1984 Glastron Restoration (deck repair)

[graysonhead]

Hey guys! I bought a 1984 Glastron SX-190 a year or so ago. I knew the deck had some problems, but the engine and outdrive only had a few hundred hours on them, looked brand new, and are worth more than I paid for the entire boat + trailer so I figured I might as well pick it up. (Plus all the vinyl was in perfect shape, since it was covered).

Aside from a few minor things (snapped shift cables, busted fuel tank sender, bad alternator, leaky bellows) it was in good mechanical shape. I've repaired almost all of that, and managed to enjoy it last summer quite a bit.

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But the deck has been soft and a few spots, and It was bugging me. I was originally planning on this just being a starter boat but my wife and I have fallen in love with it (don't even get me started on my toddler, he already fusses at me when I don't let him "drive".)

So, I'm pretty committed at this point to make an attempt at restoring it. Currently, the only things I know of that are wrong with it are:

- Deck is soft in a few places
- Power steering is leaking on one of the steering ram fittings (I would delete it, but it makes the boat much more drive-able for the wife)
- Trim senders/limiters aren't working (the cables that run through the transom have disintegrated to non-existence.

The last point is really what put me over the edge, since the trailer is SUPER low to the ground and the outdrive hits at the lowest trim setting even when the tongue of the trailer is touching the ground. I've already destroyed one prop and nicked another one putting it on the trailer during rough days since I have no real idea where the out-drive is trimmed at any given moment.


So my dad and I started disassembling the interior a few days ago. The vinyl is in great condition, but most of the backing plywood is rotten (None of it seems like it was fiber-glassed or treated, and a lot of it has clearly already been replaced.)

Ripped up the carpet (I'm not planning on going back to carpet, probably going to go with some kind of grip paint on the new deck) to find something interesting the biggest soft spots in the floor was (I presume) because the gas tank had been replaced. There was just a rotten loose plywood sheet sitting on top of the tank.

From what I can see so far, the stringers look rock solid, and all of the rot and soft spots seem to be emanating from where the original deck was cut in order to get access to the fuel tank. However, there is an original cross-member like board in front of the fuel tank that was snapped.

And the soft spot near the drivers seat is the result of the plywood cracking on the border of where the stringer supports it (probably because the rest of the deck structure was compromised and there wasn't much supporting it).

I ran out of time, so I'm not sure how bad the bow-rider part of the deck is, but I'm assuming there is probably going to be something going on there as well since it feels a bit soft (the previous owners left a painted piece of plywood over it, and I'll be honest; I've never even lifted it up. Mostly because I can't for the life of me figure out how they got it in there in the first place.)

Given what I've seen, and under the assumption that the stringers are still good, I would like to just replace the whole deck. And I would like to do it as right as is feasible. I've done a fair bit of research, but I've got a few questions that I hope you wonderful people can answer for me:

- I'm worried about cutting through the hull when removing the decking where it is fiber-glassed into the side of the hull. Should I leave a bit of the preexisting deck and just cut a square-ish board to replace the middle part where it is rotten/cracked and re-join the edges with fiberglass?

- How is the decking usually affixed to the stringers in these boats? It doesn't seem like it is screwed or fiberglassed, at least not from what I can tell. What is the best way to remove the deck without damaging the stringers?

- Is it a good idea to fiberglass the the whole deck after I replace it? Like I said, I'm not planning on going back to carpet, I would like to use something like Durabak instead. Not sure if its best to fiberglass and sand + paint, or just make sure there is a good layer of resin.

- Am I going to need to wind up popping the cap to replace the bowrider section if it is rotten as well? The decking seems fine where the consoles are, so I hope not.


Anyways. I appreciate the input, and thanks in advance! Looking forward to getting this back on the water sometime in the next decade. :lol:

 

[CamCobalt]

Graysonhead , your pictures didn't seem to post.