fixb52s
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- May 14, 2004
- Messages
- 463
I have a 17' 1986 Chris Craft Scorpion 178 and am replacing the floor. I got it pretty cheap because the owner passed away last year. I knew some work was needed, but felt I could handle it.
The boat had it's first floor replaced some time ago. The rear section (around the engine) was left alone, and it was quite soggy. The front seemed solid, and the stringers I could get to were solid.
I removed the rear flooring and the "flooring" the previous owner replaced. He just put some 3/4 plywood in, and shimmed it above the stringers, and had it supported over the fuel tank with 2X4s. After tearing the flooring out, I have dry foam, but the front stringers have a little damage. The original flooring was cut out well, so I see where it should go. The rear fuel tank (located in the middle of the boat under the floor) bulkhead is totally rotted, but the fiberglass is still good. The front tank bulkhead was pieced together with a 2X4.
My plan is to rebuild the front bulkhead and glass it in. I also will replace the core in the rear bulkhead, and epoxy it into the fiberglass that is still there, and cap it with new glass. I also will be rebuilding the stringer damage with Dr Rot and recapping them since there is still a lot of good wood in them. I will be cutting new plywood for the flooring, coat the bottom with expoy and glue them in with epoxy. I then plan to glass the top with regular glass and resin.
My question is : Is this a good plan? Should I just use epoxy on the top also, or will regular resin work fine? I know regular does not bond that well to epoxy. Another question is should I make the floor portion over the tank removable and screw it into the stringers for access, or will it be stronger of I make it one piece (glass the entire floor as one piece)? I do not know how the factory did it because of the previous work.
I did a rebuild on an inboard a few years ago, and it seemed more straight forward than this in terms of the tank access. I included a photo so you have an idea of what I am looking at. Thanks.
The boat had it's first floor replaced some time ago. The rear section (around the engine) was left alone, and it was quite soggy. The front seemed solid, and the stringers I could get to were solid.
I removed the rear flooring and the "flooring" the previous owner replaced. He just put some 3/4 plywood in, and shimmed it above the stringers, and had it supported over the fuel tank with 2X4s. After tearing the flooring out, I have dry foam, but the front stringers have a little damage. The original flooring was cut out well, so I see where it should go. The rear fuel tank (located in the middle of the boat under the floor) bulkhead is totally rotted, but the fiberglass is still good. The front tank bulkhead was pieced together with a 2X4.
My plan is to rebuild the front bulkhead and glass it in. I also will replace the core in the rear bulkhead, and epoxy it into the fiberglass that is still there, and cap it with new glass. I also will be rebuilding the stringer damage with Dr Rot and recapping them since there is still a lot of good wood in them. I will be cutting new plywood for the flooring, coat the bottom with expoy and glue them in with epoxy. I then plan to glass the top with regular glass and resin.
My question is : Is this a good plan? Should I just use epoxy on the top also, or will regular resin work fine? I know regular does not bond that well to epoxy. Another question is should I make the floor portion over the tank removable and screw it into the stringers for access, or will it be stronger of I make it one piece (glass the entire floor as one piece)? I do not know how the factory did it because of the previous work.
I did a rebuild on an inboard a few years ago, and it seemed more straight forward than this in terms of the tank access. I included a photo so you have an idea of what I am looking at. Thanks.
