Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

[Fastatv]

Hello all! I have a 1989 Larson 170 All American. I purchased this boat in 2013, for not a great deal of money ( tho probably paid more than I should have ). Anyway, transom is rock solid, and from I have seen so far, the stringers are in pretty good shape, a little wet at the top of the stringers in a few places. Problem is the deck. OP had covered some rotten deck with new plywood, really half arsing the job. I plan on using some "git rot" on the soft areas of the stringers, and when dry, coating with resin, and installing a new deck. I think I have my arms around the project, but unsure of some of the materials to be used. For instance, Peanut Butter, what is this? Is it resin gel and what is its primary function....strength, or filling qualities ? And what is PL and its purpose? Thanks for any inputs. Rick

 

[Decker83]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

Hey Fastatv, To briefly answer some of your questions..

The PB is a mixture of poly resin and cabosil and 1/4" chop strand.. I think that Woodonglass has a recipe in his link and Friscoboater has a youtube link on how to make it.
Depending on how much I need I mix a quart of poly resin with about 2 quarts of cabosil and about a 1/2 cup of 1/4" chop strand..

If you need less than cut down on the amounts.. It's called PB because it is used at the consistency of Peanut butter..

Some of the gentlemen use the PB to glue the transom to the outer skin of the hull.. Some use it to bed the stringers in the hull..
It is commonly used to make fillets for joints that are 90 degrees to make a nice smooth radius to glass to..

Do a search on PB and you will find a ton of uses and a lot of opinions on how to make and use..

The PL is construction adhesive (Polyurethane Premium Construction Adhesive) that can be bought in all the big box stores..
Some gentlemen use this to bed stringers and glue the transom to the outer skin and glue wood together..
Lots of pros and cons on the PL.

Put up some picks of your boat so we can all see what your doing..
Lots of gentlemen here to help..

 

[Fastatv]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

Hi Decker83. Thank you for the explanations. I may post a pic or two but, for what little I'm doing, would more than likely be boring as compared to what I have seen in regards to rebuilds. I plan on replacing the rotten wood in the deck, not the entire deck. It was soft in a few places and I felt it could dangerous in regards to me ( 225 ), my son ( 220 ), or son-in-law ( 260 ) falling thru due to weight and creating a possible injury condition. Today, I will be moving the boat to my neighbors giant garage to begin to attempt getting the deck area dry, then continue the "rotten" deck removal, and having a somewhat warm area to work. Its been pretty darn cold here in East Tn....too cold to do anything outside. Rick

 

[pckeen]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

Have you taken core samples from the stringers? I fear that when you start taking off the deck, you are going to find more extensive rot in the stringers below - boats rot from the inside out - meaning the deck is usually the last to go.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

Yep ^^^ what he said & then some.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

I too had a "small soft spot" in the sole. Check my thread to see what happened after that. :tongue:

 

[Fastatv]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

Thanks for the input guys. No, I haven't checked the stringers via drilling for samples, not yet. GWPSR, looked at your link....nice job, in some of the pics looks like "house", glad what I am working on is only 17 feet. Today or tomorrow I plan on continuing the deck demolition, and I do kind of fear what I might find. I don't really plan on rebuilding this little boat, just plan on doing a very good "patch job", would like to get a couple more seasons out of it....and safely, however, its not really in me to "half arse" things, so, who knows. This was just an el cheapo little boat to get my kids and grand kids back out the on the water. I will admit that it rides surprising well for a small boat, and I'm totally impressed with the 3.0 engine, really good power, and about a 41 or 42 mph top speed, and is cheap on fuel. Anyway, I will get some pics on here maybe today. Rick

 

[zool]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

Thanks for the input guys. No, I haven't checked the stringers via drilling for samples, not yet. GWPSR, looked at your link....nice job, in some of the pics looks like "house", glad what I am working on is only 17 feet. Today or tomorrow I plan on continuing the deck demolition, and I do kind of fear what I might find. I don't really plan on rebuilding this little boat, just plan on doing a very good "patch job", would like to get a couple more seasons out of it....and safely, however, its not really in me to "half arse" things, so, who knows. This was just an el cheapo little boat to get my kids and grand kids back out the on the water. I will admit that it rides surprising well for a small boat, and I'm totally impressed with the 3.0 engine, really good power, and about a 41 or 42 mph top speed, and is cheap on fuel. Anyway, I will get some pics on here maybe today. Rick

Thats the reason for the concern for your stringers and transom, so the kiddies end up with a day ON the water, and not IN the water

Open a free photobucket account and post some pics of what ya got..

 

[pckeen]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

its not really in me to "half arse" things, so, who knows

I know how you feel. I've had to take an enforced break from boat and furniture building to re-do an apartment. We started with a paint job, just to patch it up a little to re-rent....but the little black spot below the kitchen and bathroom sink were bugging me....

Two months and more than 2 bucks later, plus a few floors and walls replaced, and it's almost ready to re-rent.

 

[oldboat1]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

If that hull has flotation below the deck, it would be a good idea to find out if it's water saturated -- and maybe with water underneath sitting around the keel. If so, it needs to be dried out before you do anything else. I don't think there would be a remedy for the saturated flotation, other than to remove it -- but might be wrong about that. In order to check under there, you will obviously need to open up the deck -- maybe in a spot where you would like to put in a storage compartment with a hatch cover?

 

[Fastatv]

Re: Soon to begin a minor restoration, have a few questions

I know how you feel. I've had to take an enforced break from boat and furniture building to re-do an apartment. We started with a paint job, just to patch it up a little to re-rent....but the little black spot below the kitchen and bathroom sink were bugging me....

Two months and more than 2 bucks later, plus a few floors and walls replaced, and it's almost ready to re-rent.

pckeen, I know exactly what you mean. I don't like to start projects as I did years ago because....it always.....always becomes long, drawn out, and costly, and if it has my name on it, I want it as right as I can make it, which is usually about perfect. I'm getting ready to get back to the boat and I will get some pictures on here. Rick