Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

[ProjectBass]

Well, here it is. I have a 15 ft fiberglass bass boat given to me by family and I originally thought I would only be making some minor repairs and be on the water in no time. My original post was simple questions about replacing a floorboard. But the can of worms has been opened now and in less than two weeks I have gone from a naive beginner to a more educated beginner.

These are the pictures of my boats current condition. In the interest of not having to resize all the photos and only being liited to 4, I have created a webshots album to store all of my photos.

http://community.webshots.com/album/569836410zObrCS

Please visit it and to see my situation and my progress. Any helpful hints or suggestions would be helpful.

Thank you!!!

 

[JB]

Re: Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

Deck or sole. Even bassrockets don't have floors.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

Nice boat....

You are making great progress!

When you are done you will have a boat that is safe and will last a long time!

 

[drewpster]

Re: Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

Know how you feel. I intended to replace only the transom of my tri-hull. Geez!

 

[marquette]

Re: Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

Deck or Sole. call it what you want but they won't be the only new 4 letter words in your vocabulary before you are done but it will be worth it. stay with it and have fun.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

Now you probably understand deeper than most why I decided my next personal project was going to be a from-scratch build. No rot to find

 

[ProjectBass]

Re: Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

Latest Update:

So we are trying to decide if we want to just go for broke and make this side console a center console....since thats what we really wanted. I would like anyone's thoughts on that.

I have been searching the forum for two important pieces of info I need. Maybe I am just not using the correct keywords...

I have a dewalt grinder and I need to know the best grinding/cutting wheel for removing the stringers. Also, I wanna make sure I sand these areas correctly. What kind of sander would you recommend and what grit?

I'm also looking for more information on the transom because I have a transome that about a 1/4 of the way rotted and the rest of it is just starting and not quite so easy to remove. I saw someone say something about a chainsaw....but wasn't sure if that was a joke..LOL

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

An electric chainsaw can be a great tool for removing rotten wood. The sound of the cut changes when the chain reaches fiberglass, so if you stop quickly you can clean the wood out without cutting the outer layers of glass.

It's handy for some transoms, but may not be needed for others.

Erik

 

[Fl_Richard]

Re: Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

They make some really aggressive sanding discs for grinders. They work great and eat alot glass before wearing out. They are also flexible so you dont grind the hull only the stringer glass.

 

[likefish]

Re: Floorboard Nightmare turned Full Restoration

I am in the middle of the same type of project!

Made a few cuts on some soft spots on my 1982 wellcraft V20 fisherman. Well, the entire floor is now cut out. I used an anglegrinder and a diamond blade with vents. $20 at Blowes or the Home Chepo. it gave me good control and i could hear and feel what I was cutting. Buy a dust mask and painter coveralls as the gellcoat/fiberglass dust form that thing was nasty. It worked well for me.

i am in way over my head and so far am having a blast. Hope to laying some repair glass tomorrow (if the rain stops here in Central Florida)

Good luck! Send a message if you have any luck or questions.

ALSO..... I found some great finishing info at the interlux website about compatable bonds, fairing, paints. Its from ship-shape TV.