MFG Carefree floor

I have been following as best I can the thread on removing the floor on a mid 70's Carefree. I just picked one up and have explored the floor behind the seats forward of the transom. It has two herringbone ribs glassed in place at angles sloping to move water to the drain hole . My question is , what material is just below the inner fiber glass and the outer hull right behind seats and forward of the transom , and aprox. how thick is it?
If someone has already dissected one the information would be priceless.
Thanks for any feedback.

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Welcome Lebowski!

I am pretty new to iboats also but have learned many things in a short amount of time. Reading from other threads I think it may be wood sandwiched between glass. Carefully drill small hole just into rib and inspect shavings . If it,s wet and mushy it should be replaced .
The guys here have tons of helpful advice to share!
Good luck!

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Welcome to iboats Lebowski ..... I think if you were to post your question and some pictures in the boat restoration/building section you will probably get a better response to your question. Good luck with your project. Take a look at this .... might help. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=410147

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Thank you both for your advise.
I was hoping to get one of the folks who had previously written they were working on a Carefree to give a definitive answer on that hull. I understand there are many ways to skin the preverbal cat, but maybe someone has seen This "Cat".
I will post a pic as soon as I can , but has no one who has posted here about restoring a carefree actually laid eyes on this part of the hull/deck?
Respectfully,
Lebowski

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Lebow,
Most of these "cat,s" are on boat restore forum. If you plan on fixing anything on hull start thread over there with lots of pics..
You should get plenty response .

Re: MFG Carefree floor

There are plenty of experts on iboats but not all of them have MFG's so they may not look at this section but instead tend to stay in the restore section. I am not saying that there are no experts on the MFG pages but the restore section is where all of your projects are being done and tons of questions are being answered. You may also try a search and see if a thread comes up about the very same thing that you are attempting to do. I am new to boating and all this rebuilding stuff so I am not very much help to you but if you look up the name WOODONGLASS he has helped a lot of people on here including myself so I am sure that he will have answers for you or will be able to point you in the right direction. It is always great to see another MFG being brought back to life. Good luck with your project and feel free to pm me or ask any questions you may have ..... I'll be following your thread.

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Lebowski said:

I have been following as best I can the thread on removing the floor on a mid 70's Carefree. I just picked one up and have explored the floor behind the seats forward of the transom. It has two herringbone ribs glassed in place at angles sloping to move water to the drain hole . My question is , what material is just below the inner fiber glass and the outer hull right behind seats and forward of the transom , and aprox. how thick is it?
If someone has already dissected one the information would be priceless.
Thanks for any feedback.

Click to expand...

Lebowski,
I have a 70 Carefree. If you are referring to the area under the seat mounts, it is only about 3/4" from inside to outside, that includes the glass. The entire hull is fiberglass with marine plywood sandwiched between 2 tubs. then glued to the deck@ the gunwales. if you push on the outside of the hull, it will flex. That's how little you have there. What makes you want to remove the inner floor?

Re: MFG Carefree floor

yanks21 said:

....What makes you want to remove the inner floor?

Click to expand...

That is what I was thinking.

I personally have never seen an MFG with the "glued-in" floor that needed replacing. In fact, where I have bolted my seat pedestals appears to be solid fiberglass 5/16 or 3/8 thick. The OEM seat-base holes seemed the same. I plugged them all with plastic plugs heavily bedded in 5200.

As far as the floor at the juncture of the hull-bottom: as another posted, this is very close to the outer hull. So close that when I accidentally neglected to re-use the two washer under a screw for my seat base where I originally used 3/4" screw, I perforated the hull.

With the fiberglass stringers and the incredible strength of the MFG floor assembly I would be very hesitant to modify the structural integrity of the floor by cutting it out unless it is soft in some fashion.

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Thanks for the ideas and information.
So far in one 4 hour session I have taken the deck off the boat by using a multi tool to cut the seal at the gunwales from the outside.
I THEN CUT THE TRANSOM SEALS BY GOING IN BETWEEN THE HULL AND DECK AT SPLASH WELL. THERE WAS A BONDO LIKE MATERIAL UNDER THE GUNWALES AT THE DECK AND ON TOP OF THE TRANSOM PLYWOOD CREATING A BOND. I Think (sorry I hit caps lock , not yelling) it may be Seacast but not sure.
Once I removed the top cutting the transom out was a snap and the inner piece came out intact but wet. It needed to be replace but could have been much worse.
I began to explore the floor as it was soft and very flexible. I began under the seat pedestal and cut the top off, wet foam and disintegrated plywood. Fortunately there was a small hole nearer the stern by a herringbone reinforcing rod in the floor . I really sensed a gap between the inner tub and outer tub so I cut in and took out a small square. There was what was left of balsa or ply perhaps 3/16 thick between the two glass layers. It was paste. I worked my way to the gunwales and transom area to better understand the construction where the floor meets the sides and found it consistent. Took the multi tool and cut the perimeter from transom to front of seat pedestal and removed all the sludge.
Did not go further yet.
Moved to the elevated bunk in the bow felt a lot of flex and bored out a hole, perhaps 2 gallons of water poured out . Cut the glass top and pulled out saturated foam and scraps of ply. I think the water got in through bow eye bolts and was trapped.
Thats it for now, trying to figure out what to use to rebuild the floor, I would like to use Azek plastic lumber but need to find out if fiberglass will stick to it????
Thanks,
Lebowski

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Hi and happy New Year! Lebowski! It looks like your gettin kinda deep into fixing this boat. Just a few more post and maybe we,ll see some pics.. You should start thread boat resto.. I wonder when they started using wood under deck??
See ya..S.P.

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Lebowski,
check this you tube video , may give you some tips ............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq1GA406s9c&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

woosterken

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Wow! Way deeper than I would go. can we get some pic of this project? I am sure it would benefit everyone!

Re: MFG Carefree floor

sphelps said:

Hi and happy New Year! Lebowski! It looks like your gettin kinda deep into fixing this boat. Just a few more post and maybe we,ll see some pics.. You should start thread boat resto.. I wonder when they started using wood under deck??
See ya..S.P.

Click to expand...

Mine is a 70 Sphelps...I have the same setup....

Re: MFG Carefree floor

Lebowski said:

....THERE WAS A BONDO LIKE MATERIAL UNDER THE GUNWALES AT THE DECK AND ON TOP OF THE TRANSOM PLYWOOD CREATING A BOND. I Think (sorry I hit caps lock , not yelling) it may be Seacast but not sure....

Click to expand...

That is polyester filler used to seal and bond the hull cap to the hull. I think you are referring to the hull cap when you said deck.

Lebowski said:

.......in the bow felt a lot of flex and bored out a hole, perhaps 2 gallons of water poured out . Cut the glass top and pulled out saturated foam and scraps of ply. I think the water got in through bow eye bolts and was trapped.

Click to expand...

Also assure that the keel area where it sweeps from vertical to horizontal has not been worn from beaching. That is a prime area that water gets in.

Lebowski said:

....I would like to use Azek plastic...

Click to expand...

AZEK Deck is a PVC foam product with waste fiber. For one it is heavy and not a good marine decking as it adds no torsional rigidity. 'Glass resin over plywood is a better idea.

Hope this helps.