1970 something MFG Gypsy 14' Partial restoration Project!

[areoseek]

Well folks, I bought this boat last july for 700$. motor and controls and trailer included. Same day I bought it, took her out on the water and fished all day! Throughout the summer I fixed small issues here and there, new fuel pump, cleaned the carb needle seats out, new batteries, patched some leaks with tiger hair, even knocked the prop off a rock! But this old girl still kept kicking, and floating (barely). She leaked, she was loud, she was slow, but she always worked, and I could count on that.

Fast forward to me sitting in my living room earlier today, and I said; "I'm gonna fix that damn boat once and for all". Room-mate thought I was going to go out and set it on fire, but alas, I decided to fix it the right way.

Starting with the floor, I peeled up the moldy off-blue carpet (not pictured) to reveal Not-so-marine-grade plywood. Somebody had done this the WRONG way before me.

After identifying and marking all of the screws, I proceed to coax them out with the screw-gun, revealing not-so intact, but semi-usable stringers.

Took a core sample of the coam to confirm my suspicion that it was waterlogged all the way through.

ugh.

Time to dig foam...yayyyyy..... -_-

continued.....

 

[areoseek]

more foam digging....

nearly done...

That's all for tonight.
some other pics....

Will update as I continue!!
Going to let her dry in the sun tomrrow and then take her to the car was and pressure wash before new foam.
Going to utilize the old stringers as a support structure, but going to rely on new 4lb foam to hold up the floor. also have a lot of plans for electronics, a radio, new fish finder, bilge pump switch, horn, led lighting ect.

Stay tuned!!

 

[sphelps]

Welcome aboard Areoseek !
Ya got a good bit of work in front of you there .. If the wood is wet or rotting in the stringers or transom you may as well fix it now while everything is torn out ...
I would do some core sample along the bottom to insure nothing is compromised with the structure ... JMHO ..
Here is a great rebuild thread you may find helpful .. http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...and-hull-repair/571211-1978-mfg-gypsy-rebuild
Good luck with the restoration !

 

[gm280]

Areoseek You made a great first effort there. Good you decided to gut this boat out because it is totally rotted and water logged. So remove the entire stringers and bulkheads as well. They are obviously gone just seeing them. And also check the transom. I'm betting that it rotted also. Please don't rely on 4lb mix and pour foam to support the floor. That isn't how it is supposed to work. The stringers and bulkheads are for that support. The foam is for floatation.

If you follow other rebuilds on these forums, you will end up with a very nice clean and abled boat that will serve you for as long as you want it too. JMHO!

 

[areoseek]

I can't remember what thread it was on here, but someone did a boat like mine and got away with leaving the old stringers in because the void is so shallow in this boat. not super deep like a V hull. I just ordered some two part 6lb foam, and that should have a bit more structure to it than the 4lb. the reason I don't want to remove them is because up at the front they are intact, and although discolored, in the rear I was standing on them just fine while scraping the old foam out. They are glassed in on the sides and look like a ROYAL PITA to try to take out without destroying fiberglass.

I'm going to get some floor underlayment from lowes in the next few days and measure it up to size, Then i'll cut "pour" holes with a holesaw every foot. Going to screw the floor down as best I can, and then pour the foam in the holes while keeping weight on the floor. After the foam cures, I'm going to order a 50ft roll of fiberglass mat and lay it down on the whole deck, and glass the floor in. this should not only add strength, but will make the floor VERY durable and easy to clean after fishing!

I've never worked with "gelcoat" before, however I do have a spray gun and a respirator.

hoping to get a floor like this in the end (not my picture)

That would be perfect!!!


Is the gelcoat necessary? Or is it just like a paint for the epoxy resin?

Still open to ideas if you think this is really not the way to go, I'm no professional boat builder!!
The transom is above my skill level, it seems very sturdy as I can stand on the lower unit with no flexing or cracking.
I would be unsure how to tackle that.

 

[sphelps]

You should really check and make sure you have no rot issues ..If its wet and rotting just a little it will spread so all the work you are planning to do will at some point have to be done again ..
Take a 1/4" drill bit and drill into the sides of your stringers all along the bottom of the stringers .. Inspect the shavings ... Dry and light colored is good ...Dark mushy and wet bad .. Do the same for the transom .Careful not to drill all the way through the transom ..
When the deck goes in make sure you glass with mat the underside of the deck before the installation...
Gellcoat is basically poly resin with other additives . You don't have to gellcoat . That's up to you .. A lot of folks paint ... Gell and paint are completely different ..

 

[jbcurt00]

Yep ^^^

Because its a PITA is why so many dont do it and scrap the boats or put them on craigs cheap or for free.

Sealing suspect stringers up inside a new deck is only prolonging the inevitable and throws good money after bad

IMO, its unsafe to rebuild it the way you propose.

 

[areoseek]

Yep ^^^

Because its a PITA is why so many dont do it and scrap the boats or put them on craigs cheap or for free.

Sealing suspect stringers up inside a new deck is only prolonging the inevitable and throws good money after bad

IMO, its unsafe to rebuild it the way you propose.

i'm beginning to see that.


