Stringers Cost?
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Boat Maintenance
Forum Discription: Discuss maintenance of your Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11831
Printed Date: September-29-2024 at 1:41pm
Topic: Stringers Cost?
Posted By: vondy
Subject: Stringers Cost?
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 3:28am
|
Now that I am pretty much done boating for the year I'm starting to plan my restoration projects for the winter. One is to replace the stringers. I know a lot of you have done this yourself and I plan on doing the same. Would anyone like to share the total cost on your project? I can imagine the wood cost but have no idea on epoxy, fiberglass, foam, etc.
This would be for my 69 Mustang. Thanks Y'all! ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=4645&sort=&pagenum=1 - 69 Mustang HM |
Replies:
Posted By: tullfooter
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 10:44am
|
I would also be interested in the cost if someone has had it done.
Steve ------------- Play hard, life's not a trial run. '85 BFN '90 BFN White Lake, Michigan |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 12:23pm
Plan on $1000-1500 for the fiberglass cloth, epoxy and foam, assuming you order from US Composites or similar. Its not terribly difficult to figure out how much foam and glass you'll need- thats based on area and volume. The epoxy is always a bit more tricky- I tend to use about twice what I originally thought I needed. Tull, the ballpark numbers Ive heard thrown around to pay a professional to do a stringer/floor job have been in the $4-6k range. Definitely a labor-intensive process. ------------- |
vondy wrote:Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 12:25pm
|
I'd have to say the materal costs today would be in the 1.5K to 2K range. The chemical costs have gone up along with the oil/gas. The one single item that does cost is the foam! ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 12:30pm
Youre right- the foam is a big dollar item. Based on what it cost me to do the floors and stringers in my Tique a few months ago, Id say $1500 would very easily take care of the materials needed on a 16' boat. ------------- |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 12:34pm
|
Tim, Where's the pictures of your Tique project? Did you put foam in it? ------------- |
Posted By: BuffaloBFN
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 12:40pm
|
I'd say Pete was a bit low on his estimate except that you have a smaller boat than what I did w/o the V hull. Also consider tools that you have and will need. I bought a hand planer and angle grinder and borrowed a sawz-all. It's amazing how tools and incidental supplies add up when doing a first big glass job! ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2331&sort=&pagenum=12&yrstart=1986&yrend=1990" rel="nofollow - 1988 BFN-sold "It's a Livin' Thing...What a Terrible Thing to Lose" ELO |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 12:45pm
|
Bruce, the latest pictures Ive taken are in http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1861 - my diary. I did refoam- just like the factory (but with improved methods and materials). I need to take some more pics to highlight the rest of the cosmetic upgrades (trailer, interior, exterior). Ive been tinkering with it all summer and the boat is essentially finished now.
Greg, youre right- I had all of the necessary tools on hand already. Youre also right that there is a huge size difference between a BFN and a Tique or a Mustang- these 16' boats look like toys in comparison to the modern 19' boats. ------------- |
Posted By: vondy
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 1:30pm
|
Boy you definitely have to love these boats to put that kind of money into them don't you.
I have around $2,000 in her now, including the price of the boat, probably around $2,000 for the floor, engine rebuild I don't know yet, not to mention any new upholstery and various other items on top of that. I guess that's not too bad looking at the cost of newer boats. But it doesn't seem like these really hold their value, so it's definitely for the love of the boat isn't it. OK, so back to the stringers. Let me run down what I have gathered from this site and see what I am missing. 1. Remove foam 2. Replace stringers one at a time 3. Epoxy them to hull? 4. Fiberglass over them? 5. Fill with new foam Is that basically what needs to happen? ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=4645&sort=&pagenum=1 - 69 Mustang HM |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 1:34pm
|
I didn't realize you got that far. It looks great. How'd you get so many pictures in your diaries? I am not putting any foam in mine. ------------- |
Posted By: vondy
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 1:48pm
|
What is the purpose of the foam? Keep you from sinking? Structure? ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=4645&sort=&pagenum=1 - 69 Mustang HM |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 1:51pm
|
In the case of my Mustang, both. I'm going to have to improve the framing to eliminate the foam. ------------- |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 1:56pm
Yep, thats pretty much it- then glass over the top of the foam to create the floor. Do some searching on here as to the foam/no-foam debate, its been covered at length! Youre absolutely right that this is a labor of love- you wont get rich by restoring and selling old Correct Crafts. If youre lucky, you might be able to recover your costs if you were to sell- not including your time, of course. However, if you dont plan to sell, you have a very nice, solid boat for not a lot of money. Bruce, I played with the code a bit and linked photobucket pictures in my diary. I really need to update it- I am very pleased with how the boat came out. ------------- |
Posted By: BuffaloBFN
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 1:56pm
That's been debated several times before. It is for floatation, some structure, and I think it has acoustic qualities as well. I think someone even brought up marine regs and/or insurance issues. ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2331&sort=&pagenum=12&yrstart=1986&yrend=1990" rel="nofollow - 1988 BFN-sold "It's a Livin' Thing...What a Terrible Thing to Lose" ELO |
Posted By: vondy
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 1:58pm
|
Riley,
Are you eliminating the foam so that water can never soak it or is it a cost issue? Doesn't the closed cell foam resist water? I'd love to watch your progress, have you been posting pics? ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=4645&sort=&pagenum=1 - 69 Mustang HM |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 2:36pm
|
Vondy, I like the idea of having air be able to ventilate the bilge and water be able to drain down into the low point of the bilge. I'm not worried about the boat sinking, and if it does, I'll have life jackets, (and I'm on a big lake that can get 4-5' waves).
