1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

[nphilbro]

I acquired a very nice 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 ft runabout OUTBOARD boat hull that has a cracked or broken middle stringer on the starboard side. Up here in the Pacific Northwest these boats are highly valued for their quality, workmanship, and design that is uniquely suited to the unstable waters of the Puget Sound, Straight of Juan de Fuca, and the inside passage. The reason most of us find ourselves on this great body of water is the world class salmon fishing and dungeness crab.
I'm going to document my progress on this thread. I have a 21 foot trailer that also needs some work but proved boatworthy on a 130 mile trip from Mt. Vernon to Puyallup on Christmas eve. I'm going to hang my Johnson 85hp since that is what I have and it should be enough to get the kids going on their innertubes when we take it to the lake and enough horses to manage the Puget Sound.

The seats and carpet were removed when acquired it so it is a straight shot to the hull.

In this pic I have pulled up the panel to expose the gas tank. It is a 50 gallon tank and there is about 45 gallons of gas in it that need to be siphoned out. I fashioned a siphon out of a garden hose, trimmer line, and a rubber gasket. It got too late so I'll run the siphon in the morning. My only access to the fuel is through the top where the fuel gauge is. Don't bother trying to go through the fuel fill link since there is 90 degree bend at the tank.

I estimate the broken stinger is directly below the end of the yellow ruler in this first picture.The fuel gauge is that mess in the center of the tank.

Here's a couple other shots of the boat. I have exactly 1" of clearance in from the back of my garage to the garage door and no motor on. I found that I can move the winch forward and remove the ball receiver and there will be enough clearance with the motor mounted.



Here's shot of the boat in the driveway.

Once I get the gas tank out of there I'm going to start cutting about 2" starboard of the gas compartment and move upward toward the bow about 18" and 18" toward the transom with the spot of that ruler being center point. I't will be interesting to see the condition of the foam.

That's it for now. I've never cut into a fiberglass boat floor before so tips and pointers are appreciated.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

hi.....welcome to iboats.

what gives you the idea that the stringer is broken?......they look good to me.

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

The previous owner said it was. Middle starboard stringer. There is some cracking that goes about 3 foot fore and aft along the stringer.

I haven't had it checked out myself. I find it hard to imaging a guy would pull everything off one boat and put it on another unless he had it on good authority. I personally can't hear anything when I tap along it with a small hammer.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

im kinds confused here......

the stringer is next to your gas tank......and it looks good.....

there is no other stringer farther outboard, than that.....

chances of a stringer breaking are ....well.....not too good.....very rare......

me thinks the PO mis diagnosed the situation.....

if i were you.....i would cut a 12 inch exploritory hole on the outward side of the stringer.......then dig the foam and have a look....i would not pull the gas tank now.

a cracking noise could be a deck under frame that is cracked.... but very very rarely a stringer

 

[oops!]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

if the stringer is cracked......which i highly doubt....i would grind away the glass near the break......and sister a new piece of wood over the break.....kinda like a splint...then glass everything....and done

this is not a major fix....i am concerned that you are doing wayyyyy to much work for the problem based on a bad diagnosis

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

OK, it was late last night when I took my pics and I forgot the crack was behind the trailer bunk. I moved the boat and found the crack. You can see it from this photo.

On the left side of the exposed fiberglass are several layers of fiberglass have come loose. I have no way of telling if it is cracked completely through.

If this were repairable from the outside without having to cut the sealed fiberglass deck apart it would make my job 10x easier. The hardest part of this entire repair is going to be getting to the stringer from the inside of the boat.

Also - there are hairline cracks in the gelcoat developing on the keel side of the stringer centered at the crack point.

 

[bharness]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

Another Glasply owner. You are spot on about the quality of the Glasply relative to NW waters.

I will be following your thread.

It is hard to see the cracked stringer in the photos. I can see some delam of the glass.

bh

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

...

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

I broke open the deck and can finally see what we're dealing with. The gas tank is on the other side of this stringer and I imagine the port side of the stringer is pretty bad too. It's obvious where the glass has broken almost the full distance between the ribs.

I got an email from the previous owner today and he said he never hit anything but thinks it might be fatigue from 15 years of hard use. The waters through the Straight of Juan de Fuca can get pretty gnarly. He mentioned that other owners have moved the tank farther forward since they feel the tank may cause excessive fatigue.

I haven't decided what I want to do about the tank yet. I might pull it altogether and put in two 6 gallon tanks but that would severely limit my range. However, I'll probably just refiberglass it really well on both port and starboard stringers and put the tank back where it is - and hope for another 15 years or more of solid service.

I should have just cut into the deck to begin with. I'll finish draining the tank as the cars make more room for the fuel in the gas cans and start glassing this weekend. There was a fire extinguisher 12" from away and the tank was covered.

I noticed the joint had thick woven cloth originally. Any recommendations on the cloth I should use for the fix? I'm guessing I'll grind it clean and splint with another board.

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

Tonight I got the deck torn off the broken stringer and the gas tank completely emptied and removed. Removing the tank exposed the inside of the hull crack where water was coming in. This should be an easy repair. Examining the separation at the stringer I'm going to need to attach something to the hull and pull it up toward the stringer when I fiberglass it. I've priced out some carbon fiber and have decided to go that route for the repair. It will make it much stronger and give me peace of mind.

Looking at the cavity of the gas tank has made me seriously ponder dropping the current 50 gallon gas tank for a 20 gallon and using the space I save for storage. This might just be unnecessary expense, however. I've got a few weeks to ponder it.

