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Vintage fiberglass runabout6/7/2023 Wondering here if and how to "wrap my ply" all around in fiberglass before placing it in the boat. Basically I want to fill all the empty not useful space under the floor with foam and mat and ply with the floor of 1/2 ply on top then more glass on top of that so no more air = no more moisture, no more problems for another 30 years. No stringers no ribs, just cheap but very closed cell isolation foam cut in strips, standing up in a sandwich of foam mat foam mat maybe some 1/2 inch Ply "merisier baltique" I realize a drawing will explain this better but not on my mobile so latter I'll come and edit this here. I think we will all agree that the way it was built was crap, I'm not gonna replace the stringers to fail again. The top of the boat "insert better word" is also thick and solid with just some wood there for accessories backing and some weird bees nest looking spray foam crap at the bow. I hope/think it was made from the thicker the better period of fiberglass. I'm not sure it needs support, anyway where and how? I'm constantly moving the trailer around. I've added a ratchet strap around the middle, but it's more to help me get in and out of the shell softly. Not touching both supports I have to step in the shell for it to widen again. The boat is kind of floating on the trailer. I didn't and I think its actually lifted. Ok enough Sherlocking my boat where was I?Ībout the extra support. the plywood was not flat but it had a small torque, and that's why the floor connects higher on the right. The wood was mostly there to support the floor with the glass attaching it to the hull but the wood was not touching the hull untill it got wet, I see a sheath of roving that looks like it's been pulled up by the plywood before it set. Hovering over the cutout side and in front of what's left standing, the outside and top of the sheath of glass holding the stringers in place, with the shop vac tube behind. Here you can see my hand with a fiberglass cut covered with rot, Ive cut the inside of the stringers and the wood almost came out on its own. The left over wood is the bottom of the transom I want to test a few concepts and diy construction ideas, I think I'm good and that's a good start. I'm still looking for a nicer hull, now that I have a trailer I can hunt the no motor, no trailer section of the classifieds.īut I'm curious to see if I can make a nice, solid and good looking boat out of this pile of crap. Also a 40 HP 2 cycle Johnson that should run, a couple of deep cycle batteries, a nice fuel tank and the old lights and metal stuff in a box. It is my first boat/project and maybe I paid a little too much for it, but it came with a homemade light trailer that handles very well even at highway speeds. The boat was badly designed yet it survived well over 30 years of Quebec winters on a trailer. I removed an ugly white steering wheel with now illegal cables. No seats, the windshield is badly broken. The carpet was gone, except behind the control box. I'm guessing the wood was screwed together and dropped in the hull, then they just glassed the stringers between the ribs, 1/2 inch Ply was screwed on top, then a few layers of glass, cheap carpet and some back to back seats. There's a hole from that space going in a box with another hole in the transom. But the ribs were gone, as in only parts of the outlines on the hull are barely visible and only one stringer was still in enough shape to recognize it as such. The stringers were made with what looks to be pine 2x3 on its side, with 2 areas not covered by glass where ribs were notched in. The hull is solid, a few scratches and damage from a bad trailer support. I'm pouring water now everyday with sugar to try to rot the rest of it. Tabarnack I've been using all the scrapping, cutting, rotating, grinding tools I got and I even tried a few non tools. I got a 14 foot 1960s maybe 70s Pigeon Marine Inc made in Montreal Quebec.
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