Old Fleetform - Best way to support hull for cap removal?

[ALV]

Greetings. I acquired an old Fleetform (assuming it's a Fleetform, 90% sure 1950something), as a project boat. The entire thing is gutted currently for a rebuild/replacement, and I had the pleasure of accidentally ripping away some of the decking while cleaning it and noticed the stringers are absolutely gooey. Annd the floor.

So I need to yank the cap off for a variety of reasons, but need to support the hull, if I'm not mistaken. Is there a trick to this? Some good "I wish I knew this one neat thing when I did this before" advice? I'm relatively new to the non-engine parts of restoration and also kind of hoping I can keep this thing on the trailer while doing so.

 

[sphelps]

Welcome aboard !
‘Yes you can keep it on the trailer .. Just add a few extra supports under the hull to help shore things up . After you start tearing the floors and stringers out it will get weak and flex quite a bit when you walk on it .. Take a few 2x’s and install some temporary supports like extra trailer bunk boards.. When you remove the cap the sides will want to flex out . Take a lot of measurements from one side to the other .. after the cap comes off you can wrap a couple of rachet straps around the whole boat to keep it from spreading .. Pull it tight until you get it back where it was ... That needs to be done before you glass new floor and stringers back in ...
Good luck ! And don’t forget to post pics as you go ...

 

[ALV]

Okay that makes sense, and was pretty much what I was going to end up doing, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any weird little things to be mindful of.

The wood I accidentally picked up with a clump of stuck leaves I was cleaning out (it was a conglomerated mass) exposed this hole. Was a long bit of staring, then questioning how the hell the outboard hasn't fallen off.