Rotted deck and stringer help for newby

[Pat]

Hello all:

I am new to this forum and boats. My brother and I recently purchased a 1977 Browning Monte Carlo stern drive (18'). The overall condition of the boat looks good. The hull is clean with no cracks and the motor is like new with only 450 hours on it (Ford 302 CID rated at 175HP).

Yesterday we started removing the old carpeting to check some soft spots in the deck. The fiberglass was pulled away from the deck wood. We removed it and found all of the deck wood was rotted away. We reoved a section of this to expose the stringers and foam fill. Well of course most of the stringers are rotted away. Unfortunately the wood making up the sides of the bilge area are also rotted and the motor mount areas are rotted out (couldn't see this until we started removing the deck. The fiberglass box that makes up the engine compartment is in good shape.

From what I have seen by reading a lot of posts in this forum and some other site the wood seems to be just glassed into the hull? The bilge are seems to be just a box that is glassed to the hull with the motor in it?

What is the best way to go about replacing the stringers and the motor mount boards? Do we have to remove all of the foam from the boat and start from scratch? Can we remove the rotted stringers and pour between the foam with a epxoy or glass product to make poured in place stringers? Can we use regular plywood for the stringers and pressure treated lumber for the motor mounts? This boat will be used primarly for fishing in fresh water and may make a trip or two to the sound side of The Outer Banks. It should not see too much wave pounding or speed abuse.

Any help would be appreciated. We were very excited about doing some major fishing in this boat this year. Looks like we will be spending a lot of time redoing it first.

[Pat]

Doesn't anyone have any suggestions for us? I am trying to find a decent book on the subject but am not sure which one is going to help out.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pat

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by Pat

Doesn't anyone have any suggestions for us? I am trying to find a decent book on the subject but am not sure which one is going to help out.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pat

There is a huge amount of info in the search section in the blue bar at the top of the page. There's probably some books listed. Here's searches for rotted stringers, rotted transoms, rotted floors. Sam
http://boatdesign.net/forums/search....d=436146&pp=25
http://boatdesign.net/forums/search.php?searchid=436150
http://boatdesign.net/forums/search.php?searchid=436151

[craigathome]

hi craigathome here try www.shareaproject.com this was good for me. My project is (106) good luck.

[jimslade]

use well dried out pressure treated wood. Do one side at a time to avoid structural problems.

[dereksireci]

All those posts are good and worth a look.

Remember to support the boat very well when doing the work. Do not attempt to do it with the boat sitting on a trailer. Your best bet is make sure the hull is true, then build a cradle which keeps the boat low to the ground. Makes it easier to get in and out. It's only an 18 footer so without the engine you should be able to handle it.

Don't cut all the structure out of the boat and expect the shape not to warp. Dig out the foam then replace the parts one at a time. I'd use regular marine plywood and make sure it is completely encapsulated with glass and resin.



By the way, I happen to have a 29 year old boat in my back yard which is in really good shape, if you are interested!

djs