84 Floor repair

Hello CC fans! Last fall I described a limited floor repair I was planning to do on my '84 2001. CC fans were fantastic with advice. Following up that post, I am looking for more input. The stringers sound tight and all bolts tighten, that said, I know there are likely issues. The floors separated from the hull, so I ground everything down in preparation for laying glass down to reconnect the floor to the hull. In doing that, I found the floor under the observer seat to be a bit spongy, and I am thinking of replacing that section with plywood - but stopping there. I suspect when I cut that out I will see ugliness and I am looking for some guidance. Truth is, I am very impressed by the amount of work and detail that goes into the full blown repair and aspire to it at some point, but am not able to pull that together - at least this year. I was hoping to find some feedback telling me I am not totally nuts for doing the following: cut out the floor section under the observer seat, forward of the ski pylon, replace with plywood piece covered in epoxy, fill the small gap along the sides where the floor meets the hull with foam, more as a filler than anything else, lay up biax approx 18" wide - 9 on the floor, 9 on the hull, recarpet, then ski this year. Some pictures are attached. Please go easy on me. Thanks, Doug

Fantastic, that is great. I presume this means re-setting the bat box and cooler, which are in good shape? I suppose I may have to figure it out as I pull it apart. Thank you very much.

Thanks, I think...I am new to the forum, I don't know how to see your signature pics or user info. Any help getting there is appreciated.
thanks
Doug

On a positive note... you may be able to take that floor out in one big piece and reuse it if/when you do fix your stringers.

Wow, the entire floor/wall joint on both sides of the boat has failed? Ive never seen that before. Any cracks showing up on the outside of the boat?

Before you even think about tearing the floor up, you need to gain a better understanding of how these boats were built in the first place. Then you will understand how one little soft spot in the floor where youre describing can be a tell tale sign of widespread rot underneath. The only wood in the floor goes from the front of the engine box to the rear of the battery box, and serves to span the bilge and provide a good substrate for the screws holding the seats down. (It does not go full width, as Chris suggested, it stops 3-4" short of the walls.) The rest of the floor is glass (~1/8" thick) laid directly over foam, so it will not get soft when the stringers are rotten. Check out some stringer rebuild threads on here that include pictures of the tear down process- that will calibrate your eyes.

What youre proposing to do is a pretty massive band aid. Yes, it will get you through the year- but it will still take 40 hours or so to complete the work, a good bit of money in materials for the glass, wood and carpet, and it'll all be undone when you do a full stringer job (so youre essentially flushing the money you spend down the toilet). I have done a partial repair as you describe and would not recommend it.

Replacing that section of the floor will not prolong the life of the boat in any way- the rot that surely extends to the stringers is really the concern (which wouldnt be addressed). You would do no more harm if you leave it be. I would suggest repairing the broken floor/hull wall joint though- doing so may prevent stress cracks from forming. I'd recommend doing that, and then skiing for another year!

dpkumph wrote: So one simple question for the sake of my education, understanding that stringer rot is the ultimate problem, is the gel coat cracking due to the joint between the floor and side of the hull the reason for this - lack of support in that joint causing the hull to flex at that point and crack? Thanks again, Doug

Doug,
The simple answer is yes. It has been documented in several posts. but when the stringers are gone, gel cracking along the floor level fore to aft is common. My worry is if you do bond the sole to the hull sides as a temporary fix, you will do more damage to the hull side gel. You need to plan a total gut and stringer job.

I thought about that...puts me in a quandry for being able to use the boat this year...or perhaps not. I was planning on filling the gap with foam. simply to fill the gap and provide a smooth surface between the hull and floor to apply the glass. Maybe that would also serve to "plug the leak" temporarily....lots to think about, thank you. Doug

The interior is in great shape. it was kept in a boat house, the boat looks beautiful - except for those pesky gel cracks, floor separation and other related scariness.

Doug

Check out the parts for sale section... User "turbo lesbo" has a restrung hull that he is parting out.   If you're even relatively close to his location, it might be worth checking out.   Put the boats side by side and swap everything out.    Hours wise to what you're talking about, you might be close.....   You did come to the right place for advice. Good luck with what ever you decide