Small Fiberglass Boat Restoration

[RazorbackBoater]

I want to thank all of you for the wonderful advice on this site. Without that advice, I would have never been comfortable with the project I have undertaken.

My fiancé's father had a small, old fiberglass boat lying in his pasture. It had been my fiancé's grandfather’s boat that they abandoned after he passed away in 1988. I saw the boat and decided I wanted to fix it up for her for sentimental reasons and as a project.

This boat is... junk. Absolutely not worth fixing. Everything on this boat is rotten or worn. With that being said, I intend to put her back looking better than new!

So far, I have loaded it on a utility trailer, taken it home, and ripped out the old rotten floor. I then flipped it over to inspect the hull and found three spots where it appears a cow stepped in the boat and cracked the hull.

The boat is 13’6” long. The last registration for the boat was in 1988. I cannot find any marking, stamp, logo, hull number or any other identifier to tell me the brand of this boat or when it was made. There is no Hull Number in the boat, so I assume it was belt prior to the federal law requiring hull numbers. The boat does still have the registration numbers on it, so I am hoping I can look that information up. Would any of you happen to be able to identify this particular brand of boat from the pictures?

It is currently green on bottom and white on top. I will be removing all of the gel coat to inspect and repair the hull. I plan to do structural repairs to any damaged areas and then apply one new layer of glass on the bottom of the hull. My plan is then to gel coat the bottom of the hull pink and the top white. (Colors requested by my fiancé).

On the inside, I will replace the transom. I am debating using a composite of some kind. I will never hang any motor bigger than a 9.9 hp motor on this boat. Do any of you have advice on the best materials to use on a small boat?

I will also have to replace the deck/floor and the one stringer. I am debating replacing the one stringer with some kind of a hollow fiberglass stringer so that it will never need replacement again.. Then I am considering putting foam for flotation on each side of the stringer and putting a solid fiberglass deck over the top. My goal is to use no wood on the stringer or floor. Have any of you ever done something like that in a boat this small?

Please give me any advice you can! I have read many other posts, and I think my ideas can be implemented. I know I will lose tons of money on this boat, but I am the type that I just want the project.

 

[RazorbackBoater]

[No message]

 

[chevymaher]

I think it is so cool you want to fix the boat for the reasons given. Use the same materials everyone else is using. Wood resin csm and 1708.

Clean it out patch the holes from both sides. That will keep you busy a while. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9hfpOCnzEs

Once you got the stringer replaced if it needs it. It may not if it isnt wood. Paint it using woodenglasses secret boat/tractor formula.

 

[sphelps]

Just guessing maybe an early Ranger ?
It is what it says on the tittle .. Without the tittle ya may as well keep using it to feed the livestock..
Unless your using in a privet pond . Unless the rule are different where you live...
Unless the old gell has a lot of crazing I would not sand it all off .
Nothing wrong with going back all composite with no wood if you wish .
Just will take a good bit more cake is all .
Welcome aboard !!!

 

[Scott Danforth]

before you do any work...... get the paperwork thing sorted out. as Sam mentioned, without paperwork, most boats are yard planters or livestock feeders

 

[RazorbackBoater]

Thank you for the advice! So I am in Arkansas. Here, I should be able to straighten out the title easily. I am an attorney, so the paperwork side of it is the easy part! The fiberglass work is the part I am new to.

The old gel coat is pretty bad. It has lots of chips and other issues. My reason for grinding it off is to be able to apply a new layer of fiberglass across the bottom of the hull. My thought is to bevel any cracks or holes and repair them with laminate of 1.5 oz chopped strand mat and 1708 until those areas are level with the existing glass. Then my plan is to apply a layer of 1.5 oz chopped strand matt across the whole bottom of the boat to cover all of the repairs and to thicken the hull. I will be using it in an area with some rocks so I want a little thicker hull than it is currently. Then I will gel coat it a new color.

On the inside, I plan to grind the boat and apply 1.5oz chopped strand and possibly 1708 to get my hull to its final thickness. Then I will definitely have to replace the one stringer. This boat has what appears to be a 1x4 as a stringer right down the middle.

The old deck was plywood laid on top of the hull on each side and the one stringer in the middle. My thought is to replace the stringer with something that wont rot. Because it only has one small stringer, I would think that my idea would be possible. I may be green and naive.

Whatever I have as a stringer, I am debating making a thick fiberglass panel for my floor. It only has to span approximately 18 inches on each side of the stringer. Will several layers of 1708 fiberglass made into a panel be strong enough walk on without any wood?

