!973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

kmk_7110

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This is my first post. Sorry if its in the wrong forum. I'm new to boat remodeling/building, and I have some questions. I don't know most of the boat terms. So explain like you are explaining to a complete idiot.

I recently purchased this boat with a floor in it and it looked good. There was a piece of the floor that a previous owner put in and it was coming up, so me being me i went to investigate. I started to pull up the blue indoor/outdoor carpeting and found that the screws were rusted. I figured that this was from being outside for most of the snow-filled winter that we had, but i still proceded to try to take out the screws and was just going to replace that board with some PT plywood that I have in my garage. Well after pulling it up this is what i found.

http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001433ee0.jpg


Then i proceded to go along and do another section of the floor closer to the transom, right around the middle of the boat, and i found it to be worse and from the looks of it. It was a floor put in by someone that did it wrong or thought they were doing it right and didn't because the ribs were all rotted out (in the next pic i have already torn them out they were made from 2xs and not very well made). The furthest piece of ply was harder to get out and after i got it out i can't seem to know why but i'm not going to ask questions. The ply that was original was rotted and the original floor was ply with fiberglass over it. Which i imagine is normal for floors. All the ribs are rotted and I like the layout of this boat because my other boat is a 14 foot fiber tri-hull with the seats going across the beam from stern to bow with an 18 hp Evinrude Fastwin tiller from the mid 60s. I want something that I can walk around in without climbing over stuff.

My main question is how do I go about replacing the floor.Toward the stern the original ply is rotted and still has water in it and is hard to get at. How would i replace this/fix it?

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/5061/1001439mu1.jpg
This isn't a good angle to show how difficult it will be to get back there and taking off the transom is not an option.
http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001430fu7.jpg
As from this you can see the original ply that is rotted and falling apart.

What I have thought up was to get PT 2xs and run then bow to stern and then have ribs in there ever 18 inches or so. Then getting a closed cell foam and foaming the rest to help prevent rot and decay. Then putting PT roofing ply for the floor and covering it in marine carpet then putting in seats and what not. Is this a good idea or not?? I am still debating on whether or not to put the foam in it. I am not to worried about weight this year because I'm getting a new 50 hp Mercury Four-stroke with all the options.



Whats your best idea or any suggestions? This is hopefully going to be fishing boat/ski when completed.
 
Last edited:

kmk_7110

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Re: 1973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Re: 1973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Anything is Greatly appreciated.
 

erikgreen

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Re: 1973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Re: 1973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

My main question is how do I go about replacing the floor.Toward the stern the original ply is rotted and still has water in it and is hard to get at. How would i replace this/fix it?

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/5061/1001439mu1.jpg
This isn't a good angle to show how difficult it will be to get back there and taking off the transom is not an option.
http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001430fu7.jpg
As from this you can see the original ply that is rotted and falling apart.

What I have thought up was to get PT 2xs and run then bow to stern and then have ribs in there ever 18 inches or so. Then getting a closed cell foam and foaming the rest to help prevent rot and decay. Then putting PT roofing ply for the floor and covering it in marine carpet then putting in seats and what not. Is this a good idea or not?? I am still debating on whether or not to put the foam in it. I am not to worried about weight this year because I'm getting a new 50 hp Mercury Four-stroke with all the options.

Whats your best idea or any suggestions? This is hopefully going to be fishing boat/ski when completed.

Short answer: You have a choice - either do it right or do it as a "band-aid" job that you may not be happy with and you will have to keep working on as time goes by.

Do it right: Take the boat apart, including the transom, get all the rotten wood out, and replace it with a mix of dimensional lumber and marine ply. Glass it all in using epoxy or poly resin, finish with interlux or similar paint, and you'll have a good boat that will last.

