1981 Ski Supreme Seville Restoration

[Jakebrown]

Our family lived on a lake for a good while, so we're familiar with boats and have already partially restored a stunning orange 1972 Correct Craft Skier that we sold. My dad, brother and I found a 1981 Ski Supreme Seville for sale for $1,000. The Craigslist ad said it had a 302 engine with 351 heads (just like the '72 Skier), only 200 hours on the new engine, 600 total on the boat.The catch was the stringers were bad. We figured the hull, trailer, and engine were worth over $1,000 easily and were more than willing to replace everything else on the boat. The ad had no pictures so we assumed the worst (faded gel coat, bad stringers, rotten floor, torn seats, etc.), but we were thankfully wrong.
The boat is cream with red lettering and red upholstery. The gel coat is in near mint condition, the drivers and front passenger seat have one tear each in them, and the floor was new in 2006, the carpet is clean, the teak is all accounted for, and the trailer is in good shape. We were amazed that the owner was selling for such a low price on such a beautiful boat.
We're about to dive into the project tomorrow. The plan is to replace the stringers, maybe the floor depending on the condition, reupholster the torn seats, replace the exhaust while we're down there, install a stereo, wheel out the boat, and replace the old 80's decal with a modern looking one that reads "Ski Supreme". Tomorrow I believe we'll just be tearing up the floor and starting to get the engine free. I'll post some pictures before we get started and during the process. Any advice is greatly appreciated, especially with the stringers as we've never replaced any. Does anyone know where I can find Ski Supreme decals online? I'm really looking forward to this restore!

[Jakebrown]

We were only able to wash the boat and run the engine for a bit today. Here's some pictures of the boat though, look at that gel coat! 100_0611.JPG100_0612.JPG100_0613.JPG100_0614.JPG100_0615.JPG

[Jakebrown]

engine and interior 100_0618.JPG100_0619.JPG100_0620.JPG100_0621.JPG

[Jakebrown]

This boat had some major flaws in the ways it was put together. We have the stringers out of the boat as seen here. http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pid=44048 We just don't know what materials to use to put the stringers in. What type of wood should we use for a permanent solution for the stringers? We were thinking Douglas Fur or White oak, but some have suggested 2 3/4"s marine ply wood epoxied together. The old ones were 2 by 8's (stringer width 1.5") spaced about 22 inches apart. The beam of the boat is 71 inches. And should I put anything under the stringers to avoid hard joints on the hull? Do the stringers sit right against the transom? What glue should I use between the new stringers and fiberglass? I was thinking about using 1708 biaxel glass and poly resin, but how many layers should I put down? Here's some other pictures.
Rotten stringers, they were so bad I was able to pry them off the hull, no cutting necessary
http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pid=44049
Front of hull where stringers end
http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pid=44052
Where stringers sit in front
http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pid=44051
Back of hull
http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?pid=44050
Thanks a lot in advance for the help!

[Woodonglass]

Check the first link in my signature. It has drawings and details on how to do your stringers, deck and transom. Have you core sampled the transom?

[Rick-101]

Best of luck, this really looks like a great restore project!

[rhtmarine]

Cool boat! I would not use ply. White oak or vertical grain fir would work well. It gets glassed in does it not? what ever you use, seal it on all edges 3-4 coats of CPES.
Looks like a cool project...I'm restoring that boats predecessor. A 1960 chris Craft sportsman. It came from the factory with a chevy 283 and a factory installed ski-tow as an option.
Bob

[Jakebrown]

Hey all thanks for the reply! We looked at the transom and the wood was slightly rotted. We cut a rectangle of the most rotted wood and we think we will just glass over it. Does that sound like a sound idea? We decided to go with white oak stringers because they seemed more solid and were even cheaper than marine plywood. We're going to encapsulate it with epoxy to keep it from rotting. Now Wood on glass with the link in your signature, is the purpose of the foam to keep the stringer level while you peanut putter the gaps between the foam under the stringer? Then you would remove the foam and fill in the gaps the foam filled? Also what do the terms "tabbing" and "filleting" mean? And it's your opinion that 2 layers of Chopped strand mat and 1708 biax cloth is the best way to coat the stringers? Some have said one layer is enough, and more than that will effect the way it rides. The problem with all this boat repair is everyone has an opinion and it's frustrating to be told a lot of different things

[Jakebrown]

Cool boat! I would not use ply. White oak or vertical grain fir would work well. It gets glassed in does it not? what ever you use, seal it on all edges 3-4 coats of CPES.
Looks like a cool project...I'm restoring that boats predecessor. A 1960 chris Craft sportsman. It came from the factory with a chevy 283 and a factory installed ski-tow as an option.
Bob

A wooden Chris Craft has always been my dad's dream boat. Keep working on it, I can't wait to see it when it's done! Yeah the white oak seems the best. The idea of gluing 2 3/4" pieces of plywood together then having engine mount screws going through the top sounded like a bad idea. We're going with the system three epoxy system, does 3 gallons sound about right? http://boatbuildercentral.com/prodde...od=S3_KIT_3gal What speed cure should we use? We were thinking medium. We were also going to use 3M Marine adhesive sealant http://boatbuildercentral.com/prodde...d=LM_8634_6500

[rhtmarine]

The slower the cure the stronger the bond when it comes to epoxy. I would recommend you to first seal with CPES! That epoxy is good for laminating, but wont penetrate the wood. 3 gallons sounds like too much... good luck and post pics along the way.
Bob

[Jakebrown]

Seal the wood with CPES first? Okay that makes sense because it's a penetrating epoxy. What kind of epoxy do you recommend for the glassing?

[joshkoltes]

im about to do this exact resto, and your pics answerd seeveral questions. but there are only the two stringers? and my transum wasnt good enough to hold the swim deck so look into that. ive been saving up for a year to do the stringers in sea cast and was going to start next month when i go back there but now im wondering if thatll even be possible looking at your stringers coming off the floor like that. time will tell when i dig in but your way ahead of me for the same price

[rhtmarine]

I like west systems epoxy...with the pumps it's easy to measure, easy to find. use mat to glass it in. Keep it clean and not too much. two clean/wet layers of mat will be super strong! If the transom has any rot, replace it! It's easier to do now while your into it. Glassing won't fix the rot. Two layers of 3/4" marine or exterior ply glued and screwed together using 5200. seal it on all edges 3-4 coats of CPES. glue in it with 5200. Make a cardboard template if the old one comes out in pieces. I believe it will!
Bob