Floor and stringer repair and replacement

[JASinIL2006]

All the foam should come out, usually by hacking into chunks. A claw hammer works well. Also, stringers run from the front of the boat to the back.

 

[chevymaher]

Not to disagree. I preffered the wire wheel and shop vac for foam removal. To me it is much quicker and alot less work,

 

[Ironaffliction]

I will have to remove more and see. Thanks for the reading

 

[BRL2307]

I had good success with foam removal using a pointed shovel. Like for yard work. In some cases, I was able to cut through 10 inches of foam, no problem.

 

[Ironaffliction]

A=plywood
B=stringer
C=floor
D=plywood

Does that look correct? All is covered in fiberglass so that sucks cause its all bad. Removing foam is not fun but a lot came out with a shovel. How much is foam anyway? I was surprised to find water at the bottom and in the foam.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Not to disagree. I preffered the wire wheel and shop vac for foam removal. To me it is much quicker and alot less work,

this is my favorite method

 

[Scott Danforth]

A=plywood
B=stringer
C=floor
D=plywood

Does that look correct? All is covered in fiberglass so that sucks cause its all bad. Removing foam is not fun but a lot came out with a shovel. How much is foam anyway? I was surprised to find water at the bottom and in the foam.

welcome to the restoration crowd.......we have all been there.

foam is cheap

and pulling your motor is only about an hours worth of work.

 

[Ironaffliction]

The outdrive must come off first then the motor comes out? Only way for me to get the motor out is a chain hoist hooked to the rafters.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Yes, outdrive comes out first. A chain hoist on the rafters is great if the rafters are up to the task.

 

[Scott Danforth]

or build a gantry for $40 in lumber

 

[Ironaffliction]

Yes, outdrive comes out first. A chain hoist on the rafters is great if the rafters are up to the task.

I think it should work it pulled my v10. Bad bad news I looked at the transom closer and towards the bottom I put my finger through the fiberglass and wood. Now I have to do that as well FML. The transom looks like 2 pieces of plywood together I will put pics up later of it. Watched some videos on YouTube about replacing stringers and the transom was very informative but still skeptical in all this

 

[kcon]

Yeah man unfortunately you've got a lot of work in front of you if you decide to do this (which I TOTALLY would, but just expect a huge job!) For perspective on what you have to do, here's my boat as I started to remove the rotten deck / expose the hull.

And here is the hull after I accomplished removing all of what needed to be removed for me to sort out putting in new materials, which took a few weekends of pulling, prying, cutting, and grinding.

After the second picture there was taken I had about ~20 more hours of grinding to do to expose more glass for better adhesion, and it took me 6 more months of working on it at random intervals to finish the transom / stringers. Still working on getting the deck installed, and it's been a year since I started.

Again, I don't wish to dissuade you, I'd rather motivate you to do it! However, be aware of the amount of work you're facing here and if you can handle it.

 

[Ironaffliction]

I got nothing but time lol. Gives me a project even though I have 2 other ones. Just worried about doing the stringers/engine mounts cause they have to be pretty exact to what they were right? Watched a video last night on transom replacement and looks like you have the outer skin which is fiberglass and the inner part is plywood. Mine looks to have two pieces sandwiched together so I just tear out those and replace without prying against the outer hull and damaging it right. Do you like glue the new transom in place then glass over it? Same with stringers? By the way fun fact my last name is hull so I was made to be in a boat

 

[oldrem]

Here's the best explanation Fabricating Decks, Stringers, and Transoms

 

[JASinIL2006]

That link is what guided me through much of my project, although you'll find lots of other topics dealing with this same issue. Best bet is to memorize Woodonglass's posts on the subject, then search the forum for someone else who has restored the same (or a similar) boat. If you can find that, it would be a big advantage.

For the transom, in a nutshell, you'll probably glue two pieces of plywood together to form the transom core, cover it in fiberglass, and then you'll adhere it to the inside of the hull, usually using thickened resin. (You will, of course, have prepped the hull by cutting out all the old wood and by grinding the inside of the hull to fresh, smooth, pink fiberglass.) The transom core will then get fiberglassed into the boat. Then you do the stringers. The link on fabricating transoms, stringers, etc. describes it in some detail, and if you're not sure of anything, just ask! We're happy to help you get through this project.

 

[kcon]

Same for me, transom and stringer guidance came from the above link, research, and some tips from woodonglass on my thread when asking questions. Youtubers such as BoatWorksToday provided a TON of valuable information on how to work with fiberglass and what not. You got the time, you got the drive, then you got all you need (well, money too, you'll deff need the money!) so have at it! You do need to be pretty precise with the stringers and motor mounts but it's not all that hard to sort out so long as you ask the right questions here.

 

[Ironaffliction]

Thanks for the info guys. In the link below is some of the videos I have been watching to better understand what to do I thought this guy did an excellent job explaining everything

https://youtu.be/WC3P9lTVzds

 

[CrazyFinn]

Thanks for the info guys. In the link below is some of the videos I have been watching to better understand what to do I thought this guy did an excellent job explaining everything

https://youtu.be/WC3P9lTVzds

He has a lot of good info in his videos - I watched a bunch of them as well when I started on mine. Realize though, everybody here is going to have some variation in how they like to do things. There is no single "correct" way to do it (but there are certainly lots of incorrect ones). But the overall idea is the same...

Remove the waterlogged foam, cut and carve out the rotten wood (and the fibreglass that encases it). Grind it down to clean glass, clean it all off with acetone, and then install new wood and wrap new glass/resin over it - making sure to do it better than the factory did.

The real trick is to read through a lot of different threads here, watch different videos, ask questions, and then figure out a way that will work for you. Just remember - there are different ways to do the job, but no shortcuts.

 

[Ironaffliction]

I feel my next step will be to get the outdrive off and motor out so I can gut everything. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to but looks that way. Gonna be a pain to do the wood work in the shop cause rear of boat is against the back wall and shuffle board is on one side and shelving on another but better than doing it outside I guess

 

[Scott Danforth]

take measurements, photos, make sketches, take more measurements, take more photos, make more sketches

measure from the gunwals down to the tops of the stringers
measure from a point on the transom forward for bulkheads
measure from the keel centerline outward for the stringers and mounts

you want all the critical hard mounting surfaces to be the same - such as motor mount height and width, fuel tank support, top of stingers for the cockpit sole.

you may want to make a cradle for the hull so it doesnt distort or flex. you are basically replacing the skeleton