Re: just bought my first boat a 1968 runabout
Yes i checked the transom and it appears to be solid. I have noticed that the floor has more soft spots then i originally thought. The guy i bought if from says the soft spots have been on the floor since he has owned it. (10 years) what is the cost of putting in a new floor and stringers? Also i have watched several videos on changing the floor and stringers and it appears to be a difficult job.
Your boat, your skills, your damage.....Hard to say cost involved or how difficult you will find doing the work......
My boat gutted to bare fiberglass hull, is going to run me north of $2000 +/-. And my boat has fiberglass pre-formed stringers (no wood inside them) so since they are in good shape I won't be doing anything to them except as necessary to prepare them to accept the new deck. And that $2K figure doesn't account for a new windshield, odd & unique hardware I want to replicate or replace, a 'new' short shaft motor, or the 2nd motor (long shaft) I already have, tools & misc stuff I'll need to finish it. And I bet my $2K is still going to be on the low side. And I'll be doing a good bit of the upholstery myself w/ a sewing machine that is also not in the $2K.
Someone else said it but I'm going to repeat it, if I can find the original poster, I'll give him credit:
'I'm building a $20,000 boat, $200 at a time......'
As time and funds allow, I'm buying tools, equipment, materials & supplies. The only deviation from the $200 at a time will be the short shaft motor & the funds to go through it, windshield and my resin & 'glass supplies. The glass & resin will be $675+/-. I am actively looking for everything I need daily, esp a donor boat w/ either a better trailer, motor or windshield maybe all 3. All in I could easily go above twice that figure, maybe even over $5K total. But It will be way better then 99% of the $5K boats you can find or buy in the market place. It will be better then originally from Glastron, last longer then it did from Glastron, I will know every square inch of it extremely well, some places better then I would like too. It will be MINE & done to suit ME, and there is no substitute for any of those benefits.
Go through Frisco's post or a great many of others, and try to notice how many start a rehab project just cutting a 6" X 6" inspection hole at the current damage. And see that a great many of those small areas of damage start out small & we've all said "Carp" the damage is worse then I thought or was told by the previous owner. Find Frisco's 1st video of his last boat restoration. Clearly he's p!ssed, and angry to find out how extensive the problem really was. Look at some of the pix of my boat.... I know the floor & interior were trashed. I demo'd most of my entire floor by hand w/ no tools it was the consistancy of very wet wood mulch for the garden. I knew that, before I ever saw it. But it was still worse then I thought.
