Just a quick question, Im figuring that removing parts of a soft floor to inspect further underneath, ie stringers would be ok whilst on the trailer, but would it be necessary to remove the boat and put it on a cradle for support if the floor turned into stringer replacement ????
bonneville
Interesting question. Having done one complete boat rebuild I would say yes. However the important thing to keep in mind is that you want to support the hull so that it's shape does not change when the floor and stringers are removed.
Maturity is not when we start speaking BIG things,it is when we start understanding small things
Thanks tropi, just exercised my Neanderthal computer skills and used the search function LOL
had some interesting threads on the subject. thanks for your response, I sort of understand things a bit better now and can see
how the stringers hold the hull's shape.
got some pondering to do at the minute, looks like I have a big restore job ahead of me sooner than later !
I was hoping the trailer might hold it in shape, its a dunbier roller model, and might be restricted on room where I do this, so I was hoping that keeping it on the trailer with somehow additionally propping it I might have got away with it.
might have to plan this a tad better. have to cut out a boxed in area which is inaccesable behind the winch eye lit first up to fix that area to stop the water seeping in to start with, then once that's done, an assessment of whether I can get a season or two out of the floor. I might end up cutting some inspection holes in the floor to see if I can gain an idea if its extended to the stringers or not, not even sure If I'll be able to tell from doing that yet. but stopping the damn water's my first priority.
geez, start one simple thing and it snow balls into more...
bonneville
Check out this thread, Bonneville. http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...ght=easy+rider
Sorry about couple of the characters involved, but the fact is that with the right approach you can fix all of that quite easily.
A Proud Member of
"The Rebel Alliance"
shark poker, appreciated, that was a great read ! with some great banter going on to boot.
I think the best part was the floating rib reference LOL
look, its like everything, if ya know what your doing, well, second nature to someone like you !
My old rig is a keeper, so the intention is to do it once and do it right.
thanks again for pointing me towards the thread, great read
cheers
bonneville
there is probably a dozen ways to go about this, as long as the hul is supported well, you can cut it all out, if you are worried too much, do bits at a time, remove the floor, cut out one stringer, replace it, do another, replace that one and so on, it makes it a bit harder, but probably a bit "safer" for a one off first timer. Before you start, make sure you can buy materials in reasonable quantities at the right price, doing it by getting supplies in small amounts at (say) Bunnings will send you broke, get the resin in 20l (KG) drums, buy the mat in bulk rolls, there is plenty of suppliers around that will sell to you.
as noelm mentioned by the glass mat and resin in bulk,i used fgi across from harbor town
they were very helpful and price was very good aswell
get a full roll of mat and 20ltr resin and even then you will be amazed at how
quick you will go though the resin.
also do it in the shade and a cool day if possible only mix small batch's of resin at a time
500-1000ml at a time to give you a little more time to lay up before it starts to go off.
Yep, I used my local FGI too, very helpful if you need advice on quantities or materials to do specfic jobs.
Thanks for the suggestions guys, appreciated.
The plan of attack is going to be a bit staggered, so to speak. firstly ive removed the "useless" and problematic twin infloor tanks and am just measuring up for a marine alum custom made one, fairly good price I might add, tank is 2050x500x 170, with a tapper to allow for the last 500mm of the tank well rising 15mm quoted $665 t gst, with a bit of discount for the folding stuff... and replacing the Z channel with a larger one that screws down on the floor and recesses down the tank well to hold the centre floor boards. Then going to cut out the boxed in area at the bow to get in there and re fibreglass it to stop the water seeping in the actual eyelit,, ive had two people look at it, the second time I swapped out to a bigger eye, as the winch hook and safety chain hook were a pain to squeeze on, after it still leaked, I was told, "oh yeah, we noticed that the "wood" behind the eye is rotten, when we drilled thru we noticed it was saturated" !! but the eye was still fitted and urethane squirted in there and was expected to seal it up ! theres no access from inside unless I cut it all away and re-do. im picking its been like this since day dot, with no way of knowing it was seeping in at that point, hence over the years its soaked into the cabin floor and thru to the floor in the centre tank well area. An inspection hole drilled in from the cabin side down low on the floor gave them access to fit my boat catch and originally alerted them to a water issue, as about 40 litres flowed out when they put the inspection hole in, still not big enough and to low to get up to the eyelit area. friggen frustrating but, even I know urethane wont stick to wet timber ! but it wasn't there fault originally for the issue and even 12 months ago fixing it properly wouldn't have stopped the rot. So, ive hooked up with someone that does fibreglassing on the side, makes pods, cutting boards and has done quite a few floors and transoms, I intend to get into it as well, but with the other guys experience in fibreglassing, we should be able to get it done. Its been good looking at the other threads as with what ive read, its enough to know the basics or principles of the job, and if im not happy with whats been done, i'll certainly be saying so to him.
