1989 Sratos 180CC Restoration

[Tnstratofam]

Nice job. It looks like it was a real nightmare to pull.

 

[Shakedownscott]

[SUB]Good work on tearing the deck out. Glad you were able to get it out in one piece, that will help when you have to put it all together.[/SUB]

 

[BayouWaters]

Well, with much effort the cap finally broke free. They stuck 24oz woven roving down 3 foot of each side of the bow through a 6" access port. This was brutal to access and took 1/2 a day to get it to break free. Done for the weekend...

 

[Tnstratofam]

It looks like she fought you the whole time. You'd think a boat built like that would hold up to the abuse owners put them through better. Just goes to show water will find its way in and cause rot and damage if you don't take care of your boat.

Congratulations on getting the top off.

 

[kcassells]

Awesome you got er seperated. Trns wheres those paint pics?

 

[BayouWaters]

Spent Saturday getting inner transom skin off and the bulk of the rotted transom core out. This work went fairly fast with no real significant issues since the bulk of the transom was completely rotted it came out fairly easy. As the demo continues I am finding all kinds of issues with the original building process. The second pictures shows the floor drain line cutout that was under the floor. The manufactured just cut through the bulkhead and left the cutout completely exposed with no glass. I have found several examples like this as I am pulling the floor up. I look forward to doing a better job during this repair than the original manufacturer did in building this boat.

Speaking of a better job, I am noticing that the transom core does not run all the way to the sides. It terminates approximately 2" from the side (see last picture). Now understanding that this boat is almost 30 years old and had a 150 hp strapped on it and shows no signs of hull cracking anywhere I guess I am going to go back with the same design. Maybe reinforce the corners well with 1708. Anyone encountered a similar configuration?

Inner skin and core material removed. Will work on grinding the outer layer of plywood skin off of the outer skin to get down to clean glass. I am also going to cut the stringers back approximately 16" to allow for proper tabbing of the new core.



Floor drain cutout through the bulkhead under the floor shows exposed wood from the manufacturer. Several examples throughout the boat just like this.



This is a picture looking straight down the inside of the transom, you can see that the transom core stops short of the corner.

 

[BayouWaters]

By the way...Epoxy or Polyester resin for rebuild??? The big debate and everyone seems to have an opinion.

One thing I can say is that anyone who says polyester resin does not form a good bond with wood has obviously never had to demo a boat before. As far as I can see the bond between the plywood and the resin is exceptionally strong. As I demo the wood joints are failing and not the resin bond. All restoration on this boat will be with a combination of Vinyl-ester and straight boat yard polyester resin. Some exceptions will be made utilizing epoxy for sealing cutouts that penetrate through the hull prior to installing thru-hull fittings...epoxy is just superior in creating a waterproof barrier in those particular applications.

 

[kcassells]

Cut your new transom to fit not like the way you found it. fill perimeter with peanut butter and then tab it in. Believe it or not alot of mfg's produced boats like yours. You'll have a better boat than the day it rolled out of the factory. Whatever resin you pick that's the one you stick with to the end. They don't mix. poly is less expensive, vinylester more, EEEEEpoxyy the most costly. All a matter of preference, they all will get the job done.
I ran with EEEEpoxy and like it.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Looks like good progress. You will likely find lots of areas that seem like either poor workmanship or poorly sealed substructure. The thing is most boats like yours, and most of ours, are built with speed of production and cost savings in mind. Plus if the manufacturers overbuilt their boats there would be little need for people to continue to purchase new because boats would last longer.

Keep up the good work and you will have a better boat than you can purchase new.

 

[ahmincha]

Bay when I did mine I went with epoxy. Material cost more but no hazard shipping . Ended up not costing that much more. Also you don't need csm. But remember no gel coat over epoxy

 

[BayouWaters]

Transom plywood core has been completely removed and a template made. I will be cutting out the new transom today and I started thinking about ways to prevent future rot in the new core, or at least significant delay it. The issue with plywood cores is the thru hull fittings will eventually leak and allow water to saturate the core. My initial thought was to cut the holes slightly oversize and coat the interior of the cuts with thickened epoxy, but then started thinking about eliminating the fittings from actually touching the core at all. I had two thoughts, see below... Anyone have experience with this concept? Other ideas?

