Re: Floor,stringer replacement
This boat used poplar
, Agreed, definetly not the best choice but that is what the factory used on these boats. I believed if a properly encapsulated sringer in resin, glued it to the boat, then glassed in with enough glass it would be pretty ok. It lasted since 1981 till now. With plywood he would have to treat the end grain and possibly mess with the dimension (sand the width or add to it), I did not see any fir in a close enough dimension to substitute for the original. Even if they had a larger dimension not everyone has a machine capable of cutting fir down to the dimensions used here. This boat used two stringers from the transome to under the helm where they die off and then two short in height, fillers that mimick stringers, they die under the seats, pretty simple. The quality control on these boats was not stellar so he will be bending and cutting the stringers they may not even match and theres only two! When I removed my stringers the resin glassed slots the orginals stringers left behind would add days of grinding work to the job. The gougen brothers boat building manuel also states "use the same materials when available". I have also read of some builders using cardboard that disolves over time leaving just the glass. If you want over kill use manufactured lumber, but good luck ripping that down and its very heavy. The little Renken is light & quick. I believe he likes it that way.
(GPS 32.1 knots 10/2/10 on mine with wife & 9 yo+junk)
Jeff
"dont trick yourself being tricky"
