1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

[patuxent]

Hello All,<br /><br />I recently inherited my grandfathers old boat he used for fishing. It's (as you may have guessed) a 1972 Scat-Craft 18'. The poor boat has been through hell. All the seats taken out, many accessories screwed to the floor and removed throughout the years, etc. From the look of things no screw holes were ever sealed during installation or removal of anything. The amount of rot is actually rather impressive. I was able to remove about 90% of the transom with a shop vac. It just came right out. lol<br /><br />I have been reading this board for a few weeks now gearing up for the work. I have learned a ton of info from you guys already. This brings me to my inital questions...<br /><br />Does anyone know anything about old Scat-Craft boats? Google, Yahoo!, etc. searches turn up basically nothing except ads for boat covers. Literally any information you all may have would be wonderful.<br /><br />I have very good reason to doubt the information on the hull plate that states hull id, capacity and horsepower rating. Namely it's quite obvious that the plate was blank and my grandfather scratched the information on it himself with an awl or ice pick or something. It is definitely his writing. How he managed to get his hands on a blank plate I'll never know. The horsepower rating he has scratched in there is 140. This seems reasonable to me. (After complete and correct repairs are finished obviously.) What do you all think; does that seem like a reasonable rating? The boat is your standard fiberglass runabout. nothing special. I will post pics if there is a need or interest.<br /><br />Thanks for all I have already learned from you guys.

 

[90skichallenger]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Yes we need pics, makes it much easier to assist you in identification.

 

[patuxent]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

OK, I setup a shareaproject site so you all can see the pics. Advice and comments appreciated.<br /><br />Hopefully I will have the floor all removed and begin stringer inspection/work this weekend.<br /><br /> http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,75,00.html

 

[patuxent]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Hello again all,<br /><br />I got the floor all cut out this weekend. The stringers are in remarkably good shape. there is still a lot of clean-up I need to do in the hull before I make the final call on what to replace and what to leave. In the mean time I have a few questions. I'll post the latest pics of my labor this evening.<br /><br /> http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,75,00.html <br /><br />1) There was no foam under my floor. Should I add foam when I am reassembling the boat? What are it's benefits etc.?<br /><br />2) I would also love to mount a fuel tank under the floor in the hull. I am thinking about putting it up front to compensate for the weight of the outboard which I am going to use. It's a four stroke and is roughly 80 to 90 pounds heavier than a comparable two-stroke from the ealry 70's. The guy at them marina I'm getting the motor from says the weight can alter the ride. So my question is what issues could I run up against mounting a tank under the floor and possibly under floor in the bow. venting etc. ?

 

[tengals123]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Pat, I like that boat. Will look good if done right. You can add foam. Also look at my project for the adding of a underfloor tank, not really a hard job, just make sure it's structually sound around the tank.<br /><br />cheers

 

[patuxent]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

The weather was great this weekend; I was able to get lots of work done. The stringers were totally junked (hardly a surprise). I got them all ripped out and the hull all sanded, ground and ready for reconstruction. In a complete fit of stupidity I ground a small hole through the hull. The bright side is that it's a small hole. Once I realized what I had done I ground all around it to prep it for the fiberglass repair. That will be my next step, glassing that hole and installing the new wood core for the transom. Wish me luck guys.<br /><br />Tengals ~ Your project is one i have rely been keeping my eye on. I have gleaned much advice from you already. I still want to do a tank in the deck , but as you can see in the pics I have/had a huge stringer in the center of the boat that ran from stern to bow. My latest thought is perhaps two long narrow tanks that can be tied together to act as one tank. Any thoughts??<br /><br /> http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,75,00.html

 

[tengals123]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

yes, you can do that. If you go to a tank speciallist you'll find they actually have 100's of different sized tanks. All different dimensions. 2 tanks is alot of tubing, lines, gauges???<br /><br />try to work out the largest possible area you can get 1 tank into. Remember they come in all sizes and shapes. Ive even seen a 90Lt tank 5" heigh, so that it could slide under the crossmembers.<br /><br />Keep me updated and by the way the project is looking super, keep up the good work!<br /><br />cheers

 

[Boomyal]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

patuxent, I have never seen such an extensive network of stringers and cross braces in a boat before. It looks well engineered but poorly executed. Put that boat back together with well protected structure and it will be a heck of a boat. Keep up the good work.<br /><br />Here is a picture of how you might rearrange your structure to accomodate a center mounted tank. No reason that your hull would not accomodated a similar design.<br /><br />

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Patuxent, I don't know scatcraft but I have seen that stringer layout before - my boat.<br /><br />I have had long conversations with my boat builder and he described the structure as being a 'boat built around the centre beam'. The centre beam is the the all encompassing 'backbone'. It is the what makes that type of boat very sturdy - a lot of weight down low and a single piece of hardwood from stem to stern. Maybe use a little caution if you are planning on changing the design.<br /><br />Aldo

 

[patuxent]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Do you have any pics of your boat Aldo?

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Yes, but I hav'nt got one with floor removed. It's not the same boat as yours, mine is 23ft and made in Australia. If you still want a pic I'll post it.<br /><br />Aldo

 

[patuxent]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Oh ok. I haven't been able to find any pics of other Scat Crafts or any information about them. I was just hoping ... lol

 

[Realgun]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Thats a great job even if you had a boo boo. You can fix that hole easily. I would suggest a tank in there rear are under the floor is where you want it. The new motor is not that much heavier that a person sitting back there. Keep us posted!

 

[Boomyal]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Originally posted by Dunaruna:<br /> Yes, but I hav'nt got one with floor removed. It's not the same boat as yours, mine is 23ft and made in Australia. If you still want a pic I'll post it.<br /><br />Aldo

I thought you were gonna sell the boat Aldo. You have a change of heart?

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

No luck as yet boom and now that we are coming into winter it's just gunna get harder to sell. I have set the price a bit on the high side. I've got two little Aldo's sitting on my shoulders - one says sell sell sell!!! The other one says don't sell, don't sell, don't sell!!!<br /><br />I really like the style of the boat, it's just to damn big.<br /><br />Aldo

 

[patuxent]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Hey guys,<br />I have finished installing the new transom It turned out great! Thanks for all the advice from everyone. I am about to install the new stringers. They are already cut, coated with epoxy etc.<br />Here is my dilema... I have read a lot on here about having the boat supported properly while doing a restoration to prevent the hull from warping, distorting, etc. I have it on the trailer, is that enough support? I have taken measurements and all that and it doesnt seem to have changed. I even read on here about taking a straight piece of lumber and laying it across the sides perpendicular to the keel at midships and eyeballing it against the top edge of the transom to see if the boat is racked. I did that as well and all looks good there. However, I did have trouble getting good measurements for the height of the stringers. This was probably just due to inexperience, but now the paranoia has set in. Is the trailer enough support? It sure seems to be, but so many things seem ok when you have no experience and you dont realize it until its too late.

 

[Pun]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Another thing you can do is check to see how the windsheild is closing. Not that it's a tell-all, but it's one way of checking for a mishapen hull.

 

[patuxent]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

That's a good idea Pun but i have the topside completely removed.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

When I did mine, I did it one stringer at a time. Glass it in, let it cure. I went side to side, starting from the outermost stringers, and ending with the innermost stringers, My theory was my glassing one at a time, the shell would hold its shape better. Your shell as it sits, will have returned to its original out-of-the-mold shape. As long at it is sitting squarely on the trailer with no twist, it should be fine. You also want to make sure that you glass the stringer(s) in, and get out of the hull before they cure. Your bodyweight in the shell could distort it. Once all the stringers are in, and the hull is still square on the trailer with no twist, the floor should be screwed and glassed in in the same day. You really want the floor to cure all at once, don't glass part of it and save the other part for another day. The floor, and its bond to the stringers, transom, and sides is what ties the boat together as a single unit. Anyway, good looking boat, good luck with it...

 

[patuxent]

Re: 1972 Scat-Craft Rebuild ~ Transom Done. Stringers cut and almost ready

Thanks for response Jason. She is square on the trailer. She is not racked. I took a good straight edge to the chines and bottom and everything seems fine. I figured it was all good, but a little paranoia goes a long way...<br /><br />I will follow your advice when it comes to the floor. I'll have everything cut, fitted and set to go; then pick a saturday or sunday to do the floor all at once. Stringers are all cut and I'm coating them epoxy now. so not too much longer for the floor.