19 Foot MFG Boat Restoration

[Chrismas Sko]

I recently picked up a 19' Foot fiberglass MFG boat in rough condition with the hopes of refurbishing it. I am not a boat guy but pretty handy. I have a bunch of questions about how to start. While I have researched the topic, I havent really found what I am looking for. The hull is in okay condition but dull and stained. I have read several people saying that it is better to clean then paint it, others that you have to clean and re-gell coat it, one that said to clean, re gell coat and then paint it. I am hoping yall can point me in the right direction in terms of refurbishing the hull. Time is not too much of an issue but I am trying to keep it as low budget as possible. If you can be as specific as that would help me the most.

I am also wondering if the same process needs to be done to the inside of the hull, or if you only need to refurbish the outside. There is mildew on the inside and the wood I think needs to be all removed as it is bad condition. Is there a better wood to use on the inside for rec-rafting the floor?

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it

 

[Woodonglass]

Welcome to iBoats!!! Pics are really the best way to show what you're working on and allow us to see it too! A free Photobucket account is the best method for posting pics. Just copy and paste the IMG Code. I'd be prepared to do a total Restore on the boat. This means about 200 man hours of labor and $1,500 to $3000 depending on what all needs to be done. Good News is if you invest the time and money you'll have a Like New boat for about 1/5th the price of a new one. The condition of the gelcoat will dictate the method of restoration both inside and out!

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Thank your for your response Woodonglass! Here are some pictures of the boat that I have taken. The inside is rotted through really, and the foam inside is hard as a rock. I assumed the best way to go about tackling this boat is to gut the inside and start by making the struts and ribs on the inside. I am not sure if it is important to water proof the ribs as I do not believe they will be getting that wet. If that is important, what waterproofer do you suggest? Along these lines, is there a best type of wood and girth to make the spin and ribs - best way. I figured just cutting them from a pine 2-4 or something along those lines to the curve of the boat would be the best method. My plan after that was to build a deck a top the ribs and spine and then tackle the hull.

I dont know what a good and bad gell coat really looks like. The boat has been painted on the bottom but it is all types of beat up. I think the gell coat looks ok, but not sure, but the paint is terrible.

Thank you for your help!

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Others one the way

 

[Shakedownscott]

Hi Chrismas,

I am working on a very similar boat, mine is a 1976 19' MFG Fishin Caprice. Yours looks very similar, maybe a little older looks like a 1971 model?

There is a link below in my signature that shows how far I have gotten on the project. Should give you an idea of what is under the deck.

I used 3/4" plywood for the stringers and polyester resin to seal it and attach them to the hull. This is what was used originally, I am just putting it back the way I found it

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Thats a great help to me! Thank you. Our boats seem to be in similar shape. I dont think I need to take to top off mine as the rotted floor is exposed already. So what you did was remove all the rotted stringers, clean the hull, fix the injuries to the fiberglass, use plywood for the stringers, and put them in place? When you cut the stringers, how did u measure the contour of the boat so you know they would be flush with the bottom of the hull? Aslo, how did you epoxy them? Did you put it on the bottom of the stringers or did you put epoxy on the sides of the stringer and then spread it down to the boat?

Thank you

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Also, I am not sure if I am looking at the inside of the hull in the above pictures or a liner? Is there any way to tell?
Im thinking that the appropriate place to build the deck is right on top of the stringers right? If so, I was thinking of laying a deck of pine or somthing nice and then finishing the wood and weather proofing it. It seems to me though that ather people are fiber glassing the deck or carpeting it. Which is best?

 

[Woodonglass]

You may find this beneficial...Fabricating Decks, Stringers, and Transoms

 

[Shakedownscott]

Thats a great help to me! Thank you. Our boats seem to be in similar shape. I dont think I need to take to top off mine as the rotted floor is exposed already. So what you did was remove all the rotted stringers, clean the hull, fix the injuries to the fiberglass, use plywood for the stringers, and put them in place? When you cut the stringers, how did u measure the contour of the boat so you know they would be flush with the bottom of the hull? Aslo, how did you epoxy them? Did you put it on the bottom of the stringers or did you put epoxy on the sides of the stringer and then spread it down to the boat?

