floor repair and exploration

dochockey wrote: Did you find the boat tin canning?

not much but I have it supported on jacks and that is one reason why I decided to replace one at a time

I got the first stringer in. As you can see I need to add more Cabosil on the next one. Was able to add a little bit of a fillet with the excess but will come back to add some more when it dries.

jbear wrote: my surprise was that Pete was not wearing a t-neck..gotta be cold up north. bet that he has a monogramed shirt on tho.... john

John,
Actually I did and have been wearing a T-neck plus some heavy shirts (sorry no monogram) since I've been spending so much time out in the new empty plant. It's been cold out there since there are only two heaters in all of the 200,000 sq. ft., open dock doors in the warehouse area and no equipment yet. The lack of heat was planned since when we get the blow molders running, we we actually have excess heat. In summer, we will have fan coils with chilled water trying to get the heat down.

It all gets fixed around here. I bet you could type gobbldy gook and someone could decipher it.    

8122pbrainard wrote: teelta wrote: I have read in some threads that some put down some fiberglass between the hull and stringer bottom. What is the purpose of this? This is to reinforce the hull when going no foam. It's thought that CC on later models used the foam it add rigidity to the hull skin.

Pete's not wearing a t-neck today.

Specifically, the glass and resin put between the bottom of the stringer and the hull is to make up small differences in fittment. It's not to take up slop, so try to get the stringer close.

When I was bedding my stringers I used some Matt and epoxy thickened with milled fiber and some cabosil to fill in the gaps where I didn't get the new stringers matched to the hull. When bedding them down the thicker the epoxy the better, almost a peanut butter consistency. You will find that it will try and find the lowest point. Hope this helps, Monty

FWIW My suggestion to go with heavier grit is to aid a possible mechanical grip to the chemical bond. When you get down to where you want to be with the 36 grit, don't be afraid to bounce it for deeper grooves.

If the gray splatter is in the bilge area, then it's probably gel. You'll want to cut that back for new glass to adhere. I'd use 36-50 grit on a flapper wheel.

Did you figure out the canning yet? If not, think of a coke can without its inner structure(coke). The sides 'can' easily when unsupported. My guess, based on the age of your boat, is that you will have zero to minimal flex to worry about.

This pic is all resin piled up where the base of the stringer was. You can see where I thought I was ready...    Had to go back and cut all of that out. The dark area under the old stringer is the hull.

Got a stringer out. Couple of questions...there is a channel in the fiberglass now that the stringer is removed. Even if I grind it down there will still be a channel there, which is fine I guess because the new stringer will go right back in unless I need to move it over an 1/8" or 1/4" to allow for thicker fiberglass (several layers to attach to hull and several layers to attach floor) than what was original. I'm not sure how thick the fiberglass will be on the inside (bilge side) of the stringer and want to plan so the engine cradle will fit.

The 80 sounds like a great winter project...

What is oil canning? How did you cut off the blocks? Chisel them out? Did you use 1x6s or plywood?

Mabe its just the 89s, but the hull kept oil canning and that was the reason for me going with the foam again..Its possible to make it better than new,you can see why the parts failed, and what should be done to keep that from happing again.. Oh and dont forget to do the platform brackets, their was just mush in their.. Make the new blocks double thick so the lags dont go through.... and mine all four were the same..

70% of my main stringers are good. Most of the damage is around the pylon area where there was no fiberglass on top of the stringers.   I wish I could just replace that area and be done with it but it sounds like a lot of people regret doing that in the long run. My thought is however I decide to do it - foam, no foam, plywood over foam or fiberglass over foam...it will all be better than factory and if it has lasted almost 24 years from the factory then it will last even longer after I get done with it. As long as I can get over my fear of cutting those stringers!

if there was no foam in these boats we would not have to do all these stringer jobs .
until they design a foam product that doesn't soak up water don't put it back in the floor.
my 2¢