Problem with the framing is, is that the foam supported the strapping that runs side to side and provided longetudal support to the sides of the hull. The picture of the floor section in the 1966 brochure is how my boat looked when I pulled the plywood up. This is how it looks now. I have to fiberglass blocks to the side of the hull in order to run the strappingacross the stringers to support the floor and the sides of the hull. 
I'm not done tearing everything out. The only things I'm leaving in place is the inner and outer stringers. Everything else will ne replaced. ------------- |
Posted By: behindpropeller
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 7:58pm
|
Why would you stop at the stringers? Why do all of the work and not the most important part? ------------- |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 8:09pm
|
The outer stringers have some rot. I have a plan to repair or replace them. I believe the main stringers are solid and have no rot at all. I am going to verify that by drilling some holes in them. ------------- |
Posted By: BuffaloBFN
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 8:23pm
Bruce, what if we twist your arm a little?  ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2331&sort=&pagenum=12&yrstart=1986&yrend=1990" rel="nofollow - 1988 BFN-sold "It's a Livin' Thing...What a Terrible Thing to Lose" ELO |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 8:36pm
Greg, I'll tow it down to Georgia tomorrow if you think you can fix it better than I can. You are going to be go crazy soon unless you have a winter project.
My plan is to cut the tops off the outerstringers and removed the bad wood and then glass/screw a new board into the existing wood/fiberglass channel. The main stringers seem rock solid. I am going to drill holes in the bottom as Pete suggests just to make sure. ------------- |
Posted By: BuffaloBFN
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 8:58pm
|
I didn't mean anything along the lines of better than you can. I did post on another thread that I found problems with mine that drilling holes wouldn't have found. They didn't have any decomposition rot(mush), but they weren't what they started as either.
As far as projects, I'm still going to have to take my engine apart again...probably?!!? LOL ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2331&sort=&pagenum=12&yrstart=1986&yrend=1990" rel="nofollow - 1988 BFN-sold "It's a Livin' Thing...What a Terrible Thing to Lose" ELO |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-03-2008 at 10:42pm
|
Greg, I've seen your work. I know you can do it better. Other than chain saws, power tools scare me. I'm no carpentier, but I'm going to try. ------------- |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: September-04-2008 at 8:43am
Bruce, I really feel you are thinking this method will be easier and save time compared to just cutting all the old glass off down to the hull. I don't feel that way! There are some other issues you need to think about as well. You'll never get the new wood to fit nicely down into the old "channels. and the fitting will be lots of trial and error. It will be a PITA! You will not get the bottom and sides of the new wood completely bonded off to the old/new glass/resin. Pouring resin into the channels with the new wood to fill voids isn't the answer ether. Resin itself isn't the strengh of the system. The glass is and the resin is just the bonding. Do not use any screws. A mechanical joining is a stress point. Some of the screws may even loosen up over time and this will be a moisture entry point into the wood. I'm with Greg and Tim on this one and have mentioned it before. I'd strip out the complete hull!! Don't worry about your skills - we're here to help! Instead of you shipping the boat down to Greg, maybe Amy would love to kick him out of the house for several weeks. He could make a field service call to you!! ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: September-04-2008 at 12:13pm
|
Bruce, I would recommend cutting the old glass on the secondary stringers down MOST of the way- not all. Ive done this on both my '90 and Tique (leaving 1/8-1/4"), and that little bit of channel helps hold the new stringers in place. Cutting just the top off would be a major PITA- both when it comes to remove all the new wood, as well as installing the new stringers. I imagine you wouldnt get a good bond between them, either.
