Stringer project, possible v-drive conv.

way cool..looks like you are on the good tracks...
get the pictures comming!!!

Welcome.

I was like you a year ago this week. I don't have the same boat as you but I did a complete stringer rebuild in 3 months and used the boat all summer.

See my rebuild project and if you have any questions, post them on here. There is so much information on this website and people willing to help that you could rebuild that boat from top to bottom with the posts and members help.

Here are a few ideas:

-Leave some pockets on the flor/stringers at the transom for easier rudder and front engine parts like water pump, belts, etc.

-Dripless seal would be desirable since adjusting the packing gland below the Vdrive is... unconfortable at least.

-If you're using a walter unit, get some supports for it as it's too much weight hanging out the transmission and the prop will push it up too. I'd get a PCM Power Vee unit or a ZF.

-Get a new strut for a 1 1/8'' shaft for the reduction gear. Also you might consider that a 13 or 13.5'' prop + hull clearance fits. You'll get less shaft angle this way, which means better efficiency. The oem strut fits a 14+ clearance.

-Think were you'll be placing the new gas tank, I think you'll want it amid-fore ship. or under the bow.

-What engine do you have? hours? condition? Since this project might take some time it could be a good moment to refresh it or beef it up with the popular heads/cam/intake combo.
Once it's all installed and running it's a pain to dissasemble it for unit repairs.

That's all I can think about now.
Good luck!!!

@v-drive
The driving factor for use of the Walters v-drive is that it is territory already traveled and well documented on this forum. I also want to stay away from needing a different or modified shaft. Generally speaking I want to keep things as simple and cost efficient as possible. That being said, I will look into the ZF/Hurth 630v.

@gas tank
This would be as far forward as possible under the floor in the center. Where the battery box currently is going back as far to achieve at least 30 gallons. The wooded crossmember between the two main stringer in that area would be moved back or a metal brace used between them above the gas tank. I would choose here over the front to maintain the most consistent wake.

@bow
two batteries as far forward as possible, bunch of stereo equipment, sub, and water ballast. Not sure why that air box or whatever it is take up so much space but I would have to make sure I had proper air flow.

@engine
Ford 351w, GT-40p heads. I don't plan on doing any engine work except for taking off the oil pan and cleaning it out a bit. When I replaced the heads 2 years ago the compression was solid and the same across all cylinders.

@Timeline
This is really going to drive a lot of my decisions. I want the boat to be usable by mid june. Doesn't need to be pretty but needs to be able to pull me on a wakeboard. The idea is that I would buy the transmission I want to use for the v-drive and fit it before I cut out the old stringers. This way I can get a better idea of how everything needs to be. When I replace the stringers I do it to support both v and direct configs and build the front up as if it was a v config. Then based on time do whatever I thought I could complete. I also can't actually glass anything for at least a month because I am located in the NE and my garage is not heated. I do have a propane heater I will use but figure it should be 50-60 outside so I can heat it to 75.

I plan on getting the floor and foam out this weekend. I cut a bit of the floor out last night with my sawzall just to see if it would do the trick. Seems so. Any advice for getting the foam out. I ripped a chunk out and there were tons of tiny crystals on the outside...water logged you think? heh. Not sure if it's easier frozen or not but then again I don't have much of a choice right now.

Thanks for all the input.

Missed a couple things

@prop
I realize keeping the 1" shaft in combination with the gear reduction will severely limit my prop options and one way or the other my top end will take a hit. For simplicities sake and cost I think it's just the way it's going to be. Plus I don't ever need to go fast. My lake is saturated with skiers and therefore awesome ski boats. I always just go with them. I think the new ski nautique just hover above the water, only explanation I can come up with for that white wash trailing behind them that they call a wake. My boat just can't compare for skiing.