There is also an empty cavity (no foam in this boat) between the next stringer but I'm going to fiberglass over that since I'm going to put receiver plates for the seat pedestals there. I'm going to use carbon fiber around these receivers as well.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

Uhmm, so are you saying that the hull is cracked and deformed and pulled away from a broken stringer? And you are also saying that the PO says he never hit anything? I'm calling Foul. There is No Way that kind of Damage can occur to a stringer with that kind of glass unless it hit something HARD!!! How much deformity is there in the hull? Kevlar will work but is not needed.
2 layers of 1708 Biaxial cloth will provide all the strength you need. You might want to use epoxy for the added strength but again poly would be fine too! But you must ensure to get the hull straight and true or it WILL affect the handling of the boat. How do you intend to fix the Broken stringer? Are you going to sister in a couple of pieces on either side of it or will the Gas Tank not allow this??

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

The stringers are open- there is no wood or foam in them so when the stringer broke free from the hull the bottom side naturally pulled inward a little bit. The hull doesn't appear to be deformed. The gas tank was true to the edges on all four corners. The stringer is separated on one side and (opposite the gas tank) not all the way to each rib.

In photo 1 of the above post it is looking toward the stern. The stringer is exposed and intact. Separation is on the left side of that stringer at the hull. Does that make sense? I'm reattaching it to the hull on the starboard side of the stringer. The pics in post 9 show where the break/separation is.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

Man, I AM confused. Where is this damage precisely located. Please take a wider angle pic and mark it up using MS Paint to indicate exactly where you are referring to. The stringers I see look to be wood covered glass.

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration


This picture is taken leaning on the transom toward the bow. The stringer in question is on the right where the red arrow is pointed.


In this picture we're getting closer. The fiberglass break is along that black line.



This is a close up of the black line on from the previous picture. I circled where the fiberglass broke. It's the connection between the stringer and hull. There is nothing inside the stringer, it's just molded into shape and fiberglassed to the hull.



I circled the crack in the hull.

I hope this makes it more clear??? I tried a video but I need to work on the size of the file.

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

Hey all! I wanted to pop in again with my update. This is not just another dead project. I spent a lot of time rebuilding my Johnson 85hp motor and then recently sold it to buy some more HPs in the order of a 140 Johnson.

Anyway, I spent the last week completely rewiring the beast with new lighted switches, moving the tilt and trim to the helm (removed it from the control stick), and added separate switches for nav, instrument, and courtesy lights. I also hooked up lights under the gunrails so the shelves will have light at night. The helm is also much more modern looking after I pulled the woodgrained sticker off and grungy brown foam console thingy.

The past couple of days I worked on fixing the actual stringer separation issue and reinforced it with several layers of fiberglass. Today I finally covered the deck back up and spend a couple hours with the grinder and sander getting the edges to meet back up (this is a 32 year-old deck, after all). I bought polyurethane patio and deck gloss and put the first coat down. Tomorrow afternoon my plan is to fill some of the rougher spots on the deck then add the second layer with a bit of texture additive so we don't go sliding all over the place.

The rest of the red padding is the next to go but I haven't determined what I want to replace it with yet. I'm looking for something non-porous so it's easy to clean. I'm also trying not to wash the whole thing out since my seats are white too. I'm going to take some wiremold runner I have around and paint it bright red (with enamel and coated with poly) and use for the trim pieces along the gunrails. Here are some pics from today. My motor is now the same year as my boat.

.

That's it for now!

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

I'm pleased to say we got the ol' girl out on the lake today for a test run. Outfitted with the new (to me) Johnson 140 everything was a fresh experience. I talked my wife into going out with me in case I needed an extra hand (she also shot the video and did the commentary). I'm extremely happy to report that deck came out great after the second coat of poly and the bilge came in dry as a bone. I can finish the micro-restoration in confidence. I ripped out all the interior padding and am going to just keep it bare glass with a small shelf ledge. I also need keep the bimini wrapped up so it doesn't end up on the floor like it did today.

I still have a bunch of tuning issues to address with the motor but I'll save that for another thread if I get stuck. Here's a video and a pic from last night before I pulled the painter's tape. I can't wait to get it all tuned in and fishing on the Puget Sound!

 

[Binford]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

Congratulations on your fix! Looks like it turned out great!

There's a whole heap of Glasply folks who would be extremely interested in the repair you did over at www.glasply.net if you ever feel like paying a visit. Lots of Glasply-specific knowledge over there....

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

I realized the pics I posted weren't the complete update when I sent some photos to the previous owner today who gave me this boat. We launched out of Pt. Defiance and spent the day on Blake Island. She handled like a dream - or like a Glasply!

I included pics of the kids enjoying themselves here since my family was such an important part of embarking on this adventure. I'll do just boat pics on the next post.

I hope you enjoy!

 

[nphilbro]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

There are still a few cosmetic things left to do but the heavy lifting is complete. I was inspected by the Coast Guard and passed. My wife reminded me she was sure this would be sitting in our garage for years! I guess being unemployed for a month has its advantages because I'm not sure where I would have found the time to do it otherwise. I put in about 10-15 hours a day, 6 days a week for 3 weeks straight in April and May and only missed my target completion date by 1 week (fishing opener).

I saw a thread somewhere that a guy built a shelf over the splashwell. I'm going to do the same but include a washdown basin.

 

[Binford]

Re: 1980 Glasply 19 1/2 foot - Stringer repair and restoration

I love how your family just hangs out in the floor well like that!

Good work on getting the boat in shape like that. You got it done waaaay ahead of when your wife thought you would, but the key question is whether it was under budget or not!

Hope to see you on Glasply.net as there are a bunch of folks there who would LOVE your story and pics!

Good job!