As far as the main stringers go, Id go as far as removing the glass from at least one side of each stringer so you can see their condition, from front to back, top to bottom. If the wood is solid all the way through, then just reglass that side. If they have some questionable spots, you can consider replacing the entire thing. ------------- |
Posted By: behindpropeller
Date Posted: September-04-2008 at 1:54pm
|
I know if I was looking at one of these boats with wood stringers I would be asking floor questions. If they just did the floor and not the stringers I would not even consider the boat.
------------- |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-04-2008 at 6:26pm
|
Good ideas Tim. I have peeled small sections of fiberglass off the main stringers and so far they look very good. I have found no rot. On the outers, 4' of the port one is completly gone at the rear. The starboard one is a little punky in a couple of spots where the strapping connects to them. Leaving a channel sounds pretty doable. It maybe easier to replace both that way.
Do you think running strapping to within an inch or so of the sides of the hull and then pouring foam like was originally done sounds easier than cutting out blocks and fibeglassing them to the sides to connect the strapping to? Pete, the mains seem rock solid. The only evidence I've seen that may indicate that I have a problem is when I removed the lag bolts for the engine, there was some corrosion on the bottoms of them. They were really tight and hard to remove though. They had a lot of bite. ------------- |
Posted By: JoeinNY
Date Posted: September-04-2008 at 6:45pm
|
Sorry riley but I think you may have the classic bottom stringer rot as it would be difficult for that screw to only corrode on the bottom without there being water/air in that area. As Pete often tells us the Vinylester resins of the time were able to be penetrated by water and often time the rot is from the hull up. Now could you pull off the side, inject the wood and infected area with rot doctor and cpes and move on with your life probably, is it any easier... maybe not but its not as scary as pulling the whole stringer off. I always grind/flap disk the hull smooth before I start putting down stringers but thats messy, expensive, and time consuming... ------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1477 - 1983 Ski Nautique 2001 1967 Mustang 302 "Decoy" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO5MkcBXBBs - Holeshot Video |
Posted By: BuffaloBFN
Date Posted: September-04-2008 at 8:18pm
I agree with cutting it smooth Joe, but our buddy Tim disagrees. I was after a good glue bed. ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2331&sort=&pagenum=12&yrstart=1986&yrend=1990" rel="nofollow - 1988 BFN-sold "It's a Livin' Thing...What a Terrible Thing to Lose" ELO |
Posted By: horkn
Date Posted: September-04-2008 at 11:11pm
|
I redid my flooring, and all the interior for a cost of $1200 when I first bought the boat like 6 or 7 years ago. I got lucky with not having many hours on my boat when I redid the floor, and only had wet foam and a couple of soft spots in the floor.
That included buying all the marine vinyl, and marine carpeting at my friend the upholsterer's cost, buying lumber and fiberglass resin and all the other materials at normal prices. Plus I had no costs for the labor of upholstery. Bonus.. It took me 250 man hours to do it though. granted I spent a ton of time re engineering the seating and using wood for the floor instead of a fiberglass mat over foam like the factory had. So you might get away with 250 hours on a stringer replacement. I went through 12 GALLONS of fiberglass resin. I don't know what resin costs now, but even when I did the job on my martinique a few years back, the resin added up when buying 3-4 gallons a at a time. ------------- 78 martinique- refloored, reinforced, stringers re glassed, re engineered interior GT40P heads Edelbrock Performer intake acme 4 blade http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/horkn/fish/nautique.jpg |
Posted By: bobzilla
Date Posted: September-04-2008 at 11:47pm
| Riley, When I looked at mine they seem the same way, just a couple of bad spots on top,I drilled into the stringers in several locations and they seemed dry, but the boat has been in a dry barn for 23-24 years.My biggest fear is as soon as I put a lot of money into everything else and put it in the lake i would be running along at 35 mph and hit a wake and be in two peices. I know it's going to be a PTA but, I will know it's like new. My intentions are to leave the foam out, and support the floor supports with glassed blocks on the side of the hull.My boat is 41 years old although it has been in a barn half of it's life I don't trust those stringers.after other component checks and seeing if the old 318 runs, I intend to pull the engine and start cutting them out.I am no carpenter either.If it gets over my head I guess I'll pull it to Gregs house LOL.I hope you got room Greg.He can do my stringers and I can tear down his engine LOL.I got a price of 3.90 per linear foot on the wood.Rot Dr. has the the CPES for around $200 if memory serves me right.and then just the glass and fabric.I am going to do plywood with CPES, foam with the glass on top may be cheaper.I want to build it so I can at have storage space for ski's if possible. One thing I would like to find out, are the sides carpeted originally or left bare and painted(Pete I know you gotta know this one) ?I will take lots of pictures and post them.I have no doubt with the help of y'all on this site I will get this old girl pulling skiers like God and Correct craft intended. |
Posted By: horkn
Date Posted: September-04-2008 at 11:55pm
|
Bob, my 78's sides were carpeted. I recarpeted mine just like they were originally. Wait, you say yours is 41yrs old? That is 11 years older than mine. I have no clue what they did back then.
