1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Thanks Wood. The only bulkhead currently under the deck is about a foot in front of the motor. Do you think originally that the amount of floatation would extend from the bow that far back?

Conversely, I find the lack of foam currently a bit disturbing, so...

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Side note:

This boat was summerized already from it's warmer climate home. The snow just started flying here. Should I be scrambling to get the boat inside?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Plywood looks like it's in great condition, though the structure is pretty dismal. Building up the middle stringer to the height of the deck (minus the decking thickness) would be a lot easier than adding all the bulkheads. "Sister" in a piece of plywood on top of the middle stringer, then fiberglass it all together. The bulkhead idea would work too, but would be a lot more work to do it properly,,, fiberglassing everything in.

This boat was summerized already from it's warmer climate home. The snow just started flying here. Should I be scrambling to get the boat inside?

Draining the block, manifold and riser is all that's really "needed". There are petcocks (or plugs) on the port side of the engine to drain it. You should stick a piece of wire up in the holes, to clear out rust and sediment that may stop it from draining completely

*edit* Also, make sure the drive is dropped all the way down, so it drains and doesn't have water trapped inside that could freeze.

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

"Sister" in a piece of plywood on top of the middle stringer, then fiberglass it all together.

I thought about doing that... just wasn't sure if that is an acceptable fix or not. My last project left me with more than enough materials.

A bulkhead below the consoles is still a good idea I think. I can get to that point without having to remove the lid. Then build the center stringer up between the bow/consoles and stern bulkheads.

?

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

"Sister" in a piece of plywood on top of the middle stringer, then fiberglass it all together.

You think I should just glue it to the top of the glass that's already on top of the stringer, or remove the glass on top first?

Deck removal begins in about 1 hour...

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

You think I should just glue it to the top of the glass that's already on top of the stringer, or remove the glass on top first?

Sister, wasn't the correct term as it's just going to be a butt joint. But myself... Since it's not structural and just holding up the deck, I'd just use thickened resin (PB) to join them together, on top of the old fiberglass. (Of course you'd grind the old fiberglass first,top and sides, to expose clean fiberglass to bond to, then mat and cloth to seal it up and make the 2 pieces one.)

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Affirmative.

Step one... make mess.

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Well, SOMETIMES things aren't as big a tragedy as they seem. Just finished the first section of the deck tear-down to reveal...





Stringers are in perfect factory condition. It's also quite clear that everything in place is factory installed, other than the middle section of decking, which has been redone at some point.

MY OPINION: I could very easily rip this down and rebuild it. Heck, been there done that. Logical thing to me after seeing this is to bolster these cross supports with bulkheads to re-level them, and bolster the console area with a bulkhead. The decking is actually dry and can be easily updated with a good fiberglass treatment. And of course, foam.

This is totally IMHO. Like I mentioned... I am here because I am NO expert in these matters and I really appreciate opinions. And although most of the rebuilds on-site are very cool, in some cases it may not be necessary, and I think I might be that case.

Let me have it.

In the meantime, I'm going to do a close trim to the consoles and do a test bolster to see if the window closes up! I also have many more pictures of what I've done thus far. I shot these with the phone real quick for an upload.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Put a jack between the stringer and deck, and jack it up to see how lifting the deck responds to closing the windshield. See how much it takes to correct the windshield and if the deck gets distorted or flattens out back to normal. If the windshield aligns, measure it and glass in a bulkhead. (I'd figure out a way to temp support the deck so the windshield closes nicely, glass in your bulkhead, then remove the temp supports.)

I'm with you in everything looking good (far as I can see) and just remedying the console alignment, then buttoning it back up again.

Might as well drill some test holes in the stringers while you're in there, to test for rot... Peace of mind.

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Put a jack between the stringer and deck, and jack it up to see how lifting the deck responds to closing the windshield. See how much it takes to correct the windshield and if the deck gets distorted or flattens out back to normal. If the windshield aligns, measure it and glass in a bulkhead. (I'd figure out a way to temp support the deck so the windshield closes nicely, glass in your bulkhead, then remove the temp supports.)

I'm with you in everything looking good (far as I can see) and just remedying the console alignment, then buttoning it back up again.

Might as well drill some test holes in the stringers while you're in there, to test for rot... Peace of mind.

Thanks Dan... I can't find a jack in my shop. I have one on the way. One step ahead on the stringer drilling. In process.

Thanks again for the input. I'll post again when I jack this up with results!

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

One step ahead on the stringer drilling.

Survey says...

Bone dry on 12 different stringer drills. Old wood, but bone dry and solid.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Based on what you're seeing in this pix:

There isn't much evidence of non-factory work, except what 1 panel? Can you mark where you you're talking about previous work?

I marked the hull deck joint in red:

The plane of the deck below the center walk thru is marked in blue

Along the blue line there doesn't seem to be much deflection of the deck. And what's the distance along that blue line from red line to red line (hull~deck joint @port to hull~deck joint starboard? That doesn't look very far to allow a 3/4" +/- deflection, which as I mentioned, isn't readily visible....

And doesn't the windshield sit along the top of the consoles at the forward edge (closest to bow) so as the hull tapers towards the bow, it gets narrower from 1 side to the other at the back of the walkthru section you have pictured. Looks like it might only be 18"+/- across the back, which makes 3/4"+/- sag even more puzzling.