I plan to put flotation foam under the floor on each side of the stringer. The boat did not have any foam anywhere in the boat originally.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Thank you for the advice! So I am in Arkansas. Here, I should be able to straighten out the title easily. I am an attorney, so the paperwork side of it is the easy part! .

until you have the paperwork straightened out. dont do any work to the boat until it is titled in your name. regardless if your an attorney or not. there are horror stories on iBoats about it taking years to get paperwork straightened out.

 

[sphelps]

If you want to go back no wood you can use the Coosa board or check into Seacast . Both pretty pricey but will never rot .
If it were me I would either not use expandable foam or use the ridged sheet closed cell foam that will never absorb water .
I don’t know if the new pour in foam has gotten better about turning into a sponge or not..
You never know when a leak may happen and get under the deck . If your lucky maybe never ..

 

[RazorbackBoater]

Thank you for the advice. I am considering the sheets of foam so that I can cut it to size and remove it easily one day if I ever need to.

My thought is to fabricate a fiberglass stringer roughly the size of the current stringer that I will then tab into the boat. From what I can see, the ‘stringer is not really there for structural integrity but more for a support in the center of the floor.

For the transom, I am debating the benefits of coosa board or sea cast. The expense is significant but the transom would be the only thing left on this boat to rot.

 

[garbageguy]

... From what I can see, the ‘stringer is not really there for structural integrity but more for a support in the center of the floor....

from an engineering point of view, I don't see a difference in those terms - from the description of your plan, it seems that your boat will have the proper support, then it will have structural integrity

 

[Woodonglass]

Your center stringer IS structural. I'd recommend using ext. grade plywood and two layers of resin and 1708 If you do it right the stringer will last longer than you'll have the boat. For the deck 1/2" ext. grade plywood encased in resin and glass will also last for decades. All the busted glass is easily fixed. The glass work is easy especially on this small boat. You should not have any major issues once you get the hang of applying the resin and glass without getting air pockets. Get her all cleaned out and then start grinding and smoothing the inner and outer hull to get her ready for glass.

 

[RazorbackBoater]

So I have contacted the Arkansas Dept. of Finance about getting the boat registered. In Arkansas, boats only have registrations, not titles. They have informed me that I can get a new registration if I have a bill of sale with the make, model, year and a hull identification number.

The boat does not have a whole identification number but the Arkansas game and Fish informed me that I can get a hull identification number if I can tell them the manufacturer of the boat.

Now my main issue is trying to determine what company manufactured this particular boat. I have looked over every inch of the boat and cannot find anything showing the manufacturers name. The only unique markings that I can see are the designs on the side of the boat The only unique markings that I can see are the designs on the side of the boat.

Do any of you know what kind of boat this is or do any of you know of a resource where I can look up what kind of boat this is?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Scott Danforth]

your boat has a serial number (too old for a HIN). that will make it tougher with out the MIC code.

unfortunately about a quarter of a million boat manufacturers have come and gone in the past 75 years. some of them producing as little as 1 or two boats. some of them only producing for one or two years.

can they back-trace the prior registration? that would give you manufacturer and serial number that can be matched up to the serial number in the boat.

you can go thru the pages at http://fiberglassics.com/

 

[sphelps]

Whatever it is I’m thinking early 70’s or late 60’s ..

 

[RazorbackBoater]

So I have tried back tracing the registration. The State informed me they do not have record of it since it was last registered in the late 80’s. I am going to keep pulling at that thread through the local dmv and tax assessor to see if I can track down any old records.

My guess was late 60’s or early 70’s as well. I am going to take the cap off soon, so I am hopeful there will be some kind of logo or mark or something to identify the boat under there.

For now, my only guidance is the design on the side of the boat. I am guessing that the design would be relatively unique to a manufacturer?

 

[Woodonglass]

Based on your pics, I'm not sure you need to remove the top cap unless you you just want to. You can replace the transom as it sets. At least IMHO the pics indicate that you have access to it.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Looks like a nice project

 

[RazorbackBoater]

Well, I went to the DMV and searched the archives. I found the last time the boat was registered. The registration says the boat is a 1969, but the registration says the boat’s make and model are both “flat-bottom”. I am guessing the family did not know the manufacturer when they transferred the boat from Texas to Arkansas, so they just called it a “flat-bottom”.

But, good news is I can use the old registration to cure my title issue. So there is a silver lining, but it still leaves me wondering who actually manufactured the boat.

 

[RazorbackBoater]

So I have been doing research and the closest thing I can find to my boat is an ad for a Master Molders Inc., Kingfisher from the 1960s. It is not exactly the same, but it is close. The only difference that I see is that my boat has a design on the side and the kingfishers did not.

Do any of you know other boat manufacturers i might research? Or maybe did Kingfisher make some boats with designs on them?

 

[Scott Danforth]

scour the library on fiberglassics