 

[BayouWaters]

Here is an example that I found on another post that illustrated an idea to prevent thru hull fittings from creating future rot issues. Thoughts?

 

[ahmincha]

You could also pre plan where everything is going to go over cut plywood and fill with PB Pryor to glassing transom.

 

[BayouWaters]

Ahmincha - thanks for your input!

After many hours of googling and thought I think I am going to oversize the holes for all cutouts below the waterline and build those areas back up with laminated layers of 1708. After completing my demo on the transom and back few stringers my fear with straight PB is that it is just to brittle to use by itself in areas where you would not want to have cracking occur. The thought of a thru-hull fitting cracking at the point of penetration below the waterline makes me nervous.

Completed getting the transom halves cut out, fitted to the hull, and laminated. For anyone interested I went with Douglas Fir marine plywood, 1 1/2" CSM in between layers, and I am using Vinyl Ester resin.

 

[Shakedownscott]

Good job, you are making good progress Bayou. I like the idea about not having the thru hull fittings go through the transom plywood. Are your deck drains above or below the waterline?

 

[kcassells]

Thru the hull is the bottom of the boat. There are lots of ways to make those penetrations water tight. Yours is thru the transom. Alot of guys overdrill the hole they are going to do. Then fill completely with peanut butter, then redrill the hole the size they need for the actual device. Lastly glass, pb, pl, to finish. No wood is comprimised. So like a 1" epoxy filled hole for a 1/2" wire or whatever.

 

[BayouWaters]

Everyone thanks for your feedback, I think in general any pentration made thru your hull whether side, bottom, or transom are typically referred to as a "thru hull". In my case I am speaking of thru hull penetrations that happen to be through my transom. Probably more important in the discussion is above or below the waterline. My concerns are for penetrations that are below the waterline. My deck scupper drains, livewell drains, and cooler box drains are all below the waterline. Only fittings that are above are the bilge discharge and splashwell drains. It was very evident in the demo that penetrations below the waterline were all sources of water intrusion into the core.

I am going to oversize the holes prior to installing the transom into the hull and then build up the remaining holes with 1708 until I achieve a thickness of at least an 1". I found a site that speaks about how to build fiberglass "backing plates" for hull penetrations that are used to distrubute the load of fittings to a larger area. You do see backing plates used quit a bit in penetrations that go through the bottom of the hull since these penetrations do not have the benefit of a wood cored transom to distribute the load. Since I will be removing some of the plywood core my lamination schedule will take its place in doing so.

As I demo the boat my concerns with PB are with what I am finding. The PB is cracked throughout the areas where it was used as a bedding compound and fractures easily as I am disassembling parts. I am more comfortable with laminations of cloth and resin. But you are right kcassells, I have found numerous post where PB was used...I guess to each his own on this subject. I will take photos as I progress with my strategy.

I appreciate everyone weighing in!!!

 

[kcassells]

Me dinks ya got it!

 

[ahmincha]

Bay I totally agree with your assessment of thru hull penetrations. I did epoxy pb then set everything with 5200.
Looking forward to see how you handle yours.
Great work so far!!!

 

[BayouWaters]

Minch - since you used epoxy as your base resin for PB I am sure you will be fine. Epoxy remains slightly flexible and I do not think it will crack like poly resins will. I built a ply on frame powered dory several years ago and it is still holding up well years after being built and I used epoxy exclusively for the gluing process.

I am trying to use poly resins for this rebuild as I am planning on gelcoating most repair areas when I am complete. I am currently using Vinyl Ester and it is promising to see the cured resin when it comes out of my mixing pots...it too has a great deal of flexibility and does not seem to crack like straight poly does.