NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

if the stringer are those triangular pieces in your picture then you can clearly see my rotted one towards the bottom in my pics. I'll take pictures of where I think a stringer used to be towards the front.

I dont see why Id need to take out the seat boxes I can access that whole center section fine. How are those things attached anyway? glassed in there? What a pain.

As long as the temporary fix lasts me a summer, I can deal with that. I'm way too deep in car projects right now to rip this boat apart though. If it proves worthy, I'll give it the attention it deserves eventually.

 

[RyanSS]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

google: boat stringers

seriously.

The stringers are the LONG pieces running the LENGTH of the boat.

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

google: boat stringers

seriously.

The stringers are the LONG pieces running the LENGTH of the boat.

lmao, what do I need google for? I got you right here.

thanks though. I've been calling them stingers. Dont matter really, I'm not replacing them.

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

prepare to be unimpressed. I cut more wood further back because I wanted to see if there was any gunk still back there in that tunnel. Some 2x4's from a repair my dad did probably 10+ years ago are still there and sturdy. None of the wood back there feels soft or weak. I think the boat dried out pretty good and I'm not just trying to be optimistic. I realize its not in great condition, I am trying very hard not to be anal about it and make sure its just okay or satisfactory. Forums have a way of distorting whats practical and whats necessary.
So anyway, now that I've said that little tidbit, let me get on to the pictures which I'm going to add captions above or below.

This is the old repair with 2x4's. there were surrounding rotted pieces that fell away but for whatever reason these were pretty unaffected. They dont want to budge so I'm going to leave them.

here is the rotted ..whatever it is. I need the real sangster to come school me again. Seriously.

A few feet forward of that rotted cross-sectional piece is where I think one of those are missing. This picture shows some sort of opening coming off the stringers on both sides (opposite each other) that is kind of glassed around and wood is kind of sticking out of. Its rotted though.

The transom area seems to be fine. I tugged on the motor and what not and I didnt see anything moving or separating.

This is the rear of that front tunnel. There is one more compartment below deck under the transom area that I cant really look into. I know that wood is starting to rot.

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

I tried to describe this earlier. When looking from the center of that "tunnel" under the seat boxes I can see foam. A few inches back. I poke it and it feels dry to me. I was going to see if I couldnt clear out all the wood until I got to the foam on both seat boxes and slide the wood in that gap between the stringers and seat boxes.

Here's the "foam" on the stringers. Dirty from the rotted wood that sat on top of it before I guess.

I guess that's it. Im thinking I may make whatever piece or pieces I put in there easily removable. I was even thinking towards the front maybe carpeting the piece first and then laying it down. I know it'd need to be secured..I havent decided how to go about doing that yet. Just an idea. I'd like the option of opening it all up and letting it dry out if need be since that whole drainage system seems easily clogged. Oh also, those cross triangle sections, I was thinking maybe instead of fiberglassing them down in that tunnel I could somehow attach them to the piece(s) that I plan to replace so that it all just drops right in.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

That doesn't look too bad, I think you could sister up a couple 2X2's along the stringers and build ya a nice ski locker between the seats, put sealer on all your screws and do seal the wood with resin or something.

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

thanks for the optimism. I'm done messing with it for the day I think. I have scraped out all the old wood from under the seat boxes until I get to the foam, which seems perfectly dry everywhere I touch it.

Is it okay to drill through the fiberglass into the stringers if I want to sister up the boards like you say? I'm definitely going to seal the wood, I'm off to buy some sealer right now actually.

 

[redfury]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

The only picture that really scares me at all is the one where there was obvious wood rot from poor fiberglassing. I'm betting that the stringer it comes out of has rot at least a foot in either direction from that point.

Couple of things you can consider doing depending on access. You can make sure that the wood there is dry and use a penetrating epoxy to "firm the wood up" and glass it back in, or you can sister a board across the length of it to bring back some strength and glass that in. It's going to be a weak spot on your boat and if you come down on a wave hard, or retrieve your boat too shallow and the trailer puts too much pressure in that spot, you are going to have some level of failure in the remaining fiberglass.

