1987 Procraft Bass Boat

[middle age]

I've recently inherited my dads bass boat which suffers from a rotted floor and several soft stringers. I've removed all of the foam and the rotted floor. The upper casting decks are fine and the remainder of the boat is in good shape despite not having been in the water for over 10 years (the mice did chew on the motor wires a little). Looking for help on how to repair stringers and decking. In addition, how do I refoam. The original decking appears to have been thin sheeted plywood with a fiberglass overlay. Looking for all the wisdom I can find.

[northrivergeek]

Try this site I just rebuilt my bass boat whew! http://www.capndsboatshed.com/. I learned alot of the last 3 months .. mainly I takes a long time to rebuild a boat that was 90% rotted out. I just this weekend finished the last layer of glass on the floor .. Im putting the top back on tomarrow.
The worst part is the rot removale and general cleanup .. Ive been itching for 3 months .. fiberglass dust . Do your self big favor by a Tyvek Suit 6 to 12 dollars and the best dust mask you can find, try it for fit, no good if too small or big for your face.
Ive now went thru 9 gallons of resign and still need one more for touch up work.. 3 sheets of 1/2 " a-c exterior grade ply, and one 3/4 " sheet. and three 1x8 's a good 20 yards of glass maybe more I lost count on how many yards.
Also replaced the livewell pump .. boat lights and rewired some messed up botched wiring jobs from previous owner or two.
My wife is beginning to get jealous .. she asked me if I had a woman out there in the garage.. lol I told her it was the smell of fresh resin.. makes me warm and fuzzy
Thats another thing make sure you have plenty of good fresh air .. a couple fans will help.
Check prices of resin .. everywhere .. I found a dealer here in Chattanooga, Tn that has it for 17 gal. The Home centers and auto parts stores is 24 to 38 per gallon. same with the mat and other supplies .. prices vary greatly Also if if you can avoid it dont use Bondo Brand Resin too thick takes 2x as much to get good wet out. Check Ebay too .. I bought a partial roll of 2 oz mat for 1/2 of what good get anywhere else
Good luck on yours.. my has been fun .. but Im ready to go fishing and stop sniffin resin.

Later
Sean

[middle age]

Thanks for the reply. I am taking the boat over to a mechanic this week to have the motor pulled and gone through and I hope to start pulling everything else apart this weekend. I went to the website you posted and ended up purchasing the book on floor repair. The book clearly spells out what needs to be done. My only concern is splitting the boat apart. What if anything can you tell me about your trials and tribulations during this process? What did you use to raise the hull up with? I'm thinking about using an engine hoist. Everything else seemed pretty straight forward.


Thanks
Mike

[northrivergeek]

Splitting the hull .. basically depends on how yours was gluded,riveted, etc .. mine was straight forward .. pop rivets .. and silicone..the back piece that covered the top of the transom I had to cut it off with air hack saw .. if you have a air compressor get one .. best cheap one I found was bull dog tools brand.. tried frieght harbor tool depot.. went through 2 of thiers could never get one to last more than a day. Another tool you will need is a cheap small 3 to 4 inch grinder .. frieght harbor was 20 bucks.. I took off the gaurd to get the sanding disks to fit, also bull dog has a adapter to use air cut off disks with eletric drill, needed that to cut out my side floatation boxes.
I used the rafters of my garage ... really strong well built garage.. come a longs and boards in the back access and front access hatch compartments , with chain rapped around the boards as descriped in the capts book, then lifted the hole thing up starting with the back slowly raising then the front using small scissor jacks and boards to support it as I raised it, then after I was sure it wouldnt crack I raised it more with the come a longs. My boat deck was small enuff and strong enuff to do this yours may not be. Make sure you remove all and any extra wieght from the top deck .. hatches, trolling motor, etc.
Just make sure you raise it slowly there maybe places that are fiberglassed top to bottom hull that you cant see at first .. so go slow .. the capts book is pretty detailed.. and he will answer email about questions you have ussually within 24 hrs.

[middle age]

Thanks a lot. The motor is being pulled tonight. Hope to split the hulls this weekend.

[northrivergeek]

boat top deck hanging from rafters

[northrivergeek]

I just saw in your orig post that you asked about refoaming ..
Not nessesary just reuse old foam.. but if you insist on new .. its a 2 part mixture .. mix a with b .. do a little at a time so you dont overfill .. you can add more .. but cheaper to do little at a time till you reached the max depth you want .. I just reused 99% of my old foam .. it was pretty dry despite all the wood rot .. er well mush.
Check out this site for prices on materials if you need supplies but cant locate them in your area. US Composites = http://www.shopmaninc.com/
Best prices Ive seen on the net another site that has some good free advice .. like MEKP to resin ratio chart, fixing gelcoat damage etc .. http://www.fiberglass-repair.com/ owner is selling dvd on boat repair but has good bit of free advice .. also check out his links page.
By the way where are ya located Im in Chattanooga, TN

[middle age]

I'm located in Nicholasville, KY. Glad you got to reuse your foam. Unfortunately, the foam in my boat had been chewed up by mice and various other unmentionables. Got the motor yanked off last night. Despite some of the wires being chewed on, by the mice, my mechanic didn't see any major problems with the engine. If the compression is good I should come out of that part pretty cheap. My biggest concern now will be splitting the transom. I haven't removed the top plate yet so I'm not exactly sure what to expect or where to cut. Thanks for the info. I will followup.

Later
Mike