Question from a noob

[seagull369]

Hi, folks. I'm a little new to the area of boat rebuilding and was hoping some kind soul(s) could help with a problem I have.

After ripping out the rotted ply. floor and soggy foam underneath from my mid 80's era 19' Bayliner cuddy w/ 125hp o/b, I noticed these long resin encapusulated wood strips (stringers?) which meaure about 1" X 1". There's about six altogether which run the boat lengthwise (four of 'em from bow to stern and the other two from the bow right up to the gas tank).

Anyway, I noticed the wood inside the glass is pretty well rotted (esp. the spots that were soaking in the foam) and I was wondering if I'd be ok to scrape all the wood out of there and leaving it as is. If doing that ends up creating a safety issue for the hull, I was toying with the idea of troweling some short strand fiberglass filler in the remaining channels to help add some reinforcement.

Any thoughts?

Just to make a distinction here, the wood I'm talking here is not those two (~1" X 4" encapsulated) lengthwise sections that the ply. floor rests on and screws into.

THanks for reading.

 

[DrCox]

Re: Question from a noob

I am sure he will see this post eventually but Hemidoc has/had a bayliner project he completed. Also Oops! has been a virtual forest of knowledge. If they dont hit this post soon maybe shoot them a PM?


-DrCox

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Question from a noob

take a look at this. http://recaffeinated.net/skankybeast/page1.html

 

[oops!]

Re: Question from a noob

all boats are built very simmelar.....the above post td gave you is a super one......also find robj's signature and click on share a project.....his boat is identical to a capri......


as far as fillinf in the stringers with filler........wood is allways best......however....in the b-liners they also used foam to "form" the glass over........you can just clean out the stringer channel and foam them.....then glass them over....but then you must use flotation foam to give the hull rigidity......read robjs share a project...........i saw that bote this year.......it looked just super beside boats that wrer 3 times its legnth and price

 

[DrCox]

Re: Question from a noob

all boats are built very simmelar.....the above post td gave you is a super one......also find robj's signature and click on share a project.....his boat is identical to a capri......

Here is what he is talking about, I was looking at the same project earlier.


http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,406,00.html

-DrCox

 

[seagull369]

Re: Question from a noob

Thanks for all the great replies, everyone. So I guess what I'm talking about ARE called stringers.

I think I'll end up giving my short strand -glass idea a try in those areas (hopefully I can find a can or 2 big enough for my needs). I'm really just too paranoid about wood rotting and foam getting saturated again to use those materials. As for the floor, I thought about using cellular pvc trim (a building supply place locally sells it in 4 X 8 plywood style sheets), scuffing it down and glassing it over a few times. I know the stuff isn't meant to handle loads like traditional plywood, but I think the glass will add enough rigidity to make it work. I've already laid some glass on a scrap piece of the stuff and found adhesion of the cured glass to be very good.

As for flotation foam, after talking to a coast guard guy versed in the topic I've decided to use extruded polystyrene insulation board (which you can find in most home centers). Though I can't put it in the floor (it degrades when in contact with gasoline), I'm going to throw as much as I can elsewhere, and in a way so I can check on it periodically to make sure it's still intact.