artfan1
Seaman
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2015
- Messages
- 71
Hello. I just joined this forum so this is my first post. I've been reading and searching here for a few weeks and have learned a lot. Thanks. Hopefully I don't ask too many questions here that are answered elsewhere. I did a lot of searching before posting.
So here goes. Back in 1972 my Dad bought his first bass boat. We drove to Flippin, Arkansas (I was only 7 years old at the time), and picked up our new Ranger boat. This was the first boat I had ever fished in and I even skied behind this boat. The first photo is of my Dad and me fishing at Leach Lake in Minnesota in 1972. I grew up with this boat and it meant a lot to me.
Fast forward to 2015. While visiting my Dad in Missouri this summer, he asked me if I wanted the old Ranger. Of course I did and after a few hours of work on the trailer, (new wheels, tires, bearings, etc), I drove it back to Illinois.
I'm sure you all know the process I went through as I slowly discovered there was more damage and decay than any of us had realized. You see, my Dad had moved on to other boats about 7 years ago and stored this one behind his barn. It's been uncovered through 7 winters and summers. (Really wish he had kept those original Ranger seats.
I know this type of project isn't going to be easy. And I understand that I could go find another used boat and spend less money on it. And that I will spend more money on it than it will be worth, but none of that matters to me since this boat will never be sold. It's important to me to bring this Ranger back to life so I can fish with my Dad with my kids in it. So thats the history and now on to the questions at hand.
After removing all of the old astroturf, I realized the floor was spongy. I spent some time reading here and based on what I had read, I decided to investigate by cutting a section out and drilling a hole in the floor in front of the fuel compartment. It was full of water and the wood floor was pretty soft.
Soft enough that I could grab it by hand and pull out a large section. So now I know a little more about what it looks like. No foam. 2"x2" stringers.
After getting most of the water out, I used my iPhone and a large flashlight to take pictures.
This one is the view from the opening in the floor, towards the stern. You can see a small drain hole which spills out into the recessed square located in the fuel/battery compartment.
The next photo is taken from the same tear out opening but pointing towards the bow. Pretty scary looking.
I have lots of questions about this type of design but I will cross that later. For now, I need to properly remove the entire floor so I can examine the stringers. By the way, the stringers are solid as a rock in the area torn out. I'm doubtful they will be as nice all the way to the transom but who knows. The wood forming the box that has the drain hole in it does appear to be damaged however. You can see that in the photo showing the drain hole.
My first question is this. Since the plywood runs under the compartments, I will need to remove those compartments, correct? I was wondering if there was a particular location of cuts to be made that would allow me to put them back in by fiberglassing them in place?
Then there is the live well and long compartment. Do I cut these across the back, then down the front and along the floor? And if so, do I leave a tab of about 2" on the top and front so I can realign and tab it back into place?
The fuel/battery compartment is double walled on the front side. There is about 6" of hollow space in there that the seat support drops down into. Not sure if that matters or not.
In case any of it matters, I will list some additional info here and come back to them in more detail later.
-The boat is on the original trailer and appears to be well supported.
-I haven't inspected the transom yet. From the outside it feels solid but I plan to cut into the fiberglass from the inside once I have the fuel compartment cut out.
-I have removed the trim/bumper, but the cap is for sure laminated to the hull. I can feel on the inside that it's smooth and there is no seam. So that can't come off.
-I'm not afraid of hard work. Your help won't be taken for granted, and I appreciate any and all answers.
Thanks!
So here goes. Back in 1972 my Dad bought his first bass boat. We drove to Flippin, Arkansas (I was only 7 years old at the time), and picked up our new Ranger boat. This was the first boat I had ever fished in and I even skied behind this boat. The first photo is of my Dad and me fishing at Leach Lake in Minnesota in 1972. I grew up with this boat and it meant a lot to me.
Fast forward to 2015. While visiting my Dad in Missouri this summer, he asked me if I wanted the old Ranger. Of course I did and after a few hours of work on the trailer, (new wheels, tires, bearings, etc), I drove it back to Illinois.
I'm sure you all know the process I went through as I slowly discovered there was more damage and decay than any of us had realized. You see, my Dad had moved on to other boats about 7 years ago and stored this one behind his barn. It's been uncovered through 7 winters and summers. (Really wish he had kept those original Ranger seats.
I know this type of project isn't going to be easy. And I understand that I could go find another used boat and spend less money on it. And that I will spend more money on it than it will be worth, but none of that matters to me since this boat will never be sold. It's important to me to bring this Ranger back to life so I can fish with my Dad with my kids in it. So thats the history and now on to the questions at hand.
After removing all of the old astroturf, I realized the floor was spongy. I spent some time reading here and based on what I had read, I decided to investigate by cutting a section out and drilling a hole in the floor in front of the fuel compartment. It was full of water and the wood floor was pretty soft.
Soft enough that I could grab it by hand and pull out a large section. So now I know a little more about what it looks like. No foam. 2"x2" stringers.
After getting most of the water out, I used my iPhone and a large flashlight to take pictures.
This one is the view from the opening in the floor, towards the stern. You can see a small drain hole which spills out into the recessed square located in the fuel/battery compartment.
The next photo is taken from the same tear out opening but pointing towards the bow. Pretty scary looking.
I have lots of questions about this type of design but I will cross that later. For now, I need to properly remove the entire floor so I can examine the stringers. By the way, the stringers are solid as a rock in the area torn out. I'm doubtful they will be as nice all the way to the transom but who knows. The wood forming the box that has the drain hole in it does appear to be damaged however. You can see that in the photo showing the drain hole.
My first question is this. Since the plywood runs under the compartments, I will need to remove those compartments, correct? I was wondering if there was a particular location of cuts to be made that would allow me to put them back in by fiberglassing them in place?
Then there is the live well and long compartment. Do I cut these across the back, then down the front and along the floor? And if so, do I leave a tab of about 2" on the top and front so I can realign and tab it back into place?
The fuel/battery compartment is double walled on the front side. There is about 6" of hollow space in there that the seat support drops down into. Not sure if that matters or not.
In case any of it matters, I will list some additional info here and come back to them in more detail later.
-The boat is on the original trailer and appears to be well supported.
-I haven't inspected the transom yet. From the outside it feels solid but I plan to cut into the fiberglass from the inside once I have the fuel compartment cut out.
-I have removed the trim/bumper, but the cap is for sure laminated to the hull. I can feel on the inside that it's smooth and there is no seam. So that can't come off.
-I'm not afraid of hard work. Your help won't be taken for granted, and I appreciate any and all answers.
Thanks!
