Boat restoration tools/materials question.

[espyking83]

Finally got me a boat! Needs new floor, stringers and transom are good. Have some questions, also welcome to any tips. I have experience with fiberglass and composites, but dont know **** about the woods/resins/foams etc.

-Where's the best place online to buy flotation foam? Any preferred brands?
-Any way to seal up common plywood to use on the floor? I have enough material to go almost full composite for the floor, but would like to use that for furnishings.
-Is there any place to get any type of service manual for vintage boats? Looking for dimensions and such. Maybe even a parts catalog. Dont need any more info on the motor.

Thanks guys. Feel free to post any pics of your projects! Especially runabouts!

 

[kd3pc]

some of the forums for specific boats may have dimensions, manuals and the like. But, for most boats they simply don't exist. Even those companies still building seldom build the "same" boat twice - something changes, bilge pump here/bulge pump there.

Flotation foam tells me small boat, jamestown distributors sells blocks as well as two part foam and other materials. Make sure what ever you use is for marine use...the other stuff will dissolve in short order.

There is no place for builder grade plywood on any boat. Even those builders who use "epoxy coated" ply have problems, eventually. Floors and stringers are some of the most important places to NOT use non-marine products. Cold molded builds (epoxy impregnated/vacuum bagged) are an exception but the build takes care of the "wood" issues.

fasteners are another area not to scrimp on...monel is your best bet. Stainless is OK, if in fact it is a stamped stainless, not chinese knock off. But even stainless has issues, again over time.

best of luck. You do know that a boat is a hole in the water that you throw money in to?

 

[toddoky]

BOAT is an acronym for: Break Out Another Thousand...they can be great fun however.

 

[ZRX61]

Here ya go:

 

[jlipsky14]

I have quite a bit of experience with it, have done restorations, decks, transoms, stringers etc...
Need a little more info, where are you located, what boat, power, intended use, budget, how long you plan to own stuff like that. You may be better off buying local depending on your location.

What composites do you currently have? Would you be open to buying more composites for the deck?

You may want to join a forum directed more towards boats, I am on thehulltruth more than here and they are a good crowd as well.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Finally got me a boat! Needs new floor, stringers and transom are good.

You won't know about the stringers and transom until you get the floor out. Even if there are only a few soft spots, you might as well "do it right" !

Some sources of information

A well written, yet simple and easy to understand book. It is old now, but I don't think the techniques have changed. Runabout Renovation: How to Find and Fix Up an Old Fiberglass Speedboat

Watch this whole series on YouTube.
1995 Sea Ray 220 BR Rotten Deck and Stringer Restoration
Good sized boat that he bought thinking it was in good condition. Complete rebuild ! I think it took him 18-24 months.

All the questions you are asking are answered somewhere in this series.

 

[espyking83]

You won't know about the stringers and transom until you get the floor out. Even if there are only a few soft spots, you might as well "do it right" !

Some sources of information

A well written, yet simple and easy to understand book. It is old now, but I don't think the techniques have changed. Runabout Renovation: How to Find and Fix Up an Old Fiberglass Speedboat

Watch this whole series on YouTube.
1995 Sea Ray 220 BR Rotten Deck and Stringer Restoration
Good sized boat that he bought thinking it was in good condition. Complete rebuild ! I think it took him 18-24 months.

All the questions you are asking are answered somewhere in this series.

Got all the old foam out. Stringers are pretty damned solid. Might patch them up a bit further aft. Going fairly well, I was thinking when. i got it that I' d only get a few seasons out of it (wanted to see how well i maintain them before i spend good money on a nice one), looks like i'll get at least 5.

 

[espyking83]

Thanks for the link btw, gonna joi. That hulltruth site for sure

 

[G_P]

Definitely never use normal plywood on a boat. It will rot and fall apart extremely fast. I've got 2 aluminum boats, had to replace the transom in one a few years back, I stay away from old fiberglass because the amount of time and money usually required to fix them exceeds the cost of a used one in decent shape.

 

[RichWentFishing]

I got my from from here:
http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html

Next boat I get (I'm on number four) will not have any damn foam in it if I can help it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[espyking83]

Definitely never use normal plywood on a boat. It will rot and fall apart extremely fast. I've got 2 aluminum boats, had to replace the transom in one a few years back, I stay away from old fiberglass because the amount of time and money usually required to fix them exceeds the cost of a used one in decent shape.

Good info, thanks!

