17.5 center console project complete rebuilt

[floflodr]

hi everyone, im located in the Dominican Republic and i recently bought this 17.5 center console which as i found out after i bought it needs, a complete new set of stringers, transom and floor.

im looking for as much suggestions and commentaries as possible, please give me all your opinions and suggestions.

what i have done so far.

the new transom is a double glued plywood, which i think came out pretty well

the new stringers are made of plywood and go to both sides now, making contact to the hulls walls.
the spine is a few inches longer then the old one was, everything was sealed with fiberglass and painted with gel coat for more protection.

the floor is plywood, sealed with fiberglass and painted with gel coat from below for protection from humidity.

now yesterday we finally laid the floor in, which also makes complete contact with the hulls walls, opposite to the original and im pretty happy about how it came out.

now the two biggest doubts i have right now is, if it is actually ok and if it makes sense that the stringers and the floor plywood are making contact with the hulls walls, pretty stupid to ask that now, but i just haven't been able to post this earlier.

and my second doubt is, as you can see one the pictures with the top of the boat on there is a big gap in between and im afraid that the bottom hull may have stretched tru the time and the top will not fit anymore, can anyone tell me if that is something that can happen with fiberglass, because i believe it is a very solid material.
i will probably be able to add the top, by applying a lot of pressure from both sides and screwing it together, but im not really sure if that is the way it should go, please give me your opinions.

right now we have a hurricane Gustav going over the Dominican rep, brining lots of rain and i cant work on the boat, i hope i can get some positive suggestions from you guys.

thanks a lot for any help

[floflodr]

as you can see everything was rotted, really a shame, costing me a lot of money and work, im doing everything myself together with a friend.

on the pictures above, please notice the costume work on the center console for the control to go down all the way and it just looks so much nice, it was a lot of work lol.

[floflodr]

i would really appreciate any comments or suggestions, thank you very much

[floflodr]

im also planning to not use any foam, the boat as bought did have some but very little, i dont think enough to float anyways.

any suggestions this time ?

[the1much]

o.k.,,, on the first doubt,,,,its o.k. and good that everything is in contact with the hull walls.
on the second,,,,you should have braced EVERYTHING before you ripped it apart,, if you dont,, everything moves and stretches, and bows, and twists,,,,kinda like what happened to you.
and dont worry bout the foam,,,,if its whats keeping you floating then you need a new boat,,hehe

[floflodr]

apparently the top part deformed because the wood inside was wet and it was put on a flat floor for several months, causing it to become totally flat.

the hull seems to be ok.

what i did now was to cut the top in two half's and later fiber them together

[floflodr]

can anyone give me some suggestion on what would be the best way to bring the top of the boat and the hull back together, im having serious difficulties making it fit, i thought about flipping the whole boat into the top.

any suggestions ?

[the1much]

is the deck fit small,, or too large?,,,,,,what has probably happened is your hull spread? ,, if so,, ratchet straps MIGHT work,,,, explain how its NOT fitting.

[crazybudjr]

you will have to go around clamping and adding fiberglass tabs to get it stightened out can be time consuming and tediuos ..Some ginding thin along the edge may happen but youll have to but an extra tab in theses areas...just finished with a problem like this ...i made it fit then went around working out the imperfection...(fiberglass only shrins and warps but IT NEVER STRECHES IT WILL CRACK AND BREAK..AND IS FULLY CURED OUT IN 7 TO 10 YEARS