New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

Hi all, I wanted to start by thanking all the folks that put their time and efforts in helping others with their projects. The information that I have obtained from searching in these forums is priceless, so thanks to all for sharing your knowledge and experience in boat restoration!


So I come to this forum with a 71(might be a 71) Glasstron Fisherman! I bought this boat for $200 bucks, knowing that I had to redo the deck, and might as well redo the transom as well. Fishing has just not been the same from the bank, and I love a good project. The boat has not been registered since 99', so it has been neglected long enough.

I am new to boat repair and don't know the names of all of the boat parts, so educate me at will!

I will add more pictures a long the way. I am going to be in process of ripping out the old deck and I need to drill a hole in the transom and see what the wood is like.

A few questions.

First, any Ideas on non-wooden stringers? what options are there here? I would like to avoid future rot.

The top piece of the boat the mounts to the hull(whats that called?) I would have to remove this in order to replace the transom. Before I remove myself, I want to make sure I can reattach it myself as well. Is there any specific way to attach the hull to this piece? sorry I dont know the name.

There will be more questions and pics along the way. Thanks in advance!

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

here are 5 pages of great info. http://recaffeinated.net/skankybeast/page1.html

separating cap and hull. http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,346,00.html

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

welcome to i boats !

the links td gave you are great tutorials....i re read them all the time.
they can save you bundles of time.

johnny did a glastron v 156 ....the link is called pics of work so far.

there is also a book called runabout renovation by jim anderson...it is a good little guide......very vague on the specifics...but you will come away knowing you can do it.

question 1 ....does the motor work ?

that is the first thing to ask before a proj...(unless your thinking of a re power)

as far as re attaching the cap.......no worries. yes you can do it....the hull extension thread shows how to remove it several times.

on your thoughts of composite stringers....avoiding rot is what we do best here ......and the best way to avoid rot is take good care of your baby
after its fixed.

think carefully adout the costs of composits for the strings and transom....while very good products, they are still very expencive....a well done wood job....will last over 20 years with average care, that is uasually far longer than an average owner will keep a boat, as needs and desires change often.

if you do want composits....there are some really good choices....seacast, penski board and others....

as far as the order of the restoration...... a well planned resto can save you a lot of time...make sure the hull is well supported from underneath....the trailer its on might not be sufficent....so double check its supports.....
do the transom with the cap off first......then do the stringers foam and deck with it on......if you do the strings and deck with the cap off.....it might not fit back on....kinda like a tupperwear lid thats too small.

that is a lot to think about for now.....

but start by reading the links td gave you......

cheers
oops

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

some other choices you will be making soon are.....

wood...composite........poly or epoxy.......

the choices you make here will determine the cost of the project and the type of materials used.......

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

Thanks for the links TD, thats some great info for me to go over, and definately gets the wheels turning.

As far as the motor running, that is my last concern at this point. Once I make it float, then I will worry about the motor. I am more interested in a smaller motor. The Max is a 50hp which is on there right now. I was leaning toward something a bit smaller 35-40hp.

As far as the fiberglass matt/cloth and resin, do you guys have any recommendations where to buy the matt/cloth in bulk online? I have been unsuccessful in finding anything local, except for Home depot, but I figure it will be much more expensive if I buy a lot in small quantities, rather than a large roll of it.

Thanks!

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

uscomposites.com is a favorite here due to outstanding technical/customer support....they'll sell you the right stuff for your project.

I've got some lightweight csm that I'm selling off for cheap as I'll never use it all. I can get you covered ( ha! a pun! ) on that end if you feel the need to use it. It's 4 feet wide and as long as you want it. good for the basics ( covering stringers, the deck, building parts, etc. It's essentially the primer of fiberglass. The closer to winter though, the less likely I'll get to pulling it off the roll as it's on a stand out in my back yard, sealed up from the elements.

Looks like that boat would scoot just fine with a 40hp....the 50 is overkill for sure (unless you are looking for a gofast boat ).

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

Awesome. One stop shop, exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for the info!

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

Im back!

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

Well.. Earslikenelf was actually me, took me a bit to dig up my password for this user .

So I FINALLY got the boat to my house, I had some fence work to do amungst all kinds of other stuff the wife put me to work on paint, floors, landscaping... you name it!.

I got the deck ripped out and exposed the stringer cavities. I drilled a hole in the interior side of the transom, and there were good results w/ dry wood, however Im not going to drill holes all over it to make sure its good. The motor will be coming off soon so I can work on it. I decided to keep the 50 since I had it, parts are cheap, and very available...locally!

Talk about sweep vaccum sweep vaccum bleh! Took so much to get the thing cleaned out. The biggest peice of wood that was in one peice was about 2x2 ft! The stringers were still wet toward the rear of the boat when I removed them. Luckily, there was a dry portion of the stringer toward the bow that will allow me to get a partial template.(the hardest section).

Since I am very new at the boats, but familiar w/ fiberglass, I wanted to check in w/ the smarties out there and see what your input is on the stringers. Should I grind off the sidewalls of the old stringers? or can I lay new stringers in the gap, glass in/out over them?

