any hints on proper destruction?

[ziggy]

hi folks. how long i will last is debateable. i started destruction of my trisonic today. started with ft motor mount holes that won't accept new lag bolts w/o strippin out. boat listed in sig. guess i'm wondering if there is any pre destruction things i should be doing. measurements? or am i gonna be able to tell what the facts are as i go back together. like be able to tell how high the stringers are. or does it even matter? perhaps i can just put the floor at mostly what ever level i want assummin i get that far. just need to line up with the ft bucket of a tri hull.
i still aint sure what i got. looks like most of the work so far is in the back. the floor has been replaced before and seems to be done on the cheap. this is the destruction so far. looks like a box constructed inside the main stringers to get front motor mounts back. this is now rotton. thinkin oem was out to the stringers. found foam, seems dry on the top. aint got the the bottom. can feel inside one stringer. the main bottom stringe, the one right down the keel. feels like hard playdough. can stick my finger in up to the first joint. top of main stinger on port side is soggy. gonna have to go the whole nine yards i think. darn. the floor is ok wood. hard to cut.
any advise as to a method of madness for destruction?

the pic is lookin aft. in ft of the ft. motor mount. main keel stringer is down ctr of rectangular cut out of ft motor mount area. other cuts are of port. there seems to be several raw pieces of wood scabed onto the stringers in various places. creatons......advise?

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

Get a four-inch grinder with a diamond wheel and just go around the perimeter of the floor about 1/2 inch in from the hull. Rip it out and examine the guts underneath...any moisture and its time to replace anything that is soggy, including stringers. Try to get one stringer out intact to act as a height gauge. Measure carefully and replace the stringers and floor, encapsulated with epoxy. Bob's your uncle.

 

[ziggy]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

thanks man, diamond wheel. that i don't got as of now. will have asap though. i just got a 4'' cut off wheel now. yep, i'm hip to tryin to get as much out intack as possible. we'll see how successful i am. at least it looks like the oem stringers were glassed in so hopein to cut them out clean, assummin it leads me that way and i think it will. looks like the previous repair used a chopper gun. much loose large strands of glass. some peeling right off the oem parts....i hope to do better......

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

thanks man, diamond wheel. that i don't got as of now. will have asap though. i just got a 4'' cut off wheel now. yep, i'm hip to tryin to get as much out intack as possible. we'll see how successful i am. at least it looks like the oem stringers were glassed in so hopein to cut them out clean, assummin it leads me that way and i think it will. looks like the previous repair used a chopper gun. much loose large strands of glass. some peeling right off the oem parts....i hope to do better......

Go getem dude good luck towards your journey

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

Hint- wear a mask and long sleeves.

 

[guywithboat]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

I would start in the center of your floor and work out to the edges instead of coming back only1/2 inch. The reason I say that is because depending of your hull design the floor may feather out to the hull itself. I completely restored my boat and that was the case. Diamond blade is not nessessary either, a good cutting blade works great on the grinder.

 

[ziggy]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

sorry, no pic. i had one posted but it didn't work. let me try again.

http://www.picturehosting.org/images/ziggy/img0465.jpg[/img

this is lookin aft. the rectangle is my ft. motor mount area, distruction is taking place down the port side and i am working twards port accross the front of the engine well......]

 

[bjcsc]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

Diamond blade is not nessessary either, a good cutting blade works great on the grinder.

True , but if you bind them up, the diamond blade will not blow up in your face at 10,000 RPM...

 

[oncebitten]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

You can use pieces of cardboard to scribe the shape and size of your stringers if you have a clean side where you can get a scribing tool in all along the length.

Be sure to have clean areas to glass to, where all the old paint/primer, etc has been removed. That will ensure a good mechanical bond.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

Check JasonJ's posts on the refit of the Skanky Beast. Pretty good step by step guide. There's also a book out by a guy named Anderson/Andersen about refitting fiberglass boats. I had only one glass boat that was in pretty good shape, after the family graduated to bigger things I swapped for a tinny...less hull and floor maintenance and more time to fiddle with the outboard(s).

 

[jesters420]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

Just did the same to my boat. Oncebitten has some good advice. Match some cardboard to your stringers in case they fall apart. Before you cut them out. Just in case. That is what mine had done. I could not use them as templates. That was a task in itself. Good luck on your venture it will be worth it when you are done.

 

[ziggy]

Re: any hints on proper destruction?

thanks for the hints folks. the cardboard idea is good and i've read about doing that before. i've checked out jasonj's pics, they are very helpful. might try a diamond wheel. used up 2 plain cutoff wheel for what ya see here.

well, don't know which way to go. guess i'm leaning twards cuting fwd. i've found the oem side of the engine well. so anything i see behind the ft of the engine well is repaired and poorly. the scabbed on board is resting on a 2x4 i assum at this point bolted or held onto the stringer. that stringer shows wetness but don't appear to be totaly gone. ya can't see, yet, but the cross pieces of wood, seem to be the most rotted. not gone. but way soft. i was suprised to see the foam dry. is that a good sign? perhaps i should just be going up the center going for the cross supports. seems like the striger that is visable will have to go though. it's squishy when ya push on it.
maybe i will be able to stop at the stringer visable. do ya think there's another stringer further out from the center? towards the outside of the boat? the floor is a drag to cut as it is still good. i think the fuel tanks are gonna have to go. got them mostly drained. so far i'm suprised. seems the main damage is in the center. if i didn't have to go all the way to the edge of the boat, can i do that?.......
thanks for the help here. this is a new adventur for me.