, re gelcoating is a real nightmare.

 

[eph445]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Ok well I guess it's time to get to work. Wasn't planning on going this far but you know how it goes. I ended up pulling the top off and ripping out the transom because it was definitely rotten.


Fortunatley I was able to remove the transom in 2 pieces so I can use it as a template.


Not to bad for a days work. Now it's time.......

........for some smoked salmon!

 

[eph445]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

 

[andgott]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Looks like you are off to a great start- Certainly past the point of no return... Yeah, I'd say that transom is fairly rotten

I'll bet the hints of phenolic and resin in that salmon gave it a unique taste, too.... Mmmm, Nothing like food smoked on old rotten ply.

-Andrew

 

[eph445]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Looks like you are off to a great start- Certainly past the point of no return... Yeah, I'd say that transom is fairly rotten

I'll bet the hints of phenolic and resin in that salmon gave it a unique taste, too.... Mmmm, Nothing like food smoked on old rotten ply.

-Andrew

LOL! Yea there's only 1 thing better than that old boat smell and thats that old boat taste!

 

[teaman]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Hi- I have a 1964 Duo looks the same as yours. Pics to follow but I have pulled the floor stringers are shot and am trying to decide if I should take the top off. Was it a big job? My transom is shot too but I was thinking Seacast might save me the work of taking the lid off.

 

[eph445]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Hi- I have a 1964 Duo looks the same as yours. Pics to follow but I have pulled the floor stringers are shot and am trying to decide if I should take the top off. Was it a big job? My transom is shot too but I was thinking Seacast might save me the work of taking the lid off.

Pulling the top off wasn't a big job at all. I took mine off without any help. Basically drill out the rivits and gentlty lift top a little at a time from different areas and it comes right off. I'll be replacing my stringers also but as far as the transom goes, I'm pretty sure you will need to pull the top. There was no way I could have accessed mine without removing the top. I was also considering seacast until I found out that the transom was not fully encapsulated by roven. The factory roven only overlapped the transom on the inside about 8 inches. Since I was able to remove my transom in 2 pieces I'll replace it with 3/4 and 1/2 plywood. Looking forward to seeing some pics.

 

[kohnal]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

eph i would like to know how did u find out how your transom was rotton because i am looking to restore my duo boat and it is identical to yours.

 

[eph445]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

My first suspicion was that the transom was bowed out slightly from the weight of the motor. The transom sounded solid when I tapped it with a hammer but I still did not like that it was bowed out. When I took the motor off I took a screwdriver and dug around inside one of the bolt holes and discovered that it was a little soft and the color of the wood was a blend of dark grey and brown. At this point I decided what the heck and took the top off. When I removed the drain tube from the splash well, this is when I decided the transom definitely needed to be replaced. I could literally pick the wood out with my fingers. The place where I found it the worst though was around the drain hole. The wood was mush and soaking wet.

 

[kohnal]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

thanks eph im sure that i will be contacting you agian and if you need anything ask i might be able to help

 

[justkipp]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

I just bought a 14' Dou runaboat. the paper works says it a '74, but it looks just like yours, down to the color, fun, fun, fun, little boat. I will try to get a photo up soon

 

[eph445]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Awesome! Would love to see a pic. There doesn't seem to be a lot of these boats around.

 

[justkipp]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

here are some photos of my boat, if I can figure out how to post them

OK I can't seem to attach photos, Once I had uncovered my boat to take a pic of it, I realized its blue not red, and it does look different, but it is still a fun boat.

 

[justkipp]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Although I could not get the Photos into this thread, I did get a album started with some photos of our boat. everybody can see them at my album on my profile.

 

[eph445]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

Nice looking boat.

 

[Victoria10]

Re: 1966 Duo Restoration

I just got a 68 Duo from my grandpa. It was his best friend's and he bought it new. Haven't tried it out yet, just noticed the floor is rotted and has holes in it. Since I am skilled at remodeling, I am going to take the floor out and replace it as well. Any advice?