Re: stringer questions
When I did my full rebuild on my 89 SR180 BR last year I pretty much followed the Friscoboater thread on his SR rebuild. When it came to installing the stringers & bulkheads I used ply for the bulkheads but ended up using solid timber for the long stringers. I tried to bond two sections of ply to form one long stringer, but it kept failing. All the ply and timber was sealed with a couple of coats of polyester resin before installation. All the wood was installed using PL construction adhesive I got from Lowe's. I never had any problems with it, though always wear gloves as it can't be removed from skin, it just has to wear off. Following general advice on the forum about ensuring a degree of 'flex' for the stringers/bulkheads I used small pieces of polyurethane foam (about 3/4/ x 3/4) located at intervals along bulkheads and stringers. Once the wood was installed, excess PL was removed and left to cure. Once cured, any rough PL parts were smoothed off and peanut butter used to round off the bottoms of all the wood where they met the hull bottom. Once cured and smoothed, I then tied in the wood to the hull bottom with 1708, then overlaid with CSM. Before I did this I double checked to ensure the boat was completely level to ensure all wood was properly vertical. Whilst it's recommended you rebuild as per the original construction viz stringers & bulkheads I added a couple of extra bulk heads where I felt the manufacturer had economized. When it came to the deck, I used 5/8" ply, rather than 3/4". SR used 1/2". I had ensured earlier that I knew where my deck level was to both guarantee the correct height of the sub-floor stuff and also the proper deck height. I used foam insulation sheets as my templates for the deck as it's easy to trim to shape and the deck was in 4 or so pieces. Once satisfied the foam deck templates fitted, the ply deck was cut then dry fitted to the sub-floor stuff, screw holes drilled for screwing down onto to the sub-floor, then the pieces seal with a couple of coats of poly resin. Installation of the deck pieces was similar to the stringers/bulkheads in that I put down a line of PL adhesive on the sub-floor tops before placing and screwing down the deck pieces. Once cured I went round the deck edge and filled in the gap to hull side with peanut butter. After curing, smoothed off and then put down the various layers of 1708 and CSM to fully fit the deck to the hull. On my boat the belly tank was covered by a separate piece of ply and I decided to keep that rather than seal the tank in as some do. Hope this helps. Although only last year, it seems like an age ago. PITA at times, but worth it in the end with the finished result and the knowledge you build up.