@floor side separation
What is causing the sides of the floor to be separated from the hull? Is the hull flexing out or the floor pulling in. Currently the boat is just on the trailer. Is this appropriate or does there need to be additional support? Do I have to pull the sides in somehow when I glass the new floor in?

thx,
Bill

Here is the logic I was using, which may very well be faulty.
There are a certain set of props available for the 1" diameter shaft. I would think that the size/pitch combinations available would not be able to deliver more torque then the shaft could withstand. Granted there is more torque available from the gearing but I would think the actual amount of torque on shaft is based on the prop.
Maybe with those props available I can't get the desired performance. I have a decent understanding of mechanics(physics degree) although there is often something missed from theoretical to actual.

Regardless, figuring this out right now isn't necessary. I will dig into the deeper though now. I do not want to sacrifice quality for cost but also don't want to go overboard with more than I need.

Either way the advice is appreciated, and I will come back with more support for whatever I eventually decide, which may be switching to a larger shaft.

-Bill

I think that if you got after it starting today, June is pretty realistic. But you really have to go hard.

$2000, 200 hrs, 20 cases of beer.

You will run into many other things you will want to or should address at the same time. That figure also doesn't count planning time, staring at stuff trying to figure it out, and lunch hours at the hardware store.

WakeSlayer wrote: That figure also doesn't count planning time, staring at stuff trying to figure it out, and lunch hours at the hardware store.

Good point Mike. The guys at my local Ace were beginning to think I worked there. I was in there almost every day for 3 months and know the fastener hardware isle better than they do. 200 hours of purpose drivben work. 500 hours of staring and figuring.

Once the stringers are rotten all the flex causes the separation. The floor and hull are moving independently because of delamination. You dont need to pull the sides in when you rebuild. Glassing the floor to the walls ties everything together to make it stable.

Your friends may turn out to be busy more than you think. This is an absolute bitch of a project. You will want to punch yourself in the nuts a bunch of times in your journey for taking it on.
You also are going to need a bunch of tools. Grinder, jigsaw, power planar, hand tools, drills, bits. A band saw and a table saw will make life a lot easier too.   

We'll be staring a complete stringer/floor job at some point. Tear out is what I do best. Putting it back together is painfully slow. I got to wonder, how long did it take Correct Craft to do a stringer/floor job once the hull popped out of the mold? Probably only a day or two at most. They were working out of garages. How'd they do it?

Posting these mostly to figure out how to upload and display images, please be patient if this doesn't work as I hope.


I had to build up above the rafters and take the wheels off the trailer to get enough clearance/travel to get the engine out. I was pretty nervous, I don't lift heavy things often and there seemed to be a lot of possible points of failure. All worked out though.


I gave my roommate some 2x4's and asked him to build me something to put the engine on. I think his stand could hold 10 times what is required...I'm not complaining though.

The whole ordeal took 4 people about 5 hours. Disconnecting, figuring everything out, etc. About as long as I expected. Had some issues disconnecting the shaft coupler from the transmission. Just didn't want to separate. Lots of tapping with a hammer, screw driver and wondering what I was missing. Finally let loose though.

I post all my pictures on facebook first. Sounds stupid but you can load any size image and they resize them automatically.

Looks like you have plenty of ambition on this thing. It'll be fun to see your progress. Good luck!

I wasn't sure if there was an easy way to set a max size in the image tag.
Or if I can just go HTML crazy.

Easy enough to resize before I upload though.

wlaust3 wrote: I don't know why I said "pulling the sides in". My fear is that the trailer isn't sufficiently supporting the boat. This would imply that stress would have always existed between the fiberglass floor and sides of the hull while on the trailer and therefore the source of the delamination. Someone tell me I am wrong. What would prevent the delamination from happening again. (Besides better workmanship :). Seems a lot of the stringer rebuilds are done off of the trailer. This would be a pain for me but if it has to be done it has to be done.

If you have the original trailer they are designed to support the hull and would not likely cause that kind of damage alone. Tim is right about blocking it up. The boat does sag on the trailer and that is exaggerated when the stringers have delammed or have been removed. You can definitely do this on the trailer but blocking is required.

Another easy way to get smaller pics is to lower the resolution on your camera to the lowest it will go. They wont make great prints but will display fine on the screen. Usually 640x480. Cant use HTML in the threads.