I got my from from here:
http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html

Next boat I get (I'm on number four) will not have any damn foam in it if I can help it.


Hahaha. Any idea how many gallons I might need for a 15ft tri hull? @ gallons looks like it might do it, but the next option is like 8, but is $40 more. Dont wont to order too little because I'd have to pay more shipping, but dont want to order too much because i'd never use the ****.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[theoldwizard1]

Got all the old foam out. Stringers are pretty damned solid.

Now the real "acid test". drill a 1/4" hole in the stringers, low (close to the actual hull) and toward the aft. Also drill a couple of 1/4" holes in the transom, low.

If you get water, the wood is rotten. Period. It can NOT BE PATCHED. Remove and replace. Period. End of discussion.


I scrapped my $100 runabout because the stringer and transom were shot. Even though it was only a 14' boat, I figured it would cost over $1000 in materials and way too many man-hours to get the boat back in good condition (full paint job, new seats, etc).

The real killer was the outboard (50hp 4cyl Merc) need a rebuilt gear box (add oil and it leaked out multiple pin holes !) That was probably going to be over $500 !!

 

[67King]

Well, you going to tell us what it is, or give pictures, or anything? There have been some pretty extensive threads on themalibucrew.com about some restorations, but I don't know enough to know what all would apply.

 

[espyking83]

Now the real "acid test". drill a 1/4" hole in the stringers, low (close to the actual hull) and toward the aft. Also drill a couple of 1/4" holes in the transom, low.

If you get water, the wood is rotten. Period. It can NOT BE PATCHED. Remove and replace. Period. End of discussion.


I scrapped my $100 runabout because the stringer and transom were shot. Even though it was only a 14' boat, I figured it would cost over $1000 in materials and way too many man-hours to get the boat back in good condition (full paint job, new seats, etc).

The real killer was the outboard (50hp 4cyl Merc) need a rebuilt gear box (add oil and it leaked out multiple pin holes !) That was probably going to be over $500 !!

Center stringer has some rot towards the motor. Most would say replace the stringer but im going to sister it and glass it up. Gonna remove the rot of course. Already drilled, rot only went ~9/16" deep. Filling the drill holes with bubble gum in the morning.

Well, you going to tell us what it is, or give pictures, or anything? There have been some pretty extensive threads on themalibucrew.com about some restorations, but I don't know enough to know what all would apply.

Sorry as **** about not posting pics yet, took the next two days off to work on it (wife's workign and boy is at sitter).

 

[espyking83]

'70-72' Marlin Neptune BTW. By Superior Plastics out of Oregon.

 

[espyking83]

Want to go ahead and say thanks to everyone posting in this thread, all great responses, just been busy the past few days with trying to find info about this boat. Will post pics tomorrow for sure.

 

[rsanter]

If you have a crack in the boat skin, you can also rivet a patch on the inside. You will want to use a panel bond adhesive to stick the patch on and use the rivets to hold it while setting and then later as a back up

Bob

 

[MushCreek]

If there's sufficient glass on the stringers, the wood is just basically going along for the ride. Boats have been built with foam stringers, and even hollow 'glass stringers.

 

[skruft]

The only "normal" plywood I have used on boats is pressure-treated plywood in non-structural places where it may get wet with fresh water and cannot easily dry, like inside of cushions. That works fine. There are older fiberglass boats where basically only the hull is fiberglass and there is wood in the interior that is not well protected.

 

[espyking83]

K guys. Got all the old foam out, took the last two days off from work to work on it and wasted nearly all of today trying to obtain materials locally. Gonna take some pics tomorrow (good ones) because im going to need some legit advice (deck support/fuel tank area). Wanted to take pics today but there was just so much damned debris you couldnt even see the structure.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Despite what other experts here have said, the plywood used in floor and transoms of fiberglass boats IS exterior plywood. Do NOT use CDX ! Use the highest grade EXTERIOR plywood you can find. Higher grades of plywood have fewer, smaller knots and any knots are removed and plugged.

Marine plywood uses, more, thinner, plys. This makes it stronger so you can usually use a thinner overall thickness. Instead of 5/8", you probably can use 1/2", but it still costs more (Menard's online pricing - 5/8" ACX plywood $32.99, 1/2" AB marine plywood $47.99)

After you cut the plywood to fit your floor, at a minimum you want to put 2 coats (first coat can be thinned at 4:1) of marine spar varnish on all surfaces and edges.