I suspect that there is a possibility that the hull has either sagged or spread, perhaps unevenly port to starboard, when the previous owner did whatever work they did.

I don't know that using a jack or lift mechanism of any sort from below, to attempt to re-align the windshield, is wise, until you can better determine WHY the parts of the windshield no longer align. When you jack UP you are also pressing DOWN....

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Jackpot.



A bit tight still, but only because I'm jacking from the center stringer only. Once I drop in a bulkhead it should be good. (Might take a couple tries)

Wifey says bedtime.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

I don't know that using a jack or lift mechanism of any sort from below, to attempt to re-align the windshield, is wise, until you can better determine WHY the parts of the windshield no longer align. When you jack UP you are also pressing DOWN....

Correct, a lot of damage could be cause by getting carried away with a jack. I didn't say it, (kind of assumed) that too much pressure shouldn't be applied. Good call!

Getting back to the shimming thing, shimming the console temporarily to get the windshield to close, would show how much the deck needs to be raised.

I had to play with the console heights when I rebuilt my boat as I was dealing with gaps similar to what AV has. It didn't take much height to spread the windshield apart.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

I agree, it's that now that the windshield is fitting & closing:

There seems to be a hump at the starboard side of the walk thru. That's attached to the hull and may or may not be pulling inward on the hull

If it is, should it be?

If it isn't, should it be?

. Is there a similar hump at the port side?

There's clearly quite a bit of flex in the deck, so did you only push up with the jack? It wouldn't take much pressure to push an unconnected deck, stringer & hull system out the other way.

Either way, if the wood under the console & walk thru wasn't replaced previously, how did any (all?) of that sag, or whatever happened, and create a deflection that requires a hump in the deck to re-align......

None of that ^^ is critical of how you're getting the windshield aligned, they're just questions that came to mind after the biopsy was started & pix posted

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Jackpot.

SWEET!!!

I'm jacking from the center stringer only. Once I drop in a bulkhead it should be good.

Place a 2x4 between the jack and deck, to simulate the bulkhead supporting the console, so you can get an accurate measurement to make the bulkhead.

Is the deck deforming, bulging upward, or is it removing the dip and leveling?

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

Based on what you're seeing in this pix:

There isn't much evidence of non-factory work, except what 1 panel?

I marked the hull deck joint in red:

The plane of the deck below the center walk thru is marked in blue

Along the blue line there doesn't seem to be much deflection of the deck.

Very valid questions. It is impossible to see from my pics, but you can see it in person: there is a very slight slope about 3 feet sternside from the consoles. I would estimate the drop to be about 1/8" (ish) from this point. I drew a pic of this earlier.

I am also guessing that having years of people walk through the consoles, with no support in between, probably sagged the deck just a touch. I jacked the center of the deck about 1/4" at this point to get the window to close.

Again, this was from the center. If I bolster that entire section of the deck from that point, probably about 1/8", I'd bet the window closes with ease.

I will test it out tomorrow. I agree that just jacking it right now puts all of the pressure on the keel area stringer.

Better illustration to follow.

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

I agree, it's that now that the windshield is fitting & closing:

There seems to be a hump at the starboard side of the walk thru. That's attached to the hull and may or may not be pulling inward on the hull

Either way, if the wood under the console & walk thru wasn't replaced previously, how did any (all?) of that sag, or whatever happened, and create a deflection that requires a hump in the deck to re-align......

None of that ^^ is critical of how you're getting the windshield aligned, they're just questions that came to mind after the biopsy was started & pix posted

The hump is being caused by the jack I threw in for testing. In previous post I mentioned that I think that years of walking through to the bow seating area probably caused that portion of the deck to sag just a touch, enought to cause the window to come out of alignment.

It makes sense to me given that there currently is no support for that portion of the deck.

Illustration to follow.

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

What I think:



No current support under this portion of deck has created a slight sag (RED) leading to the consoles bowing in (BLUE).

Building bulkheads directly beneath the front and rear portions of the consoles should raise the deck back to normal height (RED) causing the consoles to spread (blue) and allowing the window to close.

(

Theoretically. It works right now using only a jack in the middle of the deck (hence the bowing in the middle). Should work very well supporting the entire width of the deck at that point. This will also level the deck from bow to stern.

Review: I noted in a previous picture a line in the floor marked with a sharpie:



Impossible to tell from the picture, but there is a slight stern-to-bow sag here. This is the fix area. It is also from this line (on the bow side) to another line about 18 inches in front of the motor that I believe the deck was patched before:



The patch would be between the two supports in the illustration. I intend on leveling out both the stern side bulkhead and making a new bow side bulkhead to support the consoles, resulting in a nearly perfect level deck. This also would allow the window to close.

I think.

Won't take me long tomorrow (evening) to make a test bulkhead to try it out! All for tonight! Thanks for the input and stay tuned! (NOW we're having fun!)

 

[avpaulb]

Re: 1975 Crestliner "Muskie" 775 - A New Project

I am still going to fix that bit of sag, but...

Upon closer inspection, the cause of the window not closing is more because the consoles are not correctly attached to the floor. The brackets that hold them down are too high by about 1/2 inch on both sides, causing the consoles to sit too low.

I'm going to play with that a bit tonight as well as hopefully finishing up the floor rip out.

I should have a few pic heavy updates too!