New to me 1985 Chaparral 162 center console

[djmjr77]

Hello all,

I just bought a 1985 Chaparral 162 / 90HP Mercury OB that has been converted into a center console. I bought it understanding it will be a project but am having trouble finding any information or pictures of deck / stringer repairs. Most of the floor seems solid, but there is some soft wood in the bow where part of the conversion was done. Overall it looks like a great little boat, and can't wait to get it fixed up and ready for water.

I'm good with mechanics and wood working so I'm not worried I can't fix the problems, although I would like to know what to expect when I start cutting the floor out.

I did some searches here and see there are a few people that have the same boat, and one thread of someone attempting a re-deck, but the thread was never kept up and no images of the deck off of the boat.

Does anyone have any pics or links to information about the hull and stringer setup on this boat. Does/should the boat have any foam beneath the deck?

They also moved/relocated the fuel tank to the bow of the boat and I would like to know where it was originally located, so I can put it back.

Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tpenfield]

:welcome:

Not much comes up on a Google search for that model, but you can look at pictures of similar sized boats to get a good idea of what lurks below the deck. Boats of that size and vintage are all built about the same.

There should be foam in the chambers below deck . . . might be soaked by now, but it is hard to say, since the boat had some prior work done to it . the fuel tank was probably just aft of mid-ship . . that is where most small bowriders have them so that they get a decent sized ski locker up the middle of the boat.

 

[djmjr77]

Thanks for the info Ted. I will make sure to take some pictures and post them here when I re-deck it. Will probably be a few weeks before I get to it as I am trying to get the engine in order first.