1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

[Gator1996]

I bought this 19' Stingray as a project as my last child is beginning college this fall and thought it would be fun to work on with my wife. I have had it for two weeks now and hopped right in with some guidance from this site. It is a great source of information and encouragement. I have asked a couple of questions already and thought it would be good to document what I have done. I may have gotten a little ahead of myself and am hoping for some opinions on how I might right the ship.
I knew right off that the sole would need to be replaced and that the stringers were questionable. The motor had a ton of rust and needed some definite work, the trailer was solid but the tires were in rough shape. My wife and I towed it about half an hour to our house with no major mishaps but it was a pretty scary ride because the trailer lights were acting up.
The next day, I pulled the wet rotten carpet, trim pieces, seats and engine cover out. Here are some pictures

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

By the end of week 1 I had mad a couple of exploratory cuts in the deck to see how bad it looked. Of course it was mush, the entire deck had foam under it and the stringers were soaked, black in most places and the glass was peeling off them in sheets. I pulled the motor and the fuel tank and started cutting the deck little more aggressively. I had hopes that the rot would not go any farther than the console area.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

So here is where I am as of today. As I mentioned earlier, I may have gotten a little ahead of myself. I have done all of this work below while the boat was on a roller trailer which I gather is not good, also as shown in the pictures, the rot does extend past the console area which makes me very nervous. The transom is solid feeling and regular shavings came out on the drill test. It was wet though and the layers of laminate are seperating. The reinforced square are that is glassed to the stringers and down th the bilge is solid and pictured below. I will ask three questions.

1. Should I immediately get the boat off the trailer to continue the work? Or would moving it off now make matters worse.
2. Is there any way that I can get the rest of the deck out without removing the cap, I am not sure that I can pull that off.
3. For the transom, is there a way to fix the layers of wood that are seperating ? If I decide to cut it out, would it be an acceptable method to cut out around the thicker area around the keyhole, seperate it from the outer skin and just replace that portion assuming that the wood is OK around that area?

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

An update on the motor, It is the 3.0L 181 CI GM Motor. When I first saw it, I thought for sure it would be seized. The day after I pulled it form the boat, I tore it down. The internals were all sqeaky clean, the head and block looked brand new inside the oil had no shavings or water in it. It was the craziest thing I had ever seen. The outside is another story. The crank will turn but I have a ton of cleanup to do before I even attempt to make a go at getting it running. The water pump, flywheel , alternator were all rusted beyond recognition and the motor did not have a starter when I got it. I am planning on cleaning up the outside first and have been looking at parts for it here and there. I know this thing won't see the water for quite soem time so I guess there is no big hurry. If anyone has some spare parts they are looking to unload, let me know I would love to support Iboats posters if possible. Thanks

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Really nice looking hull and the trailer looks great aside from the tires. Awesome news that the motor will be useable. Hows the drive? Seems like a very worthwhile project to me.

I'm not a glass boat guy so I can't comment on the hull support issues. Personally, if you aren't pulling the cap, I would think the deformation would be minimal. I think the biggest issue, if you don't build a cradle and work on it on the trailer, is if you pop the cap. If your transom is wet, I'd consider replacing it. You've already gone this far may as well make it like new. Just replacing the wet sections is a no go. It needs to be one piece to effectively distribute the load. Hopefully the glass guys will be along soon with better advice.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Thanks for the info ezmobee. There was no drive on the boat, when I got it; just the transom plate, housing and trim rams. Will be looking for a unit but I think that I have some time to worry about that. I think that I will get that transom out, man what a project! I need a little bit of patience I think.

Thanks again.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Nice looking boat Gator. I am not sure about the trailer issue, but you will certainly want to replace the entire transom. It is really not any harder than what you have suggested doing.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Thanks for the thoughts on the transom SD. Some of the others have offered opinions in another thread re: the trailer. oops! has given me a great idea that I am going to go with. I will let you guys know how it goes. In the meantime, I have a hurricane to get ready for after we had a small earthquake yesterday. Crazy right?

 

[SDSeville]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Good luck!!

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Well, I took a couple of weeks off from the boat to deal with the hurricane, etc. I got back into it last weekend and was actually somewhat successful in removing the cap (hit a couple of bumps). So now I have cut out all of the wood in the deck that I can without getting too close to the hull. I am warming up the grinder to do some more this weekend. But, I have a question of course.

The plywood sole was 1/2" ply. My problem is that it was laid out to about 4" away from the hull. So there is 4" or so of what I guess must be like the peanut butter.

My question is: Do I repeat what was done originally and leave that 4" of fiberglass "stuff" there and meet the new sole to that? Or should I grind that stuff out and run the ply all the way to the hull? As you can see in the pictures, the ledge that creates the storage area in the gunwale is going to come into play if plan b is the right way to go. I had planned of cutting it out anyway because the ends have rot but how I do the deck is going to dictate how that happens. I think if I do grind the stuff out, because it is not as thick as the ply will be, the original stringer height will not be high enough.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks


In the pictures, there is about a half inch or so of ply left and the rest is fiberglass that is about 1/4 inch thick or so.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Hate to do it but have to BUMP

 

[oops!]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

hi.....pm ing with the link attached IS THE CORRECT WAY TO ASK. so no worries bud.

lets get this little baby on the water.

that is a searay......dont care what name is on it.