I tore all the foam out and used resined plywood for the entire floor. Yes it weighs more, but it is one solid boat, and makes a nicer wake for boarding due to the extra weight. ------------- 78 martinique- refloored, reinforced, stringers re glassed, re engineered interior GT40P heads Edelbrock Performer intake acme 4 blade http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/horkn/fish/nautique.jpg |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: September-05-2008 at 8:05am
Do you know the year? I may have missed it but don't remember seeing one. Carpeting didn't start until the 70's style hulls came out and that's the era of the colored "astro-turf". The first couple years of the Nautique (61-62) the hull sides I feel were painted as well as the ply floor. From looking at your hull, I have to say it's between a 63 and 69 (I think it was 70 when the Nautique went with the smooth bow deck). So, those years (63-69) would have had the vinyl (comercial wall covering) on the ply floors. The same vinyl on a hardboard panel covering the hull sides. A separate vinyl covered base about the size of a 1x3 trimed the junction between the hull side panel and the flooring. Here's the Nautique in 68: 
Reid may be able to fill in some more of the trim detail from one of his Nautiques. Bob, Have you looked at any of the epoxy resin systems yet? Most here have gone with US Composites but another choice would be Mas. They have a web site with plenty of user friendly instructions on resin types, mixing in different fillers, etc. West I feel has just gotten too expensive! ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: Hollywood
Date Posted: September-05-2008 at 12:01pm
I'm not overly religous but this deserves an AMEN. ------------- |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-05-2008 at 12:17pm
|
Pete is correct, 60's boats mostly used side panels. Some of the pictures in the reference section show the low end boats with painted sides, but I've never seen one. Carpet didn't start until the 70's.
Those 60's Nautiques are beautiful boats. I will keep exploring my stringers along with my wishful thinking, but it will be repaired correctly. I appreciate the input. ------------- |
Posted By: bobzilla
Date Posted: September-05-2008 at 8:23pm
|
Pete, Mines a '67. Man we need to crown you the king of old Correct Craft restoration info, you can rattle that info off like I am with Corvettes. Mine appears to have had painted insides. That '68 looks like it had panels with vinyl. Was the floor covering like linoleum? I would think that would be slippery when wet LOL.I was thinking of running carpet up the sides and using the newer carpeting, I like the way Gregs BFN looks. I have a light blue/turquoise top deck and would like to find a similar colored carpet but I haven't had any success finding that color carpet
Riley, If I can help let me know, I am a newbie but I'm fixin to loose my innocence. I think I have swung a deal for my douglas fir, now I just need a pail of CPES. Pete, I will check out there web site and do a search on them.I am getting ready to start purchasing.I have my battery charging for my compression checks. I am going to get the old points file out and dress the points up and set them, make sure I have spark, and clean the plugs up and see if she'll fire up to check oil pressure.Then put the carb together, i haven't pulled the throttle shafts out but they seem a little loose, I will rebush them to try to salvage the original carb.I believe my buddies at Autozone got me the right kit for the rebuild, we buy alot of parts from our local autozone and they are very helpful(if you get the right guy behind the counter).They had to dig through carb kit numbers to come up with the right kit, but I think it will work. Where can I get some bushings for the throttle shafts, I saw a web site that had a kit but it was expensive and had wnough to do six carbs, I only need enough to do to shafts, not 12.Hopefully I will be reporting my engine condition soon. I have not looked at the velvet drive yet, but from what I have seen it looks like a forklift "reverser" I have rebuilt my share of automatic transmissions, I imagine it will require the manufacture of some special tools to rebuild it. |