84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

[lekslk]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

I restored a 1987 stratos 181-pro bass boat w/ stringers transom, floors etc. I used flat bars to pry the foam out in chunks followed by a wire brush on grinder. maybe I finally post some finished pictures one of these days.

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

well Ive found using a dry wall saw was helpfull removing large chunks of foam then went over the small pieces with my scraper power tool...

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

now I need to know a good way to remove silicone... a rezor blade is scratching my gel coat.

 

[lekslk]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

I use a plastice Ice scraper, & acetone.

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

started cutting the foam out tonight, so far this has been taking the longest...

 

[Chattan]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

I'm n the middle of defoaming also and have been playing around with different things. I'm liking a brass wire wheel on a drill with shopvac to suck up foam to keep mess down. Was thinking tonight about getting a brass wire wheel for my side grinder. Has anybody tried it?

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

well I didnt try that but I did try a dry wall saw to cut out large chunks then went back with this scraping tool to get the rest off the fiberglass without damaging the glass hull.

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

Yeah it looks like a pain!! We are in the same boat as of right now.. I will have to post some more pics tonight of my progress so far today.. Good luck and keep posting.. I'm interested to see how yours turns out!

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

Ohhhh man, I feel your pain. Nice work so far.

 

[redfury]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

is that the Harbor freight version, and how do you like its performance? I had thought about buying the Bosch or Dremel version for $99, but if the blades cut decent and the tool itself isn't any more annoying than the other two, I might consider it.

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

It is the Harbor Freight version, and ill say without it, this project would have taken forever to get it this far. The round cutting disc works great, but it dulls relatively fast, Ive gone through 3 blades (@$7s a pop) just to make it this far. I don't know if that's good since I don't know how name brand blades perform cutting glass.

The best feature about it is that its safe to use when cutting stuff attached to the hull. Using a cut off wheel is too dangerous, one small slip and you just cut a hole in the hull.

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

I found this information about Plywood that would help anyone doing a restoration. check it out.

http://www.glen-l.com/wood-plywood/wp-faqs.html

Im posting this to help anyone that had the same question as me.

I know I need to use exterior Plywood but didnt realize there where so many different kinds...

 

[concept10]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

Keep going!! This thread is my inspiration!

 

[J Hartman]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

yah the gel on the hull has a few gouges but none through the fiberglass...The motor runs, but I dont know how strong till I can take it out. The first 2 things I noticed was the Skeg is tore in half and someone removed the oil injection from the motor. im deffinenitley going to have to replace some parts. I paid $500 for the boat.

If that is the same kind of engine as my XR2, I wouldn't replace the oiler, I would pre-mix the fuel, there is a block off kit, and if already installed i'd leave it in place. the Mikuni oilers weren't exactly reliable. In process of working on a bass boat myself. . . Did you decide to do the floor because of soft spots? Or just redoing it anyways?

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

Yah I actually decided to leave the premix setup it has now, it wasnt till later that I read about the realiability of the oil injection set ups on these motors, but my dads 150 Magnum Mariner oil injection works great....O well.

As for how I started the restoration, Ill show you.

this pic you can see "the one soft spot" on the deck. well that is like look at the tip of an iceberg, and I knew that, so I wasnt surprised that it was gonna get worse the deeper I went. But im glad I am, since the last bass boat I owned I didnt go the whole 9 yards and was dissapointed by the results. This way ill be happier in the long run.

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

Everything is looking good Westexas.. Have you figured out what you are going to use for the new stringers? I'm trying to decide what I was going to use. What are your stringers now? 1x or 3/4"?

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

iM USING 3/4" FOR EVERYTHING....DECK, STRINGERS, SUPPORTS, AND JUST GLUE AND LAMINATE 2 PCS TOGETHER FOR MY 1"1/2 TRANSOM. HOPEFULLY I GET MORE DONE TONIGHT AND ILL UPDATE WITH PICS OF PIECES I CUT OUT AND GET READY TO TEST FIT BEFORE GLASSING THEM IN.

 

[mogfisher]

Re: 84' Stratos resurrection***PICS***

This part of the job sucks. I just got done with that part and I've moved past destruction and into construction. It gets much more fun from here on out and a lot less itchy! Looks good so far!