Band-aid: If you don't want to take the time or money to do it right, you can dry out the existing wood with heat lamps and fans, cut out as much rot as you can without removing the transom(which may be rotted too) reinforce with PT as you suggest (after drying it out down to 18% moisture or less... most PT is too wet), glass it in with epoxy, and use rattle cans of paint to make it look okay. It will last from 1-4 years or so depending on treatment and how dry you keep it, and may break and leak even if you treat it well. But it won't cost a ton and will get you a boat for a little while, one that doesn't look the best. You can put foam in for floatation, but it tends to increase rot rather than prevent it, and in this case it would seal in the moisture that's already there.

Deciding whether to go with the "fix it right" or band-aid solutions will be your first decision. If all you want is a boat you can walk around it, fixing your other boat to be more to your liking might be an option, or even spend part of the cash from that 50 horse four stroke on a better boat.

Erik
 

sdunt

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Re: 1973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Re: 1973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Be careful of PT lumber. THe new treatment chemicals, AC2 will eat through most metals. you have to use hot dipped galvanized or stainless fasteners and any metal that comes in contact with PT, seat bases, etc will corrode very quickly.

I agree with eric, and you can actually do it right for a reasonable amount of money, it just depends on how much sweat equity you want to put into it.
 

Indymike

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Re: !973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Piece of mind means alot when you are on the water. Do a good structural repair on it. Epoxy resin and quality exterior ply will serve you well.Look here
 

kmk_7110

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Re: !973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

First off... The 50 hp four stroke is a free test model that I get to use for the summer. I know people that work for the Merc factory in my Wisconsin and he said he can get me any motor between 5hp and 50hp. So I chose the 50hp. It may sound all good but i have to record everything I do with it from running time to fuel ups to breakdowns and anything else that may happen.

From what I can see without cutting out the rest of the floor because I don't have the time at the moment. I think it is a fiberglass hull with the transom built in with no way for the water under the floor to get to the transom but I'm not sure. By the way does anyone know where I can get a possible original floor plan so I can plan what I want to do with it because I don't plan to get a new boat since I just bought this one. (I didn't know about the crappy floor problem, figured I'd get the 50 horse and slap it on and go tubing and fishing with it. Plans got shot down by the floor.)
 

sdunt

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Re: !973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

The orginal 'floor plan' is something the manufacturer is not going to let out of their site. Proprietary information and all of that.

as for replacing the floor, you will need to use what's left to make a pattern, in conjunction with taking measurements. A project that demonstrates the technique for the measurements are:

http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,63,00.html

It may LOOK like water can not get to the transom, but it probably did. Count the number of bolt and screw holes in the transom and you have that many potential places for water to enter the wood.
 

kmk_7110

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Re: !973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Ok Thanks this weekend I plan to do some work on the boat. I am probably going to sell the old outboard for about 50 bucks to a local guy. Which will go to my floor and I have to get rid of my other outboard and boat, in which the money will go to this boat.

From all the floor redos I've seen online I should probably take off the top of the boat. I will post some more pics later this weekend. BTW I'm only 17 and this is my first ever project boat. I have to pay for all the materials by myself and this will probably be a long summer project. I'm in a little bit of a rush but I shouldn't rush it because thats when things go terribly wrong. Thanks for all the help so far. This is mostly going to be a 1 man project so anything to make it easier will help greatly. Thanks again.
 

sdunt

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Re: !973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Here are some books you can see if you can get at the library:

Runabout Renovation: How to Find and Fix Up an Old Fiberglass Speedboat by Jim Anderson
http://www.amazon.com/Runabout-Reno...0255336?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176991542&sr=8-1

The Fiberglass Boat Repair Manual by Allan H. Viatses
http://www.amazon.com/Fiberglass-Bo...0255336?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176991609&sr=1-2

Fiberglass Repair and Construction Handbook Author: Jack Wiley
http://www.amazon.com/Fiberglass-Re...9355330?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180026258&sr=1-1

Some web sites with technical information:
(even though these talk about Epoxy resin the techniques apply to Polyester resins as well)

Boat Repair and Restoration Articles @ West System
http://www.westsystem.com/ewmag/proj_repair.html