As far as what you are doing to the boat and the overall condition ( better than most ) of it, that's what I would concentrate my efforts on, and then deal with the deck replacement...because if it's below deck, it's going to get forgotten about unless you are the odd species of human that actually follows through with a proper repair in the nearer future.

 

[oops!]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

thanks for the optimism. I'm done messing with it for the day I think. I have scraped out all the old wood from under the seat boxes until I get to the foam, which seems perfectly dry everywhere I touch it.

Is it okay to drill through the fiberglass into the stringers if I want to sister up the boards like you say? I'm definitely going to seal the wood, I'm off to buy some sealer right now actually.

how you doin chillin?

i see our guys here are doin a great job of bringing you along......

can i make a few suggestions?

the foam will be dry when you touch the outside of it.....but its wet inside.....you need to take a core sample of it........

i know you want to do this on the cheap....but you are causing your self a lot of time and heart ache by not just getting in there and doing it.

that deck has to come out....all of it......forget about the carpet.....its cheap and easy to install. the reason im saying all this is because the pic of the transom....(the one under the motor with the rubber line thru the pic) shows lots of water standing for a while in there.......your deck is rotten your foam is soaked and the stringers are starting to rot.

you will need to just get in there rip it all out and replace it.......forget about up front.....it will most likely be ok....start at the walk thru part and go to the stern...(back of the boat)......right up to the sides.....

just take a circ saw and set the depth to the depth of the deck (floor, sole) and leave a 3 inch flange around the whole edge of the hull deck joint....(got that?) then rip the floor out......and dig out the wet foam.......then you can see what kind of shape the stringers are in....they will need to be repaired.

we can walk you right thru this......keep in mind....a pro can do this in a week......but if you ***** foot around.....it will take you a year and it wont get done it will just be a bunch of little patches without any structural integrety thru any of it.......

its not hard my friend......you can do it....we just need to get you to realize that you need to get in and get to where you can do it, instead of probing around looking for a way to band aid a broken back.

there is a bazillion tutorials on here......red fury has a great one.....johnnys tri hull is also fantastic.......plus you can read the compleated projects forum.
if you want to read a book.....there is one called runabout renovation by jim anderson.....its cheap.......and you can see how easy it really is.

cheers
oops

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

Thanks for all that. I want to do it right, it bothers me to think of the rotting wood but I really dont have a choice at this time. I'm in school and with three project cars I just dont have the time or money to do it "properly" right now. If I like the boat after this summer (and we aren't both dead in a lake) I will go to the trouble of refreshing it. The condition of the motor is questionable so I'm definitely not going too out of my way to fix the boat without making sure the motor is fine.
I dont doubt my competence in restoring it, its just not an option at this time. I have parts of a 71 Super beetle covering my shop and my dad would be pissed if the boat was strung out too. I need to work with what I've got. :redface:
sorry! I know.. I'm a disappointment.

Can anyone confirm exactly which model I have? I wouldnt mind seeing some "floor plans/blueprint" or whatever it is that yall get to see where the stringers and wood and everything should be under the deck.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

Didn't you say the boat was owned since new by your family? Do you not get along with your Dad, seems like he could alot of your questions.
If you plan too keep your boat for the long run then by all means do as oops suggested and carefully cut out the whole deck, don't worry about the seat bases they're easy to make especially if you have the original for templates no matter how rotted they are you can still somewhat get measurements. You already have photos and thats good for looking back too. It seems overwhelming at first but once the old is out and mess all cleaned up things will start looking up, and get a cover on it for now, bow high and plug out.

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

Didn't you say the boat was owned since new by your family? Do you not get along with your Dad, seems like he could alot of your questions.
If you plan too keep your boat for the long run then by all means do as oops suggested and carefully cut out the whole deck, don't worry about the seat bases they're easy to make especially if you have the original for templates no matter how rotted they are you can still somewhat get measurements. You already have photos and thats good for looking back too. It seems overwhelming at first but once the old is out and mess all cleaned up things will start looking up, and get a cover on it for now, bow high and plug out.

