1989 Brendella, needs stringers and deck...is the hull worth it though?

[WillTheThri11]

Hi everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster here. There's a wealth of knowledge on this forum. I've watched most of the friscoboater vids, read the other 1989 Brendella resto thread (really bummed about the photobucket issue). read a number of WoodOnGlass and Oops! posts as well and there's a lot of great information there.

Well let's get down to it. I bought a 1989 Ski Brendella about 5 years ago with a 351W and about 500hrs on it and at the time I knew there were probably hull issues, but like many I wanted to have fun and mostly just ignored them as long as the boat was running and operating well...likely my second mistake (1st one was buying this boat i'm startin to think). The bottom side has some kind of paint coating on it that is now blistering up.

Well this year we had crazy rains here and my cover ripped and dumped a bunch of water on the floor. I got a new cover within a couple days, but it never dried out well and the carpet molded. Anyway, long story short when it got nice enough to remove the cover, i also realized i had a pretty soft section on the aft starboard floor. I decided to do some removal of the rotted out section and before long i was completely without a deck and realized that some things had been covered up and incorrectly repaired in the past. The stringers are/were made up of two 2x6s running from the stern 14 ft (of 19) with the section at the motor looking like it is double thickness but they're hollow in a bunch of places. Ther are no cross beams/bulkheads anywhere on the stringers. I ripped out just about all the foam so far and much of it was soaking wet. The foam job from the manufacturer was horrible and left multiple voids which had standing water in them. I found a section of the hull (3-4ft) which had been repaired...and the list goes on.

At this point i'm wondering if the hull is even worth keeping and putting a new deck and stringers in.

So main questions:

1. Is the hull worth keeping or should I consider parting it out? And if so, how much work do i need to do to the bare hull before even starting the stringer/deck job.

2. For the stringers, should I consider a seacast pour? Looks like that would be about $1000 in seacast, plus a bit more to cap them off with glass. Benefits I'm seeing to this are speed and time is money. Plus looking at all the resin and fabric prices, it might not be much difference in price anyway? This keeps all the motor mounts and everything right where they're at which reduces chances for mistakes in replacing them. I'd only need to grind the hull and stringers for tabbing the deck which would be much less grinding I'm thinking.

Link to all my photos can be found here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5NQoFVZ4AxbRjMSUA

I've put titles for most all the photos. I have a feeling the answer to #1 will either be chuck it or that i have to remove all the bottom paint and inspect further.

A little about me: I grew up working on my vw bus, working in a machine shop and building cabinets and doing other home construction jobs. I've welded two halves of a car together and I've glassed a surfboard. I don't have a garage or a shop anymore so this would be a driveway restoration, but I have a decently stocked tool shed and friends with some of the bigger equipment. All that to say that I'm not scared of taking on this task. I just want to be realistic on what I'm getting into because time is precious and I've got a lot of irons in the fire at the moment.

Your help and expertise is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[Chris51280]

I can only see one picture. you can resize them in a phone app and post directly.
I look at it this way. if you like the boat, then go for it. Nowadays there are no good older boats. wood just deteriorates especially after 20 years and the way they have been build. Question is:
how much would you spend on another used boat and fix that one too?

 

[WillTheThri11]

I can only see one picture. you can resize them in a phone app and post directly.

Link updated

If i do go ahead with the rebuild, I'll start posting them directly to avoid the dreaded photobucket issue of the past

 

[WillTheThri11]

Question is: how much would you spend on another used boat and fix that one too?

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/boa/d/el-cajon-89-malibu-18-new-350-chevy/6885804364.html

Same year as mine, basically the same size and configuration. Wondering if it's better to go take a look at that since it's a single owner boat and mine was most definitely not and I didn't get much history with mine when I bought it. Now i know what to look for and where

Regarding if I like the boat, it's a great boat to ski and wakeboard behind but it is fairly cramped quarters for more than 4-5 people. So for that reason, i wouldn't say it's my forever boat. If the price ever comes down for an older MC X2, I'd probably consider the upgrade. A buddy of mine has a 97 and while it's set up for wakeboarding and has super heavy ballast, i do really like the seating arrangement. I wonder if it would get up and go like my brendella though without all the ballast and how the wake would be for slalom.

 

[WillTheThri11]

Bump...would appreciate some more feedback

 

[Redtruck12]

Looking like a full gut and rebuild
a couple hundred hours and a couple thousand bucks (realistically)

 

[Woodonglass]

Welcome to iBoats!! Boat Restoration is either your cup of tea or not! It's a LOT of work and at times NOT very pleasant. The Two main reasons for doing it are usually Family type Projects or Trying to save money. You'll spend a Minimum of 200 hours on it and $1K to 3K in money. Worth it?? Depends. If you like the style of the boat and it meets your needs and you want to spend the time and money then yeah it's worth it. If you're looking to recoup your Time or Money then Nope it's not worth it. I've seen a Lot of Starters here on the forum but more often than not, the Finishers are a bit more rare. One thing you CAN count on is..If you decide to take it on, the members here will help you in everyway possible to make it a success. The rest is up to you!!

 

[WillTheThri11]

1k to 3k in money is a huge span!

well last night I continued demo on flooring and foam and finally found a piece of dry wood! It was about 6” from the very tip of the bow. Surprisingly the foam under it was a complete sponge...looked like the canned (not so) great stuff. I would plunge my pry bar into it and it would literally gush water.

Another surprise was that someone put a patch in the keel and actually used duct tape!

 

[WillTheThri11]

See photo for pic of the keel patch framed in duct tape.



There's also a large hull patch spanning about 4ft near the driver's seat

The keel patch is actually obviously poorly adhered because my pry bar picked it up first before i knew it was even there since it was covered in foam.

