1993 Sea Ray 200BR Wood Rot

Texasglas

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Jan 31, 2017
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Hello everyone. Starting to dig into a boat by following some examples on the forum, watching lots of youtube videos, and the Runabout Renovation book. Thought I would document it here to see if anyone can chime in with any challenges I may come across.

Long story short: Bought first boat a few years ago ('78 Glastron SV176) enjoyed the hell out of it and realized last Summer the transom was in really bad shape. Not a big deal..had a lot of fun with it for the price paid. Impulsively bought what I thought was the nicest boat in our price range. Guy was super nice and I believe honest. Boat was in really nice shape and stored covered in a storage unit. Inspecting it I noticed he had put a thick piece of carpeted plywood over the deck in the bow walkthrough area. I knew this wasnt a good idea but didn't know the extent of the damage it couldve done. He said he put it there soon after purchase (original owner) because he thought it felt a little weak under foot. Well....I was more focused on the transom, engine, and the rest of the deck that I didn't pry around under that board. Lesson learned.

Anyways, got it home and soon discovered theres quite a bit of rot on the deck from the gastank forward. Watching videos like Friscoboater's and others I got a good idea of what could be in store for me. I'm pretty good with my hands but havent worked much on boats besides engines and little stuff. So this will be quite a learning experience.

Initial thoughts and questions after pulling some of the deck off..
1. So far all the foam seems bone dry.
2. Not quite sure what/where the stringers are. Theres a longitudinal piece of wood that is like 1.5" wide but the height is several inches below the deck.
3. Not quite sure how the bow boxes are constructed and fastened together with the cap, deck, and hull.

Video kind of goes into these thoughts and questions a little better.
https://youtu.be/YmSj9gOKqvg

Thanks in advance for any help one may offer. I'll continue with videos and will try to add photos. Attachment buttons not working so I see how to post some soon.
 

racerone

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Dec 28, 2013
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Was at a boat show yesterday.--------Could not believe the prices of some boats.-----They are all beautiful to behold when new.-------I hope that they are built with composite materials.----Reason is , that once assembled it is difficult to do any inspection / repairs to the structures.
 

chevymaher

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Mar 29, 2017
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When it looks like this. Makes it easier to inspect. Just do it right and put all new back in. Denial is not just a popular boating site in Egypt.

Only real way to check it take it out. If you do put new in. Deck is delaminating and falling apart. They rot from the bottom up.

I been there done that. My floors were rock solid. But oh what you find at the bottom.

I just passed on the extended vacation plan in Egypt. I said if one thing is bad it is all being replaced. It looked alot better in mine than yours does so far. And it was totally wasted once I started cutting it all out.

Just accept and move on or fix it. That is the first step. It is worth it to fix them.
 

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Texasglas

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Jan 31, 2017
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Oh they are so beautiful outside...

I definitely want to fix it up and fix it up right so we can enjoy the boat for years to come. I 'm in denial that the transom is bad..no cores samples yet. Don't think I can get close to the keyhole to drill with the motor there. I can get them low to high on the transom but probably a foot or so from the keyhole.
1"-1.25" core sample sound right? I'm going to tape my bit. 1/8" drill? Sealed with 5200 ok?
Is there anywhere else in the bilge to take samples from?
Motor mounts?

Is it strange to have stringers of different widths and heights?

Port stringer width = 1.25" and goes right up to the deck.

Starboard stringer width = 1.5" and height stops about an 1" or so short of the deck
 

racerone

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Dec 28, 2013
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Well ----that is typical of how boats are built.--------Shoddy , very shoddy materials.-----Many of them out there.------You wonder how they are allowed to market this junk.------Good on you to investigate your purchase.----Foam is used for flotation and adds structure..--------Also a " sound deadening " feature.-------Repair / rebuild it with the right materials and it will outlast you.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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Jul 23, 2011
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new boats today are made of stringer tubs that are glued together with plexus and slapped together.

when the glue joint fails, time for a new boat. 95% of all boats are bought, then sold within a few years of the warranty running out.

boats are still built for a relatively short design life.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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Initial thoughts and questions after pulling some of the deck off..
1. So far all the foam seems bone dry.
2. Not quite sure what/where the stringers are. Theres a longitudinal piece of wood that is like 1.5" wide but the height is several inches below the deck.
3. Not quite sure how the bow boxes are constructed and fastened together with the cap, deck, and hull.



