1973 Saftmate Fiberglass Tri-Hull Help

[kmk_7110]

This is my first post. Sorry if its in the wrong forum. I'm new to boat remodeling/building, and I have some questions. I don't know most of the boat terms. So explain like you are explaining to a complete idiot.

I recently purchased this boat with a floor in it and it looked good. There was a piece of the floor that a previous owner put in and it was coming up, so me being me i went to investigate. I started to pull up the blue indoor/outdoor carpeting and found that the screws were rusted. I figured that this was from being outside for most of the snow-filled winter that we had, but i still proceded to try to take out the screws and was just going to replace that board with some PT plywood that I have in my garage. Well after pulling it up this is what i found.

http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001433ee0.jpg


Then i proceded to go along and do another section of the floor closer to the transom, right around the middle of the boat, and i found it to be worse and from the looks of it. It was a floor put in by someone that did it wrong or thought they were doing it right and didn't because the ribs were all rotted out (in the next pic i have already torn them out they were made from 2xs and not very well made). The furthest piece of ply was harder to get out and after i got it out i can't seem to know why but i'm not going to ask questions. The ply that was original was rotted and the original floor was ply with fiberglass over it. Which i imagine is normal for floors. All the ribs are rotted and I like the layout of this boat because my other boat is a 14 foot fiber tri-hull with the seats going across the beam from stern to bow with an 18 hp Evinrude Fastwin tiller from the mid 60s. I want something that I can walk around in without climbing over stuff.

My main question is how do I go about replacing the floor.Toward the stern the original ply is rotted and still has water in it and is hard to get at. How would i replace this/fix it?

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/5061/1001439mu1.jpg
This isn't a good angle to show how difficult it will be to get back there and taking off the transom is not an option.
http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001430fu7.jpg
As from this you can see the original ply that is rotted and falling apart.

What I have thought up was to get PT 2xs and run then bow to stern and then have ribs in there ever 18 inches or so. Then getting a closed cell foam and foaming the rest to help prevent rot and decay. Then putting PT roofing ply for the floor and covering it in marine carpet then putting in seats and what not. Is this a good idea or not??



Here is the rest of the pictures.Whats your best idea or any suggestions? This is hopefully going to be fishing boat when completed.

[kmk_7110]

By the way thanks for looking and sorry for the novel. I have more pictures and can do some requests if needed for anything that would help. Thanks Again

[SamSam]

You can try the search feature, there is a lot of stuff in there. Here is a site that has a lot of what you want to do going on, very helpfull people. You'll want 'Boat Restoration and Building' and 'Boat Topics and Questions'.
http://forums.iboats.com/

[blakey1973]

Hello
I am in the process's of rebuilding a 1973 Cruisers built Tri hull center console.
My boat had a bad core in the hull I have taken out the whole interior of the boat . The sole (floor/deck) the stringers the longitudinal support under the sole.
I took off the cap the piece that is put on top of hull it is usually screwed and siliconed to hull. The joint is under the rub rail.

Now to fix you boat i would like to see a pic that is the whole boat and showing the stringers .
If the stringers are good not rotted i would epoxy and glass them to the hull the epoxy will make it so the will not take on water. they have to be dry to epoxy. the i would cut the rest of the deck out and make a new one with plywood coat the ply wood with epoxy and the top with glass.

I will try to help you as much as i can.
Gary