Re: Whether or not to restore an Arkansas traveler
hi davejr.
I was asked to look in on this one.
first off, let me say that is a cool boat. love the lines.
I also admire the fact that you want this as a project, not a i need a boat to work right now kinda thing.
If I could caution you, I would do it by saying that we usually dont do a restoration before we get a motor for a boat.
The motor is usually the cost break of the boat. however, If you just want a project and dont care what goes on the back of the boat.....that boat is as good as any to do a restoration on
I spent about 20 mins going over your pics. and I have a few concerns.
First off, lets get this sub floor thing cleared up.
the floor in your boat, is not the floor from the factory. Someone has re done the boat previous to you.
They added the second floor over top of the first one......this could be for several reasons....but the most common reason is because, In the older, smaller boats, the mfgr's had the deck very low, this gave the rider a real feel of speed, as well,,,,,the higher sides, gave them the feeling of safety. keeping the center of gravety also helped to keep the boat more stable as people moved around the boat.
The only problem with this was that the "floor" was tiny, it kinda made you put your feet at an angle in the bow. when you tried to put your feet flat on the floor, the curvature of the hull prevented that from happening. and you always felt "cramped" in the tiny cockpit.
The previous restorer of the boat, did what most builders did later on in the mod 60's by raising the deck height.
This allowed for the rider to feel more spacious, and the boat could fit a bigger person more comfortably.
As for you, and how you approach the deck height, is up to you, its your boat !
But both the original deck and the new deck have to come out......this boat is a full gut.
The industry standard currently is a plywood floor, fiberglassed in and a glass liner over top.
Due to the age of the boat, if you choose for the more classic plank floor, go for it.....its your boat, you can do what ever you want with it.
there are different standards for the stringer/frams section of the hull, depending on which way you go, so let us know your decision, and we can guide you as to the proper make up of the route you choose.
As for My concerns, In one picture of the boat, it looked as someone rolled gellcoat over the boat and did not catylize the gellcoat. thinking it was like paint. this gave a really "wrinkly" finish on the boat.
As well, you have several pictures of a transom repair. At this time I haven't been able to figure out if they cut the entire back end off the boat and added the transom or if they just botched a paint/body job.
What ever the method, it will require major gellcoating or paint work to get the exterior of the hull back to looking good.
On a side note, I have noticed you started a flicker account for the boat pics. If I may suggest, start a photo bucket account, then up load your photos there. re size to 640x480. you will see a img tag on your photos. just copy it and past it into your replys. The pics come out very large and detailed right in your post....
They look like this.
For the restoration forum, the pics show good detail, that is what we need to see in regards to helping with situations people find them selves in during projects.
Keep us up on your progress during tear down if the hull......dont worry, it gets easier on the body during construction.
cheers
oops
P.S. if you get stuck, and cant seen to find the answers, just pm me and ill gladly jump in.
