Mustang Floor

I am new to the forum and have recently aquired my fathers 68 Mustang. It has not run in a few years and is in need of some TLC. I took the carpet and thin fiberglass out because of some spongyness in the floor and noticed a decent amount of rot. The boards running fore and aft seem to be in decent shape except for where the rotted crossmembers were slotted into them. There is signifigant rot in front of the engine around the pylon. This is just the rot that is visible, and I'm positive there is more underneath the fiberglass. I have no experience in boat restoration and am wondering how I should begin. I would also appreciate if those who have undertaken such a project could give me some estimates of time, money, and degree of difficulty.

Welcome 68!
Make sure you check out what 79 did to his boat!!!!!
   I think he's The Guru of floor/stringer repair!!!
Hey, got any pics of your 'stange? Make sure you post them! Good luck on the project!

Jim_In_Houston wrote: One question slighty off topic - is Kentucky really where they make the jelly?

Does this have anything to do with running around with your speedo in your hand?

After reading the original post on this thread I realized I did not address any of the orginal questions. Oh well. I can't help you. But others in the vast and large CCFan research department will be back to you with the answers you need. (Ignore the Speedo comment above - unlike this post, it is meaningless dribble.)

Jim is hard to follow sometimes especially if he's looking at the speedo in his hands and forgot to wipe off the KY jelly, it's the damnist thing to hold on to with your hand all greased up.

Just came in from taking out the floor and all of the foam in the bottom. The engine is ready to come out as well. Does anyone (79skinautique) know the easiest way to remove the old stringers? And, is there any clearance problems pulling the engine with an engine hoist while the boat is on the trailer? I will be posting pictures tomorrow, any help is greatly appreciated.
-Alan

Ok, the foam was totally saturated with water, which made it more difficult to get out, and down at the bottom it stunk to high heaven (especially under the battery box, made me gag). Here is the trick, use the claw end of a hammer and bash the hell out of it, the foam will come out in chunks, just be careful when you get down to the bottom for obvious reasons. Also have some friends help you or it will take days or weeks. Engine comes out tomorrow, stringers this w/e.

Hey Joe, don't you guys have garages in NY?
Let one of those cars sit outside. Time to get started on the boat man. Spring will be here before you know it. BKH

Joe, I feel your pain with the cold. I was wet sanding my boat last weekend and had a row of icicles hanging from the bottom of the boat. I needed a pair of ice skates to move around the garage. By the time I gave up I was frozen solid and had to sit in the jacuzzi for an hour to get the blood back in my feet. Luckily I was able to convince Mrs 81 to come keep me company.

First time poster, but have been watching the forum. Just bought an 86 bfn. Do you need to replace the foam? if so, what do you use? What type of wood do you use?   What I tore out seems like 1/2 inch plywood and also cedar solid pieces. Looking at replacing with MDO. Any suggestions?

68mustangky,

There are quite a few good threads on stringer replacement and foam, I did a quick search and came up with a lot of good info on the methods folks have used and what foam to buy so when you get a few minutes take a look.

Giving up spring break, now that's determination.

62wood, Thanks for the garage offer. I'll be doing my last wetsanding today and then buff the whole boat sunday and off to paint the stripes at my buddies body shop hopefully next week, gettin close. It's gonna be above freezing today so I got it made.

hay 69 mustang

I feel your pain...your boat looks like mine did 3 month ago...that rotin flottation smells nice..this site was all the home work I needed to do the job..that and the guys at the marine supplie store a case of beer..the flottation is a 2 part closed cell poly.cut the top of your stringer after your motor is out and try pulling the old wood out. mine was so rotin I had to cut alround. I used a 90 degree grinder with a cut off wheel.the hard part for me was shaping the bottom of the stringer.so I got it close then used "TELC"..it mixes in with the resin(make it real think like mud) put it on the bottom of the stringer then put wieght on theme.be sure the stringers are lined up perfect because there is no moving theme after the TELC dries.. oh I foregot ..after you have shaped the stringers.buy a product called "S1" and aply that first..I'am putting it on all my wood so I don't have to do this in my life time again..TELC is like body fill I 'am useing it to bond all my seems and any inperfections along the way..buy anough resin "5 gallons" if your removing the whole stringer.. glass and all.the fiberglass mating soaks it up like a spong..I could go on and on...but I suck on computers..I have pics. but there in the camera at my week end house and I keep forgetting it..I'll check in if you have any questions...it's not that hard it just takes time and money..

good luck

hey alan

I just broke down and bought a 5 gallon pale, before that I used 3-4 gallons...keeping in mind I reinforced the hull where I ground out the old fiberglass under the stringers and that used up 2 gallons. I would start with the big pale,you will use it..the resin mix with the TELC is easy,buy a gallon size pale of TELC, get an old ice cream pale to mix it in, put a little less than a quart of resin in the pale.. then start mixing the TELC till the resin turns to a paste..once you have a good thick paste, mix in the catylist..you use a fair amount of TELC to get the right thickness..the time you have to aply the mix to the stringer is about the same as any fiberglassing work your doing.. now aply the paste to the bottom of the stringer( use a good amount do'nt be shy with it) lay your stringer where you want it..I put boards over 4 different areas of the stringer than put as much wieght on theme as I could find.. this seats the stringers down. the TELC forms to the hull and fills in any inperfections of the stringer. you can work any left over that comes out the sides to form a rounded base of the stringer..let it dry over night. if there are any gaps under the stringers, mix more TELC and work it into the gaps. now your ready to start laying the fiberglass .start with 2 layers of regular cloth then finish with 1 layer of mat. the mat is much stronger..lay all 3 layers at the same time this saves on resin
it's a good idea to buy lots of disposable gloves,cheep paint brushs and a little metal roller to work out the air from under the fiberglass.

I hope this make sence to you and helps
it's not that hard just dirty..any questions just ask?????
Brian