So, I am hoping, once the front area is done, and the water stopped, he wants to drill in a couple of inspection holes in the general floor area to try and get a look if there's stringer rot, if not, or its not to bad, I can use the boat for this season, then plan the main floor for next winter.
sorry, a long post here !
so crossing fingers, but if we find major damage underneath, then i'll be shedding the boat and starting on the floor.......
as mentioned i'll post up some pics of the tank installation and cutting out of the front eyelit area when we start that in about 2-3 weeks..
regards
bonneville
Another quick question,
understand fully regarding removal of stringers and keeping the boat in shape.
tell me, would it be feasible to remove the entire floor on the trailer, then tow the boat probably 20 km leaving the stringers intact !
perhaps I could brace across the stringers for transport ?
this way, works out pretty cost effective for me, I can spend my time removing the floor completely, then get everything inspected while still there, should it require stringer work, I can then decide whether I attempt it myself where its normally shedded with help, or if there's some serious damage underneath and to much for me to attempt, I would then have the option to tow it to the fibre glassers workshop and get them to carry on with repair. just tossing up some options before I rip into it all guns blazing and find I cant tow it.
regards
bonneville
Go ahead and pull the floor out. If its soft and rotten, it hasn't contributed much for a while.
Bracing across the stringers wont accomplish anything.
Also, there's a huge load difference between sitting quietly on a trailer being towed around and pounding across a choppy bay at 30kts.
Don't worry, the stringers will hold the shape for the tow.
well I decided to get started on the floor removal this arvo after cleaning up all my work for the week, wanted to see how equipped I was tool wise, whether or not the skill saw and grinder would do the job ! started up front just behind the bulk head down in the fuel tank area and on the other side of the bulk head in the cabin floor. the stringer ? running full length in the centre of the boat, looks ok, but water has definitely damaged this area from years of it leaking at the winch eye and traveling down to this bulk head ? under the floor between the cabin and the deck/fuel tank area and being trapped !
floor was soggy all around this area, with the under side of the floor not fibre glassed. it certainly doesn't look like what I would have thought was ply, more a solid reddish timber.
haven't cut out much, just enough to have a wee look at an area I suspected where the water was tracking down from the eye and by the look of it, didn't have any way of continuing on and ending up in the hull at the back, that is until it rotted the cross ways bulk head ? under the floor
( excuse my terminology ) which also was only fibre glassed on one side.
I realised that my face mask and glasses just aren't up to the job ! so im down to bunnings tomorrow morning for decent sealing goggles and a good quality respirator, oh and did I mention the dust ! geez your not kidding there LOL
once I work out how to download photo's i'll post them up, purely to get feedback on what I turn up under there and maybe for someone to look at that might be contemplating having a crack at doing there floor themselves, I know that's what I like doing if im attempting something ive not done before......
regards
bonneville
Get some disposable overalls while your at bunnings as well.
Maturity is not when we start speaking BIG things,it is when we start understanding small things
funny you say that LOL
I found a respirator (new) in my garden shed, one that has two round filters that screw into each side, but on opening the packet, only one filter cartridge in the packet, i'll see what bunnings have, but I didn't overall up this after noon with the little bit I did, her indoors has hit the roof with the state of my work wind cheater !!!! yep, lesson learnt !!!
bonneville
well, still trying to work out how to post a pic ! I'll try and sit down and do that tonight.
Had a reasonable few hours at it today, the comprises of about 6mm Masonite, with a black coating underneath, and fibre glass floor suface.
suppose it is making things a bit easier to remove. After skill sawing some squares, by taping a screw driver between the fibre glass and the Masonite, the fibre glass separates with a simple couple of taps, and the wet Masonite simply crumbles. The areas where the Masonite is not wet, I hit it with a mallot and it breaks apart.
So when did they stop using this Masonite for flooring ?
I intend on using 16mm marine ply, fibre glassed on both sides for the new floor.
The Masonite was nailed into the stringers. And it has timber, partly fibreglassed 12mm thick, 60 mm wide, checked into the stringers and angle cut and roughly fibre glassed onto the side walls of the boat, going across ways, port to starboard. Most of them are loose and 2 have already just pulled out.
as I said i'll try and figure how to post a pick tonight.
geeez, it certainly is a mission of a job LOL
bonneville
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