Re: FIBERGLASS a "BIG HOLE" --1973 MFG Super Caprice
2nd--- The guy that has the Maxum now used it on Sundays for the past two years and said the motor went and he tired of messing with it... Stated it's a solid boat and previous owner replace the floor before he got it.... Now with the floor already being replaced and I'm unable to contact the guy that did the work...what should I look for? If the old floor went bad maybe water got underneath the floor and into the foam and rotted the stringer boards....anyway to confirm when I inspect the boat? Other things to look for when inpsecting the prospect boat?
There are (as I have learned, after it would have been most handy
) a number of tell-tales that alert you to danger:
Things that don't fit:
- Walk-thru windshields that don't close and latch smoothly or at all
- Sliding windows or cuddy hatches that bind
- Odd seams or overlapped deck materials
Signs of rot:
- Smell (musty, moldy, earthy)
- Soft deck
- Noticeable lack of straightness to transom or trim, especially buckled trim
- Look in ski lockers to get a view as far fore and aft as you can under deck. Use your camera and a flash to see better than your eyes can.
Signs of hillbilly engineering on repairs or replaced parts
- Like the sheetmetal and play-doh patch on your MFG (Though I can understand why somebody might resort to that...)
- Double-decking - laying a new plywood sheet directly over existing rot.
- Lack of protective sealant on plywood
- Lack of tabbing of replacement floor to hull (on a glass boat)
- Obvious use of non-stainless fasteners, like drywall screws.
In short, look for anyplace you might find exposed materials - under splashwell, in storage bins, under gunwales, etc., and see if you find signs of decay or neglect beyond what one might expect on a 25 year old boat.
__The MFG was to be a project and I'm glad I got use of it last year without sinking...but now looking into this problem area it is sure to be and expert firberglass repair job, to which I am not. Never laid a piece of fiberglass in my life. The damn hole has at least 6 different angles/lines that need to be perfect which is something even an expert will have a tough time with and might be inpossible for me.
If you're up to it and want a challenge and a learning opportunity, go for it. Given how big the tears are, I'd be tempted to stabilize the broken side using something temporary, like a 2x4, screwed into directly through holes drilled into the cap. You may have to get inventive with the shape of the brace, as I doubt anything in that area is completely flat. Perhaps a piece of thin flexible plywood, backed by 2x4, and shimmed between them with wedges to maintain any curves. My thought is to start with the bracing on the outside (wrap the 2x4 in wax paper near the holes), and then de-cap the boat and work on it upside down on horses. After laminating across the damaged area, you may discover that there was plywood sub-structure originally in portions of that area that is gone. The surviving side will be your guide. Once the repair is strong enough to bear its own weight, you can flip it again and work of filling from the outside then fairing to match the original profile.
