Proof, not all Mustangs have rotten stringers.

Morfoot wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: BTW, square head lags made of silicon bronze were the standard at one time in quality built boats. They are real hard to find!! I need some for my launch restoration and it's a problem. Even square head hot dip galvanized are hard to find Pete, I think you've taken the "Keep it original" statement up a notch. I think I'd sacrifice a litte original and put in a hex head stainless bolt. .

Tim,
You're cool with the hex heads due to the age of your boat! However, probably not with the stainless.

The square heads were being phased out I'd say in the late 50's. My Atom has squares. A hex head lag is one of the items looked for when judging under ACBS guidlines. Using hex heads will cost a point deduction.

I guess we'll re use the square heads to keep it original! Gary, no farm boy here, I thought those square heads were left over from the 19th century along with rough cut nails.

DrCC wrote: Doesn't anyone have square headed Velvet Dipsticks? And dang Gary that 8-point socket is HUGE!!! Measures 2 1/2 inches on my monitor!

I do! but I just use an adjustable on it. I was just playing with the macro setting on my camera per that post from the other day

OK, I admit it, I am having fun busting on you guys too.
In all seriousness I have examined the bolt holes and there is no evidence of epoxy or filler. The thread impressions in the wood are clean and undamaged, with no evidence of epoxy. The wood shows no sign of rotting. I used a small bearing puller to gently scratch the wood threads to be sure that they weren't filled with epoxy and redrilled. I came out with a clean sliver of wood. I will do more exploration, but at this point it looks very good. The foam I core sampled was from the area between the primary and secondary stringers just forward of the exhaust hose, and the area between the secondary stringer and the side of the boat just forward of the gas tank pad. While not the ideal areas, they can be checked easily without removing the floor pan. These areas in my 69 Mustang were totally saturated and would splash if struck or pried. The foam in front of the exhaust hoses is discolored by bilge fluids and dirt, but is dry. I will know more later when I get into it further and core sample the sides of the stringers should I decide to remove the foam. At this point I am tempted to leave the foam in it since it is original and appears good. Here is a photo of one of the bolt holes. It was hard to photograph and tit appears white in the photo, but that is due to the intensity of the light I used to illuminate the hole. It'sreal color is a yellowish brown.
It is good entertainment to throw a few barbs back.

quinner wrote: Dang, missed being clueless by 13 minutes!

Don't worry, your statement is evidence that you didn't miss it at all.

john b wrote: I have been obsessing over the 70 Mustang I picked up about 2 weeks ago. I have read all of the stringer rebuild posts I have found, and have looked at 6 Mustangs in my quest for the right one, and they all exhibited some degree of stringer rot. I was expecting to find the same on the 70 I just bought and planned to use it for a couple years and then do the stringer job. I have removed most of the fittings and I sent them to the plating shop. I decided to look for the buried bad news today. I took a small core sample of the foam and found it to be completely dry. Pleased by this I checked the engine mounting lag bolts and they were all very tight. I removed one to examine it for corrosion damage and rotten wood. This is what I found.

    John where did you take your sample of foam from?

Gary, Those are perfect, but they look like they are only useful for square heads? The only square heads I've ever encountered have been on these old boat's engine mounts. I guess they wouldn't be the first very occational use tool I've bought since getting boat crazy.

Riley wrote: They aren't all rotted. That bolt does look really good for 41 years old. Here's one I pulled out of the 66 Barracuda last week which looks darn good to me.

Looks,very similar to mine. Funny, the same person must have worked on both of my Mustangs since they both have the same length hex head bolts.

Here you go Bruce,here is what they look like.I snagged a whole set from my father in law's tools. By the way my boat has a square head and a hex head in each motor mount,same length and size and no washers but I know my motor was out before I got it.

Waterdog wrote: 12 point socket ?

Actually they make a 8 point for Sq. heads.

I was amazed at the lack of rot in mine. The bolts were definitely loose and there was a lot of rot at the top of the stringers but they were still securely attached to the hull of the boat. After all those years of wet foam and the P.O. leaving it out in the elements uncovered, I figured it would have just all been mush, but it wasn't.

If the factory job held up that well for 42 years, mine should last forever Hopefully.

I would say those are stainless also and def not orignal, my skylark had pretty solid wood where the motor is and very good to the rear but the front under the seats the wood was almost nonexistent ..I hope yours is better.

12 point socket ?

Bruce notice the square drive head as opposed to the hex head, yours is original John's is not and from here John's looks like it could be stainless. I don't think they used stainless back in 70 because most bolts I've seen come out are about 1/2 the diameter they were when they went in.

Hollywood wrote: You guys are great. I'm going to remove my lags, fill the holes with epoxy, and put new ones in when I go to sell it.

LMAO