Hello, iboaters!
I,ve been a reader here for years.Iboats must be the #1 goto site for anyone looking for boat restoration advice, the knowledge her is just overwhelming.
I'll start by giving a little history. I bought the boat in 2006, it had a little weathering and a springy spot in the floor. The carpet was loose at the gunnels. She didnt leak at the time. If the floor got wet over a weekend fishing trip, that spring in the floor would soften until it dried out again. I moved in the fall of 09 and upon doing so, i stored the boat at my parents. Long story short, red squirrels moved in and just about destoyred everything. They chewed through my main wiring harness, tunneled through foam, made 3ft balls of squirrel nest from carpet and carried what must have been almost 2 bushels of walnuts in the boat. The walnuts still had green husk on when they brought them in, so that all turned to mush and stained everything. The cover ripped that winter allowing melting snow and rain in which didnt help. they destroyed a stereo while as well. Livewell drain line was chewed under the deck. Found that the hard way.
After giving everthing a quick patch job i only use it about 3 times a year due too trust issues. I was amazed at how wet the foam was while tearing it out. Except for the 3 or so trips per year, it has been in my polebarn since 10. I had my suspicions of waterlogged foam as the boat felt heavy and didnt handle the same.. This stuff will not dry out once waterlogged!
Here's a few pics of the tear down and what i,m finding. I would have been at the assembly stage here by now if i hadnt found corrosion under areas of the wet foam. I,m kind of stumped as to what to do with this. I did find my major leak, about 10 rivets alnog the keel. As loose as they are i dont trust replacing them with the same size 3/16. So I,ve purchased 1/4" solid rivets from jay_cees for replacement.
Seems like pouring in new foam wouldnt be a good idea unless I first address this corrosion issue by some type of treatment. The best info i have found is aluma prep and alodine or what it known as chromatic acid. Sounds like some bad stuff to work with. I have gluvit for seams and rivets. Marine tex gray epoxy for the pits.Does anyone have advice on how to tackle this corrosion?
I,ve been a reader here for years.Iboats must be the #1 goto site for anyone looking for boat restoration advice, the knowledge her is just overwhelming.
I'll start by giving a little history. I bought the boat in 2006, it had a little weathering and a springy spot in the floor. The carpet was loose at the gunnels. She didnt leak at the time. If the floor got wet over a weekend fishing trip, that spring in the floor would soften until it dried out again. I moved in the fall of 09 and upon doing so, i stored the boat at my parents. Long story short, red squirrels moved in and just about destoyred everything. They chewed through my main wiring harness, tunneled through foam, made 3ft balls of squirrel nest from carpet and carried what must have been almost 2 bushels of walnuts in the boat. The walnuts still had green husk on when they brought them in, so that all turned to mush and stained everything. The cover ripped that winter allowing melting snow and rain in which didnt help. they destroyed a stereo while as well. Livewell drain line was chewed under the deck. Found that the hard way.
After giving everthing a quick patch job i only use it about 3 times a year due too trust issues. I was amazed at how wet the foam was while tearing it out. Except for the 3 or so trips per year, it has been in my polebarn since 10. I had my suspicions of waterlogged foam as the boat felt heavy and didnt handle the same.. This stuff will not dry out once waterlogged!
Here's a few pics of the tear down and what i,m finding. I would have been at the assembly stage here by now if i hadnt found corrosion under areas of the wet foam. I,m kind of stumped as to what to do with this. I did find my major leak, about 10 rivets alnog the keel. As loose as they are i dont trust replacing them with the same size 3/16. So I,ve purchased 1/4" solid rivets from jay_cees for replacement.
Seems like pouring in new foam wouldnt be a good idea unless I first address this corrosion issue by some type of treatment. The best info i have found is aluma prep and alodine or what it known as chromatic acid. Sounds like some bad stuff to work with. I have gluvit for seams and rivets. Marine tex gray epoxy for the pits.Does anyone have advice on how to tackle this corrosion?
Last edited by a moderator:
