1975 Skiier Stringer Replacement

As I recall from my countless hours of researching stringer replacement, one of the foundational, "yardstick" stringer jobs on this site featured woodflour-thickened stringer bedding. So don't sweat it. Think about all the cloth and mat holding the stringer to the floor and you'll realize how strong your new system is . . .

Scott,
To extend the pot life of you epoxy, mix it in a cup but then put it in a shallow pan like a roller tray. This spreads it out so the heat isn't concentrated. If you get a roller tray, get one of the nice plastic (not throw away) ones. When the left over mix cures, it will pop out of the tray when you flex/twist it.

WakeSlayer wrote: Hey Scott I am sure it will be stronger than ever and be just fine. The words you used raised a flag with several people. We just want your boat to be sturdy. It seems you have found out it will be. I think the comments were more to verify that. If the material was substandard and your boat was going to break, you would want to know. It doesn't sound like that is the case, do don't sweat it. Let's see more pics.

Your words are encouraging. Thanks.

It's kind of a mess inside the boat right now. Let me do a little work tomorrow and I will take some. I glassed about 6ft. of one primary today and made some more fillets. My immediate plans are to continue glassing and then start on the area under the bow with the new hose I bought on ebay. I am glassing with some medium hardner so I can only mix about 18oz at a time before it gets too hot and unmanagable.

scott

srbranum wrote: [QUOTE=8122pbrainard] Scott, Brian is absolutel This whole thing is really stressing me out and I just hope it works out. Thanks for your help as always. scott

You're doing great! Remember way back when you first discovered you need stringers and you didn't think you could do the job? Look at how far you've gotten! You will end up with a job you can be proud of.

Scott,
Brian is absolutely correct that you will end up with a hull that's better and stronger than CC ever produced. Please don't take my comment as criticizing as it wasn't meant to be. I was actually trying to figure out why you were having problems with the filleting. Some types of fillers are easier to work.

I checked out www.RAKA.com and they do have the normal types of fillers that other suppliers have. Did you actually talk to RAKA?

One other thing a friend of mine said which was encouraging was:

1. The two primary stringers are just shy of 12' in length which is vastly different from a much larger ski boat or large boat for that matter.

2. In 1975, the whole boat was done in polyester resin which delaminated thus causing the wood rot.

3. I am using epoxy resin.

4. And most importantly, the primary stringers in 1975 were not embedded in anything, just fiberglassed in. The secondary stringers were just filleted in with no fiberglass at all.

I realize that this project will not win me any awards for adhereing to standard policy and procedure generally accepted stringer replacement methods but I feel extremely confident that, as this forum topic has stated, anything I do will be vastly better than was done by the factory 35 years ago.

I don't want to come across like "my way is as good as your way" and I am just posting stuff for everyone to agree with my work, I just want a good, safe and reliable boat to pull my kids with and I will continue to seek everyones input and it is appreciated.

scott

What brand are you using?

Scott.   

I used a Spoonula for applying and shaping the thickened epoxy.

Pete is right, you want to be using a high strength filler adhesive in the resin for bedding and filleting. I am not sure whose product line you used, but I use West 404 for this filler.

8122pbrainard wrote: Scott, I'm pretty familiar with the wire reinforced PVC tubing. It is tough stuff however depending on the wall thickness (there are several) it can have a pretty big bend radius in the larger diameters. You may have to use some elbows.

I'll see tomorrow but the old lines that came out of the boat curved downward similar to the angle of a children's slide and leveled off towards the bulkhead. The bend was nothing like a 90 degree. You can see from the picture that this stuff rolls up into a tight ball and is pretty flexible.

On a different note, the hardest thing I have come across in this project is trying to work with the fillets at the base of the stringers. I can't seem to get a smooth texture like Okieboarder's job. I drop resin everywhere and if I don't find it, it is brick hard the next day and most of the time, I can't reach it with a sander. I had better luck today when I got my wooden stir sticks and rounded the tips of them off like a spoon and the resin/pine flour mixture I am using was a lot easier to apply. I am just glad no one will see what's underneath the floor.

It's like a lot of projects around my house. I do them once with mistakes and I am an expert the second time.

