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| Is there any concern with an old fiberglass boat, say from the 60's, 70's, or 80's structure wise? If there is wood stringers, transom, etc, I understand those can and will rot out, but for the fiberglass itself, is a vintage boat still able to be restored and rock and roll like new?
Looking at 60's and 70's Boston Whalers, or 80's Tuffy/Ranger boats.
Thanks! |
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Posts: 202
Location: Angola, IN | I have quite a bit of first hand experience with this. I purchased a 1968 Starcraft V180 with the original 115HP Johnson on it. Boat, motor, and vintage TeeNee trailer for $500. My boat is 4th from the bottom on this page:
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=76...
The floor was rotten. Tore it up. The stringers were rotten. Cut them out. While I had it in my garage during the winter, and turned the Salamander heater on one cold morning, the transom began to "sweat" real bad....like a cold pop bottle on a hot July day. Took a drill bit and ran it through the transom....the plywood core was soaked and frozen solid like I thought.
I glass in new stringers, repaired the transom (with a very novel technique I learned on line from some old pro's), and put a new floor in it. All the wood was Douglas Fir. This little 18' foot got two 2x4's, two 2x6's and a 2x10" glass in for stringers. It's WAY more solid than it ever was. Then 5/8" Douglas Fir Marine-grade plywood. I then glassed the floor into the sides of the hull for added integrity. I think my boat could drive through a Ranger if I t-boned it. LOL!!
The transom is a long-winded technique, but I'd be more than glad to email it to you if you want/need it. Just PM me. Boat has held up very well. It gets abused by some decent waves motor across LSC. First couple of times, I was nervous, but now, I know she's rock solid.
But as far as the fiberglass skin goes....you should be fine. It can go bad, but usually in bigger yacht-sized boats that sit in the water year round. Look for any patches on the bottom....even if you have some, it's not big deal really. And see if you notice any bubbles or deformation in the gel coat....sign of possible delamination/blisters.
The boats in the early days of glass (1960's) used much heavier layers of glass then they use today. They were also hand layed-up with full sheets or rolls of glass mat and woven roving. Much more structurally strong than the chopped up glass mat that they shoot with guns today.
Lastly, the gel-coat is actually just pigmented resin. When you build a fiberglass boat, you build it from the outside in. You spray the hold with your gel coat, then lay your fiberglass on top of that. Just the opposite of building a car. You paint a car last. The gel-coat is THICK. Even if it has big scrapes and gouges, or stains, or discoloration, you can easily remove them and polish them out (especially on a white boat).....flake boats are a little harder.
Okay, I just wrote a book. But I do have a passion for old glass boats. It's nice to, to fish out of a boat that you restored. Even though it's old and not that nice, I still people coming up to me to check out my boat at least half the time I take it out of the water at the ramp.
Peace.
Edited by SteveHulbert 9/3/2012 8:04 PM
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| Thanks Steve, I really appreciate it. I would love to hear more about your transom repair; Seacast?. |
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Posts: 202
Location: Angola, IN | When I drilled a test pilot hole in my transom, I could see that the wood core was wet, but it didn't appear to be rotten and/or disintergrating. Usually the wood appears to be turning to dirt when it's completely shot. Mine still looks like wood. Just wet.
So on the transom, there is a thick layer of fiberglass on the outside, a layer of wood inside that, and then usually a thin skin of fiberglass on the inside of the transom to act as a water barrier. I drilled my test hole through the inside, so that I went through the thin skin, and then through the wood, and stopped when I hit the thick fiberglass. You can tell by looking at the shavings coming off your bit.
You're going to do the same a bunch of times, so get a drill bit stop so you can drill the same hole depth many times quickly. Then I used a 1/8 or 3/16" drill bit and drilled a bunch of holes from the top to bottom, port to starboard on the inside of my transom. Two holes were never more than 1" apart. I drilled a couple hundred holes. Then I got a squirt bottle with a 90 degree neck on it, and filled it with 100% Acetone. I squirted all the holes full of acetone. Let the Heater work on evaporating all the solvent. Maybe wait a few hours, and re-fill the holes again with acetone. I did this about 5 times. The acetone will dry the wood out....getting rid of all the water.
Then I bought a gallon of West Sytem Epoxy and a pint of their slow-catalyst hardener. I thinned the epoxy out by about 20% with Acetone and I did NOT add any hardener. I think used a syringe and squirted all the holes fill of thinned out epoxy. Let it sit for about 30 minutes. The plywood core will soak this epoxy right up. Then I did it again. Wait a bit. Do it again. Wait. I did this until the wood was saturated with epoxy, or dang close. You can tell when you squirt the thinned epoxy in, and it immediatly runs out of the hole. But do this step at least 3 times and wait at least a half hour before repeating.
Then I mixed up a batch of straight epoxy and TWICE the amount of slow hardener (because it's gotta catalyze the epoxy in the plywood) and quikcly brush/spread the epoxy over the inside of the transom. Let it harden. You can drill a quick test hole when it's all cured near the top of the transom to make sure all the epoxy has catalyzed.
This is what I did. Worked great. However, if the core is all the way gone, I recommend Seacast and/or putting a steel/aluminum plate on the transom to shore it up.
Steve |
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Posts: 136
Location: Dane Country | I'm almost done. I own the 1987 in the forums. redid the stringers, floors and decks. i liked redoing an old boat.Added custom stuff, made better than new and came out a lot cheaper. get lots of compliments. |
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| Your boat looks beautiful. Very well done. My vintage might be even older with the 70's or 60's, so hopefully I can locate something solid.
Edited by fishingfrenzy 9/5/2012 12:29 PM
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Posts: 136
Location: Dane Country | craigslist is a good source. if you need anything let me know.I will try and help. |
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| I've been checking pretty regular, hope an old Tuffy like yours pops up. |
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Posts: 136
Location: Dane Country | Nice riding boat. There is a nice 1988 Tuffy Maurader 18' on Madison craigslist. |
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Posts: 518
Location: Cave Run Lake KY. | If you get a old tuffy, check with the tuffy plant I know they have rebuilt old tuffy boats for some resorts in wisc. good as new. give them a call. |
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| Thank you, keeping my eyes open! |
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