1984 Dixie Malibu Tri-hull Rebuild

[thull]

Hi All,
I bought this boat in need of a transom and maybe more, for just $50, including trailer and motor. It's a 13.5' tri-hull, I think what you would call a microskiff or fiberglass jon? So far I've completely restored the trailer and got the 10hp 1959 Johnson running. I've been using these with a small aluminum jon, but it's time to get going on the fiberglass boat. I managed to cut off the skin of the transom and found rot/mulch...no surprise there. What was surprising is that there are no stringers. Can anyone confirm this is how these little boats were built? This is all new to me, and I'm looking forward to learning how to repair a boat. I've been lurking around, reading OOPS and WOGs restos, and others but have never seen anyone on iboats repairing one of these little boats. There appears to be some flex in the gunnels and I hear crunching in there when flexing, but I know they pored at least some foam in there 'cause I can see it in the back of the boat where I cut out the transom. Could there be wood support in the gunnels? If I remove some more of the skin off the gunnels in the back of the boat to get a better look does it make the transom repair more difficult or tricky? If you look at my pics, in the front of the boat there's a deep gash on the deck just above the rub rail. Will repairing this crack or the overall state of this boat necessitate removing what would normally be the floor and gunnels and so I shouldn't worry about cutting back a little more of the rear portion of the gunnel? Thanks for any advice or input. I'll put up a few more pics soon.

 

[thull]

What's the best way to post pictures? When I try to add more photos I get an "Invalid File" message. It's a regular .jpg. Is the size a problem?

 

[Tnstratofam]

Open a photo bucket account, copy the images url then paste the image in your post.

 

[Woodonglass]

Welcome to iBoats thull!!!! Yup Photobucket is your best bet for posting pics. It'll autosize em for ya. the IMG Code is the one you want to copy and paste into iBoats. Haven't ever seen a Dixie Malibu Tri-Hull. Look forward to seeing yours. On a hull as short as yours and especially a tri-hull it could have been designed in such a way that there's no need for stringers. Pics will help us to analyze what you have.

I'd also like to invite you to "PIN" yourself on our Members Map...

Click Here To Enter Your Location on the iBoats Member Map

 

[alldodge]

I use PB also, but the last several weeks the upload function here has been working very well. When you click on the icon which looks like to mountain tops a box opens. The default is the URL and "Image info" tab. If the pic is on your hard drive select the "upload" tab. Then select "browse", find the pic, then select "end to server". Once the send to server is pressed just wait. Depending on the speed of your connection it can take a few seconds to a minute. The pic will show up, then use your arrow keys to see the rest of the pic then press return to get below the pic. Appears you can do this up to 6 pics a post

 

[thull]

More pics coming soon.

 

[thull]

I attempted to add more pics. I'm doing this from my phone, so all of the functionality isn't there. My photos are just showing up as a link as I view the forum from my phone. Any suggestions on where to do another cut to determine if I have any wood in the gunnels to replace. Obviously I can just start hacking away, but I don't know if there's a "best" place that's easy to repair as I redo the transom.

 

[boat spider]

I bought the same boat, just older, this year. I don't this there is any foam in the gunnels at all. The only wood i have found is the thin sheet they used for the false floor. I am 99 percent sure there are no stringers either, so thats good right?

Looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you. GOOD LUCK WITH IT!

 

[boat spider]

Would you mind taking a close up of the placard on the boat? I've been wondering what the specs/ratings were.

 

[boat spider]

After a little work

 

[thull]

Here's a shot of where the starboard side meets the transom. There's a weird oval plug of something at top (seems like foam) that makes it impossible for the transom wood to have gone all the way to the starboard hull. I think the transom was tabbed to the inside skin on the sides instead of the hull. If you look close you can see how the side of the hull is really rough and not prepped for laminating to the transom. Anyone agree?

 

[thull]

Is there a way to get the drain plug out w/o ruining it? It has a slight flange on both ends preventing it from slipping out.

 

[thull]

For other noobs, I figured out the problem with the "Invalid image file" and "Invalid file data" error messages I was getting. Don't use the attachment button or photo upload button (the camera icon) when pasting the link to the file on photobucket. Just paste the IMG link directly into the message body of your post.



The boat has this drain that I think only conveys water from in front of the bench seat to the splash well where it can drain. Boat Spider, do you know if your's drains anything different? How far forward does your's go? I have water weeping out of a pinhole in an old repair on mine, so I think water is getting in through one of the cracks or screw holes on top and getting down in the "floor". Where was the false floor on your's? Did it cover the whole hull in front of the bench seat?

 

[thull]

Boat Spider, here are the specs. The max hp rating is 25hp.

 

[thull]

Boat Spider, do your gunnels flex, and if so do you hear any light crunching/cracking sounds when you flex them? Where I cut out the transom I can see there's a small amount of foam at the top of the sides that extends down at least 4 inches or so. I'll be doing a little more exploratory cutting to figure out how this things built. It doesn't appear to me to have stringers, so yes, from a rebuilding cost and labor standpoint that's good!

Here's a shot of the front showing the contours of the hull.

 

[thull]

Transom skin removed and some of the mulch cleaned out.

 

[thull]

Two cracks on the front upper edge of the bow.


Hole on the starboard gunnel.


Eroded lip of the hull at transom. Not sure how to make an overhanging lip repair like this. Do I need to build a mold to do a layup of 1708 and poly resin, then remove the mold when cured?

Stern shot. WOG, I'm on the map now. Thanks for sharing!

 

[jc55]

Don't sweat cutting out the drain tube. You can install a new one with a compression tool or make your own. I have both sizes of compression tools that you can borrow and they also sell them here on iboats.

 

[boat spider]

My floor drain is an oddity to me. I had a soft spot (the dark plexiglas area in the pic) that i decided to remove. My boat is a little older than yours, so there was no drain in front of the rear seat, only a small whole at the well in front of the transom. The v channel runs the entire length of the boat as best i can tell. I vacuumed a ton of carpenter ants out of the space between the rear seat and the front deck. I'm not sure why they built it this way. I am adding a garboard drain to the back of mine to seal up that central "v" area under the floor. As water drains down the side channels, it gathers in the stern well, and potentially back flows into the "v" channel. The problem is the wood floor in my boat is not sealed underneath. Thats why I am sealing it. I have the plexiglas window to make sure its not leaking anywhere or building moisture under the floor.

The gunnels flex as much as any sheet of fiberglass, but I don't remember any cracking noises. I took this little boat 5 miles offshore this summer to go scalloping and pulled myself back in many times by climbing up and over the gunnels. 180 lbs.

 

[thull]

So, it looks like the only wood in this boat is the transom and a strip up the center covering the V in the hull. The sides have foam from top to bottom. I cut away part of the kickpanel in the back to confirm this. There is some wet foam at the bottom of the kick panel. Is it essential to cut out the kickpanel on both sides to get to the wet foam to remove it? It's not more than an inch or two of wet foam along the bottom of the 1.5 ft. long kick panel. I'd like to leave it so I don't have to rebuild the kickpanels. Doesn't seem like that work is justified by that small amount of wet foam.

If I repair the kickpanel as it is, I plan to install the transom, fill any large voids with Tyvek insulated foamboard pieces, PB over that, and then 1708. What's the largest gap advisable to fill with PB?