1980 SRV 195 Floor Removal

[Tsabo]

Hello,

I am beginning my restoration process, and have removed the majority of the interior. It was mostly make shift and it was poorly done. I have arrived at original floor and as suspected there is major rot. I would like to begin tearing the old floor out, but I have some reservations as this is my first boat project and I am not at all familiar with the hull design of my boat (internally). I do not want to damage the structural integrity of the hull as I begin removing all the rotted wood. Any help at all would be awesome. I found this http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=318939&highlight=floor and I think it will be useful when it is time to reconstruct, but as far as the tear down it is not that much help to me, any tips? Thanks.

-Sebastian

 

[kybishop]

I have not gone through a floor replacement, so I can not offer a lot of experience there. I would want to try and reconstruct it as close to original as I could. Lots of pictures of the old, measure and draw up what it was like. Then replace to as close to the same as I could. Anything that I removed I would try and replace it as clos to original as I could.

You are probably aready thinking along these lines though, maybe not much help.

Wish I could help more.

Kevin

 

[SCORPIO]

Are you going to be removing the stringers and/or transom core also? If you are going to be removing stingers, you want to make sure the boat is well supported to maintain its shape as you remove the stringers. If its not supported well, the hull can bow or sag distorting the running surface causing handling problems later. If the boat is on bunk trailer that will help alot as would adding some extra block stacks at the keel and chines every so often, more is better. A cradle is best but on a small boat I don't think its going to be that big of a deal, just support the hull well and rip and tear.
As Kevin said, try to put it back as closely as possible to what you took out. However, you will find bone headed things done by Sea Ray that you will want to improve upon and I would suggest that you do when you can. Things that come to mind from my experience are; drain holes drilled thru plywood bulkheads whith no sealer, raw end grain left exposed, wire chaseways drilled thru glassed surfaces and not sealed and last but not least, draining the deck into the gas tank compartment and other floor storage areas in route to the main bilge. Try to find a way to get rain/wash water off the deck without ducting it thru storage and fuel tank compartments. A new fuel tank would be a good idea with this level of restoration too.

 

[Tsabo]

At work now, but when I get home Ill take a picture of the trailer the boat is on and post it and maybe I could get some guidance on whether the boat is sufficiently supported. I don't know what kind of condition the stringer/engine mount/transom are in. I bought an OSB Blade for my circular saw and will be doing some exploratory cuts when I get off work in order to survey the the damage more extensively. (Already have respirator and all other PPE.) Ill try to keep you guys updated as much as possible. Thanks for the heads up on the Sea Ray bone headednes Scorpio. My intention is to try to replicate the original structure as close as possible, thanks Kevin.

-Sebastian

 

[gozierdt]

As Scorpio stated, if the boat is on a well-fitted bunk trailer you shouldn't have any problems. You will have removed most of the weight from the boat before removing the floor, stringers, etc. Also, be sure to take some core samples of the transom to see if it is wet (drill from the inside, and stop before hitting the outer fiberglass layers. If it is, you'll also be taking the motor out and the outdrive off. That will really take all the weight out. Go back to the iBoats "Restoration" forum, and check out some of the 5-starred floor/stringer/transom threads. You'll see lots of pictures of boats with almost everything out of the inside. The hull is made for taking major stresses from hitting waves at 35-40 mph, and just the fiberglass shell has a lot of rigidity if it's just sitting still without much weight in it. The one area you have to be careful is if you remove the top "cap", which is your upper decks, consoles, etc. Then it is easy for the boat to spread and/or settle a bit. If you're do take the cap off, bolt some cross-hull supports in place first. But from what I see, it's not usually necessary to remove the cap.

 

[Tsabo]

Thanks for all the advice so far. We have been able to remove move a good portion of the floor (from about the from of the engine to the steering wheel console). The stringers and cross support surrounding the ski locker need to be replaced, as well as the ones surrounding the engine, and I suspect the mounts as well. This also leads me to resign all hope that the transom will be unscathed from rot. I have already scouted a Harbor Freight Engine hoist, $139 and I'll get one of the 20% off coupons from the Sunday paper. I have a few questions... maybe you guys can help.
1. If the stringers are not rotten the whole length, is it advisable to cut out from say... from the console back and just replace those.
2. We are also having a fair amount of difficulty cutting up the floor. I have a reciprocating saw with a wood blade and a circular saw with a plywood blade (60 teeth). I have no experience cutting into plywood wrapped with fiberglass, so I think my expectations where off target, and the cutting is going extreemly slow and putting a lot of load on these power tools.
3. What is this (picture below) this is a 1979 version of this boat, mine is a 1980 and it just has that little triangle caulked in, nothing attached to it. <--- Just curious.

Thanks

-Sebastian

It rained tons today so I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the trailer.

 

[SCORPIO]

1. Yes, you can just remove the bad area and replace. You should go a little into good wood and use a scarf joint to increase the contact area between the two. Get the West System manual for fiberglass boat repair. It details all these things with illustrations as well as product and mixing instructions.

2. Get carbide tipped blades for the circular saw and use good metal or combination blades for the recrip. saw.
You will need many as glass will dull the blades quickly. Wear a Tyvek suit while cutting glass, so you don't itch too bad and a goo
good quality respirator so as not to breathe that stuff, bad for the lungs.
3. That is the trim tab actuator, specifically a hydraulic one made by Benette. Sounds like yours is broken off at the anchor point. Go online to the Benette site and you will be able to get what ever you need. These trim planes help you level the boat due to shifting loads, and also make it easier to plane the boat and adjust ride angle (bow up or down).