86 Imperial VC200 Stringer Repair 21'

After spending the last three weeks reading about the potential soft spot can of worms I finally opened the deck today. I have attached some pics(from my phone, not the best).

The stringers look to be 3/4 ply, factory built with a crap load of missed resin on the mat, the mat is thick as hell. The two interior stringers are wet and are solid and then rotted, off and on. The need to come out. the ones further to the edges of the boat look good (so far), there is a boat load of foam around them, most seemed dry as I chipped off but will require another day of removal.

I have a few questions if possible. How do I deal with curved stringers? The are curved from factory and do I need to put them back the exact same way. 2. Do stringers need to be one continuous piece? It seems like the 3/4 ply is butted and glassed over, the foam holds some serious structure. 3. The gas tank is elevated and has a passage from the cuddy but then the stringer just closes it off, i just dont get where the water goes, should there be a bypass? 4. Should I stay with 3/4 ply for this job or is there something better?

All the rot is right down the middle of the boat and around the engine but not in the engine area. After some investigation, there is no foam around the tank and it was clear to see that someone tried to do a patch job, I took a gallon of water out from under the area where the gas line comes in...

Re: 86 Imperial VC200 Stringer Repair 21'



I'd use Arauco Ext grade plywood. If you have a table saw you could make some 8" lap joints for the stringers. Or you could "Sister" them together using 1/4" plywood on either side of the butt joint. Just using a butt joint with no other support, IMHO is not advisable. Looking at your pics the gradual bend of the striingers towards the bow, should be easy to replicate. Your bulkheads and stringers need to allow water to drain to the bilge. Drilling 1" holes in the bottoms and gluing in PVC pipe is one method of doing this. The only True way of knowing if the stringers and transom are solid is to drill core samples and check the shavings, or have a Moisture Meter test done.
Do some searching here on the forum and you'll find LOTs of examples of similar restorations.

Re: 86 Imperial VC200 Stringer Repair 21'

Thanks for the reply,

I have a completed different question aft er some thought.

I plan on extending the original hatch style at the back of the boat to now cover the motor.

This will change my seating to a preferred layout.

My question is, do I need to place flooring above the stringers in the motor area covered by the motor hatch? I was thinking of gelcoating it and after glass. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

Re: 86 Imperial VC200 Stringer Repair 21'

A drawing of your planned renovation would greatly help me and prolly others to understand what you are wanting to do.