85 larson boats: boat build quality?

[CamaroMan]

Hi all - im looking at a mid 80s larson with a GM IO 260 model closed cooling (great for the ocean!), curious as to the quality of these boats? Currently running a 74 searay 22ft cabin cruiser - as many say these are well built boats im curious if anyone has knowledge of the larson build quality?

Also - on the searay note, we found very inferior finishing off of glass laying after removing the interior vinyl - alot of large poking edges with alot of fibre that didnt seem to get soaked in the resin enough - its still tough but seems these old searays were made as the boat was being shaped, odd peices of wood here and there..

thanks!

 

[harleyman1975]

Larson was built in Little falls MN back in the 80's...Yes good quality...No not top of the heap as far as fancy goes but the workmanship was good.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Its a boat that is 30-35 years old.

Condition and maintenance history are so much more important than initial build quality

 

[Grub54891]

No Title

Well,I liked the look of this one, got it for 200 bucks. I knew it would be a total rebuild. Rot everywhere. But runs perfect. 1985 Larson citation bowrider. Will be in the water again next summer.

 

[CamaroMan]

nice thanks! grub, whats your approach to redoing that deck? have a friend with similar issue, hes a surfboard designer so sure knows how to lay glass etc, but in terms of prep and leveling the deck etc -

and why are stringers never sealed? like with a rubber or glass coat at least? if you had to relay a deck with say 2 or 3 pieces of ply, whats the best way to level it with the rest? screw it down onto stringers and lay glass over?

 

[Grub54891]

No Title

Well, before disassembly, once the deck was out, I measured, and measured more, wrote down all measurements, took a million pictures, and hoped for the best. You can guarantee the stringers will be rotted along with the transom. Once I had the stringers glassed in, I checked the height, and had to trim them a tad, then encapsulated them in glass. Once that was done, I fit the deck, lots of in and put trimming to fit. Then sealed all the decking inside and pit, tabbed it in, and put down a layer of chopped glass on the entire thing. Before laying the final layer of glass, I drilled several holes, and added the pour on foam.