Thanks in advance for any help one may offer. I'll continue with videos and will try to add photos. Attachment buttons not working so I see how to post some soon.

cap/bow area/inner gunwales/cockpit sole is molded as a single piece about the size of the hull, it is filled with wiring, flotation foam, cleats, deck hardware, the horn, etc, then flipped and glued/screwed to the hull

back in '93, that boat probably went from hull to trailer in about 5 days total

you need to reduce the size of your pictures to be able to attach them. read the photo tutorial in the rules/guidelines forum
 

JASinIL2006

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Feb 10, 2012
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5,525
I can't tell from your video if you have wood stringers or not. It almost looks like dimensional lumber (2x6 or similar) that is serving as a stringer. Make me wonder if that is original or if someone has been under there with a partial repair before you.

If you really do have fiberglass and foam stringers (which I question), you might be able to save a lot of time by re-using the stringers. Foam stringers would generally be pretty wide - 3" or 4" - and very sturdy. I think the only way to know for sure is to get a lot more of the deck off, then post some picture of what you see. A '93 would be in the ballpark of when some manufacturers started experimenting with non-wood stringers, but many didn't start with that type of construction until the late 90s or early 2000s.

Either way, we can help you rebuild. It's not always easy, but ultimately, many of us found it to be immensely satisfying to rebuild our boats. I know I did, and I learned a lot in the process.
 

Texasglas

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Jan 31, 2017
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Hey guys,

Kind of looking ahead at installing the sole/floor. It appears my original floor was bedded in a compound and stopped about 8" from the sides/gunwales. Then there is some thick fiberglass overlay on top of it. Not sure if this is the original tabbing or some other manufacture method used. If I were to rough and scuff that thick part and use that to tab to, then I dont think I'd really be tabbing to the hull. Would that be ok or do I need to grind all that thick part down to the hull? Hopefully the pictures can illustrate what I am saying.
 

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Woodonglass

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Dec 29, 2009
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I'd recommend grinding everything down to that brownish color you see. That's the original glass and the new glass will adhere much better to that once it's all ground down. Get the total inside hull as clean as possible. Replace the stringers exactly as they were. Hopefully you took a LOT of measurements prior to Tear Out. Foam is a necessity for all the reasons mentioned. Search the forum for some GREAT examples of what you're working on. All of your questions and issues have been addressed on Multiple Builds.
 

Texasglas

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Joined
Jan 31, 2017
Messages
7
Thanks for the reply.

I took a lot of measurements and have left artifacts of stringer tracking to know where the stringers went. I ground down everything else for the stringers. I'll probably do the same for the deck "lip", its more like a fat lip on this boat.
Leave a few remnants of the deck lip at strategic reference points and grind everything else. That way, after bedding stringers and cutting to deck height I wont' have much grinding left to do for deck install.

Back to where the deck/hull meet.
Man that's going to be a lot of grinding. I've looked at quite a few restore threads and even Friscoboaters Sea Ray which is two years newer and a little bigger but I havent seen the deck to hull setup my boat has on other peoples boats. Maybe I've missed it. I'll get out there soon and ill grind an area down towards the gunwale and see what it looks like.

In the picture, the red line is where the plywood deck appears to stop. Its bedded in something and then kind of does like a ~ shape towards the gunwale, rising an inch or two. The yellow circle highlights the thickness of this glass. Not sure if there is some core material between this top layer of glass and the hull but I will find out soon. There is definitely like 6" between where the deck ends and the gunwales.

If I measure that glasses thickness should I try to recreate that thickness in 1708 or whatever else for structural reasons?

Theres still some carpet glue on the "deck lip". Not sure if that will gum up my grinder so I may take some MEK to it first before grinding. I will adhere to all the safety warnings of course.
 

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kcassells

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I would think you should be able to fit some wood in there to make the bond to deck.
 
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