Avenger Bass Boat Restoration

[reekhavuk]

Very nice information Woodonglass, thank you. I especially like the ooze hole, good idea.

I have decided to remove and replace 2 stringers at a time so that my hull doesn't warp. I am about to make an order and using the layup schedule from your diagrams, im estimating about 20yards of 1708 50" width and about 10 yards of CSM 50" and 10 gallons to do the stringers and my small transom. Does that look like a decent rough estimate to start with? Thanks.

 

[Woodonglass]

Sounds about right. this Might be helpful too... View attachment WOG Material List.pdf

 

[ondarvr]

The hard part about a solid glass transom is the time it takes to do it, so for production boats it's hard to justify. You need to put it on in rather thin layers or it can heat up and warp, so it slows things down and increases man hours. The weight can be high at about 8 lbs per sq ft, but you only need to do the area where motor is bolted on, not the entire transom, the rest can be a light foam core.

 

[reekhavuk]

Very slow work removing foam and old stringers....

 

[reekhavuk]

Got my resin today from a place that does boat repairs for $22 a gallon pretty excited about that. Ordered my fabric should be in by next Thursday so that gives me a week to prep, should get there.

Some updates, almost all out:

 

[sphelps]

Making good progress ! As important as foam is it sure makes a mess coming out ...

 

[gm280]

As many rotted boats as I've seen, it always amazes me to see just how bad wood can deteriorate. But you are doing great with the demolition. Next comes the sanding and grinding. Not a nice or pretty job, but has to happen before installing anything back again. Just make sure you use the proper PPE when doing any sanding and grinding. That stuff goes everywhere. :thumb:

 

[reekhavuk]

Did some grinding today, finished cutting out the kickers. Hoping to finish grinding what I have by end of tomorrow if it doesnt rain.

 

[reekhavuk]

The stringers were placed into the strake grooves and im finding it difficult to grind the old wood and glass bedding out of the strake grooves, is there any tips to doing this or is it just going to be hard?

 

[Pusher]

I've never done it myself but if you know the depth of the grooves could you set a circular saw to that depth and slowly/carefully run it down the length? If you set two 2x4's on each side locked in place you might be able to bumper lane like a bowling ball down the length of the stringers.

Your 2x4's would need to be REALLY straight though :-/

 

[gm280]

WOW, reekhavuk, you are seriously moving along. :thumb: You did a great job with the grinding thus far. The stringers will work out well. Just follow the experts on here to do them.

 

[reekhavuk]

OK well i cant decide how im going to bed my stringers, if you look at attached pic, you will see how deep the stringers were. Part of that reason is they are placed inside of the strake groove cavity. I am trying to decide to a) fill the strake cavity compltely flush and let that set, then come back and put a PB bed on top of that then place stringers, or, just put the PB bed inside the strake groove and set the stringer in the pb.















The other issue i have is, the motor cracked the outside of the transom hull due to the rotten transom over time. Im thinking I will grind out the hole / damaged glass from the outside and patch it from the outside and then skin over the entire back transom area real good.

 

[reekhavuk]

If you cant tell where the crack is, its the line right above the dirty stains under each of the bottom bolt holes. The bottom of the jack plate pushed (cut) inside the hull due to the top of the jack plate pulling away from the boat.

 

[Pusher]

It might be easier to glass the inside, and fill the crack from the outside so you're not fighting for a smooth finish.

That stringer bed looks like a pain, but it might be nice for holding your stringers true while the glass cures.

 

[gm280]

Seeing what you're dealing with for the stringers, either way will work equally well. If you fill in the void and then apply the stringers on top of that, it will work, but probably use a lot more PB mixture. So you could put the stringer in the grooved area and PB them in that groove. But like I said, either way will work. That will be your choice.

As for the transom issues. It looks like the engine mounting metal bracket started to crush in the fiberglass because the wood inside was rotted. Not going to be a tough fix either. Before you do any repair, clean and sand/grind (if need be) out all the surface area on the outside of the transom to actually see what needs repaired. If you PB and even some fiberglass mat over that area with a wide bladed spackle type putty knife, it will level it out. Then the usual block sanding to make it feather into the area. And once you replace the transom on the inside, it will become like a solid rock again. JMHO

 

[sphelps]

You can go ahead and install the new wood in the transom and then repair the outside if you want .. The plywood will help give it a good flat shape ...

 

[reekhavuk]

Just got my cloth in, was folded tight.

 

[Woodonglass]

Unfold is ASAP!!!! Get it flat or ROLLED up NOT FOLDED!!!

 

[reekhavuk]

started rough fitting some stringers. hopefully i can get them in and bed them tomorrow so i can remove the center ones and then start on the back section. The back parts of the stringers were added to the sides of the front ones by the factory. I am putting it back just like the factory build it in case your wondering why i didnt go one piece to the transom. Titebond 3 should be in tomorrow, if it does ill glue the 2 transom sheets if i have time.

 

[reekhavuk]

OK. Got 4 bedded and filleted in, now can move on to remove the center mess. Installing those 4 stringers took a LOT longer than i thought it would. This work goes soooo slow..... Its like the days over and you dont understand how.