1982 Allison XST 17 Fiberglass repair..

[AllisonXSTguy]

Hey everybody, I'm super new here and to the world of fiber glass repair... Any way, I have a 1982 Allison XST 17 which was my late grandfathers boat. Before I got the boat it went to his step son which has questionable morals and habits... long story short he hit something with the boat and it did some damage as. I have has the boat a few years. I used it a few times before I discovered the leak. They had covered it with silicone right before i got it and it actually hid the issue very VERY well. The boat has sat for a year, but i have kept it parked where it can drain and it has never really held water over the last year. I started chipping away at loose fiber glass and it appears at the tail it has released from the plywood as shown in the pictures. Its not a really large area but the wood seems soggy and damp from where it must have held moisture. it still sounds pretty solid when i tap on it tho.. I would really like to fix this boat and keep using it as the rest of it is in really really good condition and i spent alot of time on this boat as a small child. I now have a daughter of my own and would love for her to fish with me on this boat.. Sorry for the post being all over the place.. but any idea how i should go about this repair? Any advice? Thank you everybody I really look forward to learning a new skill and hearing from all of you!

[AllisonXSTguy]

If the rain will stop I am going to try to take my grinder and a flap disk to it to try to remove all the loose fiber glass and maybe round out the edges so i can put fiber mat and resin on it after i get all the moisture out. After further probing the ply wood seems "squishy" but it still had good color to it after sanding it a little. Am I going about this correctly? lol

[AllisonXSTguy]

If somebody with any kind of experience with a problem like this could chime in and give me a little bit of hope it would be really appricated. On the inside of the boat on the opposite side of where the damage is is as solid as a rock and looks perfect.

[Bassnailer]

You'll need to dry it out and inspect the wood before you do anything. It would be best to dry it out inside, and you'll need to put heat lamps on it for a couple of weeks or so to cook out all the moisture. Then if the wood is still good (be prepared for the fact that it probably won't be) you can begin fixing the problem. What you have is a very serious structural problem, and it will need to be repaired with care.

[AllisonXSTguy]

I can tear the whole transom out if I have to. If I can keep repairs under 500 bucks I’m happy. But I want to do it right. The transom it’s self seems solid. I can drill some holes if I have to in and check for moisture. That is the only wet/bad spot in the boat. Everything else is like new. I’m new to fiberglass/restoration but I’ve been around boats all my life. On the inside where the damage is is as solid as a stone. No give, blisters or anything. Thank you for the advice.

[CastingCall]

Looks like the bottom of the hull is cored with plywood (which appears to be soaked) - not sure how that would be repaired. My guess is remove it from interior, replace, reglass interior, then reglass the exterior.
I don't think letting it dry out and simply glassing over it will be an option - if it dries out, it will likely be dry-rotted and no longer provide structural strength.
If transom, stringers, knee-braces are also wet/impacted, they'd need repair (replacement) too.

[WisconsinF]

Jump on YouTube and search: boat transom replacement. Good info on fiberglass transom repair/replace.
This is a fairly easy project if you take your time and do a lot of research. I've done the floor/stringers and transom on a old Hydrodyne ski boat and the floors on a couple of 16ft runabouts with basic tools and lots of patients. Use marine plywood and quality materials. You might not be able to use the boat for awhile but the satisfaction of bringing it back to life with your own hands is very gratifying.

[CastingCall]

Was curious about core repair, so did a quick search.


Assuming the interior glass is solid, you should be able to reverse it and work from the outside bottom of the hull - cutting away enough exterior glass to expose and remove all rotted wood - then replace wood (likely with composite material or plywood again), then reglass, and new gelcoat finish.

Again, assuming stringers, transom and braces are intact, pretty straightforward glass work.

[gleninaz]

That is serious damage and looks like a rot problem. Could have rotted transom and stringers. The trailer looks bad also. You can do it and do it right but it will cost you a lot of hours and ten times your budget. I would walk away from that one. Good luck.

[Wave to Wave]

That is serious damage and looks like a rot problem. Could have rotted transom and stringers. The trailer looks bad also. You can do it and do it right but it will cost you a lot of hours and ten times your budget. I would walk away from that one. Good luck.

Agree with this post. If the boat has sentimental value and you want to keep it, then at least ten times your budget. Could be worth it in the long run. Cool boat.

[coolwhip]

If you can get a fan and dehu in there it'll increase the dry time of the wood sheathing substantially.

[jbh3]

You're just over the mountain from the Allison factory. If you can get with those folks, you may get some guidance there. It is a cool old boat.

[cpmoran22]

I had the same boat and most likely the core is rotten in that boat. That will not be a cheap fix.