Thank you

Luckily my stringers were not too rotted. I was able to remove them and use them as a template. After I cut the new stringers I rested them on 1/4" thick shims, this kept everything the same distance from the hull.

I glued them in place with PB which is a thickened form of poly resin. I pushed it into the 1/4" gap under the stringers The link from WOG is very helpful and should give you a good idea how to do it.

 

[Shakedownscott]

Also, I am not sure if I am looking at the inside of the hull in the above pictures or a liner? Is there any way to tell?
Im thinking that the appropriate place to build the deck is right on top of the stringers right? If so, I was thinking of laying a deck of pine or somthing nice and then finishing the wood and weather proofing it. It seems to me though that ather people are fiber glassing the deck or carpeting it. Which is best?

It does not look like there is a liner on the inside of the boat, hard to tell from the pictures. As you remove the deck it should be more obvious what is there.

In my boat there were 3/4" thick by 3" wide strips of plywood on top of the stringers to form a "T". Then there was 1/2" plywood as a deck on top of that. It was then covered in fiberglass. As you take yours apart try and be careful to understand how it was assembled, so you can put it back the same way.

The fiberglass on the deck will keep out the water and make it last longer. The idea for all of the wood used in your repair should be to encapsulate the wood in resin and fiberglass. This will keep the water out and make it last longer. You can put wood or carpet over the sealed deck for aesthetics but it would be best if it was sealed in fiberglass first.

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Awsome. Thats really what I needed. Thank you. Would you guys recomend screwing the deck into the fiberglassed stringers. or does it just sit there? Also, is there any cleaning I should do to the inside of the hull aside from cleaning the gunk out. And lastly, Where would you suggest getting the suplies from (resin etc.) and how much of each component would yall suggest in order to do the stringers?

The help here is great. You guys are helping me out a ton.

 

[Chrismas Sko]

This is the progress I made today. Removed the engine from the boat. It is hard to tell if I can get it running. I am not so good with electrical and it looks as if all the throttle controls have been fried. Had the foam inside tested for asbestos because it was added in the early 80s but that should come back clean in the next week and i will begin disasembly.

 

[Shakedownscott]

Awsome. Thats really what I needed. Thank you. Would you guys recomend screwing the deck into the fiberglassed stringers. or does it just sit there? Also, is there any cleaning I should do to the inside of the hull aside from cleaning the gunk out. And lastly, Where would you suggest getting the suplies from (resin etc.) and how much of each component would yall suggest in order to do the stringers?

The help here is great. You guys are helping me out a ton.

I used some stainless steel deck screws to hold the decking down to the stringers. I also attached a 1x1 cleat to the stringers to put the screws into. I think the screws are a bit overkill and not required. I mainly wanted to hold things down while the resin cured, I have seen others just use weights to hold it down.

After removing the stringers and foam, you can wash out any grime with soap and water or other type cleaners. I just removed any heavy grime or oil. You could probably skip the washing because you are going to have to grind a lot of the fiberglass to get down to clean fiberglass.

After grinding to clean fiberglass you will wash it really well with acetone to get ready for new resin to stick properly.

This website is sponsored by iboats and they sell resin and glass, a lot of members also use US Composites.

I used 1708 biaxial fiberglass for the stringers. To save time and effort cutting a lot of long strips I got 6" and 12" wide rolls of 1708. I bought 50' of each, but after you see how many stringers you have you can estimate the length you need. I put down the 6" first then the 12 " over that.

There are other options but I used 435 laminating resin from US composites, probably going to need at least 10 gallons of it. I am on my third 5 gallon pail already, the 1708 sucks this resin up like crazy.

You will need 1.5 oz chopped strand mat (CSM) to cover the deck. Measure the square footage of you deck and figure out how much you will need for one layer on the bottom and two on the topside.

 

[Chrismas Sko]

I used some stainless steel deck screws to hold the decking down to the stringers. I also attached a 1x1 cleat to the stringers to put the screws into. I think the screws are a bit overkill and not required. I mainly wanted to hold things down while the resin cured, I have seen others just use weights to hold it down.

