And so it begins...

More horse power for your motor…$1,500
Supplies for new stringers…….$1,000
Having your wife approve buying more tools to do the job….PRICELESS!!!!

So it begins, I took the motor out for the new heads, camshafts, high rise manifold ect.
(Thanks Eric, He was tired of working those crappy Chevy’s so I gave him a nice Ford to work on)
While the motor was out I kept thinking about the stringers. Now my floor was solid no soft spots, the main stringers sounded solid (tapping with hammer) but the secondary’s had some fiberglass cracking off. The wood was solid when poked with a screwdriver, but I thought to myself I can’t be the only one with a 24 year old boat that is dry and solid.
So out came the carpet in one piece (that one surprised me) then off came the floor for some exploratory surgery. Sure enough the foam was soaked on the bottom inch or so and dry on top. The more foam I pulled out the more water I found. Now this boat hasn’t been in the water since Sept last year, it did get some snow melt in it when the cover got 12” of snow on it then rain caused it to sag in and the water got in. So as with others the foam was soaked.
Then I started removing the fiberglass from the secondary stringers. I was pleasantly surprised that only where the glass had separated was the wood only slightly wet the rest looked like new.
I love Correct Crafts that’s why I own two, but I have to say that they could have done a better job then they did. I found a block of wood lying on the hull and the foam poured right over top of it, of course it was totally saturated. The second thing I found was when they lagged the platform braces on they missed the area supported with the extra plywood. I assume that’s where they where supposed to go. The third was the original fiberglass wrap on the secondary’s under the floor was paper thin. (One coat of light weight glass)
So this is step one of the process. I will keep you guy’s updated as I go. I hope it will be a short story not a novel !!

The start


The easy way to remove foam





The lags between the extra ply(above the stringer)


The thin fiberglass


This is the inboard side ofthe stringer. It doesn't even touch the hull and the gap was full of wet foam.


Here's the block of wood they foamed over.


That's it for now more to follow.

HEY! That's where I left that block of wood.

I thought this was a topic about a boat sinking

guess I finally see the purpose of foam; to hide the workmanship.

I cannot believe how nicely the foam came out... Mine was brutal to remove.

79nautique wrote: I would use CPES on the stringers now and refoam and glass over the bad spots. Looks like you caught it early so getting the water out drying it out a little more then going back with the CPES well seal everything back up and make it a little stronger, then your ready to pour more foam and glass the floor back in.

That's exactly what I'm going to do but there's NO FOAM going back in this boat!!!! I'm going to add some extra support instead of foam.
I don't believe that we can make these things water tight enough to keep the foam dry.
I have an idea on a way to do a partial foam though that should let the foam breath which should allow it to dry when it gets wet. I'll post pic's of the mock up in a few days. That way I can get some input from the ol'wise one's on here.

I had that same "scrap" peice of wood in mine. Any chance they put it there for some unknown reason. Haven't dug into the other side yet, is it there also?

Yall just wait until it's back like it should be. 20 years is hard on most things, and my bet is that you'll get a ride you won't believe after it's all said and done.

I am going to add some additional support for two reasons.
1) To add a little more support from the secondary to the hull wall. Hoping it will help fend off those pesky stress cracks.
2) Without the foam I'll need something to help support the floor.

As for the flotation controversy, if it's sealed water tight it will create air pockets which will aid in the floating. There is a lot of foam in the top of the stern, bow and under the gunnel's. I think rot is more of a problem than sinking. And if it would sink hell that's what I pay insurance for.

you always have to go back to the root of the cause, it was never meant for structure in a CC but may have been utilized as part of the structure because it was drawn up around the foam, it may have been a bonus for structure but thats it. the bad outweighs the good, these different opinions will help you decide your boats destiny., if i have a triple by-pass im gonna stay away from Mc Donalds.

Gun-Driver,
   Your re-build looks very clean compared to my two boats! Your foam came out very clean, unlike the baseball size chunks I pulled out!

What tool did you use to remove the floor from the hull of the boat. I have been hacking away with a circular saw but am not able to get close to the sides.

How itchy have you been the last few days? I've got the stuff between my fingers and it's driving me CRAZY!!!

storm34 wrote: What tool did you use to remove the floor from the hull of the boat. I have been hacking away with a circular saw but am not able to get close to the sides. How itchy have you been the last few days? I've got the stuff between my fingers and it's driving me CRAZY!!!

I've been using a diamond blade on my angle grinder and my dremel for tight spots. Zips right through, just need to be careful with it. Really haven't been itching much at all though.

Day two on the '85 floor project. The port side seemed drier than the other but that could be due to the fact that the sun hits that side.

Floor off on the port side.


The wood up front was in good condition.



I think the design flaw lies in the battery box area. The bulk head where the hoses came through was like a dam. Everything in that area was completely saturated. That area will be redesigned when I put it back together.


I was wondering how I got stress cracks when my stringers were in good shape?? Then I saw where the floor separated from the wall exactly where the stress cracks are. I think that the stress cracks are caused more by floor separation than soft stringers.


So after two day's at about four hours a day this is where the projects stands.


Oh I can't forget about my little helper. She loves getting to use her tool belt.


She's helping cut out the foam.


More to follow.

A couple quick questions for the stringer/boat guru's.

1) Can I use the 635 3:1 epoxy to laminate boards together.

2)Would it be better to use maple instead of pine for the addional supports I'm putting in.

3)Would it be better to use 1x8's like original for the front floor, instead of 3/4 plywood. I would think plywood would absorb water more than regular dimensional lumber.

That's it for now .
My CPES should be here Thur. so hope to start coating the existing stringers where needed this weekend.

Slayer,
I'm not replacing any of the stringers they're all fine I just need to grind off the loose glass, coat with CPES and re-glass them with heavier glass than from the factory.
What my plan is to put ribs in from the secondaries out to where the floor meets the walls.
I'm doing this because I'm not putting foam back in and the bottom doesn't seem to be as thick as in between the main stringers. Also I will need support for the floor.
I plan on using 1/4" luan wrapped in glass for the new floor.
I just thought maple would be a little stronger than pine for the ribs and more resistant to future moisture.