Hello there, I need some advice here. First thing, I spent an hour Sunday taking pics of my boat, but they were too big to post on here. Bottom line is this, I paid 2500.00 for this boat, it's sweet, has new paint, gel coat, crate motor with 100 hrs on it, upholstery, gauges, etc.
I hadn't been in a boat for some years, and I didn't check the floor for soft spots. There is a soft spot directly in front of and to both sides of the motor, which is by the way mercruiser 260 i/o.
I pulled the carpet and found soft spots, and looked inside, the deck is definitely soft, the glass is intact, but soft when you walk on it.
The motor mounts, I drilled in to, at first dry wood came out, then an inch or so in more, came damp wood, not like mulch as someone had posted about.
The center stringer I took a core sample just in front of the soft spot in front of the motor. It was completely dry, not damp at all.
This boat has a small cuddy in front, so only the back half of the boat is exposed to the elements. Do I need to be overly concerned with these soft spots? I want to tow the kids around this summer and just do some cruisin.....ya know?
When I pull the wood that covers the ski storage area in the middle of the boat, the wood is perfect. I found one very small soft spot in the transom, there are no stress crack on either the inside or outside. This should be good correct?
Is it possible to replace just that back portion of the deck, and re-glass??
Also I noticed that there are no drain holes for water to exit in to the bilge, is this part of the problem? I mean for a 78 boat this thing looks to be in really good shape, and runs decent, I need to do a little tuning on the motor.
Again I paid 2500 for the boat and trailer. The local boat shop manager told me that if the hull alone floated it was worth 2500 alone. He had some friends with these boats, and said they were very cool.
I have had it on the water three times so far with no problems with the hull.
I will try and shoot pics this weekend that are smaller sized so that I can post them, and advice so far???
Thank you all for your help!!
I hadn't been in a boat for some years, and I didn't check the floor for soft spots. There is a soft spot directly in front of and to both sides of the motor, which is by the way mercruiser 260 i/o.
I pulled the carpet and found soft spots, and looked inside, the deck is definitely soft, the glass is intact, but soft when you walk on it.
The motor mounts, I drilled in to, at first dry wood came out, then an inch or so in more, came damp wood, not like mulch as someone had posted about.
The center stringer I took a core sample just in front of the soft spot in front of the motor. It was completely dry, not damp at all.
This boat has a small cuddy in front, so only the back half of the boat is exposed to the elements. Do I need to be overly concerned with these soft spots? I want to tow the kids around this summer and just do some cruisin.....ya know?
When I pull the wood that covers the ski storage area in the middle of the boat, the wood is perfect. I found one very small soft spot in the transom, there are no stress crack on either the inside or outside. This should be good correct?
Is it possible to replace just that back portion of the deck, and re-glass??
Also I noticed that there are no drain holes for water to exit in to the bilge, is this part of the problem? I mean for a 78 boat this thing looks to be in really good shape, and runs decent, I need to do a little tuning on the motor.
Again I paid 2500 for the boat and trailer. The local boat shop manager told me that if the hull alone floated it was worth 2500 alone. He had some friends with these boats, and said they were very cool.
I have had it on the water three times so far with no problems with the hull.
I will try and shoot pics this weekend that are smaller sized so that I can post them, and advice so far???
Thank you all for your help!!
