New floor in '88 Astroglass 195V project

[ta3834bbl]

I started ripping the floor out of my boat last night and will now be replacing stringers, foam, ect. I will be splitting my hull top/bottom and while I'm at it, I will check on the transom. Didn't think I'd have to do it this soon as I just bought the boat in April and thought I could save this repair until the season was over. I will post pics as I go. And, any tips or hints you have to help guide me will be appreciated.

Todd


Modified by ta3834bbl at 12:28 AM 7/27/2008

[ProcraftMike]

Don't cut too deep while removing the floor or bad things will happen. Use epoxy resin on all of the replacement wood you use. Put two (2) coats on to seal it up good, but make sure the wood is good and dry first. Use fiberglass cloth on the seams, with the epoxy resin. U.S. Composites is a good source for epoxy resin and materials.

Good luck and keep us posted. You will definately know your boat inside and out by the time you finish this project. Do it right and you will never have to do it again.

[ta3834bbl]

Update 8/10/07, I am still trying to get the lid and the hull split. I thought I had it several times but keep finding fiberglassed joints. What a pain in the tush. I have some progress pics if anyone is interested. The stringers are in bad shape and will be replaced as with the entire floor. I had a heck of a time getting the transom / engine well section apart as I think it was epoxied when it was built and I can't get in there to separate the stuff. I just cut the engine well apart to get it apart and will have some fiberglass repairs to make when finished.

Just tonight, I started to lift the cap off again only to find the wall between the fuel tank and the rear seats is glassed to the floor. Tomorrow I will figure out what to do with 18 gallons of premix, remove the tank and cut that wall out. Maybe I will get the thing apart so I can actually make some repairs on this bass boat! I would love to have it on the water by summers end!

[javelin90]

I amcurrently replacing the floor,stringers,and floor in my javelin boat. I used a spreader/prybar to seperate the top cap at the splashwell/transom area. You have already found there are other joints holding the top cap to the hull. The rod boxes will have joints,under console,along walk/floor area inside of boat it will have scarewsattached to the wood floor, and the board behind the gas tank. Odds are once you pop the cap off you will not be able to tell the extent of rot and moisture penetration until you remove the floor. Make sure that you establish a grid even on both side of the inside hull near where the floor and hullside meets. Then carefully remove small portion of the floor and take measurements from front to back and write it down on the side of the hull and also in a notebook. Then make sure the hull is supported good on blocks and support running along the hull where the wood bunks run. This will ensure that once you remove the floor,stringers, and foam that once you replace all of these items that you will have reference points/measuremetns to ensure you hull does not oilcan. It is where the hull sags and deforms and it will make putting the top cap on a real pain and if you are able to force the top cap back on that it could possibly cause cracks along the hull where the floor meets. Take lots of notes and measurements from the stringers to the crossmembers running from side to side.

I'm sure your floor has fiberglass resin on top but once you remove the floor it will not have any resin/glass underside and possibly part of your stringers will be encapsulated in glass/resin. I used a handsaw and shovel to remove the water sogged foam.
Be prepared it will take about 40 hours to remove the glass and sand/prep the hull for attaching glass and resin.

This type of project takes considerable time but once done it will last you a lifetime and you will know what you have in it.
Garland

[ta3834bbl]

Thanks Garland, and Procraft Mike. I already have most of the floor and waterlogged foam removed, just need to get it out from under the consoles and front storage boxes. Splashwell, I couldn't remember the right name, thanks. Today I hope to have the boat split and can take more pics. Thanks for the advice guys.

[ta3834bbl]

Well, success. I was able to split the lid from the hull this evening with the help of my 2 youngest girls operating the hoists! I have some pictures, but they are too dark so I'll take some in the daylight tomorrow. Todd

[javelin90]

Glad you got it sep. I am about 90% of the prep work for replacing the two outer stringers,sole,foam, and transom. When i split the cap from the hull i purchased two chain blocks from Agri supply where i live and i by myself can lower the cap back on. I took some measurements yesterday to make sure ot has not sunk any on the hull. Everything is still in great shape on the hull. Tomorrow evening i'm going to finish up the 10% of prep work tomorrow. Then this weekend i'm going to prefit all of my stringers, sole and transom.
I'm glad it got the two apart.
Garland

[ta3834bbl]

Here are 2 pictures of the progress, if that is what you can call it.



Modified by ta3834bbl at 11:04 PM 11/13/2007

[javelin90]

Getting the top is a tough job but you did it!!