Here are a few pics of my progress (13 hrs on Feb 3rd!)

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

In addition, this thing is still on the trailer. Are there any downfalls w/ my doing this work ON the trailer?

Thanks all!

- Andy

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

as long as the trailer supports it well no problems. i always block my trailer so it does not rock. makes a solid work surface. would grind the stringer side off, they leaked before. i have used 100% PL construction polyurethane to set my stringer, then glass the in.
http://www.stickwithpl.com/Products.aspx?ID=fef65cc9-47bf-4802-aaa9-a343f2ef9458

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

Yep I agree start fresh , grind it all off . When you checked the transom did you check the lower corners ?? I would hate to see you redo all this in a few years , and i know when they made my glasstron , they didnt do a very good job glassing it in !!

Also when i did my stringers i used the pvc deck boards on my outer two stringers , couldnt get a big enough board for my center stringer so went with wood on the center just made sure i coated it with 3 coats of polly, John

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

Good point(leaked before) the odd part seems like there was never any glass where the beems going accross met the stringers. I will check the lower corners and the bottom near the drain as well. Then it may just be time to pull the cap off :-(

I will let you know later this week.

That polly you are talking about, when you said you set them w/ that, is that wat you put between the stringer and the FB hull?

Thanks guys!

- Andy

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

yes it is thick and is easier to work with. you can cut some braces to go across the boat, to keep them in place.

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

no need to pull the cap unless you have to do the transom. if you are going to use pedestal seats, be sure to get back on the back of the deck before installing the deck.

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

It looks like I will be forced to remove the cap, as there is a brace for the bow storage which definately needs replacement, and I wont be able to glass it in completely w/ out pulling the cap. I am nervous about pulling the cap, only because I am not sure about putting it back on, and how easy/hard it may be, but since I will be pulling the cap, I am going to replace the transom anyway, especially while I have a good template. Im just hoping I can seperate the transom from the glass so I dont have to do anything further on the exterior. I also found that in the rear, the flotation foam is also wet to keep the motor out of the water, so that will also have to be redone. Might as well replace all the wood to ensure its all done.

Now I just need to find some more muscle so I can pull the motor off. Not looking forward to that.

I am trying not to get overwhelmed with the whole thing, but its for the better to get it all done while everything is apart. When I go to pull the cap I will take some pictures with the rub rail off and post the pics for info, as I dont know how its attached together at this moment, and I will need some advice from you pro's out there (thanks again!) so I do the right thing

- Andy

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

HAy Andy

Its really not that hard to pull the motor me and my kids did my 100 hp merc. infact me and my daughter did it once !!! lol put a couple wood boards under the skeg, [ the fin on the bottom of the motor] then loosen the motor mounts , have one person hold the motor and the other one jack up the trailor , she should slide right off !!then both of yea set her down , I had a paino dolly that i used to us to roll it around on !! John

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

Thanks for the info, I hadn't thought about doing that . I am sure others have thought "what would I do w/ out iBoats!?"

You guys rock. I will send you some updates in the mid week when I have more time to tinker.

- Andy

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

jcsercsa said:

HAy Andy

Its really not that hard to pull the motor me and my kids did my 100 hp merc. infact me and my daughter did it once !!! lol put a couple wood boards under the skeg, [ the fin on the bottom of the motor] then loosen the motor mounts , have one person hold the motor and the other one jack up the trailor , she should slide right off !!then both of yea set her down , I had a paino dolly that i used to us to roll it around on !! John

Click to expand...

Thanks again! I was able to rip the motor off solo(had to give it a good lift once, then on the dolly it went into the garage! I was dreading this, so seriously, thanks a bundle!

As it has been a bit wet outside (the boat is covered) I decided to do some improvements, as tearing things apart had been a continued chore .

After the motor was brought into the garage, I was curious what was making the controls so hard to move. I wasnt sure if it was the cables, the motor end, or the controls themselves, so I took off the cables. Sure enough it still felt like I was using a pepper mill.

Took it apart:



The yellow gunk is grease, or what felt like dried shower caulk. I took the whole thing apart and cleaned all the moving parts with brake cleaner, and washed. I took out all of the electronics/switches. If I cant find a replacement ignition switch and key + choke switch, I will just install some aftermarket switches/ignition on the console.



While the parts were drying I decided to refinish the control box because the black paint was chipped, and I wanted to give it a new look. Sanded it down a bit and gave it a new color. I can actually feel when the lever hits the N position!





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I started to take the rub rail off, starting from the rear, and I cant figure out how its attached to the boat on the sides. I see one screw on the bow that goes right into the boat, but nothing other than that. It would appear that the rubber part can slide out, but the damn thing wont budge! Any ideas? If i damage it while removing, can I find a new replacement pretty easy at a relatively low cost?

Thanks all! Stick around for more updates!


- Andy

Re: New to iBoats with my 71 Glasstron

It should slide out, but you may have some luck pulling it out if you use a hair dryer to soften up the rubber. The aluminum rail is going to be either riveted on or held in place with stainless screws.