After removing the stringers and foam, you can wash out any grime with soap and water or other type cleaners. I just removed any heavy grime or oil. You could probably skip the washing because you are going to have to grind a lot of the fiberglass to get down to clean fiberglass.

After grinding to clean fiberglass you will wash it really well with acetone to get ready for new resin to stick properly.

This website is sponsored by iboats and they sell resin and glass, a lot of members also use US Composites.

I used 1708 biaxial fiberglass for the stringers. To save time and effort cutting a lot of long strips I got 6" and 12" wide rolls of 1708. I bought 50' of each, but after you see how many stringers you have you can estimate the length you need. I put down the 6" first then the 12 " over that.

There are other options but I used 435 laminating resin from US composites, probably going to need at least 10 gallons of it. I am on my third 5 gallon pail already, the 1708 sucks this resin up like crazy.

You will need 1.5 oz chopped strand mat (CSM) to cover the deck. Measure the square footage of you deck and figure out how much you will need for one layer on the bottom and two on the topside.

Perfect!! This is great. So I will gut the boat, clean it quick, and then get to sanding. Do you mean that whole inside of the hull has to be grinded down in order to reach clean glass, or just the glass that is at the bottom of the hull from the previous rotted stringers? When sanding, do you know what grit is best to use? And how do you know when you have sanded enough? I presume its when everythhing is flush right?

This is a picture of the inside of the boat hull. I think it might have been painted at one point. Not so sure. Thank you for all the advise! Im finally getting a good idea of what Im going to have to do here.

 

[Chrismas Sko]

So, I just tried to seperat the molding on the top of the boat, where the railing is atached, and it seams to be epoxied heavily to the transom so I can not pull it off. I do not know how to seperate the two but I have to to get acess to the back of the deck. The molding runs around the upper rim of the whole boat and then around the back rim as well as the back of the transom... Are there any techniques for seperating the two? I am in a bit of a rush writing this so there might be some spelling errors. Sorry!

 

[Woodonglass]

Based on your previous pics, I'd say you'll need to use a sawsall and cut down and thru the glass about 1 1/2" in from the outer edge. Its's and easy fix on the glass when you're ready to put it back on.

 

[Shakedownscott]

The pink stuff in this picture was rock hard and would not separate from the transom easily.



That is probably whats glueing yours together. I tried to separate it at the outer edge and ended up breaking it pretty good getting it apart.



WOG's recommendation sounds right as always. Should come apart easier if you cut it at the inner edge of the transom with a sawzall. I still have to figure out how to fix the cut out area.

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Ahhh I see. Thank you WOG and SDC. Ill give it a whirl and cut it away! Ill upload pics as I do! I have been using an engine hoist to the molding as you have been SDC. It was working alright untill I got to the very end. Will report back soon with an update!

 

[Chrismas Sko]

Hey guys. So today I was able to get the molding off by cutting it. I did not get all of it off. The molding around the transom has been glued in very tight and I think I will have to chisel it out. I have a few questions regarding future plans for the boat. First, I am wondering what to do about the inner sides of the hull, I am not sure but it looks like it has been previously painted and is pealing. Can I sand the inside? Will that be good? I saw in your boat SDC that the liner you removed provided a nice fiberglass wall for the inside of the hull. I am not sure what to do about mine because even with the molding on it that I just removed, the inside of the hull is still visible. Mabey I could hide it behind wood? Also, I am wondering what the best way to restore my fiberglass modling to nice white finish is when it is time to but it back on?
On the same level, it seems that resin and chop strand fiber glassing leads to a brown finish. Is there a way to make it white and smooth like it is on the boat?s outside so it can be walked on barefoot?
I am also struggling with figuring out what to do with the motor. It is a 125 hp old Jonson. It has a hydraulic lifter and fluid steering it looks like. It is all disconnected now but I do not know how to test it to see if it runs, and I also have no idea how to set the steering back up when I am done with the deck. All the olde motor hardware is shot so I need to buy it new. I am trying to save money so would it be worth it to try to keep it and reinstall everything? Or just to can it and get a smaller manual steering motor?
Thanks for all the help thus far guys. Its really enabling me to keep going. Due to my low funds, it helps so much if I can figure out exactly the best way to do things so the help of both you guys has been huge!

 

[Chrismas Sko]

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