I was looking at the two pictures. Did you have any foam in the hull or did you remove it already? It looks like the fiberglass in the hull shows signs of delamination. How are the stringers and transom? I originally was set just to replace the weak spot in the floor and the transom but once i split the cap i saw bad signs or water damage and rot. That's when my repair went from that to basically a total rebuild of the stringers, balsa wood, knee braces and transom. It is a labor intensive process and hours of research. I have decided with the top cap split on my boat that i'm going to add some new features: rod locker drain holes, led compartment lights, rod rack system, reconfigure the trolling motor to recess in the floor wirh carpet overlay like the new Nitro Z-9 with drain holes, and raise the riding seats and add underseat storage.

Make sure that if you remove any fiberglass from the hull that your aware of the layers removed and add back what you took out. Most of the earlier boats used polyester resins and they polyester does not go well with water. I have ground down my hull and am using two part marine epoxy. It will bond well with existing polyester as long as the syrfaced is prepped well and cleaned.

Also using marine epoxy and applying the layers at one time will give a better chemical bond and prevent delamination of the glass.

It has cooled down in va so today i'm going to work on mine somemore.
Let me know how your progress comes along, G.

[Ritchie]

Great project! As mentioned, take some important measurements, keep a notebook and some pics on your way down. That can really help when going back. Keep us posted...

[ta3834bbl]

Kind of a ' non update' . It has been raining so bad in the midwest here that I haven't been able to work on it at all . After the measurements, I will remove the floor, make a template, dig out the stringers , and start cutting wood. I'll take more pics as I go. Todd

[javelin90]

I understand that. The weather has been brutle August. I have been plugging along slowly in the heat. It will be worht it in the end. I went to Bass Pro shop in Va and looked at the new NTRO Z9. It is a sharp boat and should be for $54,000.
I looked at it for ideas of changing some of my boats boxes and configurations. The salesman was nice. I looked the boat over well. I did notice that in the bilge transom area it has alot of inovative built in featuers. I also noticed that the flotation foam boxes were not glassed over well. I could see pen holes in the glass and also the front underside of deck was not glassed over. It is a sharp boat but based on my non-professional opinion it is fast but the quality is average compared to the advances in technology.

[javelin90]

How's it coming with your project have not seen any new progress??

[ta3834bbl]

We've had so much rain around here this past week and has caused some flooding. We're good at our house, but it took me over 3 hours to get home from work Friday and it is only a 40 minute drive. US30 was closed at the state line, I80 was blocked, and that caused every side road around here to be plugged up.

Anyway, Sunday evening was spent measuring, documenting, and marking down things I'm going to change. Then I got the cutter back out and did away with most of the flooring. Just a little more to go back by the transom and then I can remove the stringers.

I was intending to do that tonight , but my wife's Jeep killed a crankshaft sensor so I ended up fixing that and a couple light bulbs on it too.

Maybe tomorrow night will be my night! I'll keep you posted

[ta3834bbl]

While I am thinking about it, I was wondering how the 3 way valve is plumbed and controlled on some of your bass boats. Mine won't recirculate when it is out of the water, it only works if the boat is in the water so it can draw fresh water. Got any pictures for me to check out? I know how to plumb it, basically, just looking for good ideas for where to put the valve, where to put the pump, etc. Thanks. Todd

PS. I think I will post this question in it's own thread, too.

[javelin90]

Todd, i knew the midwest got alot of rain and good things are ok for you. I can understand having to work on other things. I will try to post pictures tonight of the area before the valves were removed. I know on my 85 ranger it had a valve that openend and closed and in or out of water it would recirculate the water into the livewell. I know on that model of boat the valves were mounted on top of the hull and pulled the water in a 3/4" hole located directly beside the boat drain hole. Like i said i have 4 pumps and me thinks it's a waste to utilize 4 when i can use 2 and replace the two broken valves with a open/close, and recirculating valve. Originally two of the four livewell pumps were installed on the knee braces for the transom and were not preoperly sealed during boat construction so that led to failure of the knee braces from water seepage and rot.

I will get the pics tonight and post on here.
Have a good one, Garland

[biothree]

What kind of marine epoxy resin do you recommend. I am confused with the advertising of slow set, fast set, etc.

[javelin90]

I use the marinepoxy brand from boat builder central (http://www.bateau2.com/. I am using the slow hardener. You would want to use a fast cure hardener in colder climates/winter.
I hope this helps.

[ta3834bbl]

Got a little more done, busy weekend with relatives prevented more any more work. Just a couple more hours worth of work and I will be putting new pieces in. Hopefully this week will provide a couple hours to work on it. We'll see. Todd



Modified by ta3834bbl at 11:02 PM 11/17/2007

[boostedone]

Can you resize your pics a bit smaller? to like 800x600?