.....in pic 2 of the last set....your stringer didnt look too good.
you pulled the cap....did you put cradles under the hull? or are you still on the rollers?. before you re string of foam it...take it off the trailer.

rule of thumb is to replace what was there.
if you remove that rasied portion.....your side storage panels wont fit properly, but if they are rotten....new ones must be made. (no point in the work if the side panel keeps falling off with rot shavings all over your new deck , right? after the new deck is in and tabbed....you can make those with ply wand glass over them with ease

i personaly would remove the lip and the raised section.....then......when you lay the new strings and deck.......nothing is in your way, and it will be super easy. trying to get the new deck under that old fiberglass and getting a good bond will be a pain.....

im not sure what you ment about the deck not going all the way to the side and 4 inches of pb?

likck the link in mu sig again and use the index to find decking. i think i cut the deck in the first shop and screwed it down in the second. so there will be a few pages between the start and finish of the decking..

what did the forward area like? did you remove the forward deck as well?

i am following about 50 builds....so if you have a question the forum didnt answer....just give me the link again bud....
lol....its funny.....from april to sept......iboats goes nuts......but after sept 1st is when the restoration section starts to get busy...lol

 

[oops!]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

oh yeah....what did you decide on the transom?

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

What was the verdict here? Can you the leave the boat on the trailer if you don't pull the cap? Just curious.... Good work so far... Looking forward to following your thread.

Thanks,
Patrick

 

[oops!]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

he is on a roller trailer patrick......the rollers will leave indents on the hull if he strings it on there and then foams it.

on a bunk trailer...the hull is more supported, as long as the bunks go the full length of the hull and they are not too close together.

lol....could not stay away eh?.......this place is like boat university....but its better cause you get to choose the lessons.

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

he is on a roller trailer patrick......the rollers will leave indents on the hull if he strings it on there and then foams it.

Alright then.... looks like my next job is de-trailer my rig (mine has rollers) and start building some supports... Fun weekend ahead...

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

Oops!
Thanks for showing up. You picked a great time as I am planning on going off on that POS this weekend. I took your earlier suggestion and slid 2x10s on the outside of the trailer and 2x8 on the inside, the wider board would not fit. The hull did not seem to move at all when I pulled the cap off. I had planned on replacing the storage box anyway just didn't know where to stop grinding.

I was saying that the actual deck wood stops about 4 inches from the hull where that box is attached. That 4" gap seems to be thickened resin which is about half as thick as the plywood and glass deck. So my concern is if the I grind out that 4" of resin and the new deck goes all the way to the hull, the original stringer height will be too low. It looks as if the manufacturer cut the plywood and the gap of whatever errors they had made was filled wiht resin, in some cases its 4" in some three and so on. I have a picture that I have marked below.

I haven't cut out the transom yet. I have drilled holes toward the drain hole and the wood is dry, around the keyhole area was wet and the plywood layers are delaminating. The thing feels solid as a brick but it had been wet when I pulled the motor and outdrive.

By the way, my stringers are not plywood, they are just regular 1x lumber. Same rule? Replace with what was there?

So this what I meant by the 4". The red circled area has plywood under the glass, the green area is the resin only, no wood and half as thick as the section with the ply. And the red arrow is no man's land, not sure whats under there so that 4" may be more like 8. Any more thoughts? Again, thanks you are a lifesaver.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

So got derailed by rain and some great college football games today. So the boat got a stay of execution. If anyone has any thoughts on my questions, I wold love to hear them and hopefully tomorrow will be dry.
Thanks

 

[oops!]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

i think that 4 inches is the hull bud..... the deck didnt go all the way to the chines. they did that to lower the center of gravity in the boat......gives it a more stable ride.

1x lumber is ok....but plywood on edge is stronger. i would use the ply. in the older days of boats.....they used just about anything. even old pallet wood.

as far as the transom....if its de laminating....you have a problem. the transom needs 2 inches of thickness, this MUST be crush proof. or the transom will leak.
a de lam is the beginning of rot. let me think about that......but i know you will be doing some transom work. be that adding a 1/4 inch top skin of new ply....or a full job.

take detailed pics of that area please.....give us a good look. but in the mean time......throw a fan on the area....get some air moving past it....dry it out.
we may be able to do some resin injection to re lam the wood if its not too bad.

 

[Gator1996]

Re: 1988 Stingray SVB 192 Restoration

I have some pictures of the transom. The sheets of ply are delaminating in the section that has been made thicker to accomodate the outdrive. As you can see in the pictures, this section has two more plys than the rest of the transom. The wood was wet around the keyhole when I removed the outdrive about three weeks ago. It is now dry but still seperating.

There are a few marks on the bottom of the transom, that is where I beat the heck out of it with a screwdriver and that was all the impact it made. I also drilled a couple of holes at the bottom of the thick section and got dry wood. I was thinking that I was going to replace the two sheets of ply that were in the thicker box area just to fix that gap from the sheets coming apart and hopefully avoiding wetness in the future. If there is a way that I can relaminate them as they are that would be great but I am thinnking that if I pull those out I will get an unwelcome surprise from the ply that is still attached to the outer skin. I think my best play is to cut the inner skin away from that square down into the bilge and see what is going on down there. Best case scenario, I can clean it up and replace the two sheets in the box, worse case is replace the entire transom along with the "box"

The first picture is the bottom of the keyhole, the marks are screwdriver injuries. You can see the sheets coming apart. The next two are port and stbd. sides of the keyhole. The sheets are not coming apart at the top. The fourth picture is the top of the transom outside of the boat, where the ski ring is attached. That wood still looks pretty good. Finally, the picture of the "box". As you may be able to see, I removed the port side stringer yesterday the stringer wood was black and kind of soft back against the transom but there were no sings of rot that moved into the transom from the stringer.