If you MUST know...the boat was purchased new by family friends. Details like the model number aren't really of importance to "us". The only reason I have the boat is because my mom couldn't get rid of it and it was dieing a sad death on a piece of vacant property. I'm the type of boat owner who's boat see's water a few times a year and is stored otherwise. That is exactly why I dont want to sink any more money and time into this than I "have" to. This was just an idea to have some fun in the summer. If there wasnt a hole in the floor originally I probably would not have even bothered to check it out honestly. (and unlikely posted on these forums either )

What your telling me to do is cut out the deck, grind down all that fiberglass/remove the foam, replace the stringers and fiberglass all that. Then replace the foam and the deck/seat boxes etc? That just seems like quite the tear down. What if I build this badass replacement deck for what I've got cut out right now and on the bottom of it attach some "runners"(long boards) that hug the insides of the stringers and brace all that in there real snug. And also put some of those triangular gusset dealio's that would provide support between the bottom of that tunnel and the top of the deck.

oh and I've got the boat in a barn, so its protected. no more juice was comin out the drain hole, i let it open for a couple days and vacuumed all in that rear area.

 

[chillin014]

an update

an update

I've followed through with my plans slowly but steadily. I do believe the stringers are rotted after inspecting more thoroughly, but I have to work with what I've got here. I'm sistering boards on the side as you'll see in the pictures and I've got a few cross members as well to brace a bit and support the replacement floor panel. Everything is pretty much cut, all I have left to do is finish applying the urethane paint to the wood and screwing some boards together. I am now starting to look into marine carpet, hopefully I can find something much cheaper than what I've been seeing. I only need to do the rear and middle section. Anyway...on to the pics.
excuse the boards that aren't in place, I was too lazy...but you get the idea.

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

wow my progress has been really slow...almost a full month since I've posted and I'm still not done. I have to really budget for this boat though and I have been working on the motor which is costing me so much more than the deck stuff and was actually worrying me if it will be suitable to even use (possibly making the deck repair pointless).
So I've secured in my little frame and screwed down my replacement panel as well. Now I am working on the home depot outdoor carpet I got. I thought I would be wise and just use a staple gun on it so I didnt have to mess with paste but it looks like I dont have an option in some spots where the staples dont seem to want to hold. I hope to be done tomorrow with most of it and still need to find a way to incorporate a small hatch in the front where there is a hole in the fiber glass. I really want to have at least ONE compartment that I can lock my wallet and phone in and that is where I plan to do it....which means I have to have a waterproof liner for the hatch. Its too bad I couldnt create something cool like a recessed area for a beverage cooler.

This has already been a lot of work...so much more than I wanted to put into it. I'm ready to be done with it. This thing better frickin' float

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

oh yeah and I repaired my bimini top which is pretty sweet.

 

[Fingernip]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

Im extremely jealous of that shop! I have mine outside under a tree in the front yard

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

Chillin, did you fiberglass where the old deck meets the new? looks like you didn't, which could be a big problem as water will be able to just roll through the crack.

 

[stevenw00]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

Just so you have no doubts in your mind, and are perfectly clear... the boards that you are adding under the deck add ZERO structural strength to this boat! The rotted stringers, etc. make this boat a lot less stable than it once was, and the only thing your repairs are accomplishing is to make it look better and keep your foot from falling through the deck.
I wish you luck w/ your boat, but w/o further investigating, I would be nervous to take it out on the lake.

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

no fiberglass, too much trouble. id rather the water "roll through" anyway. if those boards didnt add any structural rigidity then i guess the boat is going to crumble to pieces when it hits the water. this was the best i could do on my limited budget. ill let you guys know if the boat sinks when i take it out. as of now, im not worried about it.

 

[chillin014]

Re: NO Budget Newbie replacing deck...some of it. (pics)

Some of you have managed to instill quite a bit of worry into me as I find myself wanting to throw the boat together already and watch it sink. A repair to the extent most of you deemed necessary simply would not have been a practical decision for someone such as myself who will see a lake maybe a few times a summer. However, I am still curious to hear of instances and scenarios that you believe will come of taking this 30mph MAX 17' foot boat out on a lake. So the boat isn't as strong as it could be...what EXACTLY does that mean to me?
Anyway...I finished the carpet today...not much fun really. Very time consuming. And I installed the seats. I'm not sure why there is a gap on one side of the seats but not the other, I couldnt get them to come together on both sides. (both pairs of seats have this)