Rebuilding Bow

I recently picked up what used to be a 14ft fiberglass runabout; however, the previous owner cut out the bow, so now it's more like a jon boat. I am considering rebuilding the bow and reinstalling steering and throttle controls, a dashboard and a windshield. I'm just not sure where to begin, I assume wood will be the easiest I'm just not sure what type to use, how to attach it to the existing fiberglass, or how to treat the wood to protect it from the elements. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Here's what I have in mind.

Re: Rebuilding Bow

Find WoodOnGlass here & around the resto threads on iBoats. That is why his user name is Wood (wooden superstructure) On Glass (on a fiberglass hull). He may soon own an aluminum boat (insert shock & awe graffic) otherwise he's mentioned doing another WoodOnGlass boat like yours.

Also go to Glen-L boats homepage, and they have a forum page here on iBoats too

You may want to purchase a Glen-L study print (or similar) to assist you w/ layout & planning of wooden structure based on exactly are your intended wood types (strip~plywood), style, layout, species, & etc.

I love wooden boats, esp the early Century & Chris Crafts. Although it was an entirely wooden boat, I wish I could find the threaad or blog following a guy who built a small runabout & did a lot of the finish work in a spare upstairs bedroom in his house great work & record of his build. And a good read...

Good luck

Re: Rebuilding Bow

If you notice my Forum handle, that is exactly what I am planning on doing as soon as my current project is complete. My first boat back in the 60's was a Crosby and it was a 14 ft fiberglass hull with a wood top. This is not that hard to do. You will need to encapulate all of the wood parts in two coats of epoxy. You can use Mahogany, Southern Yellow Pine, Spruce, or Douglas Fir. You can also use 1/4" ext. Grade plywood and Paint it if you want. Lot's of options. Go check out Glen-L boats on the web and you'll get lot's of inspiration. You'll use glass cloth strips and epoxy to tab the wood substructures ( for the bow and the gunwales) to the sides of the hull. I'm hoping to start on mine next year.

Re: Rebuilding Bow

Check here too

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Thank you everyone. jbcurt, that thread you posted was amazing, a little out of my league at this point thought, maybe one day. Another question that crossed my mind: I currently have a 1956 Evinrude Fastwin 15hp. Will that be enough with all of the added weight up front?

Re: Rebuilding Bow

JakeCo88 said:

Thank you everyone. jbcurt, that threat you posted was amazing, a little out of my league at this point thought, maybe one day.

Click to expand...

Just to be clear: Thread, w a 'D'.........:facepalm:

Is a 15HP enough to do what? Pull a waterskier up out of the water, probably not w/ or w/out the wood. Beat the living heck out of your buddy on a tube. Maybe not. Pull a tube & cruise around a lake, yeah probably. But I'd probably keep the battery & the gas tank in the stern under a splashwell.

I didn't mention it earlier because the iBoats server is having some problems w/ pix posts. But open a free photobucket account, and you can cut & paste the tag (hover the mouse pointer over the photo you want to post from your account, [img] code is the last/bottom of 4 choices) into a post like I have done here:

[IMG]http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg618/jbcurt00/Glastron11Cleat.jpg

Get some pix of your hull and some closer shots of the bow & stern/transom and spend some time thinking about what you'd like the bow to look like when your done. Grab photos of what you're thinking of doing or what you like, and save them to your photobucket account. If your using FireFox, there's an add-on that allows you to have 'add to photobucket' as an additional 'right' mouse click feature, and it signs you into photobucket to make uploading & adding photos to your posts much easier.

Guys @here will help you plan it, lay it out, make sense of the materials required/needed, point you in the right direction for what to look for & help you find materials & lumber that fit your budget & skills, and as WOG has already described: How to install the new wooden bow INTO the 'glass structure of the hull & gunnels.

Re: Rebuilding Bow

jbcurt00 said:

Just to be clear: Thread, w a 'D'.........:facepalm:

Is a 15HP enough to do what? Pull a waterskier up out of the water, probably not w/ or w/out the wood. Beat the living heck out of your buddy on a tube. Maybe not. Pull a tube & cruise around a lake, yeah probably. But I'd probably keep the battery & the gas tank in the stern under a splashwell.

Click to expand...

As long as I can cruise around a small lake with relative ease I'll be happy.

Also, thanks for the advise regarding photobucket. I'll get some pictures taken tomorrow so everyone can see exactly what I'm working with.

Re: Rebuilding Bow

Now that your the proud owner of a gently (??) used boat, you'll find boats & motors will be drawn to you like moths to a flame. It's MBS, the sooner you acknowledge it & accept it, the sooner you can move forward.... Multiple Boat Syndrome

So until you're ready to splash the redone boat, you may find another motor that fits w/ your plans for the boat. You will need to exercise GREAT restraint. There are few cues left to what your boat was & what it was capable of using in terms of a motor. There are general guidelines available based on info you can get from your hull as it sits now & calculate the max safe HP rating motor to use.

I will try to find the link & leave post it for you, it will explain what to measure to calc max HP ratings.

Someone else may happen along & leave it too...

JC

Re: Rebuilding Bow

You won't be happy with that motor. You'll want a 30- 35 hp. Especially if you have passengers.
You will be adding approx #250 in wood and glass by the time you're done.

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Thanks for the help thus far everyone. I thought I would add some pictures so everyone could see what I'm working with.











I'm not looking to sink a lot of money into this project, so I'm thinking 1/4" plywood with some bracing underneath. I'm considering just fastening it to what little bit of the bow is left around the edges, but I'm not sure if there's enough to attach to there...thought??? or any other input?

Re: Rebuilding Bow

"I'm not looking to sink a lot of money into this project"

Now that's funny. You've never done this before...have you.

Looks like a fun project. There is plenty of lip to attach decking. Just brace it well. The forum is full of examples.

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Sooo...how much exactly IS your budget????

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Well, At least they left you with something to work with there!!

You're going to want to install some support beams for the new deck, running the width of the boat. It isn't always a good idea to just randomly hack away at boats like that- Often times, the forward deck provided rigidity and prevented the hull from flexing... I've seen people try to make modifications like that to their boats, and end up having the hulls crack on them in wave action. Not a good thing.

You can attach the new structure to what's there- But it's going to be more than just a couple of nails or screws- I'd fiberglass it all in place... Then you can attach a plywood deck over that. Another option, if you have a bit more budget and woodworking ability, would be to remove the existing deck and replace it all with wood, like the late '50s MFGs...