1979 Imperial

Pmccraney · Jan 4, 2012

Atta boy! Show that yellow boat whose boss. You are on fire... Flying through that demo.

Woodonglass · Jan 4, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

Well you're 1/2 way home. When you cut the deck out, set your circular saw blade about 1/16th of an inch deeper than the deck material. Then cut out a 16 - 18" strip out of the middle. This will give you the ability to tak a look under and see where and how the sides of the hull match up to the deck. You want to try and avoid cutting into the hull. If it happens it's a pretty easy fix but let's don't do it if we can avoid it.

If you don't have a 4 1/2" grinder with a rubber back up pad, go to Harbor Freight and get one. It's gunna be your best friend very soon. You'll need some 36 grit resin impregnated sanding discs too. Make sure and get a Good Respirator and goggles too! Dust Masks will not cut it. A hooded tyvek suit is a GREAT thing to have too. $40 bucks at Lowes

JDA1975 · Jan 4, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

I got my tyvek suit (not tyvek name brand) at tractor supply for 7 bucks, didn't have a hood, so bought a painters hood for a buck....little bit cheaper and worked well for me, but I am a cheap old bastard on a fixed income!

PlayD0h · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

I've been weighing my options on two boats, one fiberglass and the other aluminum. Seeing that even the transom on this boat is rotten, I think I'll pick the Tinny. Not knocking glass boats, as I have one myself, but the more I learn the more scared I am to buy a used Glass boat. Considering that both boats are 26 years old, I think its safe to say the tinny is the safe bet.

Great work Cuda, your a braver man then I am. I can't believe you chopped her up, but very impressed with your work. I thought, at first look your initial pics were your finished product. I've never seen a boat that old look so new, without restoration. And to think the stringers and transom were rotten! I'd suspect it was due to faulty sealed engine bolts? Hard to believe, since it doesn't look like it was even used very much.

Keep up the awesome work. I can't wait to see the finished results and all the steps in between. Thanks for sharing your work. Inspirational for sure.

bear_69cuda · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

PlayD0h said:
I've been weighing my options on two boats, one fiberglass and the other aluminum. Seeing that even the transom on this boat is rotten, I think I'll pick the Tinny. Not knocking glass boats, as I have one myself, but the more I learn the more scared I am to buy a used Glass boat. Considering that both boats are 26 years old, I think its safe to say the tinny is the safe bet.

Great work Cuda, your a braver man then I am. I can't believe you chopped her up, but very impressed with your work. I thought, at first look your initial pics were your finished product. I've never seen a boat that old look so new, without restoration. And to think the stringers and transom were rotten! I'd suspect it was due to faulty sealed engine bolts? Hard to believe, since it doesn't look like it was even used very much.

Keep up the awesome work. I can't wait to see the finished results and all the steps in between. Thanks for sharing your work. Inspirational for sure.

Thanks dude,

I'm totally in school on this build... But I want to be at school...

I'm honored learning from the folks on this extraordinary forum...

I want to learn about glassing, and I like how fiberglass will cover up my mistakes...

I'd love to join the Starcraft club... But I've got no room..... Someday...

Good luck with your choice. Remember you can do anything with the help of this forum.... And cash.... Funny- my other half laughed at me when I told her I could build it for less then $2K... This is before I found the rot... She smiles and tells me I'm not myself if I'm not working on something....

Good Luck finding a boat!

JDA1975 · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

School is fun! I am being schooled big time, and enjoying it, and I know you are too, cant wait to see that deck back in shape so we can get back to the conversions! It isn't even going to be the same boat...wonder if you should rename it and call it home-made lol. I know mine is not even going to look like a Skeeter when I am done, Dont think I am going to put any of logos back on either...it is my creation now muhahaha

bear_69cuda · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

Big question...

With the cap off, and deck removal, I've noticed a big change in rigidity. Do I need to reinforce my dolly support set-up? I'm concerned about being inside the boat while grinding... I go say 225 #

Well gang!

Good think I inspected structure....

The deck would have been toast in less than 2 years...

Delaminated stringer at mid ship, hole all the way through to other side...

Mold under decking...

Good Times!

Oh... This is a mono stringer design... They used only foam to support the port and starboard sides of the deck... Hence flex..

