1958 Higgins resto-mod

I'm helping a friend restore his grandfathers 1958 Higgins utility. The outside of the boat has fiberglass and gelcoat. (since the early 80s) It is in good condition and will be sanded and painted. The boat has been kept inside since Hurricane Katrina. We are doing little to the outside other than replacing the transom back to clear mahogany. My questions come from inside the hull. All of the paint has been stripped from all surfaces inside. I am planning on removing all of the fasteners bolting the frames together (one joint at a time) to re-glue and replace fasteners to stainless ones.
#1. I was thinking of filleting both sides of the frame to side joint because I cant get to the fasteners from the outside. Should I also tape these joints like we do on S & G boats.? Is this overkill?
#2. Below the sole inside, I intend on sealing everything with epoxy before repainting. Should I just do the entire inside of the boat. $ and time really not an issue.
#3. Outside the motor stringers between the frames would normally be filled with foam (modern S & G construction). Yes it adds some weight but also piece of mind. Advisable?
My friend is doing this in order to repower with a modern power plant. He is going to use the hell out of the boat just as it was intended to be. (utility) So I guess resto-mod is more of the plan. I has lasted for 4 generations and hopefully 4 more. Thanks in advance for all of the expert advice.

 

Welcome the the forum.

Re-gluing the joints will work, but do so carefully, as to not elongate the planking fastener holes. Do not fillet or tape these frames to the planking. The wood isn't sealed, so it will change physical dimensions with moisture content. This will eventually shear the bond line at the planking, allowing moisture in and trapping inside the frame/planking interface, with a limited path to escape (read easy to rot).

The same applies to the bilge coating. Because the wooden elements aren't fully encapsulated, you're just wasting goo and putting a hard plastic coating over wood that will swell and contract.

The reason it has lasted is the wood has been allowed to move (breath), though the polyester exterior coating has limited this to some degree.

Glue the frame joints and replace the fasteners. Paint the bilge and replace rot or worn out elements as you need to, with similar attachment and coating techniques. She'll give you another half a century of service.

Epoxy is a great glue and the joints will do well with it. Epoxy is also a great coating, but to be effective, it needs to fully entomb the wood (stabilizing it), not just be used as a paint on some areas of the surface. If you want to toughen up the bilge, use a good primer and several coats of a hard paint, like a single or two part polyurethane.

Lastly the best thing you can do is just keep up with her maintenance needs. This is the real way to keep a boat like this. These can stand the least amount of time, being neglected, before problems arise. If you stay ahead of the curve, she'll offer good service, but if you get behind, you'll play catch up for the remainder of it's shortened life. Post some pictures please.

 

Thanks Par,
I will post pics soon. I understand everything about wood "moving" with moisture. You do know that this is a plywood on frame boat, not plank on frame. That being said its a lot more like a S & G vessel which have fillets and tape on the frame to sides/bottom joints.
Secondly, some of the fasteners are really loose and I was planning on redrilling 1/16" larger and using the appropriate size fastener.
As far as sealing up the bilge and frames below deck. What about CPES before primer and paint. There are some areas that seem to have dry rot and could use some preservation. As a bilge / cockpit / sole coat I have used Raptor bedliner sprayed application. It is a polyurethane product and holds up very well in my sportfishing boat. The owner has seen it and really likes the feel under foot. It is also tintable in any color. The entire inside of the boat is going to be painted/bedliner so I'm just looking for the best way to treat the wood prior to painting. Thanks again.