Another BFN Rebuild

davidg wrote: Just trying to get a feel for what to expect if I decide to replace the foam in my boat. Dave

Dave,
Wednesday, how many pounds did you say your were over the published in the brochure? Something like 700-800lbs? !!

Dave,
The larger CC V hulls to me always seemed to sit bow down in the water too. Water would run forward and sit there aggravating the bow down. Only one way to tell for sure!!    

davidg wrote: Hence, if all the numbers are right, that means I have ~650 Lbs. of water in the foam. Does that sound realistic??

Oh yeah. Easy to believe.
I know I took 400lbs out of both of our boats. The bow of both were fairly dry. The Mustang was actually a bit worse up there than the SN.

8122pbrainard wrote: This is like having a couple of CQ's girl friends (not the ones he wishes he could date) in the front end of the boat. I don't feel a prop change will make a big difference!!

Pete, Im not so sure- these boats have a pretty serious power to weight ratio... even an extra 1000 lbs wont kill performance entirely. Our BFN was 400+ lbs overweight (mostly in the front), but still ran 56+ when lightly loaded. According to the desktop dyno, it wasnt pushing as much hp as we thought- about 370hp. With 6 people in the boat, it would still run 55. I dont notice a significant degradation in performance from loading up my other boats either.

Dave, sure- anything is possible. Would it be worthwhile? Not to me, thats for sure! The first problem is that there wouldnt be anything to support the floor when you put it back together... I promise that everything under there is rotten.

I think a prop change will really wake that boat up. 650 lbs is a lot of dead weight, but I think the crappy props have more to do with the suffering performance.

Tim....Yes, I realize there will be a bunch of rotten wood in there. I have already replaced a bunch of it back around the rear floor support frames, and along the sides of the bilge area.

If the secondary stringer system is rotten, which I am sure it is, it is probably providing no structural integrity. If I dug it all out, my thoughts are that the only key difference in before and after is that the boat will just weigh less. No real difference in structural integrity...and no foam to support the floor (although I may pour new foam in to replace the old). Do you agree with that?

Gary....My old girl is pretty near 35 years old now and has put on a few pounds. She is in dire need of a weight reduction program. Did you actually remove your old foam? If so, did you re-foam it or leave it out completely?

I think that removing the foam and using as-is would be a recipe for disaster. Soaked as it may be, that foam is lending a lot of rigidity to the structure of the boat- it keeps the hull from flexing and the hull/floor connection solid. Remember, the original strucure underneath is pretty weak- the main stringers are only 3" tall and end just in front of the motor. The secondary stringers are only 1/4" thick and lend virtually no structural support (they really just hold the floor back). The ribs in back and the bulkheads up front are spaced about every 3 feet. Only the main stringers were encapsulated in glass... everything else was pretty well exposed. With just the rotten wood being expected to hold it together, I think the boat could potentially crumble on the first wave you hit!

Theres a reason why we're putting 3x the number of supports back into the boat with our no-foam rebuild. Either do it right (full stringer job), or dont bother.

8122pbrainard wrote: If you cut and prep the temporary ply properly, you can reuse it for the full stringer job

I plan on doing this in my Skier...then I can take them out in the winter and store them inside! Won't Alicia LOVE that?!

Thanks guys! Appreciate all the advice. Thats why I am asking. I really didn't want to dig into the floor now anyway. I would prefer to keep using it as is. Maybe it will be next winters project, and I will do it all at once, and do it the right way.

We made a little progress this weekend. First, we blocked the boat and re-leveled it. All straight now- and solid! Then we marked out the new stringer/bulkhead system onto the hull. Then we started cutting Coosa.

We rough cut the mains, then laminated them together.



Then, we put the 21 degree angle on the bottoms, and trimmed the tops flush.



Then we bedded them with thickened resin (milled fiber filler). Still have some more fillets to make.







We also made a template for the keel board and got that rough cut and laminated. The $30 power planer from Harbor Freight was spectacular... only good for templates on this project, but will come in VERY handy on the Skier.





All braced up. We used a combination of cement blocks at the edge of the hull (front and rear) topped with wood. We also blocked the keel in 2 places. Then we added some shims between the trailer and hull, just to add a little more support. Its pretty solid.



Is it wrong to paint a 454 "Ford Blue"?



And because Eric was good enough to send me the new cradles, heres an obligatory tranny shot. Yes, the tag is masked off. Thanks again Eric.

Tim, I'm guessing the PBR is your dads and your drinking the Miller Lite?

Really looking good Tim. I bet having your father there is really a great help.

we do have to update your neutral safety switch, blue is fine with me btw, no matter how you wrap it, its still a big boy. lookin good, fire that thing on the ground....I always do with open headers to my prick neihgbor

Eric, whats the deal with the NSS? The one thats in there worked fine last year.

The beer was mine. I prefer the bottled stuff that Dad buys though- its free and cold.

Roger, everything has worked out great- bouncing ideas back and forth and having 2 sets of hands has really kept us moving.

Alan, yes- the trailer is tall, especially without any weight on it! It should settle a good 4" or so with the weight of the boat. Im not really following about the oil pan... Dad's been in charge of the engine disassembly, so Ill forward your comments to him.

Ha, thanks Joel.

Fillets are on the mains (still drying), nothing picture worthy yet.

A few goodies showed up this week... teaser pic: