1987 Bayliner Capri Restoration

[Warp-Nine]

I have finally gotten around to working on the Bayliner Capri that has been sitting in my yard for about a year now. Luckily, the engine, a Volva Penta 2.3L, is in good shape, 110 hours and rebuilt by the previous owner. However, it seems I have the standard problem with the 80s Bayliners, a damn rotted floor.

so far I am about four days in and have ripped out most of the floor, inspected the stringers and transom which to my surprise seemed to be in relatively good condition. I am still debating replacing them for the sake of total certainty of safety.

Now as far as my plans with with the boat, I am not rebuilding it back to stock. My intention is to use the boat to do some fishing here in the harbors and inlets of beautiful Southwest Florida. We have a ton of protected water opportunity for fishing and just general boating. Therefore I have devised a whole new interior layout I would like to build.

In short, I will be retaining the front now seats and just replacing the wood if needed and reupholstering. I have started that part yet... The consoles back I want to maximize my space for walking around and fishing. I ripped out the pedestal seats and bases and have plans to replace them with two swivel captains chairs. I am fabricating the stern part of the boat where the two rear seats and engine cover used to be into a fishing platform/sun deck in a sense.

On a side note, can the bow be reinforced or a splash guard added to allow for some light offshore usage? I’m talking 1-3 miles offshore on a beautiful glass water day. And at that would the engine be enough to move me in water with a slight current/wave action?

Also does removing the seat pedestals like I have done, seen in the picture in the next post, have any affect on hull stability and rigidity?

to be continued and updated with pictures shortly...

 

[Warp-Nine]

Here’s some pictures of the start and my current progress, I’m hoping to get the rest of the floor out this week and getting as much of the grinding and sanding done as I can. As you can see the foam was wet not soaked but I decided to take it out anyways.

Now for some questions for those a little more experienced than myself. I am debating what exactly I should do with this floor. I am planning to use 3/4” plywood either BCX or CDX, sealing the bottom with resin and then a good polyurethane waterproof stain or vice versa, would the stain stick to resin or the resin to stain if I stain first?, For sealing the top I am going to use resin and 9oz of glass, two layers of 1.5oz CSM and two layers of 3oz 1708 I think it is. Finally, I would be sanding and prepping the final layer of glass for a coating of non skid epoxy paint. I would like this repair to hold up for 5-10 years. Any suggestions on this plan of action would be greatly appreciated.

 

[steve_h7]

I don't have any experience as I'm also on my first and probably last restoration... but will just add what I did for mine after reading what was usually done.
First, I'd suggest that you go ahead and replace everything including the stringers. Imagine doing all this work on your project and then afterwards finding you're getting stress cracks on the bottom due to the failure of the support of the stringers and bulkheads. I never wanted to hear that after I'd gone to all the work to replace the transom and floor.

For my floor I don't think any stain is a good idea. I used 1/2" ACX and coated the underside with resin and followed up with CSM to waterproof it. The when installing on top I tabbed in the entire floor with 1708 and then covered the whole floor with a layer of 1708 and then a layer of CSM to get rid of some of the weave pattern of the 1708. In addition to adding 2 part foam under the floor and with the fiberglass, the 1/2 ACX feels like concrete. I don't have any long term proof that it's the way to go, but I'm happy so far as to how it's coming out.

Good luck on your project!