1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

[ClassicsRbest]

Hi all,

I am new to iboats and recently acquired a 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King runabout. The PO had it sitting outside for the whole winter (Wisconsin) and even though it was covered there was a decent amount of water/ice inside the boat. I brought it home and put it in my garage right away and cleaned it up. As the weather has been above freezing now I have removed ice and vacuumed out the water. I lifted the front of the boat to help things drain to back and out of the boat. Even though there was water in it I checked the hull and have found no water leaking out of the boat which is good. All the water is draining out of the drain hole in the transom. There is no carpet in the boat and the two bench seats I removed. Because of the water under the floor the floor itself seems a bit soft. Not terrible but something I want to look into. It looks as if the floor is fiberglassed with the wood underneath and stringers beneath that I am guessing. Here is where I need some help. Should I just continue to let the boat dry out and then see how the floor feels? Or should I tear it out and if so how do I do that as it is fiberglassed? I will post a few pictures and then take a few more to show you some better shots of the interior of the boat. Any suggestions or tips you could give me would be great. I'm a young guy and this is the first project boat I am working on. Thanks!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

Welcome to iBoats!
Love the Old Runabouts. Very similar to my Blue Flamingo!!
Did you get 2 for the price of one? What's the blue one next to her?
Lot's of good info in the First link in my signature below.

 

[brainula]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

Your project sounds like mine.

I got a 1964 Superglass and it had been sitting outside (bow down) for 2 years I was told. And like you I am in Wisconsin. First of all I seriously under estimated the tongue weight on a little 14' runabout filled with ice (I now estimate perhaps 500 lbs.)
The PO was nice enough to hook it to my tow vehicle and then I got home and realized I couldn't lift it off the hitch because it was too heavy.

I figured I would need to replace the floor, stringers and transom, but I am still waiting for it to all melt.

Your floor looks Waaaaay better than mine. One of my previous owners "fixed" the boat by adding new plywood on top of the rot.

 

[ClassicsRbest]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

Welcome to iBoats!
Love the Old Runabouts. Very similar to my Blue Flamingo!!
Did you get 2 for the price of one? What's the blue one next to her?
Lot's of good info in the First link in my signature below.

Actually the blue one next to it is a 1960 14ft Shell Lake Scamp. I got a steal on both of them so I convinced my wife that I should get both because I can use which ever one is in better condition and then sell the other one after I put some work into it cleaning it up and making it fully usable. I am pretty sure I want to keep and restore the red one as it is a foot longer and a foot wider and will be a better fit in the long run even though it needs more work up front. Plus the Red Sea King has that nice 55 Johnson whereas the blue Shell Lake is only rated up to a 40 horse and has a few chunks missing out of the windshield.

 

[ClassicsRbest]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

I took a few more pictures of the interior and the floor of the boat so that it is easier to see what I am dealing with. You can see from the darker patches where the water is. I cut out and cleaned up the front bench seat and will cut off the excess glass sticking up. I just wanted to get the wood out of there so it can dry up better. I can stand on all parts of the floor and although it has a few soft spots it seems overall solid. In other words my foot is no where near punching through the floor. My question is if the floor is only slightly squishy will that get better as the boat dries out or should I still cut it out and replace? Also does anyone have suggestions on how to repair those little spider cracks in the gel coat?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

From your pics, it appears you may have either Hollow Half Round ALL fiberglass stringers or Foam Filled or even Cardboard Formed All Glass Stringers. That's a GOOD thing!!! As for the floor/deck... Can you see a cross section of it? Is it glass coated wood? Spider cracks?? Where are they located? Pics??

 

[ClassicsRbest]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

From your pics, it appears you may have either Hollow Half Round ALL fiberglass stringers or Foam Filled or even Cardboard Formed All Glass Stringers. That's a GOOD thing!!! As for the floor/deck... Can you see a cross section of it? Is it glass coated wood? Spider cracks?? Where are they located? Pics??

Woodonglass,

First I want to say that I took a look at your thread on the BF. I am very impressed! Seeing that process and ultimately the end result is encouraging seeing as I am just starting my own similar project.

Ok so back to the Sea King. The floor/deck looks like plywood with the fiberglass over the top to bond it to the hull. I can tell from a piece of the fiber that is worn away. The spider cracks are in various locations on the outside of the hull. Looks like in the get coat I am assuming. Like I said in my first post the boat does not leak as it had a good deal of water sitting in it and nothing was leaking out from the hull, but there are those little surface or spider cracks in the top coat.

What should I do to diagnose that floor? Drill a few holes? Also the transom is really solid. Tested it with a mallet and it all sounded great. I think maybe I should drill a few test holes as well to check for wet shavings. Am I on the right path there?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

For sure you want to Core sample the transom. I would recommend replacing the deck. It's prolly the easiest part of the entire restore. I would also core sample those stringers to see if they are hollow or foam filled or what they actually are.

 

[ClassicsRbest]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

Whe you say stringers I understand they are under the floor but are those also what are "sticking" out in the back and front of the boat in the pictures I attached?

 

[ClassicsRbest]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

Kinda round looking?? I never even thought they continued through under the floor as they were not under the fiberglassed bench seat in the front but I suppose they could be under the floor up to that point!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

Yes those Semi circular structures are stringers and I would suspect they extend forward under the deck all the way to the front. They not only support the deck but also give structural support and strength to the hull. I also suspect they are either hollow having been formed from cardboard or they could be foam filled and saturated with water. Drilling into them will tell the tale. At least you won't have to replace them and that IS good.

 

[ClassicsRbest]

Re: 1960 15ft fiberglass Sea King restoration

I will hopefully have some time in the next few days to test drill the stringers and the transom and then I will post the results! Thanks Woodonglass!

 

[Shell Lake Scamp Newbie]

ClassicsRbest i would really love to see more pics of your 1960 Scamp for I have just bought one myself and have plans at this point to restore it . your boat looks from what little I can see to be in better shape than mine . If you decide to sell it I may also be interested . Mine is missing alot of parts also .

 

[Woodonglass]

SLSN, you need to read the Forum Rules and Guidelines.

Forum Rules and Guidelines

Only ClassicsRBest is allowed to reopen this thread since it's been over 90 days since anyones posted to it. We'd love to help you with your restoration, so start your own thread here on the forum and post up some pics and we'll be glad to help.

 

[GA_Boater]

Classic - If you want to start re-posting in this topic, PM a Moderator. Closed pending hearing from you.