2017 Stringer project

Looks like I'm at a point of being forced to do my stringers on my 83 SN2001.

This all started for me with the soft spot in front of the motor box. Being new to boat ownership, I had very little to go on when inspecting this boat. I figured the spot would just need a patch and new carpet. I thought I checked the stringers at the motor mounts but come to find out, the lag bolts were under the carpet and I actually checked the nut and bolt that mounts the motor mounts to the cradle. Had I known better, and appropriately checked, I'd have walked on this boat. Too late now.

So far I am at an investigative point, I pulled the interior and disgusting blue camper carpet, pulled the battery box and factory cooler and scooped the soaked foam from that area. This is where the project was supposed to stop, I was going to add storage and move the battery, fix the floor and finish with the gray sheet seadek that I bought on the Black Friday sale.

Then I began noticing that the wood portion of the floor was gone and that the top of the main stringers was soft. After pulling the floor in front of the observers seat. Both stringers are soft and wet.

We use this boat for wakeboarding then typically end up anchored or tied up with friends. I have not kept it original, added tower, stereo, rear seating etc to better fit our needs. So in my mind I wanted a cheap boat to use for a few years and sell off for a v-drive for the interior space. But we thoroughly enjoyed the boat over last season, which extended in to late October here near Atlanta.

I'll be tearing down and getting started as weather permits, I have tool boxes and my wife's new car in the garage so it looks like the tool boxes, swim platform and trailer will need to temporarily go. I will post here with updates as well as questions and photos as it progresses. Ideally it will be useable by summer this year.

Appreciate all the help in advance from you all here.

Pics I forgot to post earlier.

Thank you, Snobsessed, I thought about that, harbor freight has a really affordable shelter, my concern there is temperatures and the glass work. According to my measurements I can fit her car in the garage with it if the toolboxes are removed and have the ability to close the door with the platform brackets off the boat.

I guess we will see. Do you happen to know about leaving it on the trailer and doing one stringer at a time maybe PB'ed in? Then finish after all 4 are in? That would allow it to be mobile and climate controlled at times.

Thanks for the advice. I'll look up your thread.

Tfreeman wrote: Ideally it will be useable by summer this year.

If you start now you should be able to get it done by summer. I did mine in about a month and a half. I would've done it maybe a little quicker if the weather would've cooperated a little better. I still need to put my new carpet in but I'll get it done sometime when it warms up a little. Good luck to ya! It's a lot of work but very rewarding when it's done and the advise on this forum is incredible. Take your time was the best advise I was given.

So I am doing some thinking in between working, sleeping and prepping the boat, I have a few questions.

The fresh air hoses, I've seen a few re routed for more space, I would like to do the same.

Are the hoses more for fresh air in to the motor box? Or bad air out? Is it designed to flow air in the bow vents, through the bilge, and out the rear vents while moving?

Is there any real reason for the hump under the bow or is only for routing the hoses, wiring, and mounting a kick pad for the driver?

Thanks.

There really isn't any space to be gained by re-routing those air ducts... assuming you are keeping the battery in the same location. Flex pvc is much easier to work with than hard wall.

Go as big as you can on the cable/wiring conduit... it'll make life easier when you're installing cables down the line.

A few benefits of the raised hump ("air box") are:
-easy way to mount panels that hide ducting/wiring/etc.
-raised height keeps water out (it will find the low point)

I would say I know air movement better than you know flex pvc!

It is not corrugated on the ID, and it is dimensionally equivalent to hardwall. The reason it is much easier to work with when reconstructing correct crafts is because you don't need to align holes in bulkheads with a laser sight... the flex is forgiving and will accommodate some misalignment. Not to mention the complex bends from the bilge to the stbd side of the boat. You can use the space much more efficiently with the flex since you are not limited by standard bend angles and radiuses. Fewer below-floor joints is a bonus as well. I have rebuilt boats with both and the flex pvc is worth the extra $.

Pete, you must be thinking of some other type of hose/pipe. Feel free to dig up the pics in my BFN thread. The most reasonably priced flex of pvc that McMaster sells (at least as of a few years ago) is green. 2.5" nominal gets you close to the original 3" OD of the dryer hose (making connections easier at the top side).

Hardwall:


Flex:

I am not talking about flex ducting... I am talking about flexible PVC pipe. It conforms to the same sizing standards as hardwall PVC pipe, and you can mate the 2 types with hard pvc fittings. Can't recall the p/n I ordered from McMaster to be sure if you're looking at the right stuff or not... but it doesn't look like it. Regardless of how it is notionally depicted on their website, (or how it looks in my pic above) I can assure you it is smooth internally and externally. Bend radius is not very tight but its a heck of a lot more forgiving and easy to work with vs hard wall.

I am not sure how to make my point more clearly? You are certainly misunderstanding the product I am referring to.

LMGTFY

Google image search returns some good results to show the ID is smooth.

I initially pictured the spa hose reading that above. Seems like a combo of hard walled and flexible pvc might be something to consider.

I am not leaving the battery in the stock spot, but I haven't decided on the best spot yet. I have two batteries, one for starting and one for the tunes. I was hoping to turn some of that space in to a little bit of extra storage.

Thanks for the input I'm taking notes.

Today I pulled the rudder, prop and disconnected everything I think I needed to pull the motor. I'm on duty tomorrow so it's coming out before the Falcons play Saturday. Pulled the floor in front of the motor box and raked out the wet foam.




The stringers are all soft mushy and wet. I accidentally vaccumed some of one out with the shop vac.

Does anyone have a descent list of measurements I should take down? Or is the engine cradle my main concern?

Thanks

Motor is out. Now I'm ready to start some serious work

Nope it rode on a tire. With the mounts on it.

Is this strainer something from the factory? The mount was loose and it just doesn't seem quite right to me.


Also I didn't take a pic, but the previous owner swapped the fuel
Filter over to a different type of screw on filter. I'm guessing it's in the factory location (on the engine cradle below the fuel pump) because of the marks under the housing from something previously mounted there. Does anyone have a photo of the factory fuel filter in its original location?

I guess I was trying to find out about the way they are mounted to the engine cradle. The fuel filter housing had two long lag bolts running in to the stringer and is too low to thread on the filter with out loosening the bracket.

And the strainer appeared to me like the previous owner tried to catch the rear-most engine cradle bolt and an extra screw, but failed at that.