stringer delamination

[eddie k]

Hi my name is Eddie, I am new to the site and hope somebody here can help me. I live in west texas and there is one boat shop here that mostly does car work!! I have a 1971 aqua craft shark, flat bottom v-drive it was my dads. I had started work on it four years ago and had to stop (the wife got pregnant somehow?) I just started working on it again, I cut the fiberglass tanks out of it to put in aluminium tanks, I had taken the boat to that boat shop four years ago to re-clear the boat, I had noticed a 6inch bubble in the stringer and asked the guy and he told me not to worry about it, he then sanded and coated the inside of the boat with some type of coating like rhino linner? or something, it came out nice. well no that im working on it I cant see the delamination cus of the coating but you can feel it,it is only on the driver side stringer, on the outer side and only in the middle of the stringer, it runs almost the length of the whole stringer. The delamination is just on one side of the stringer and does not go over the top or to the bottom where the stringer meets the floor., I have done some fiberglass work but never on a boat, and never this much, I dont know if I need to fix this or just leave it? the boat shop said to leave it but it bothers me!!!, my dad said that he thinks it was like that in the late 70's so I dont know what to do?? and how to go about doing it??

[gonzo]

That is the kind of problem, or not-problem, that needs an in site inspection. A quick search gave a couple of options in your area:

Paul Delgado Fiberglass Fab (915) 585-6440
101 Park Avenue Ct
El Paso, TX 79912


Daniels Gaile Y
. 875-0111

7500 N Mesa St
El Paso, TX 79912

[eddie k]

Thanks I appreciate it, i think they do more pool work though?, but I guess as long as they are good with glass work?, I just dont want to do it like three times, but then again every time I take my stuff to someone they seem to make it worse, and I pay them for it!! I just dont want to make things worse,, THANK YOU FOR THE HELP GONZO!!!

[gonzo]

The main problem with delamination, is that it may have water inside and rot the wood core. A fast inspection would be to make a 1 inch hole and see if it is dry.

[eddie k]

Thanks, I did drill some holes in it, but that was three years ago and the wood was fine, I just dont want to tear everything apart if I dont have to. The thing that I was worried about is will this effect the structrual integerity of the boat?, the delamination starts in the same area where the motor mounts are. The other thing is I dont want to put this boat together and then later on have to take it all aprt again!! but if it has been like this for thirty years ?? then i guess its ok???? this sucks

[thudpucker]

How about some photos for me. I'm dense enough to get lost in the question.

[CaptBill]

If it's dry then you have a simple fix. Just go to town with a drill bit in the affected area, clear as many chips from the holes that you can and pour in some low-viscoscity epoxy into the holes. maybe do two batches to prevent possibility of heat build up. Maybe make a few countersunk holes for some screws as clamps...don't worry about it to much

[eddie k]

Thanks evryone, I am bad at computers, Ive been trying get post some pics but keep having trouble,, dont worry I wont give up. , WHAT TYPE OF EPOXY? OR NAME BRAND, DOES IT MATTER WHAT TYPE OR ANY WILL DO?

[CaptBill]

Originally Posted by eddie k

Thanks evryone, I am bad at computers, Ive been trying get post some pics but keep having trouble,, dont worry I wont give up. , WHAT TYPE OF EPOXY? OR NAME BRAND, DOES IT MATTER WHAT TYPE OR ANY WILL DO?

Really doesn't matter what brand. Just find a good source that has a low-viscoscity epoxy. I have been getting good results with Epoxyproducts.com products. I think you want their Low-Vis clear, they call it. A large syringe would be an ideal application method idea too for this typr deal.

[eddie k]

Thanks, I have heard that the best thing to do is to replace it, but Im not sure I need to, then again it will suck if I put the motor in , then it gets worse. I talked to the fiberglass guy here and he said that you could get away with just fixing the bad side, but that doesnt sound right , I thought if you were going to reglass you should reglass both side? he said that if I took the boat to him he would give me a estimate, but i think the epoxy thing sounds good. I just dont want the delamination to get worse when i have the motor in!! or the stringers to be weak.. Ill look up that epoxy thanks alot, I might take the boat to the guy just to see what he thinks.

[eddie k]

Have you done repairs like this before? I had the idea to pour resin in it before but the epoxy thing seems like it might be better, will this make it strong again or just bond the glass to the wood?? do you think it will be as strong as if it were to be reglassed?? just wondering... Thanks lot for the help...Ill try to stop asking the same questions I promise..... I have O.C.D.

[CaptBill]

You just need to fill the voids between the delaminations, clamp it up a little if you can, grind off the surrounding area fiberglass ( make a wide bevel here) and then you can re-glass the patched area. When it all dries you just grind the overlapped fiberglass material and you are done mostly. The rest is just tweaking it cosmeticly . Hardest part is matching the finish color i bet.

No worries. It is probably worrying you more than it should. I would still do it before your motor is remounted though.

[eddie k]

well I drilled more holes in the stringer, since I had not checked for rotted wood, in the last three years. The holes I drilled were all ok, except for the diver side stringer starting from the transom, till about two feet forward. The wood chips are brown, and some are like powder, but mainly brown chips. There were some small holes at the bottom of the stringer that had not been plugged up, over the years water had got in and rotted some of the wood, the wood is dry but now im still wondering if filling with epoxy will be enough where the rotted wood is at? sorry for reapeting myself... but just worried..