1983 Ranger Bass Boat Floor Repair

pmilana1

Cadet
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
14
Hello All....I recently purchased an old Ranger Bass Boat, in need of a few "minor" repairs...lol
The soft spot by the rear drain is now my new nightmare. The boat is powered by a rebuilt 1983 150hp Mercury Black Max outboard, trailer is in great shape.Paid less than 1400 for the package. I consider myself handy, and fiberglass can fix most things, sooooo
The very first thing I did, was to dismantle the "deck extension:. Complete disaster, covered all the original flooring, including the front floor drain. Let the boat air out for a few days in my covered driveway. Took out the seats for re-covering, ordered new windshields from RANGER, bought new carpet and adhesive, fiberglass and epoxy, stainless steel screws, etc...everything to get me started on the renovation.
After doing a core sample as described in this forum somewhere, I determined that the transom was sound, no flex at all. The front drain area seems ok, and I had my hands in the hole fixing the live well, so I spent some time there, not noticing any rotten wood at all under the front deck area.
The rear drain however was VERY soft, to a point where I was able to rip the metal drain out of the floor without tools.
After some more digging and cutting, I eventually stopped cutting the floor up at the consoles all the way to the seat box.
Floatation foam was saturated, plywood was mulch. Stringers feel solid,
The foam was only 2 inches thick at its deepest. My question.....
Is there a liquid "anything" I could poor in to fill the space left by the foam removed without using foam? I want to find something I could poor, like a cement walkway, to level the floor area and carpet over it. Any advise would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,924
The new foam is much better than the old stuff. I'd recommend using the 2lb pour in foam. Sorry to say but your boat won't dry out in a couple of days. Maybe in a couple of Months, but the foam will NEVER dry out. If you haven't core sampled the stringers you should. Posting pics is the best way for us to see what you're working on and for us to give the best advice. Using photobucket is the best way to post your pics using the IMG Code to copy and paste the pics.

 

pmilana1

Cadet
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
14
here is a sample pic of the floor section I had already removed. Thanks for the input
 

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Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,924
Thanks for the pic. It really doesn't show to much. The important thing is that the foam, stringers, and transom are all structurally sound and dry. If they're not then you need to replace them.
 

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,924
If the substructure of the boat is verified to be safe and sound then once the deck repairs are complete then yes, you can carpet over the repairs.
 
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