94 Bayliner 1950

[dboutfitters]

Hey Guys,

I bought my first boat this week and had a couple of questions. I got a 94 Bayliner Bowrider 1950 with a 3.0 merc alpha 1. The motor and drive are in excellent shape and it has a new prop. I bought the boat knowing the interior was a little rough, but I got such a good deal I could not pass it up. There are a couple soft spots in the floor, and I am planning on doing a full restore over the winter, but I was curious if anyone had any thoughts on doing a temporary fix so I can get out on the water this summer.

I pulled up the carpet last night and spent some time checking the deck thoroughly. Most of the deck is rock solid, however there is a soft spot up front in the bow. I am well aware of the time and money involved in floor restorations, and I am suffer from being a perfectionist so if I pull the deck I doubt I will be able to stop myself before I dive head first into the restore. I was curious what you all thought about covering some plywood with carpet and laying it down up front for the time being?

This is a great forum and I have already learned a ton from all the great posts.

Thanks for the help.

Best,
-Daniel

 

[saltwaterbluefish]

Re: 94 Bayliner 1950

I have done the carpet over plywood before to make it through the season. Remember though this is a temp fix and the rot more than likely will spread to a larger area. One word of caution would be how everything looks underneath (Stringers still in good shape, etc). Also check underneath the hull to be sure there are no stress cracks. If you see any signs other than just a soft deck, for safety, start gearing up for the restoration instead.

 

[dboutfitters]

Re: 94 Bayliner 1950

Thanks for the advice. Before buying, I spent some time under the hull with an friend who runs a boat store and he said everything looked good.

I am sure there is much rot than I can identify by tapping on the deck with a hammer and testing with my body weight, but I am hoping I can make it through the season before diving into the rebuild. If I can't do it safely though, I am not going to take a chance. I'll keep poking around and try to get some picutures up this evening.

 

[petermarcus]

Re: 94 Bayliner 1950

I'm restoring the same boat. It's even the same color My sig below has the link to my resto thread. It'll show you what a lot of the inside of your boat looks like.

If the soft spots are up front and the back seems okay, then you're probably okay postponing a re-deck. The transom would be what I'd be worried about the most. This boat actually has a three-part transom -- a center piece of thick plywood about two feet square and a couple inches thick, and two smaller hunks of plywood on either side. Take a 3/8ths" drill bit and put tape on it about 1" up the threads to mark your depth. Drill a few places in that center transom in the engine compartment inside the boat, right around the transom plate/outdrive. Drill right up to the tape, stop at that depth, and make sure the wood shavings come out white and dry. If so, then fill the holes with 3M 5200 to seal them back up again, and you're good. If the chips come out black and wet (or nothing there but powder), it wouldn't be safe IMHO.

The problem with my Bayliner, anyway, was that all the wood touched wood with no barriers. Deck, stringers, transom, bulkheads...it was all wood-touching-wood. When rot started in my boat (from the previous owner), there was nothing to stop the spread and it took everything out.

 

[dboutfitters]

Re: 94 Bayliner 1950

Thanks for the tips. I will be watching your restoration closely. Good luck on the project Sir!

 

[petermarcus]

Re: 94 Bayliner 1950

You too with your project. When you do your re-deck, take pictures and continue this thread so others in a similar situation will have a reference, too. There can never be too many threads about Bayliner restorations, it's a popular boat!

 

[dboutfitters]

Re: 94 Bayliner 1950

I made some good progress this weekend on the boat. I ripped all the carpet out and did the drill bit test all over. The drill shavings from the stringers were surprisingly dry, and a few core samples from the foam were dry as well.

I went ahead and pulled the deck up from the bow section as this was the main soft spot I was worried about. I framed up the new deck supports about 3 inches higher than the original deck, blocked up from the stringers and and tied it into the walls of the bow seat boxes. I used Choicedek composite 2x2 for all the framing and composite 1x4s for the decking. It?s a bit heavier than lumber but is maintenance free and got me out of worrying about water on the new deck or sealing the new lumber. I know I lost a little leg room but it allowed me to frame the deck support clear of the hull angles up front, and I didn't have to try to excavate the old deck from under the seat boxes and slide the new ones back under. The bow deck is rock solid and will definitely work well for the season.

Next I cut out a couple decking panels for the main section, sealed all 6 sides (actually about 14 with all the funny angles around the seats, console and hull radius) with urethane, let it dry over night and installed it Sunday morning. I got all my new carpet cut out and dry fitted before church and will button it all up after work today.

Some of the side panels around the hull were loose, and the vinyl on the console panels was shot. I ripped the console panels off, cut out new panels out of ? ply, covered with new vinyl and fastened to the console. I replaced all the screws for the perimeter panels with larger diameter hardware and fender washers and got everything sucked up tight to the interior rails.

This week I will polish and wax the hull, details the seats and should be able to hit the water this weekend. I know alot of these are temp fixes but I am pleased with the results and, after the drill tests, know it will get me through the season.

As an aside, I had a guy at the hardware store offer me 1000 more than I paid which got me thinking?

I?ll post some more pics after I get it all cleaned up.