1970 Sea Swirl 16 foot with bad wood floor

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

My next task I need to accomplish is get it outside in the driveway and run up the engine for a few minutes to see if I have water out the tell tale. In a few weeks take it to the lake for a quick trip and then evaluate my deck since it has dried out the rest of the way. I have heard of King Starboard and wonder if that is a good option for deck replacement?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

WOW, that's the spitting image of my old SeaSwirl. Well, except mine was originally puke mustard yellow (changed to white) and I/O powered.

You have soft decks, right? Cut out a bad section with a circular saw (set blade to just over 1/2" deep) and see what lies beneath. The rotten wood will need to be replaced anyhow, and you will get a good view of what needs to be done. For a boat that age, it's not uncommon to have everything wood in the hull completely rotted out; deck, stringers, transom.

Before you get too far into the project, do some reading about fiberglassing, deck stringer and transom repairs in the resto forum. Ooops! 's "Hull Extension" thread is a good source of information. There are other (shorter) threads that have good info too. You want to have a good understanding of what needs to be done before jumping in, it will make the project easier.

BTW, Starboard is not a good deck material, too heavy and not very rigid. It will bend and warp over time.

 

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

When I drilled out my holes for my transom mount for my steering regular sawdust came out instead of anything wet or discolored so I am not worried about my transom. I will inspect my stringers once I get the deck removed but, this is what is looks like so far under my deck.

 

[rickryder]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Yeah I would get that wet deck out,check the foam for water saturation. If your foam is waterlogged you may be looking at a stringer replacement.... Get some pics up when you can and we will help you evaluate what to do next.

 

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

The deck has since dried but took the boat out into the driveway and tried to start it up and it would fire but, it would not run so I am going to change out the gaskets in the fuel pump and repack the carburetor and try again after my parts come in. I will post new pictures of my dried out deck soon.

 

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Cleaned up the carburetor and swapped out the gaskets in the fuel pump. It now sends fuel up to the carburetor as I witnessed a nice stream of fuel spray out when it could not do that before. However it still will not start the starter tries and still will not engage. So I will continue to troubleshoot my 1965 Evinrude 75HP motor hoping that I discover the answer. I have been searching alot of other posts but, still nothing the matches my issue.

 

[rickryder]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Ok you have fuel.... you need compression and spark start there also search for the thread "Awakening a sleeping outboard" That will give you steps to take.

 

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Thank you for that insight. I am going to buy a compression tester and make another attempt this weekend to see if I can get it to start. I also need to make sure I have the lowspeed needles adjusted properly on the carb and the adjustment that I can make to my choke.

 

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

I attempted to start it and the starter would not engage. I charged up my battery and it started on the first try. Since I repacked my fuel pump and carburetor it now runs. I just need to verify that water is flowing through the telltale. I will be taking it to a local lake to water test my motor and see if I have any hull issues.

 

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

I took my boat out to a local lake and it started on the first try. I am pricing 1/2" plywood AC/BC grade or exterior grade from a local lumber yard. The next part of my project is cutting out the remaining decking material. My biggest challenge is how to fix this irregular hole in the deck. Any suggestions on how I can work around these rises along the sides with my deck replacement?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Any suggestions on how I can work around these rises along the sides with my deck replacement?

Just duplicate what SeaSwirl did, cut/grind out the old deck plywood and replace it with the new plywood,,, cut to the same size/shape. Don't try to repair the hole, replace the entire section of plywoo... IE; cut the entire deck out and replace the whole thing.

Check out the looooong post by oops! "hull extension" something or another. it's going to have all the info you'll need for your project.

 

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

So I reviewed Oops thread and I am going to cut out my deck down the middle with my circular saw this weekend at a very minimum depth to ensure I don't cut through anything underneath. I have on order 4 sheets of 4X8 MDO 3/4" plywood and I'll be going to pick up about 2 gallons of MAS epoxy resin and hardener to start my project and last I am going to paint it with non-skid paint. Since I am going with MDO instead of Marine grade plywood due to cost of the wood $53 per sheet for MDO versus $90 per sheet for Marine ply. Do I still need to fiberglass with 1.5 oz chop strand and Biax 1708 with near as much thickness? I was thinking that I would put down a layer of 1.5 oz chopped strand mat and a layer of Biax 1708 on the underside and topside of the deck. Does this sound like a viable option? What should I use as sealant when I install my deck hardware for my seats?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

You do NOT need the biax on the Underside of the deck the 1.5oz mat is all that is needed. Topside you are spot on. When installing your seats I would predrill everything and then seal with 5 min epoxy.

 

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

So I was able to get Boaters Polyester resin for a pretty good deal. Has anyone used Boaters Polyester Resin for deck repair? I also purchased 1.5 oz mat fiberglass, 6 oz cloth fiberglass, spreader, resin roller, mixing bowls, and stir sticks. I am picking up my MDO plywood tomorrow. Is the 6oz cloth a good alternative to the 1708 biax cloth?

 

[rickryder]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

6oz is very light..... 1708 is 17 oz woven on a diag and csm stitched to the back side...... 1708 is much stronger than 6oz

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Remember....When using Poly resin Cloth without mat will NOT work. You MUST put down a layer of mat first and then cloth. RR is correct about the 6oz. You would need 3 layers of 6oz to gain the strength of 1 layer of 1708 and you would still not be the saime due to the biaxial construction of the 1708.

 

[tyblack]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

So another question. Is it a bad idea to replace my wood that was 1/2" plywood with 3/4" MDO plywood? I got it for $53 dollars a sheet and heard it is a good option. My fear is that I am adding alot of weight to my deck. What do you think?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Not a bad idea at all. I put 3/4" decks in both my project boats. I really like the solidness of it.

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

So another question. Is it a bad idea to replace my wood that was 1/2" plywood with 3/4" MDO plywood? I got it for $53 dollars a sheet and heard it is a good option. My fear is that I am adding alot of weight to my deck. What do you think?

3/4" is fine, but pesonally I'd stick with the 1/2" for weight reasons....that's what the orignal was and it's strong enough.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

Re: Seaswirl new findings in addition to my rotten deck

You'll be fine with 1/2" decks since it's a glass boat and everything is going to be fiberglassed. Fiberglassing the plywood adds a lot of strength.

On my aluminum 18'er I decked it with 3/4 marine and have mixed feelings about it. The decks are far stronger and solid feeling (no bouncing or bending), but I added an extra 125-150# to the boat, 6 sheets of ply - scrap. That extra weight coupled with extra trolling motor batteries, trolling motors, this, that, kitchen sink, and I have added a lot of weight to the boat, it all adds up. If I had to do it again, I'm not sure what I'd do......

If I was doing a glass boat, I'd go with douglas fir 1/2" exterior 5 ply, $20/sheet when I bought it a couple years ago. The extra plies make it far more rigid that regular 1/2" exterior plywood.

Since you are fiberglassing it anyway, why spend the extra money on MDO?