Deck Boat Construction

Ski1491

Seaman
Joined
Jul 26, 2009
Messages
57
Trying to decide if I want to take on a deck boat I ended up getting for nothing. The list of things to do is pretty endless to say the least. I read through numerous rebuild projects and most of them seem to have pretty straight forward construction ans rebuild process. The boat I have appears to have the seat bases molded into the deck and the deck seems to be integrated into the top cap as if the whole assemble was lowered onto the hull. I could be way off, the boat is a "99" Four Winns 214 Funship. The deck is very solid and I poked around in the large forward ski locker and there is very little wood and it seems to be solid. The engine compartment has some rot where the engine mounts attach to what appears to be a back brace, almost like a very large stringer. Can't find any rot in the transom. Again, does anyone have any experience or insight as to how they construct this style boat. Not looking for shortcuts, but if I can get away with making repairs to to the engine mounts/brace it would be a good news story. I posted a picture of my basket case, when I pull the engine I will post a picture of the rot I came across. Than ks in advance for any insight.
 

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proshadetree

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
1,887
Re: Deck Boat Construction

From the looks of it the top and bottom are separate. The floor was made to the bottom and then the top was set on. Any pics of said rot?
 

Ski1491

Seaman
Joined
Jul 26, 2009
Messages
57
Re: Deck Boat Construction

Here are some pictures of the damaged area (rot) in the engine compartment. Damage 1 is the piece of plywood that the engine mounts are braced to and they run aft to the transom. Looks like the holes where the hoses and wires run were not treated and rotted. You can see there is a gap between the floor, this piece does not appear to support the floor. Damage 2 and 3 are just a couple different angles. The port side mount doesn't appear to be rotted as is the starboard. On the other side of the rptted board is the 50 gal fuel tank. Damage 4 shows a box structure that appears to run down both sides of the boat and support the deck. Seems to be fiberglassed and gel coated. Ever seen construction like this before? Looking for an angle to attack this rot. I can't find any soft spots anywhere on the deck, no cracks or movement. Thanks for taking the time to help me out and sure hope a few more folks chime in with some suggestions. Do apologize for the engine being drooped in sideways, that's how I got the boat, going to pull it out next weekend. Happy New YearDamage 2.jpgDamage 1.jpgDamage 3.jpgDamage 4.jpg
 

Ski1491

Seaman
Joined
Jul 26, 2009
Messages
57
Re: Deck Boat Construction

Still looking for anyone who has messed with repair/restoration of deck boats to let me know how they approached the effort. Below is a respons I received from Four Winns regarding how they assemble these stlyle boats. Seems the deck is part of the cap and they lower the whole assembly onto the hull. Make sence to you guys? Hope to tap into some of that experience out there

Your message was forwarded to me during our holiday break, please excuse
the delay in response. You did not specify where the wood rot was
occurring but you are correct in your assumptions. The seat bases are
molded as an integral part of the deck and the entire part is lowered
onto and secured to the hull around the perimeter as well as to the
stringer via bonding putty. The stringers are fabricated from marine
grade plywood as is the transom. We do not have drawings available for
this older model or I would have attached them for reference. I hope
this answers your questions.

Director - Warranty/Customer Service

Four Winns/Glastron/Wellcraft
 
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