Opened floor of "Skanky Beast" -the horrors!

[JasonJ]

Well, I tore into the floor to get a good idea of what the structure should be, and what shape I am in. I almost pulled the motor and hauled it to the dump, but I didn't. I knew what would be there, I got this boat with the express purpose of having a project and rebuilding it, but it was still a shock. My last boat, a 1963 run-about, had been sitting for fifteen years full of rotten wet leaves and wasn't this bad. The foam is in fact saturated, and all stringers and frames are crumbled. I could pul the wood out by hand. No wonder they used 3/4 for the wood that was nailed over the rotten mess. <br /><br />My other shock was the realization that I would have to seperate the upper and lower halves to do the floor, as the bow seating area is integral to the upper deck, and I can't get to the actual floor without seperation. Now, if I am going to go through the hell of seperating the deck from the hull, I may as well replace the transom. It doesn't seem to flex, but there is a bit of a bow, and if I am going to put this much effort into it, I may as well go the whole nine yards. <br /><br />I will say one thing, it was built like a rock, except for that whole water absorbing foam thing. Six 1 inch thick stringers, going all the way to the bow, framed every four feet, thick blocking glassed to the hull in the keel area(no actual keel wood), and foam between all stringers minus bilge area. Yes, I have debated cutting my losses, selling the motor and trailer, trashing the hull, and finding another boat, but I have the opportunity to build up a boat that will last longer than I need it to and be exactly what I want. Down the road I can hang a four stroke off it if I want to. Yeah, the motivation is back....<br /><br />

 

[y2jericho]

Re: Opened floor of "Skanky Beast" -the horrors!

I have Thunderbolt Mercury Motor like you not sure if same HP. But i will tell you this .. They are hard working beasts and very nice looking motors.. I would keep it and rebuilt it etc. My boat had a thunderbolt i spent over $650 US to get a 65hp Working replacing powerpack, distributor, carbs getting cleaned, repainting etc etc.. No overhaul as compression was still 95-100 over each cylinders. The motor hasn't failed me once apart from idle being set to high<br /><br />As for the boat, Well you got yourself a project so get to it and stop complaining My Boat is a tiny 4.33m Runabout and i thought $1000 $2000 MAX US and i wuold get it in the condition i wan't.. So far im about $3000 US into it including motor but it sure beats the hell out of a new boat and it sure is a stirrer at the ramps and gets lot of a questions.. <br /><br />Theres nothing better than rebuilding your boat.. It will pull itself over what seems like years but in a few months when you finish it you will be so glad and nearly wet your pants in anticipation on the first launch at the ramp. Have fun

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Opened floor of "Skanky Beast" -the horrors!

Yeah, the motor is the only shining gem. 125 horse Merc does move this beast, and that was with the saturated foam. I only ran it once on the water to make sure the motor ran good under load, and it is a beast. Imagine how fast it will be after I am done, and it has dry foam and is missing the 3/4 inch plywood that was nailed over the entire floor. I may name it "Skanky Beast" officially when I am done....

 

[Bondo]

Re: Opened floor of "Skanky Beast" -the horrors!

Jason,<br />Don't put the foam back in... it'll just get wet again... get a bilge pump instead...<br />When you go back in with the new stringers, make Sure Everything Drains back to the pump...<br />If the Boat is Sinking.... That's what PFDs are for, NOT Foam under the Deck....

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Opened floor of "Skanky Beast" -the horrors!

I concur. Get the old foam out, maybe the old stringers too. Then dry it out and level the beast. Put some water in it and find the holes where water is getting in. Mark them and repair with Marine Tex or some other stuff. Or, just put a new coat of epoxy on the floor before you redo the stringers. Just make sure it will drain freely to the bilge and put a reliable/accessible pump in there. Then wood and glass in a new floor and hit the water...temps be dam**d.

 

[SCO]

Re: Opened floor of "Skanky Beast" -the horrors!

I couldnt bring myself to put foam back in either after I did mine. It was as bad as yours.

 

[snapperbait]

Re: Opened floor of "Skanky Beast" -the horrors!

Ahh... Don't ya just love the smell of water-logged foam?... <br /><br />If you did decide to use foam again, styrofoam would work good, just make sure the areas can drain into the bilge... <br /><br />The big "home centers" sell 4x8x2" thick sheets that you could cut to fit...

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Opened floor of "Skanky Beast" -the horrors!

I had never considered not putting foam back in. I can't swim a stroke, so the thought of at least having a swamped boat to cling to is kind of motivating, not to mention that the water is cold as heck for 2/3rds of the year, and this lake is huge. No one would see just me bobbing out there, they cruise like madmen. The way I see it, having the peace of mind is worth the extra work I will do to make sure it doesn't saturate again. Since the new foams are highly resistant to saturaton, combined with the fact that I always keep my boats under cover should give me plenty of years, certainly enough to get me through till the next boat.<br /><br />My friend (who has a boat for sale) was telling me I should give up and walk away, and buy another boat (his, by the way he was hinting). The way I see it, unless a boat is five years or less old, or I know the person and know he always kept it covered (my friend never covers his boat), it is difficult to know if the floor is on its way to being rotton. Other than a new boat, the only way I can be sure is to finish the project. <br /><br />On a different note, since I have to pop the upper deck off to get to all of the floor, that could cause a problem as far as holding shape when I gut the floor out. I am aware that it is not recommended (Jim Andersons book) to do the transom at the same time as the floor, but I have no choice but to do the floor with the deck off, which could lead to deformation. What I was thinking was building an exterior wood frame to keep the hull from spreading. The bottom has three large strakes on each side of the vee portion of the hull, running from transom to bow,so there should be little or no sagging of the hull bottom lengthwise. My other decision to make is whether to do the job on the trailer or on cradles. The trailer has eight rollers per side of the vee to support, but I would hate for the hull to come out of shape because of the trailer. I could put it on cradles, with lots of good support, but I am not sure it will be any safer of a bet. Any insight would be very welcome, as I would rather plan this to death and do it right than dive in and mess it up.

 

[hunky-dory]

Re: Opened floor of "Skanky Beast" -the horrors!

jason i must agree that putting the foam in would be a no no unless you can use closed cell foam and vaccume bag it in . you should try to build a grid style stringer that will suport your decking .maybe make the stringers out of plywood or poplar . unsure if your laminate is polyeseter .it is best to epoxy them in epoxy will bond to poly but poly will not bond to epoxy . hope this will help . good luck and remember there is not a boat out there that cant be repaired .