Look for some insight....To Update or Not? 72' Browning Tri-Hull

[bobberstop]

I have a 1972' Browning Mustang, 16' 6" fiberglass tri hull boat w/ an open bow. My father bought it from the original owner in 79' or 80' It's been stored indoors ever since. The boat is solid bow to stern. Its powered by a mercruiser 140 I/O that runs well. My dilemma now that I've inherited the boat is, do I update it or not. I like the boat as is, but i would like it even more with a few updates. Mostly cosmetic items which are a no-brainer. The two big things I would like to add/change would be to move the 20 gallon gas tank and add a ski locker. The tank is currently located on the port side up against the transom above deck, I would like to put it below deck just in front of the bilge well. My thought is this would help with bow rise, as well as open up some valuable storage space. Provided there is enough room I would love to put a ski locker in front of the tank for even more storage. I have snooped below deck using fiber optic camera in thru the drain holes and it appears that there is a keel stringer and a stringer on either side of it spread apart the width of the bilge well. The odd thing is from what i can tell the keel stringer does not appear to come up to support the floor. It looks like it is about 4"-6" tall then foam on top of it to the floor.

My questions are;

1- Is it crazy to cut open what appears to be a perfectly good floor?
2- If in fact the keel stringer does not come up to the floor, can I glass in plywood on top of the keel stringer spanning to the stringers on either side to support a tank?
3- If necessary can any portion of the keel stringer be removed and boxed in w/ bulkheads for either the tank or locker?
4- Is removing foam for the sake of either the tank or the locker a bad idea?

Thanks for any insight you may offer.

 

[alldodge]

Your wanting to change the hull structure, and you may or may not have the room for it. Tanks installed in the hull become part of the structure. Being a 16 footer it can probably be done, but I'm just guessing, have not seen the boat and what your looking at. The next thing is how much of a tank can be installed below deck, you have stringers down there. If they are 4 inch high, how much space does it leave. The tank will be custom and need to be refoamed in.

The boat looks like it doesn't meet your needs. I wouldn't do it, I would look at selling the boat to another and find one that fits my needs.

 

[ondarvr]

There typically isn't much room below the floor in a boat that size, so trying make room for a fuel tank and ski locker could be tough. A custom built tank can be pricy too.

 

[bobberstop]

Thanks for the reply's. Those are exactly my concerns. Seems like a lot of risk for potentially no reward. Unfortunately shopping for a replacement is not an option right now. Good news is it's still a very usable boat, which is better then no boat at all. Thanks again for the reality check. Love the forum, definitely will become an avid follower.