Jumping in feet first with repairs..

[86IROC]

I've owned my 89 Capri bowrider for 4 years. It had a soft spot in the floor when I bought it. I've put off fixing it until now..
One reason being I had to decide if repairing it was with in my abilities.
I'm a car guy and have been spinning wrenches on my own cars for 30 years. (damn I suddenly feel old)
Thanks to this forum and the Bayliner owners forum..I've read a lot of valuable information and decided that with the help of you folks..I can do this.
I even had some mods planned for the interior.

Here are some pics of my progress so far.

This was taken the day I brought it home.

The only thing I did was removed the ratty seats and replaced two of them with new ones.

The soft spot I knew about.

The interior

Getting started. The carpet came up much to easily..

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

The second soft spot I discovered shortly after getting the boat home.

Getting the interior stripped.

My bad news is going to get worse..

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

One of the mods I'm going to do is relocate the battery to the port side stern so I can have a flat deck from the bow to stern.
Here is the old location with the seat tunnel removed.

The rot..

The foam was soaked..it won't be going back in. I'm going to add bulk heads to support the hull in those locations.

Where I'm doing the work.

Looking forward to working on this project. I won't be able to do much during the winter months as far as fiberglass but I hope to have all the pieces cut, trial fitting done and have everything read for assembly in the spring.
Wish me luck!

 

[partsmitch]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

Hey I Think what your going to do with your boat is cool, that is as you say someone who really isn't a boat repairman, We just got a 1988 Bayliner Capri 19ft w/ OMC 3.0L I/O it is going to need some floor repairs as it has at least 3 soft spots up near the bow, mid section back to engine compartment. as well as all of the upholstery, If possible as you progress through your venture
to post or send me new update photos maybe with a little info on what you had to do and what you did, That would be the best piece of advice I Could get next to being there, I've never owned a boat and know nothing about them from using them to working on them, There's always a first and I tell you
I so far am glad this boat landed in our laps, It was given to us, I never thought I would want a boat, But now we're gettin kinda excited about takin our kids and grandkids out on the water as we live in San Diego lotsa water around us.
Goodluck on your venture
Look forward to seeing your progress.
Mitch & Loretta Melero

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

I'll post updates here as I move along Mitch. Most of my "to do" list is the floor but I'm going to take a crack at reupholstering too..
So if you don't see any updates...I probably sewed my hand to something...

 

[sasto]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

Good luck, 861ROC...I don't know you but my money says you will be fine and do a good job. Appears the rot started where the deck was screwed to the stringers. Is this correct?

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

Thanks for the vote of confidence sasto.
It looks like it originated around the battery "box". The bulk head directly behind where the battery sits is the worst.
I'm not sure what caused the rot in front of the seat tunnel but I suspect a combination of the cup holders and the fact that part of the deck see's the most traffic.
The plywood had a very very thin coating of resin on it from the factory..
The flotation foam in the stern is soaked..
Lots of things to aid in the rot..

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

My first of many questions..
How is the "deck" fastened to the stringers? Screws, glue, staples?

 

[Sixmark]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

When you relocate your battery , be sure to use a liner in the compartment that you put it in to prevent it from rotting out again.

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

When you relocate your battery , be sure to use a liner in the compartment that you put it in to prevent it from rotting out again.

My plan is to relocate it here.

It will be under the platform for the 2 jump seats I hope to install on either side of the engine. The wiring harness is plenty long now so it's just a matter of rerouting it to the new location.

 

[kmarine]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

Check out veada.com for boat seats. They sell them cheaper than I can make them for in my upholstry shop. They are a production marine interior fabricator for the marine industry.

 

[badkins50]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

My first of many questions..
How is the "deck" fastened to the stringers? Screws, glue, staples?

I know I'll probably get reamed for this but I screwed mine down making sure to apply E6000 caulk as I screwed them in. I also ran them in just deep enough to let the epoxy fill in the gap.

 

[BuzzStPoint]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

When I did mine, I put the stringers to the hull with Const adhesive.
Put more construction adhesive on top the stringers and put the deck down.
Applied a few screws to hold it in place. Fiber glassed the whole deck in place.

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

Check out veada.com for boat seats. They sell them cheaper than I can make them for in my upholstry shop. They are a production marine interior fabricator for the marine industry.

Already have my new seats picked out from them and vinyl samples from them so I can order some for other interior parts.

I plan on construction adhesive and some brass screws to hold things down..but I was wondering what the factory used?
My stringers are in good shape and I don't want to ruin them ripping out the old floor.

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

Well I did some more "exploratory surgery" tonite..
The foam right in front of the bilge pump well was completely saturated. The foam on the outside of the stringers wasn't much better.
The bulkhead by the bilge pump well doesn't look good. It's soft around the hole for the plastic pipe the factory installed for the wiring harness.
However..my stringers look great. They must have used a 1 x 3 for them though as they are very thin.
I still have a lot to do to get the remainder of the floor out and the seat tunnel.
Here are some pics of tonites fun.

Look at the water in the keel...I'm learning to hate the foam..

The stringers. They look good to me...

The foam I've dug out so far..I might weigh it for fun..

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

A couple more pictures of the surgery.

I did some grinding today to get the remained of the old floor out.
A question for you experts. I want to put some cutouts along the edge of the new floor for water to drain into. I need to drill a hole through the stringer however to get the water to drain into the bilge pump well. I was thinking 1/2 diameter and epoxying in a piece of abs pipe. Has anyone done this?
You can see the area I'm talking about in the below picture.

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

Well I have 99% of the floor out. Just some remnants of the bulkheads to grind out and the fiberglass used to fasten the deck down.
My seats are hopefully going to be here on Friday from Veada.
the bad news..some idiot sliced a hole in the hull with a reciprocating saw..:redface:
It isn't big and won't be hard to fix...if it's my only oops during this repair..I won't complain.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

Have you checked the stringers and the transom in your boat. From all the water soaked foam I highly suspect that your stringers and transom will be suffering from rot. I would strongly recommend you do some exploratory drilling into the stingers and the transom to ensure that they are solid before you begin replacing the deck.

 

[86IROC]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

I checked the stringers and they are solid. I will admit I haven't checked the transom and I'm going to leave it be for this summer. If I have to replace it..I can do so without touching the new deck. The wells for the bilge pump give me access to it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Jumping in feet first with repairs..

No offense, but the transom goes below the deck all the way to the bottom of the hull and all the way across the back of the boat and is usually attached to the stringers. Not sure how you can replace it with out removing at least a portion of the deck.