Thompson resto

[dirtdiver]

I bought an 89, 20ft thompson cuddy at the begining of this spring. The floor seems to have some soft spots in it. The seats are trash and the cabin has that horrible fur stuff in it. I got a decent amount of use out of this season and today I've strated the resto. I pulled the seats and most of the carpet today. My wife and buddy were helping me because I'm still recovering from surgery so I dont get around too well. If I dont have to I dont want to replace the floor. I do want to build a sundeck and bench. Cover the floor with epoxy and snap in carpeting. Do something about the dash and paint it too.... Well lets see how it goes

These are the befores, my wife starting on the carpet and the result in my truck

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Thompson resto

Looks like a good project. Don't see how you'll get out of doing the floor. I'd hate to see you put money into cosmetics on a boat with a bum structure.

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Thompson resto

We all need hopes and dreams dont we
Its more of a matter of how I'm going to go about removing the floor I dont want to accidently cut into the hull or the stringers, if they're intact. I guess a multi tool would be my best bet?

These are pictures of the outside, I think I might paint to match the truck.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Thompson resto

At the very least you need to cut out the soft spots, drill some exploratory holes in the stringers to check for rot, drill some holes in the transom to check it to make sure your superstructure is sound. Like EZ says, why put lipstick on a Pig.

I'm just sayin...

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Thompson resto

I have a question about painting it too. Is there a way to remove the old paint without damaging the gel coat? Or does it all come off and you can just spray on gel coat, then paint? Also I know it sounds stupid but will automotive paint work or is there paint just for boats? Again thanks for the help, this is my first boat and because of you guys I feel the need to make my old boat look new again.

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Thompson resto

Well I took pictures of the under side of the floor and Im not too sure what is going on under there but it doesnt look good.

This is facing the bow, and it looks like a piece of untreated wood was used to secure the gas tank.


This is front right I dont know whats going on here it looks like theres patched with no fiberglass and I guess some of the it is hanging down from the floor. Also the latteral support on the floor looks like it hasnt been glassed in.


This is the same untreated piece that looks to be pulling out of the stinger.


This is to the stern and this piece looks to be in the worst shape. Its actually bent, its hard to see in the photo.


I'll have more pictures of the floor in better light later. But after looking at this I think the floor needs to come up...

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Thompson resto

Today we removed the wall that seperates the cuddy from the rest of boat. Also got the rest of the carpet out. Got a good look at the stringers

I dont know if this floor is original, it doesnt look like theres any mat put down on the plywood it just looks like resin on it. Should these gaps be here? I also havent found any foam.

Im also wondering what this white is. Is it just paint to make it look pretty or is it functional? Its on the transom and the bow.

I just thought it would be easier to put the thumbnails on, I can do it like this if its easier...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Thompson resto

Hey DD,

Try using the IMG link in Photo bucket to post your pics. This will put them IN your thread and make it easier for the guys to view them. Right now it takes us to Photobucket everytime we click on a pic. Just click the pic you want to post and this Share this Image chart is in the lower left portion of the screen. You can also use my method described in my signature below. NOTE: Leave out step #14. DO NOT remove the attachment. This is how I posted the pic below.

Im just sayin...

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Thompson resto

Didnt get any work down on the boat today but I did build myself a garage for it so I dont freeze my biscuits off this winter while working on it. PVC pipe and tarps... yea not redneck at all. My boat is parked in the over flow lot for my apartment complex across from my garage. So I have 130ft of extension cord running out to it. People look at me funny for some reason

 

[cruisertime]

Re: Thompson resto

Today we removed the wall that seperates the cuddy from the rest of boat. Also got the rest of the carpet out. Got a good look at the stringers

I dont know if this floor is original, it doesnt look like theres any mat put down on the plywood it just looks like resin on it. Should these gaps be here? I also havent found any foam.

Im also wondering what this white is. Is it just paint to make it look pretty or is it functional? Its on the transom and the bow.

I just thought it would be easier to put the thumbnails on, I can do it like this if its easier...

I have a 88 Daytona 260 and what your looking at isnt too far off from what I had to deal with. I would say that finding things that seem odd are actually normal for this boat company.

 

[jimdd810]

Re: Thompson resto

It might just be me but Ive seen alot worse. In fact it dosnt look to bad at all. Maybe the pics are better than damage. but it looks dry.

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Thompson resto

It is dry, but the floor has a good bit of give to it. Im not sure how strong the structure underneath is. And like I said, I still havent found foam...

 

[jimdd810]

Re: Thompson resto

either that boat was redone without foam to save money or the foam is all in the sides of the boat. if the floor supports and transom are dry then I would beef them up and that will help with the soft floor. imho

 

[CTJeff]

Re: Thompson resto

I second above, my first impression looks dry and redone once, but not very well. The floor sag your feeling is the suports pulling out as you mentioned.
Since you have the garage built yank the floor, treat endgrain, build up supports, reglass, foam if you wish. You have been using it all summer, was it noisy? did it float? By some cheap ply to make a template or if you carfuly remove existing floor use it for template. Then get exterior grade ply (same glue as marine ply and the stuff your pulling is ext g) treat end grain resin both sides 2x, (ss)screw it, glue it, glass it, sand paint it, Done
Jeff

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Thompson resto

It seemed loud, but this is my first boat. The only problem I have with doing the floor is if Im doing it in my "garage" Im not sure it will be warm enough for the fiberglass to cure. Any ideas on a type of heater to use? I need to figure out what to do for a floor plan still. I dont like the dog house and jump seats.

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Thompson resto

So in more of my deconstruction, I found something else odd. On the transom just to the right of the drive theres this lifted area. Theres also two screws near there (something might have been mouted there?). I dont know if it was ment to be like that or if its a problem. Has anyone ever seen anything like this or have any ideas?

 

[jimdd810]

Re: Thompson resto

That whole spot looks to me like a patch of some sort. Alot of boats had problems from that era of de-laminating. Looks as if someone tried to patch for that problem. I could be wrong. I would drill wholes and check the condition of the shavings.

 

[insanity]

Re: Thompson resto

Hey dirt you got 2 PMs give me a call or txt some time and Ill swing by.

 

[JBF 1962]

Re: Thompson resto

Is this a common thing with Thompsons? I have a friend looking at a '91 235 Daytona, supposed to have a clean survey tho.

 

[dirtdiver]

Re: Thompson resto

Well I took the boat back to PA where my brother in law is going to help with it. I haven't been able to work on it on my own. We got the floor out the stringers are in bad shape and still no foam... I'll get pictures up later. I'm probably deploying again my wife and sisters family will be using it this summer so that gives my brother in law some incentive to help me.