86 barefoot floor replacement

How did the project go? Thats actually my families old boat, had it for about 12 years. Replaced the old 454 with the 496, my dad works in the marine industry and we were testing out Mercury's smart craft technology for them. First boat I ever learn to handle, spent every summer on that thing in high school everyday, wake boarding and skiing, dates. Was sad to see it go but Dad didn't want to do the floors and sold it to our friend Phil, who you bought it from. If you ever want to sell it let me know, would love to see some pictures if you still have it.

Is that NM cable under the bow deck or marine duplex? What's it for?

Greg, I cant see any of the pics... I can only comment on what I read.

I dont remember the gutter set up you had- remind me!

Grinding in the garage Tim? By the looks of it I don't think he can even get in the garage

leftover sperm costume?

ya get that thing blocked. You dont want to mess up that pretty gel.

shane krausser wrote: Buffalo, its a lilttle late for that!! I am following a thread and im doing nearly bens build.

Ben who?

Time out! You really need to do some reading. I'd suggest picking one thread that most closely matches the meathods you are using and try to get very familiar with it.

In a thread like that you'd see that removing one main stringer at a time maintains the hull integrity and prevents stress cracks in the gel. You'd also see that you want your boat properly supported before the floor comes out.

Shane, I went thru the hull on mine also. My hole was smaller and I put tape on the outside of the boat and filled a layer with thickened epoxy and the built up with glass. No problem.
I'm with you on suiting up while grinding that glass dust gets everywhere. And itch!
Looks like your making good progress thanks for taking the time to share with us. Monty

Do you have the boat supported other than the trailer? here is a pic of my project supported.

Ya I did that too in a spot. It can be patched, I did mine with the edge of the grinding disk

shane krausser wrote: While pulling the plug port and skeggs off i noticed some gel that was cracked on underside of hull where left main seemed to be. .ill get a pick up, also a few on the gunnels as well. Seems when i pulled th exh tips and one of the skeggs the gel came right off with it??? Im screwed

well, if its just on the underside you can grind out the crack and repair. Its not so bad! Yours could look like mine and be cracked everywhere, I will probably need to regel one day.

Bri892001 wrote: Just throwing this out there, while you have it all apart. I'm thinking with the deeper hulls of these BFNs: Has anyone ever attempted a slalom ski edit: locker, running lengthwise? Like either just to the left (or right depending on cable runs etc.) of the doghouse? Or would an unsupported cavity long enough for a slalom ski not be possible? I'm thinking it could have a coupe of piano hinges like the in floor coolers on the modern boats have.

I assume youre talking about below the floor? The factory put ribs between the secondary stringer and hull wall every 30" or so. You'd need to remove (or seriously cut into) at least one or 2 to end up with a cavity long enough for a ski. If not refoaming, placing a rib every 12-18" is a better practice... so not a lot of room left under there.