Tonight I will attempt to get the bow portion of the floor out, giving me access to the entire length of the stringers. I'm hoping I can take them out in once peice so I can use the measurments to make new ones. Any patricular kind of wood I should use? just regular pressure treated "deck" wood?


How do I get the stringers free of the glass holding them in without ripping a hole in the hull?


Should I glass the new ones in completley or do I just need to "bed" them in like the existing ones?

So many questions.... I've never done this before.


I picked up 16ft of fiberglass mat for tonights portion of the project, and a gallon of resin. I'm up here in Erie pa, Do I need to heat the garage up for the resin to cure? or will it just take longer? Garage will be in the 40's all night.


I believe somone above said to glass the bottom of the new deck boards? Why do this if i'm sealing the lower portion of the boat with foam and glassing the top?

I suppose I don't see the benefit.


Not being harsh, just curious! I promise!


Thanks guys! more pictures to come tonight. expecting to have this done by next week.

 

[sphelps]

A good exterior grade plywood will do ... Or marine grade but that is a bit more expensive ... The floor under layment you spoke about earlier will also work . I believe it is made with waterproof glue and thats what you want ... Stay away from pressure treated ... It usually wet and the glass does not stick to it as well ..
A 4.5" angle grinder with the thin metal cutting blades work well for taking the stringers out ... You can also use a sawzall and lay the blade flat on the hull to cut through the layer of glass ...
Make sure you place a few extra bunk boards under the hull if it's on the trailer ... It should be supported well during the process ... Because it can and will warp out of shape .. And once the new stuff is glassed in it will hold the warped shape ..
If your using poly it needs to be 60 deg or higher during the application ....
You seal the bottom to keep moisture out .... What did the bottom of the plywood look like when you tore it out ? Probably kind of icky I would imagine ..
Even if you use the foam it will condensate and start to soak into the wood ...
Do your core samples first to see how bad the rot is ... If it's limited to just a spot or two you may be able to leave the good part and sister in the bad ..
It's hard for us to tell from just the pics so you'll need to start digging and let us know what ya find ...
Also make sure you have the proper PPE for the project .. You will be doing a lot of grinding and the dust is really bad for your lungs ... At least a half faces respirator is a must .. The little paper dust mask just won't cut it ...

 

[areoseek]

A good exterior grade plywood will do ... Or marine grade but that is a bit more expensive ... The floor under layment you spoke about earlier will also work . I believe it is made with waterproof glue and thats what you want ... Stay away from pressure treated ... It usually wet and the glass does not stick to it as well ..
A 4.5" angle grinder with the thin metal cutting blades work well for taking the stringers out ... You can also use a sawzall and lay the blade flat on the hull to cut through the layer of glass ...
Make sure you place a few extra bunk boards under the hull if it's on the trailer ... It should be supported well during the process ... Because it can and will warp out of shape .. And once the new stuff is glassed in it will hold the warped shape ..
If your using poly it needs to be 60 deg or higher during the application ....
You seal the bottom to keep moisture out .... What did the bottom of the plywood look like when you tore it out ? Probably kind of icky I would imagine ..
Even if you use the foam it will condensate and start to soak into the wood ...
Do your core samples first to see how bad the rot is ... If it's limited to just a spot or two you may be able to leave the good part and sister in the bad ..
It's hard for us to tell from just the pics so you'll need to start digging and let us know what ya find ...
Also make sure you have the proper PPE for the project .. You will be doing a lot of grinding and the dust is really bad for your lungs ... At least a half faces respirator is a must .. The little paper dust mask just won't cut it ...

okay, going to get wood and hopefully fiberglass tomrrow. Hopefully lowes or the homeless despot sells fiberglass, I don't have time to wait for shipping. I found out my foam order got canceled by amazon because they had an inventory issue so I need to find that somewhere in town as well.

As for the stringers. I just spent the last 3 hours scraping out the rest of the foam getting the entire boat to bare fiberglass. The center stringers are still intact and usable below the first 1/4 of wood. It looks like they were replaced by the p/o because they are NOT factory from 1976.

i've elected to use them again, BUT i'm going to box them in with additional boards for more rigidity on rough water. (E.g New board, old board, new board.)
sandwich them in so-to-speak.

I took pictures, however the damn Sd card wasn't in the camera so they didn't save. (stupid cannon).
I will grab some fresh pictures when the sun comes out.

I moved her out of the garage so she can dry out in the sun tomrrow, I think i may take it to the do-it-yourself carwash and pressure wash it out in the AM.

Thanks for the tip about supporting the hull after taking the lateral planks out. I noticed it was very "flexi" if you will. I built a little frame out of some scrap pallets I had and some jackstands, and it helped hold it so I could walk around. Thank you!

Again, i'm sorry that I can't do a FULL resto on this old girl YET. It's not in the budget or my schedule, as I need her for fishing here in a few weeks.
It will get re-done in the off season hopefully this winter.

Transom sample was dry and light colored, like sawdust.


I am building new lateral floor supports however, because those were very rotten. I don't think they were treated for moisture.

After the floor, there are a few more cosmetic things and functional things to tackle, like battery compartment, installing a bilge pump, Radio, speakers, VHF radio, LED running lights, Livewell, airrator, and wiring for it all. Should be pretty cool when it's done!

Stay tuned