Got my air lines in that go from the front scoop to the bilge area. 3" is diameter and very strong. It's in another league from that dryer duct stuff from the factory and flexible unlike PVC. Bought it on ebay out of Florida. 15' for $37 with free shipping. That will give me 3-5' pieces. What do you think?



Checked the rudder and lift ring wood with a 3/4" hole saw cutout and did not see any rot so they are staying.

Scott,

The router might be a little easier. I'd say do whatever works best for you, but definitely radius the edges. I just routered my pieces before I put them in so it was done. It worked well for me.

CPES may very well be overkill, but I considered it to be for good reason. Now I know that even if I have a spot that water tries to seep in through the epoxy or glass, there is a secondary layer of protection. I'm sure that even without it the boat will hold up very well for a long time. Even the factory job, which was less than most of us are doing, lasted 20+ years in most cases.

Scott,
You must have missed my answer when you mentioned the CPES before. It is not structural but rather a sealer.

Okie Boarder wrote: Scott, Things are looking good. Your wood work looks nice. Are you wrapping the stringers or just taping the bottoms? If you're wrapping, you might want to round over the tops with a router or sander. The glass lays over the round easier. Did you CPES the wood? I have a question for the more experienced guys. I've seen lots of drain holes cut...some are just long cutouts and some round. This is the first time I've seen a triangle. Is the triangle any more or less difficult to glass?

Let me try and answer your questions the best I can:
Yes, I am going to wrap the stringers. The only thing I have glassed is about 85% of the drivers side primary. The others have to be sanded and glassed. I am using a block plane to round off the tops because I do not have a roundover bit but I may go buy one now that I think about it. It would be much easier.

Here is where I am fixing to get blasted by everyone. NO, I did not CPES the wood. The reason I did not was on advise from the manufacturer of my resin and the chief service guy, Woody, at the former Correct Craft of Orlando on Orange Avenue just down the street from the plant. As I stated in an earlier post, the resin manufacturer said that CPES is basically lacquered down epoxy and that the lacquer actually weakens the epoxy. Both guys said to basically sand the wood, wipe down with denatured alchohol and apply a coat of epoxy to dry. It was really not a money issue, it was just that I trust what these two guys say because they are in the business.

Here is my take on the triangles. I basically was given the idea for the triangles because I did not have a vertical drill press to cut a hole half on the board and half off the board or about the shape of the letter "C". All you have to do with the triangles is cut them out with a jigsaw. The water will run along the stringers and thru the triangle and exit that whole side of the boat through a 1" hole in the primary stringer with a 2" piece of copper inserted in it pointed ever so slightly downward. I will keep a standard 1" boat plug from wally world in the hole until I finish for the day and then pull it out from each side so that the water can drain out. I just did not want water going in from the bilge area and then having to drain it out.

As far as glassing the triangles, my personal view is that glassing only adds strength and not waterproofing. So I plan on sanding the triangles and applying 1-2 coats of epoxy, maybe thickened with pine flour, and go with that.

Ok, I will to a test with a drill bit. I would assume I could test the rudder piece anywhere but I would guess the only place to check the lifting ring wood would be on the bottom side and not the top side??? Does it make any difference if the boat never will be lifted(as in a boathouse or storage facility)or never will??

Working on the boat today from 8-1. Will let you know the results of the test and maybe a picture. I will be embedding the passenger side stringers today.

By the way, I need some other help. Do I just coat the area under the floor except the bilge area with a layer of epoxy or what? It will never be seen so appearance is not a factor. And, do I need to grind down the gunwales or just sand them before applying glue and carpet. I removed the lip ring that runs around the boat where the old floor met the gunwale. A piece was loose so I ended up just pulling about a three inch wide piece that included the lip ring off the boat and now it is virtually flush, thus not much grinding to do. What do you think?

Keeganino wrote: Looks great! Are you going to do the rudder port and the lift ring mount? I just got a hole saw kit so I checked my lift ring mount and the wood was wasted. I would at least check it for peace of mind. My rudder port was not that bad but it had water in it too.

Well, I was not going to but I may think about it. I kind of think I won't because the boat has been garage kept for 35 years and never left in the water or a boathouse except when being used or on a week of vacation. I have only put about 12 hours/summer on it since I bought it in the summer of 1990 so I doubt I will tackle it. If I had more time, I may have done it but I have vacation planned for June 4th and want to have it done by Memorial Day.

Scott