1986 Skeeter Starfire 80 Rebuild

spartyon8

Cadet
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Messages
12
I have been a lurker for a while now and decided to join once I noticed the transom in my Skeeter needed replacing. Apparently this boat was used as a tournament boat in the 80s and early 90s. Before I acquired it, one of the POs must have attempted to fix the transom at one time because the top was cut and it appears to have been squirted resin/bondo into the transom area. The floor also needs repair so I am planning on doing the transom, floor and stringers. I have fiber glassed before with car audio and repairing the bow floor. I have the materials on order to do the glass work. However, I do have a few questions:

​1) I would like to remove the front live well and flush mount my trolling motor. I noticed after separating the cap that the live well is a plastic bin glassed to the floor and foamed. The foam must have been sprayed on wet from the factory and then mated with the hull as it is formed to the ribs in the hull. If I remove it for my plans, how can I brace the floor underneath?
​2) There is also foam sprayed around the rear compartments and live well. There is a crack in the foam on the pass side and it is very dirty from the 2 stroke vapors. Would it be wise to remove it? If so, how would I go about replacing it?

​I am sure that I will come up with more questions as I keep tackling this project.







 
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spartyon8

Cadet
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Messages
12
Apparently Skeeter used plastic boxes for the rear flotation boxes. They then glass over the seams. Those seems didn?t hold. The foam is soaked, as expected. Should I keep the plastic and reglass them or make my own out of wood/glass and then foam?



 

bheff

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
75
Looks like a BIG project.
I wouldn't use plastic for a flotation box. Epoxy has a hard time sticking to plastic. Maybe one reason the seam failed to begin with.
 

spartyon8

Cadet
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Messages
12
I know it looks rough but I have next to nothing in the boat and really enjoy the learning process. I was thinking the best method would be to make new boxes out of wood. I am going to use poly resin for this project, not epoxy.
 

trailking82

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Dec 31, 2010
Messages
84
I have the same floatation boxes in my Skeeter, i have tossed the idea around when it comes time of pulling them for the rebuild to not replace them. This will actually open the rear storage by alot. The downside is i am sure that foam was placed there to help support all the weight if the stern was submerged. The bond of those boxes is not great because they are plastic, instead of glassing them back in you maybe able to use an adhesive like 3M 5200
 

spartyon8

Cadet
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Messages
12
I will probably just glass new boxes. I am not a fan of just caulking to glue anything. I have always been that way even in home repair.
 

spartyon8

Cadet
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Messages
12
finally got some time to work on this again this weekend. I got the transom all torn out and got about 36" back of foam out. Everything was water logged. I probably had 2-3 gallons of water that I took out after the foam was removed. It's no wonder why I thought she sat a bit low in the water!

I came across some problems that searching the web didn't help with.

​1) It appears as though the drain hole wood was glassed in separate from the transom. Is this a normal practice? Below the transom, it angles inward and that is where the drain hole was placed. Would it be a good idea to try and incorporate that into the solid transom piece or keep separate like Skeeter did?
2) The way the transom is laid out was to have two layers of ply that were identical in perimeter cutouts. Because the bottom of the transom slopes inwards, could I make the mating piece (2nd layer) longer to better meet the hull? They basically poured a ton of resin in the joints around the transom wood. Would my way make it a bit stronger? I plan on attaching my MinnKota Talon back to the boat and know it produces some drag.
3) In clearing out the gobs of resin from the factory, I sliced through the hull. Should I place some of my 1708 tape on it before I put in the transom or do the work from the outside?





 

spartyon8

Cadet
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Messages
12
I finally got some work done on the boat. New transom is in along with some new strakes in the bottom. Need to grind a little bit more for the final strakes and stringers. I am curious as to how I should do the flotation boxes. There is a picture of the original which I can use as a fiberglass mold or my plywood box. Also, there appears to be a strake running along the edge of the hull. My guess is that it is there for the top connection. Thoughts?









 

spartyon8

Cadet
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Messages
12
I have been working on the boat for quite a while now. I finished up the transom and strakes. Now, I turned the hull over to do some repair and then paint. In the picture below, you can see the keel is worn down quite a bit from beaching and shallow bumping. Can I just layer 3 strips of 1708 the length of the keel to add some more rigidity/beef to it? How would you go about do this?

 

spartyon8

Cadet
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Messages
12
A project that has been stalled for a few months has seemed to have created a problem. Back in May i secured a new floor in but failed to seal the top with resin. Now that i have gotten back to working on this, the seem where both pieces of ply meet are no longer flat/flush. With a flat rule as reference there is almost a 3/4 dip at that seem. Can i mix up some filler (cab/csm strands) and smooth that joint before laying glass? The wood is dry and stored inside. I think it happened on my near month long of trips without emptying the dehumidifier frequently.
 

spartyon8

Cadet
Joined
Sep 14, 2017
Messages
12
I am back to finishing this project after a LONG hiatus. The transom, stringers, outside of the hull and floor are all done. I am getting ready to put the cap back on thinking all was fine. I took the pressure washer to it today and notice some black underneath. Turns out, Skeeter used wood to span the width of the back deck to brace the seat post and never sealed the wood. Under the seats, the glass is encapsulated in foam and a piece of ply was stuck into it. Up front, they also used a brace spanning the width of the deck without sealing it up. Naturally, it is all rotted. If I am going to replaces it all, now might be the time to reconfigure the compartments and extend the front deck. What would be the best method to frame new compartments and deck to the existing cap?
 
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