Foam Removal between stringers

Greg,
Lots have used anything from pitch forks to trenching shovels but most find a "flat bar" to work the best. Don't forget to get us some pictures of the project!

cut the foam around the stringer with a saw, and then the flat bar or even a shuble to remove the large pieces of foam..not a nice job...

I assume you will be replacing stringers as well?
you have a long road ahead if so..
good luck..I did the job last year and it took almost 5 months...
Eventhoug I sourced out.

I used an air chisel. That worked pretty good.

I agree with pete..If you got into the point of tearing the floor like you did I don´t see why not to continue. Yes rot is there, my 1992 was in the same condition as yours, soft floor in the front area, wet foam and wood black and all wet. IMO I could have continue using it like that for sometime, but as I had to rebuilt the engine I decided to do everything at once and forget about it for the next years. If your plan was to use it in the summer best option was to leave as is and address later on the winter.
and what are your plans for the foam? you want to remove all foam from the boat or just the affected area, and then refoam?
Now if you want the boat for this summer, don´t touch anything leave it as is, glass over it and put the old carpet..At least cost will only be glass.

I was in the exact position you were last spring. Our 88's stringers were in bad shape on top (looked just like yours) and needed a new floor. Since it wasn't my decision, we cut the top 2" of the stringers, made a sections to replace the top and bedded it in epoxy. Then we replaced the foam, new bulkhead and put PCV piping to the airbox. It was pretty solid once we were done but there was still rot in the rest of the boat, just not as bad.

Again...this was my dad's boat and not my decision.

After doing all the work on the boat myself, I would do it again in a heartbeat BUT....I would do the whole thing. I had 3 months and a bunch of money in the job. The boat didn't get on the water till the 4th of July

I would strongly suggest you do the entire thing all at once and do it right. It will be cheaper in the end than doing it this year and the entire thing next year.

Thank you for all of the input & I know you guys are right. I just dont feel that I am qualified to do the work. Does anyone have suggestions of where I can take it in upstate NY? I have contacted Adirondack Marine but I would like to get other quotes as well. Thanks, Greg

8122pbrainard wrote: Greg, I haven't seen a poor or botched up job yet.

Pete, we have seen some poor work, but that was done by the shops not the owners!

Greg,

Can you run it this year and dig into it in the fall? By far the most difficult part is the time it takes to do it right.

Tag962 wrote: I think I will patch it up so I can run it for the summer, then do it the right way over the winter! Again I appreciate all of the feedback! She is my baby & deserves to have it done the right way!!

8122pbrainard wrote: Greg, Some have said the same that they didn't feel they had the skills to handle a stringer job. They read restringer threads here and took on the job. I haven't seen a poor or botched up job yet. You stated you were planning on shaving off the bad spots and glassing over them. That's saying you're confident with doing the glass work so you're half way there! Do some searching and reading here. I do not think you'll be happy with the costs of jobbing the work out!!

I'm one of them. Eventhough I have a different brand boat, the concepts are similar. Pete helped me through a shaft log replacement last spring and many have helped through the rebuild on this site and the Supra site I'm on. Check out my rebuild thread and you'll see the progress and all the help from others along the way.

If you feel confident you can patch it up to be strong and safe for the season, go for it. Just know you're going to cost yourself more in the long run. You'd e better off doing it right the first time, but it could stop you from going out this season. I'm going to finish minesoon, but I've been working on it since October.

Jim, you may want to start your own thread to discuss...

The pour in method has been discussed here before. While it sounds good in theory, I have yet to have a stringer come out of a boat as easily as your guy makes it sound. Its certainly not just a matter of "digging out the wood"! I cut all the way through the glass (on both sides) all the way down at the hull, and it still usually takes a bit of prying and coaxing to get even a rotten stringer out. Even if you could get it all out easily, I have my doubts of whether the pour in method (Seacast?) would be a good approach. If you want to go with no-wood, then do a search- a few members have rebuilt their stringers with various composite products, the most common being Coosa. JoeinNY was the first to use the material on his stout '83 2001. I am doing a Barefoot Nautique with Coosa right now (see "Another BFN Rebuild"), and I expect the structure to outlive me.