The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

Allright guys...I am going to rebuild my 1984 Stratos 355v. It's a 15.9 ft Bass Boat. I have very little experience and a whole lot of faith. I have already started the project so there will be a time gap..but I can get this thread started. Thanks to the lot of information at this forum, and the skill level I am at, I feel confident I can screw this up. This was the first year of Stratos production. So, hear are the pictures of the before....



There won't be too many fast updates due to my schedule, but I will try to maintain this thread.

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

I don't have any pics of the previous work up til now. I stripped the hardware and carpet. Removed the rub guard and the screws. I didn't have a gantry crane or a helper, so I used a 6x6x12 post laid it on top of the boat end to end. Ratchet strapped the cleats to the post at each end. Then used a cherry picker in the center to lift off the top cap. If you can't imagine the picture, I will take one when putting the cap back on. The foam in the boat seemed to be dry except the bottom of it in the rear. I dug it all out with tools, about 6 trash bags full, and used a pressure washer to blast off the residues so I could see all the glass seams. That reaaly helped.



At first look at the boat, there were no cracks in the transom skin, which I was lucky, because the transom was rotted. I used a shop vac and a crowbar to dig it out piece by piece. I wouldn't have waisted the time and just cut out the inner skin, but thought I would just Seacast it.
Then I learned more about floors on iBoats and thought I would dig deeper. There were two soft spots in the floor. Each in front of the seats. Well, long story short, stringers under each of these areas were rotted on the edges.

I figured I would have to do some stringer work anyways, because in the bildge area, I could see the rear center stringer had been notched to fit a drain hose through. And of course done hillbilly style.

So you know whats inside of those cavities. And inside of these sound hollow too..

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

There were some things of interest I found. There was a pvc pipe glassed with the center stringer that housed the front livewell hose and I guess worked as a drain channel for the bow.

While this might have worked for the left side of the boat, it appears they thought that by drilling a hole in the center stringer , it would drain through on the left side and into the pipe.

The floor appeared to be 1/2 Ext ply, along with 3 parts of bonded 1/2 for the transom. So I assume the rest of the rear construction is in 1/2 as well.
The stringers and ribs(bulkheads?), look to be some type of lumber. Amazing how some pieces look like new after 25 years and others look rotted, although their actually in good shape, just blackened. This lumber does not appear to be painted with resin, so it has lasted well in its uncovered state. I don't know if its balsa or what. I wouldn't know the difference.


Its worth mentioning that the underside of floor was not painted with resin or glassed. Lots of factory staples and screws in the flooring and throughout stringer system. It looks like all the uncovered wood is usable as a template, but in the back, all the glassed sections are mush to hollow. I don't kow how I'm gonna template them.
I would appreciate any suggestions as to rebuild or modify construction.

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

Keep going you are making good progress!! Depending on the budget....... if you can get all the mush out and open the hollow pieces by grinding off the tops........ consider Nidabond or Seacast.

I would not modify the construction I would absolutely follow it as a pattern.

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

Bob_VT said:

Keep going you are making good progress!! Depending on the budget....... if you can get all the mush out and open the hollow pieces by grinding off the tops........ consider Nidabond or Seacast.

I would not modify the construction I would absolutely follow it as a pattern.

Click to expand...

Thanks Bob_VT..Budget is not really problem, but I don't want to overbuild the neighboehood so to speak.
I'm afraid all the wood work in the back will have to be rebuilt so might as well do it all. I think it is beyond the pourables. Some of the wood across the transom is rotted underside.



I'm going to try to section out the pieces to use as templates, but the stringers I'll have to "post and scribe".
If this thing goes bad, at least I can sell the motor..hahaha

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

3/4" exterior plywood, polyester resin (cheaper than epoxy), and cloth. You have most of the nasty work done....... you have pieces left for templates.

The stringers are really not that hard..... just time consuming.

You may hate me for this statement but.....have you read the hull extension post by oops??? http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=234392

oops did a bit of an index ..... ver very informative and motivating post.

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

Yes..I've been reading on it..really chocked full of info.
Here in an hour or so, I'm going to go back to sectioning. My biggest fear is that when I go to put back everything...the floor is too high or too low..haha.

One thing for sure I have learned in dealing with boats is to look for penetrations into the glass with those homemade mods. After 25 years, this thing would still be good if everthing was glassed well and not have screws and staples and such stuck through it.

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

Nice looking project. don't worry about time, I have found out that if you set a deadline you start to rush, my project probably won't see water until next year, budget mainly, makes the build more enjoyable. Good luck and keep the faith....tink

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

Is there a problem using the Bondo brand of polyester resin and the CSM or Cloth like at Home Depot or Autozone?

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

Nevermind...seems I need to buy the right resin for the job. But what about the glass?
Is it pretty much all the same?

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

Bump, following project closely...Im about to start a new project thread on my 84' Stratos 285...Im sure we'll have similar pictures.

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

Any update on this project?

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

I have a similar boat and was wondering how you removed the cap, I removed the screws and cut the edge seam around the bump guard and it still wont lift off...did you have a similar issue?

Re: The 1984 Stratos 355v Rebuild....Oh Brother

I just started the same project on the same boat. I would like to know how it turned out