West Systems User manual
http://www.westsystem.com/frames/tier1/usingepoxy.htm

"The Epoxy Book" Systems 3 Epoxy
http://www.mertons.com/Epoxy/documents/epoxy_book.pdf

Estimating Materials:
http://www.fgci.com/howto/ht006estimating.html

Catalyst Chart
http://www.fgci.com/howto/ht005catalyst_chart.html

Fiberglass Learning center (includes link to West System Manual)
http://www.fiberglasswarehouse.com/learning_center.asp

Suppliers:

http://www.uscomposites.com/polyesters.html

http://stores.ebay.com/Tordoff-Supply

Being Frugal about rebuilding your boat is always good. I think in my project I used quality materials, they weren't specifically 'marine' and they were far less costly. I choose Polyester resin over epoxy for cost and if the boat held together with Poly for 40 years, my repairs will hold up just as long.

I used 'builders' foam instead of 2 part pour in place, its WAY cheaper and I think less mess to install.

I used A/C grade exterior plywood instead of marine. I used tractor - implement paint on my deck and interior. I built my own seats.

Like you I did 99% of the work alone, but I did not need to split the boat to do it.

You didn't mention tools, if you can not beg or borrow, you can get good USED stuff on eBay. and decent low use tools at harborfreight.

If you are willing to take some risk and like to tinker. I actually search eBay for, and buy, power tools that people describe as being sold 'for parts'. If its obvious that they dropped it and the chuck is snapped off, etc. Then I pass.. But if its; "I was using it and it stopped", or it worked yesterday today it doesn't. I can not count how many of these have been bad power cords. The Dewalt grinder I used through out my project, was a "for parts" the power switch was shot so I rewired the switch and I've been using it ever since, like 2 years now.. I think I have $20 in it..

Just Ideas.. Keep posting and asking questions.

If you haven't started a shareaproject. Those are great for us to follow along and provide advise..
 

RotaryRacer

Lieutenant
Joined
Jul 18, 2004
Messages
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Re: !973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

I have a similar project that I am just getting back to.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=60300&highlight=mate&page=2

I haven't read every message above, but think everything I read is pretty sound advice.

You are correct that the transom may be just fine. Saf-T-Mate did things a little different than most and chances are if any through transom holes (motor mounts or otherwise) were sealed good there is no rot in the transom.

The transom in my boat is very solid but the rest of the wood was completely rotten.

I woldn't jump right into splitting the hull and cap apart. You can replace most of the rotten stuff with out doing that.

It looks like your boat is identical to mine.

I will be getting more progress pics up soon. I am actually just starting work on it again after a couple years of no action.
 

kmk_7110

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Re: !973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Tools won't be much of a problem. I still live at home and I live in rural Wisconsin where everyone is friends and everyone has something that someone else doesn't, and my last boss who I am still friends with would let me borrow or rent some of his tools or let me take the boat to his shop and work on it. I don't intend to split them apart anytime soon until I get the motor off and then look at the transom and such. This will probably be started on in about 2 days.
 

roscoe

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Oct 30, 2002
Messages
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Re: !973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

Tools won't be much of a problem. I still live at home and I live in rural Wisconsin where everyone is friends and everyone has something that someone else doesn't, and my last boss who I am still friends with would let me borrow or rent some of his tools or let me take the boat to his shop and work on it. I don't intend to split them apart anytime soon until I get the motor off and then look at the transom and such. This will probably be started on in about 2 days.



How is this project coming along?
 

kmk_7110

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Re: !973 Saftmate Trihull Fiberglass Floor Questions

How is this project coming along?

I have decided with my father also helping me decide that the boat is not worth the restoration project. It needs a floor and most likely hull work, and possible a transom. We got the boat motor and trailer for 200 bucks and the motor runs but needs water pump and trailer works fine as heck for my smaller boat so I will sell the motor. I may or may not fix it depending on what I decide.
 
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