It's obvious the lower quality glass work was what caused the rot...

My hopes are that this build reiterate's.... Things are not always as they appear....

I'll post pics ASAP!

JDA1975 · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

My imperial had 3 stringers when I cut her up...I am still thinking your deck has been redone before...keep seeing little differences like that, I don't know what year mine was but look damn near the same boat...well until I took my grinder to it anyways

Woodonglass · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

You definetly need to run supports. Tri hulls are notorious for flexing during demo. Check out the cradle for this iboaters tri-hull...

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=287390&highlight=drewpster

Scroll down almost to the bottom of the page.

JDA1975 · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

Can look at my cradle too, I built mine using drewpsters as inspiration, only used 2X4s instead of ply, used the same build on top of the flipped hull so cradle matches the lines perfectly...The bunks run with the hull, everything else was leveled so when it was flipped it sat like it would when leveled...mine starts here, and continues for a few pages...I take too many pictures

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=511063&page=6&p=3498704&viewfull=1#post3498704

bear_69cuda · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

JDA1975 said:
School is fun! I am being schooled big time, and enjoying it, and I know you are too, cant wait to see that deck back in shape so we can get back to the conversions! It isn't even going to be the same boat...wonder if you should rename it and call it home-made lol. I know mine is not even going to look like a Skeeter when I am done, Dont think I am going to put any of logos back on either...it is my creation now muhahaha

I have the name for her already... Keeping that till the end... I'm enjoying the Skeeter build big time JDA!

bear_69cuda · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

JDA1975 said:
My imperial had 3 stringers when I cut her up...I am still thinking your deck has been redone before...keep seeing little differences like that, I don't know what year mine was but look damn near the same boat...well until I took my grinder to it anyways

Everything I see looks it's factory work.... One single stringer under deck, and two lateral support stringers on both sides. The lighter color on the deck, was always under wet crappy carpet, and the CSM or resin is very thin. Who knows? It's not factory now for sure!

bear_69cuda · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

Woodonglass said:
You definetly need to run supports. Tri hulls are notorious for flexing during demo. Check out the cradle for this iboaters tri-hull...

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=287390&highlight=drewpster

Scroll down almost to the bottom of the page.

Hey WOG, and JDA,

Thanks- I'll be beefing up the supports!

bear_69cuda · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

Rotten wood under deck.

Middle stringer delam and damage.

Seems the deck was sorta stapled to the stringer pre-glass... Nice and rusty! Tech had a bad day building this boat...

Rusty staples holding the transom together! This will not be a repeated method!

Nice non-glassed upper transom!

Cleaned up a tad...

JDA1975 · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

mine had 2 side stringers and a center keel stringer

can see the side stringer..the keel stringer is there...I doubt factory made would have missed that many staples...they perfect the art with as much as they do!

bear_69cuda · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

I think after I remove the other half of the deck, keel stringer, and transom... I'll flip the hull while she's light... Repair the keel damage, along with any other issues, then re-gel those areas only. I can also build new supports using the flipped hull to my advantage. Then onto grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding.....

Then I'll grind some more...

JDA1975 · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

sounds like a plan, I liked the flipped hull for building cradle because there was no guess work involved...I knew that it was touching all key points and perfectly aligned! makes the bottom repairs so much simpler too...with your set up though, you may want to leave the keel stringer in place until your cradle is built, that keel stringer will keep your hull from flexing at that critical point, then once flipped remove it and grind grind grind!

Woodonglass · Jan 5, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

Uhmm, I'm almost 1000% sure that what you're seeing is NOT factory. Someone has done that boat before you got to it.

bear_69cuda · Jan 6, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

Woodonglass said:
Uhmm, I'm almost 1000% sure that what you're seeing is NOT factory. Someone has done that boat before you got to it.

All is good... whatever it's previous history, with the help and guidance of iboats, she will soon have quality stringers, deck and transom that should out live me...

bear_69cuda · Jan 7, 2012

Re: 1979 Imperial

Hey Gang,

Removed the remaining deck. I left the keel stringer and transom attached for extra rigidity until I have the support dollies re-configured. (Thanks for the idea JDA!)