Gut Job

Well It's deer season so I'm gutting her. Going for structural rehab first. Feel free to rip her apart. This boat was redone in 2004 by .....Hmmm I'll have to check. But it shows how quick crappy work won't last. 7 years and the floor is shot. I love the treated that they used to catch the shaft cover. They also used it to catch the the engine cover where they miss cut the ply. I want to get this thing back to oem with the skeletal but I'm unsure of what they did when it was restrung before. So in short all my templates are wrong I'm assuming. I took a few rough measurements on the stringers to see if you guys would be able to let me know if they dropped the stringers to accommodate the ply or if the stringers are right height for glass and they just added the ply to the top. Would someone with a 87' factory floor or equivalent get me the measurement from the built in step on the sides to the floor??

My first questions is can I do this on the trailer or should it be on stands. If I did it on the trailer I'd probably shim it a little better than how it sits now.

Well good luck! I can answer a few of the questions. To determine the height of the floor put a piece of 3/4 ply over the primaries in the back. The 3/4" ply with about 1/4" for glass on it should be about the height of the floor.

So in this pic of my rebuild the piece my rear seat sits on is 3/4" ply with two layers of mat on it and it is even with the floor, which in my case the floor is 2 layers of biaxal and a layer of mat over foam.



To do the job you want to get it off the trailer. Support it in all four corners. Two supports in the back under the transom and two in the front. I made these to get the boat off the trailer. Pretty easy to build.



If you want to see more images of my rebuild you can find them here but please take note I had an 82 not an 87 but the floor should be similar.

Flickr

This is also a good read for you. He had an 87:

Bill's Boat Works

Have fun!

I'm in the process of doing an 86. If you need something specific, let me know and I will see what I can do. It would be best to send me an email at Jwarren@pacbell.net. I have more photo's with measurements than I would be able to post on this site.

Jeff

Roger
wanted to shoot you an email, but your address is private. Please shoot me an email when you get a chance, at jbragg67@comcast.net.

Tried to send each of you an email but to no avail. I corrected my info on my profile for contact. Thanks guys.

The floor in the rear was so rotted it came out like tooth pics.

8122pbrainard wrote: Roger, I'm curious as to who did the "job" on your stingers and floor. Do you know if it was a "pro" or the PO?

Unfortunately it was a "pro". I just dug through the archives and found a bill from the P.O. from American Boat Works in Tarpon Springs Fl. for 14,818.95 for a better than new condition fiberglass job.

skutsch wrote: YooperSully wrote:    found a bill from the P.O. from American Boat Works in Tarpon Springs Fl. for 14,818.95 for a better than new condition fiberglass job. WOW! That is some crazy money... Just looked at their website. "All work guaranteed as long as you own your boat." I guess for that kind of money, it was worth it for the PO.

Here's another example of why you should do a stringer job yourself!!! Almost 15K for a crap job and it only lasted 6 years! I wonder if American Boat Works is still around? Jody? If they are, we sure can add them to the list of were not to take a boat.

Guaranteed to do what??

Some pics from last weekend.

I've never done fiberglass work before so I have a few questions. More than likely I'm going to keep my stringers in. If any thing I will replace the secondaries but hopefully they aren't to screwed from original. If all works out, I will just fill in where needed. I guess more of a remodel than an addition. Now that stringer dimensions are coming in I'm starting to assemble my materials. I'm thinking that for the floor I'm going to glass over foam like original. Would three layers of 6 oz. be sufficient for the floor? Would I need to use Biax anywhere or can I just order one type of glass? Like I said I'm new to this stuff so take it easy on me.

I agree, take the extra day or two it will take you and just do the whole deal. Everyone who doesn't end up saying they wish they would have done the primaries. Plus, then you can say you did a COMPLETE floor/stringer job and there are no questions.

I see you are in MI, but the best place to get materials (if you haven't yet) would be US composites. When I tore into our 88 I found them to be the cheapest even with shipping and great to work with. us composites

I have to agree with the rest of the crew. I started my project feeling like I was succumbing to peer pressure by doing a complete stringer job. As I got into it, I was surprised to see how much of the mains were so rotten they would not support their own weight once I got it out of the boat. By the way, the exterior biax was very strong, it was just that the stringers beneath were water logged and rotten. I am actually excited to see if this boat will handle any differently when I am finished. After all, it is Winter here in Michigan... What else are you going to do?
How did that boat get from Florida to the Great Lakes? Did you bring it up?

Good luck. If you need some wood, go see the folks in the facilities management dept of the Yooper Dome. They would have some good leads on where to get some quality doug fir up there.


Keep at it!

Doug Fir is on the rack at our local lumberyards. Due to our snow loads, it's spec'd in houses and garages here. I see your familiar with MQT area. That Yooper dome is an impressive display of what wood is capable of.

Kap....why not just replace them anyway? You are building the rest of the boat back to last another 20+ years, why not do the primaries as well. Sure, they may ook ok now...but what about in 10 or 15 years?

I say go ahead and do the whole thing, it shouldn't cost too much extra time or money.

Can't argue with a COMPLETE stringer job.