95' Glastron SSV170SE Restore

[hanslanda]

Hello all!

This is my first post. My first boat restoration project and my first boat in general. I had an offer to buy a 95' Glastron from a friend for $400. It had a trailer that was in good shape and an Evinrude 88 SPL that looked to be in decent shape. I considered my loss if it were a total lemon and decided to go with it anyways. This was fall time in wisconsin so the best of the boat i could see was the hull which appeared to be in good shape. The inside has a fresh coat of snow on it. It was not kept well and thestory i got was a bunch of racoons made a home out of it one winter. The interior would be deemed a total loss. The vinyl was all ripped up from the racoons and the carpet was trash. They even burrowed into the seats so it just needed to be redone. All in all i threw a cover on it and waited until good weather.

Fast forward to today

I started ripping interior out of the boat when i noticed a pretty soft floor. Yay. So as i'm ripping out interior i make my way to the carpet. The floor is certainly rotted to all hell. Okay I can deal with that but obviously this is turning into a good project really quick and i need to understand the scope creep. Because i'm so new at this i need to make sure i'm covering all my bases, since i'm going to be elbow deep in this thing for a little while here. I'm just going to list a few genaric questions to start, if anyone can provide any feedback they think i'm missing i would love to hear it. Even if you think this is a total loss and i should toss it don't be afraid to say it.

Does a rotted deck necessarily mean rotted stringers?

Will i need to split the seam to properly do the deck?

The glass around the transom seems okay, but is there a concern for that(wood core) as well?

If any of the above mentioned are compromised, where do i stand? I have done epoxy and composite work in the past with CF but i am new to fiberglass.

Are there any basic research resources you would have me review before i continue?




I have attached a link to a few pictures of what's under the carpet to give you all a visual aid

Thanks for input all

 

[Mad Props]

Welcome to Iboats!

You are in good hands, this is the best place on the internets for resto information and the best people to guide you along your way. The boat looks like it has lots of potential... Keep us updated with progress and lots of pictures always make everyone happy!

 

[chevymaher]

When it looks like this. It just got alot easier.

It is worth doing tho. Just pack a lunch.

 

[hanslanda]

Thanks for the kind words gents! We have a couple of hot days here so i have the exposed floor open air right now kinda trying to dry out the wood that is rotted there.

Not having the slightest clue what i'm doing i'm going to start ripping the deck off, taking note to not rip the glass off the stringers since i'm sure they are just glued to it or screwed and glued down. Should i just sawzall the deck outline around the stringers and sand down the wood that's on top of the stringer?

 

[kcassells]

Yup, like you said. All the wood will need to go. Next fun is sanding the glass to good glass that was attached to the stringers and bulkheads. This will be your base/strength for the new wood and hull.
You'll need to clean glass on both sides of old stringers etc @ 6".wide.

 

[hanslanda]

Awesome! I've been plugging away on this. One thing i came across that's been challenging... the hull appears to have been filled with foam. Underneath all the wood decking its packed with poly. Do I just remove this? Is there a nice way to do that?

 

[hanslanda]

Well all its coming along. Iv'e gotten the majority of the deck rot out. Just some to finish in the rear there. As you can see this boat does not have wood stringers, it has an interior glass mold. There are fill holes inside this glass mold which tells me they probably filled whats below the glass mold with foam as well.

As you can see i only have a bit or the rear section of the boat left with deck still. Should have that finished up this week and ill be cleaning what i can. Then i'm guessing ill sand it a bit and put a fresh coat of sealing poly down. After that ill re-install the tank and prepare for putting down the wood deck.



Mentions/questions

It appeared the wood deck was only stapled to this glass interior mold. It was also held down with some type of silicone/adhesive... any idea what type of adhesive that might be?



Good news

I hooked up a spare tank to the motor and gave it a test fire this weekend. The evinrude 88 spl runs!

 

[hanslanda]

Hello all! We're rounding 6 months here so i figured i'd throw in an update.


The Deck
-------------

She gone. Deck was finished being ripped out a few months back, my last post.


The Hull
------------

About ready. Cleaned all the foam out and sanded the top layer of fiberglass on all the frame rails especially where the new wood will mount. Since i'm going up in motor size i want to add a single layer of woven glass to the inside of the transom and potentially a thin aluminum plate as a standard for where the engine bolts come through. Likely going to roll a coat of resin over the entire inside hull for resealing and crack repair.


Engine
----------

I always enjoyed a little power behind my crafts so i managed to dig up a V6 OMC 150 intruder. This will be the heart and soul behind the new Glastron. It comes in just under the transom limit for this boat and should be a perfect power level. I need to do some comp testing but it looks promising.