foam

What boat do you have? The foam is certainly structural in the newer boats (2001 hull and forward) and the argument could be made either way on the older stuff. Some of the smaller boats would probably be fine without it, but the larger ones (our BFN for example) would oilcan pretty badly without the foam.

I have 2 suggestions:
1) If foam is removed, something should be put back in place to strengthen the structure in its absence. On our BFN, we put in ribs every foot or so.

2) If youve gone through the trouble of removing the floor and foam, replace the stringers while youre in there. Its clear youve got some degree of rot going on and its much easier to address it now while its apart.

When I do the stringers can I use yellow pine? It is very available>
Thanks Mike

Like Tim said if you go the route without foam then you need to put in addional support for the floor. It also ties the sides of the hull to the bottom and mains.

This is what I did in my '85



I left access for water to escape and allow air to flow to help dry things out.

One more question How far do the main stringers extend toward the bow, I cut my floor out exactly where you did. And have managed to get the batterey box out but not the vents any tips I will try and post a picture
Thanks Mike

I went through the same thing last year and asked all of the beginner questions. I started the thread 73 Skier Restoration and set out to document my entire rebuild. There are over 200 pics and the CCF community poured their heart into 25 pages of suggestions and ideas. The below threads are what got me started.

TRBenj wrote: Keeganino wrote:    Threads are great and key info is hidden all through them but... A book would be great. Any recommendations? I think you'll find more than enough info here on the forums to answer any question that you have. Search, search, search- and read, read, read! Here are some big hitters on stringer/floor jobs. My apologies to anyone I forgot. In no particular order: Buffalo's '88 Barefoot Nautique Skibum's '87 Ski Nautique rebuild (and his website) aka's '83 SN Wakeslayer's '68 Stang Joe in NY's all composite 60mph Nautique rebuild The Grinch's '79 BFN UK79's '78SN Hasbeenskier has also done a beautiful job restoring 2 '81's with composites... a SN and a BFN. He has numerous threads on each, so do some clicking and read those too.

Keegan,
Thanks for doing all that searching!

I agree that no book is needed. It's all here at CCfan!

malibud wrote: it seems like a lot of work and expense to replace stringers when they are still good

The misconception is that theyre still good... just because they look ok doesnt mean theyre dry and rot free.

Its already a lot of work and expense to go in and dig the foam out, then replace the floor and carpet. If you only do that without adding floor/hull support to replace the strength of the foam, then you'll actually be making the boat worse, not better. Doing the job twice (once half assed, then again to do it right) is not recommended if youre concerned about time and money. Do it once and do it right- or dont bother at all.

8122pbrainard wrote: Keegan, Thanks for doing all that searching! I agree that no book is needed. It's all here at CCfan!

Tim actually gets credit for this list. He posted it on page 1 of my thread just as I was getting started. I have pasted it into a few beginner threads now as the same old questions I had to ask keep coming up. It takes a lot of reading and planning to take on a rebuild if you do not have any experience. I know from experience.

I took pages of measurements before I started the demo work, but did not use them much to be honest. It is easy to see where the stringers go down because there will be a groove that they fit into so the placement is not really an issue. There will be a definite line that shows the floor height all the way around the hull so here again you have a good visual indicator.

My boat did not have an engine cradle so the most critical measurement for me was the engine placement. From transom to tranny mounts and from log to tranny coupler were about the only measurements I used. I mocked up the floor in cardboard before cutting the plywood.

Here's the LVL thread

The skier took 2x8s for the mains and 1x6 for the secondaries. The SN is bigger so I would assume that the stringers would be at least this tall.

When I pull this stringer deal off can I be upgraded to at least a groupie?
Mike

lakedog55 wrote: When I pull this stringer deal off can I be upgraded to at least a groupie? Mike

Just a few more posts and your status will upgrade

measure twice

I gotta set of bunkbeds for my children, I had to cut 3 pieces of plywood to hold up the mattresses, measured, cut them and went to fit them.....mf, 2 were an inch to long and the other was an inch to short...one of lifes mysteries