ok, to make a super long story short i have a 82 doral 164 with a omc 2.5l sterndrive installed. purchased last october as a lake ready boat i noticed that under the carpet (well hidden of course) was some alumunum sheets that were covering up major rot and holes. with that said, to keep any sort of value to my investment im undergoing a full resto to repair the damage including replacement of all stringers, transom and decking... not to mention the support structure that the engine is bolted into. the original decking was 3/4" exterior grade ply (full of knots and no waterproofing to speak of) and stringers/bulkheads are 2 sheets of 3/8" ply (standard ext grade im guessing as the plys were split and lots of voids and knots) laminated togeather and glassed in. all the drain holes were bored through with a hole saw and left with the core wood exposed all throughout the boat.. hence the rot.
now thats all good and fine, but the engine mount structure has me baffled as to the type. its a solid beam (one on each side of course) that is tied into the stringers that measures 1 5/8" x 7" x36" long and then glassed into place with many layers of csm. the grain (that i can tell from the small pieces that didnt crumble as i touched it) appears to be very tight to the point i would think its hardwood of some sort. however the guys at the boat shop said it would be fir. When i got the fir plank home and matched to the original scraps.. it doesnt look anything close to to the type of original lumber. any of you guys out there might have a idea on what would be the correct lumber to use? keep in mind that these beams are transmitting all engine loads into the stringers and deck and not using any part of the transom for mounting.
now thats all good and fine, but the engine mount structure has me baffled as to the type. its a solid beam (one on each side of course) that is tied into the stringers that measures 1 5/8" x 7" x36" long and then glassed into place with many layers of csm. the grain (that i can tell from the small pieces that didnt crumble as i touched it) appears to be very tight to the point i would think its hardwood of some sort. however the guys at the boat shop said it would be fir. When i got the fir plank home and matched to the original scraps.. it doesnt look anything close to to the type of original lumber. any of you guys out there might have a idea on what would be the correct lumber to use? keep in mind that these beams are transmitting all engine loads into the stringers and deck and not using any part of the transom for mounting.
