Chris Craft Restoration - Drooping fiberglass deck

[Gerkin]

Hi all.
Good to be back here on the forum. Have been holding onto a project for a long time as I really want it to get done right and have been dreading the fixing of the deck.
It is a 1971 Chris Craft XK19. I think it is one of the best looking boats ever made
There must have been something that sat on the deck or the glass weakened and failed, or......?
There are a few places where there are a droop in the glass. Almost like a bowling ball sat on he deck for years. It seems like a total random place.
Then there is the top deck near the cockpit on both sides that have sagged inward. Hopefully the pics with show what I mean.
How do I go about fixing this? Almost seems like you would need about an inch of filler to even level it out. Prob more. OF COURSE I would never do that. Just trying to paint a picture in case the pics dont show what I mean.

Thanks all for the help

 

[Scott Danforth]

you are working on a 52 year old piece of plastic with an unknown history.

fiberglass can move in the heat just from the sun. put an object on the boat for a few years and you have permanent deformations.

additionally, many boats including some made today have imperfections in the hull. no two boats are exactly the same because of all the variables during the infusion process and the mold pulling

as they say in the yachting business......."putty and paint make it what it aint"

a bit of fairing and you will be good to go.

 

[Gerkin]

My thought was to pull the deck and flip it over and try to reverse the sag. Then reinforce. Just know know if it will work like I am hoping it would.
I don't think an inch or more of putty, bondo, filler, whatever is good for my dilemma.
Over time it will crack in my opinion.

 

[Scott Danforth]

My thought was to pull the deck and flip it over and try to reverse the sag. Then reinforce. Just know know if it will work like I am hoping it would.
I don't think an inch or more of putty, bondo, filler, whatever is good for my dilemma.
Over time it will crack in my opinion.

only thing you can do is try

Me, I would use a hydraulic bottle jack and a heat gun, if after 30 minutes, no luck, resort to fairing.