I'm guessing I need to grind down to bare/good glass in both cases to evaluate the integrity of both repairs?

 

[Redtruck12]

Great progress on the clean out.
Good news is it’s not duct tape! Looks like foil tape Just kidding .
yes you’re going to have to grind out all that improperly applied patch work and the damaged area.
before you get too far how are you supporting the remaining hull now that you’re removing all the rotted wood and structural glass that was encasing the stringers?

 

[Timr71]

I have a soft spot for Ski Brendellas. I just like the way they look. They look similar to my own Ski Centurion. Should you do it? A lot just depends on the things that others have already stated. If you like this boat and you want to own and operate it for a significant amount of time, then I'd say get on with it. If you just kind of feel "meh" about it or you'd rather go find a less-of-a-project boat, then you should probably pass. It would be sad, but the hull will probably end up in a land fill. The motor and running gear can be parted out for cash. Good luck!

 

[WillTheThri11]

Great progress on the clean out.
Good news is it’s not duct tape! Looks like foil tape Just kidding .
yes you’re going to have to grind out all that improperly applied patch work and the damaged area.
before you get too far how are you supporting the remaining hull now that you’re removing all the rotted wood and structural glass that was encasing the stringers?

i haven’t supported anything yet other than its sitting on the trailer and the cap is still on it.

Next step would be to pull the motor at this point. I gotta build a cart for it I think. I saw a pallet with a 4’x8’x3/4” OSB top sheet on the side of the road down the street from me that I’m thinking of grabbing to make a cart out of. I think I’ll fire it up and then run the carb dry and fog the intake for storage...does that sound about right?

any suggestions for maintaining dimensional stability? Initially I was hoping that the cap and trailer would be enough but I removed the swim step brackets last night and found out that there is a rotted transom...who knew a full inboard needed a plywood transom???

I’ll have to inspect more once the gas tank comes out to see if I need to remove the cap after all.

Good news is my Dad might let me do the project in his back yard. Beats doing it in my driveway and he has a well equipped shop in his garage, but he’s 30 miles away so it’ll be harder to get over there and work on it.

im really worried this hull is just not worth it though. By the end of it, I may be using the hull as a mold for a new hull which is not really something I want to undertake....not giving up yet though.

 

[WillTheThri11]

I have a soft spot for Ski Brendellas. I just like the way they look. They look similar to my own Ski Centurion. Should you do it? A lot just depends on the things that others have already stated. If you like this boat and you want to own and operate it for a significant amount of time, then I'd say get on with it. If you just kind of feel "meh" about it or you'd rather go find a less-of-a-project boat, then you should probably pass. It would be sad, but the hull will probably end up in a land fill. The motor and running gear can be parted out for cash. Good luck!

I agree, it’s a sexy boat. I checked out your Centurion thread and was pretty impressed...wish I had an open bow. Made me wonder if I should get a quote or two on all the glass work though so I don’t have to do it and worry about dimensional stability etc...during the job.

ps: really wish it were easier to post pictures on this forum from my phone. Seems the iPhone takes pictures that are too large :/ found another hull puncture with a was of CSM...looks like they shoved it in from the outside and filled it up with thickened resin from the outside but it didn’t penetrate all the fibers

 

[froggy1150]

I am on android but I am sure ios has a photo app resizer too. I do 97% on my phone and that's how I do it. I hear a lot of people email themselves to resize but I use an app. It's real quick

 

[Redtruck12]

I’m on an I phone as well.
ya just email them to yourself and pick small or medium when it asks you what size.
as for support, some guys remove from trailer and build a cradle /frame to evenly support the hull, others block it up or set it on planks to distribute the weight more evenly while still on the trailer especially if it is on a roller style trailer, side bracing IF the cap is coming off but not necessarily required if it’s not.
holes are pretty simple to fix once all the structural stuff is out of way.

 

[WillTheThri11]

See photos for trailer contact, does this look sufficient if I leave it on the trailer? I can see how a rolling cart might be nicer with all the work needed on the bottom though.

 

[WillTheThri11]

Ok I’m “resizing” in the iPhone now by taking a screenshot of the picture...apparently that uses lower resolution than the initial image.

See photos for another hull puncture and some seemingly poor workmanship on the stringers...would the factory really do this bad a job or do you think this was part of a previous repair/restore job?

 

[Redtruck12]

Bunk trailer is better than a roller and spread weight pretty well. You want as much even contact as possible.
i would expect that that shoddy work is factory.

 

[WillTheThri11]

Looks like the next step will be to get the motor out....i'm hesitant cause once i do that I'm all in!

I think i'd like to have the project planned out before I do that.

I've done a bit of research into materials and am really tempted to use non-wood composites for the rebuild to avoid any future potential of rot. Seems like everyone here has been sticking to the plywood and dimensional lumber (if that's what the boat had originally).

Has anyone done Nida-Core floors or Coosa Board floors? Same question for stringers too I suppose.

Also, has anyone done the pourable transom to fill stringer cavities? These all seem like fairly pricey options, but time is money right and at least in the case of pourable stringers, I feel like that would save quite a bit of time in grinding, cutting stringers, bedding them in and glassing over them. Instead it would be cut the cap off the stringers, dig out the rot, (not sure what else is in the prep and how difficult/time consuming that is), then pour the new transom and cap with fiberglass (likely glassed all the way back down to the hull though). Then all the holes can be drilled and tapped without worrying about water intrusion, right?

Gotta start pricing out materials...

 

[JASinIL2006]

I don't see anything wrong with using composites, but you'll still have a 30 year old boat into which you'll have put a ton of money.

Done correctly and carefully, wood and fiberglass (or epoxy) will last a very long time... even longer if the boat is cared for properly. However, it's your money and your choice. (That's the fun part of restoring a boat!)

Good luck and I'll be following along to see how you progress.