1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

[jmink]

Hello everyone,

On January 26, 2014 I bought my first boat. As you can see by the title of this thread it is a 1973 Glastron V156 Sportster. Here is my first video entry about the boat and starting the motor for the first time.

I will be making more entries/posts to this thread as I move forward with my project.

- Josh

 

[theoldwizard1]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Anyone thinking about buying an old fiberglass boat to "restore" should buy this book

Runabout Renovation: How to Find and Fix Up an Old Fiberglass Speedboat

Sure, its old, but still relevant. It is written by someone who has "been there and done that" in plain English.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

The iBoats forum, is "Boat Restoration University" There's more knowledge, experience, and help on this forum than you'll find in any book, anywhere. If you post your questions and your pics, you'll receive a higher level of assistance and advice from here than anywhere else you could possibly go. ALL of the guys here on the forum Have "Been there and done that" and some are in the middle of it just like you. Sharing knowledge in "Real Time" is absolutely the best method of learning there is.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Nice boat Mink. My first boat was the same one.. but 1974. I too liked the look of it.. have fun with it... it will serve you well

 

[jmink]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Nice boat Mink. My first boat was the same one.. but 1974. I too liked the look of it.. have fun with it... it will serve you well

Thanks! I have to do another entry soon. I put some more work into the boat over this past weekend and kept the video camera near. Do you have any advice about the v156?

- Josh

 

[jmink]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Anyone thinking about buying an old fiberglass boat to "restore" should buy this book

Runabout Renovation: How to Find and Fix Up an Old Fiberglass Speedboat

Sure, its old, but still relevant. It is written by someone who has "been there and done that" in plain English.

This book has helped me along my short journey. It mixed with videos/forums are really making sense of things.

- Josh

 

[Auger01]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Congratulations on the Glastron purchase! It looks like it is in fairly decent shape. Those 85hp Evinrudes are bulletproof. Clean the carbs, replace the impellor and it should be good to go. I have a simiar model, the T-160 that I recently restored. It had an 85 Johnson. Your slightly smaller boat sohuld fly with the same engine. Check out my photobucket page if you want to see how your boat is put together on the inside. Good luck with the new boat!

 

[jmink]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Congratulations on the Glastron purchase! It looks like it is in fairly decent shape. Those 85hp Evinrudes are bulletproof. Clean the carbs, replace the impellor and it should be good to go. I have a simiar model, the T-160 that I recently restored. It had an 85 Johnson. Your slightly smaller boat sohuld fly with the same engine. Check out my photobucket page if you want to see how your boat is put together on the inside. Good luck with the new boat!

Thank you, I appreciate any insight I can gain on here.

- Josh

 

[GlastronRookie]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration



Hey Josh...welcome aboard...I too just purchased my first boat 1974 Glastron and joined the forum ...been alot of help already....I too will be doing a resto of floor and transom Im sure late fall this year

 

[jmink]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

View attachment 224438

Hey Josh...welcome aboard...I too just purchased my first boat 1974 Glastron and joined the forum ...been alot of help already....I too will be doing a resto of floor and transom Im sure late fall this year

Thanks for the welcome. What model Glastron did you get and do you have any more photos of it?
- Josh

 

[jmink]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Auger01 I found your photos and you sir are skilled. I would love to know more about your electrical system and what benefits it has.

- Josh

 

[Auger01]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

It's basically a two battery system that parallels the batteries when the engine is on and seperates the batteries when the engine is off. It also allows starting on either battery. It is flexibile and redundant, but not cheap. I caught a lot of flack for the design on here, but it works as planned and I'm happy with it. If I was on a tight budget, I would just go with an acr.

Here is a site that I learned a lot from when doing research for my build:

Boat Builder Central - Howtos | Transom, Stringer and Sole Repair

If you can squeeze it in the budget, I would use epoxy on the rebuild. That is not the majority opinion on here, but it is what I used on my boat.

 

[jmink]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

If you can squeeze it in the budget, I would use epoxy on the rebuild. That is not the majority opinion on here, but it is what I used on my boat.

Ok, I'm pretty green so I have to ask. What is the difference between Epoxy and it's alternative?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Your boat is made from Polyester Resin and Glass. You'll be fine using it for all of your repairs. Your boats finish is GelCoat not Paint. Gelcoat is a Polyester based product as well. Poly requires that you use Chopped Strand Mat (CSM) in order to make the final product strong. Poly resin has no "Binders" in the resin so when it cures it cures hard and brittle. It does contain Styrene which will break down the fibers in the CSM and thus "Bind" them into the resin mix and make the final product very strong. You then finish with Fiberglass Fabric either a Woven Roving or a Biaxial cloth to give additional bulk and strength.

Epoxy DOES contain binders in the resin and will "Stand Alone" as a resin. Very strong and will stick to just about anything. Poly will NOT stick to Epoxy very well. It is about double the price of Poly, takes 2-3 times longer to cure thus making your restore time longer and also making it more difficult for vertical layups since it will want to sag and run unless you "Babysit" it to keep it on the surface. It is minimally more water resistant but quite a bit stronger in bonding strength and flexibility. Since it does have binders in the resin you do not need to use CSM but FAbric/Cloth is still required for strength. Installation techniques for both are very similar. There are different Chemical mixes that can be obtained with either that will make the resin cure faster or slower depending on your needs and the temps. Easier to do with poly than with Epoxy.

Hope this helps.

You can use either, most use Poly. Your boat...Your choice!!!

 

[GlastronRookie]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Well I have been trying with alot of help on here to figure out exactly what model but best we can tell is V156 sportster...I posted a bunch of pics on a post a few days ago titled "1974 Glastron???" Ive been having a ball tinkering with little things here and there, but i wont be doing the complete resto until late fall....Im wanting to get it ouot on the water a few times to see exactly what it needs and exactly how I want to set it up... I will be following your resto very closely

Thanks for the welcome. What model Glastron did you get and do you have any more photos of it?
- Josh

 

[jmink]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

New video/project update has been posted to YouTube; you can check it out right here!

 

[greenbush future]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

You seem to have a real nice candidate for a resto project, knowing the outboard has good compression is critical IMO to ensure you don't get a surprise at the end. Running on muffs and running under load can be 2 different animals. Not sure if you did the compression test yet or not. I would consider doing that before you dive right into the glass work. I love the looks of the stern corners, very distinct design and I can see why you like her. Enjoy the knowledge that is here, it's how I learned, and I'll tag along and offer my opinion, but there are other who really are in the know to guide ya through the work.

 

[Auger01]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

How many stringers are in the boat? Its hard to tell, but it looks like you have two main stringers and two smaller outboard stringers.

Keeping the hull planing surface true is very important as you probably already know. If the bottom of the hull gets deformed during the rebuild, the boat may handle poorly and/or not even be able to plane out. Do a search for "hook" to see problems it can cause.

The cradle is a good idea. Be sure to put it in the cradle before you remove the existing structure. I didn't do a full cradle on mine. What I did do is I removed and replaced the outer stringers before I removed the original center stringer. That is another option for you.

If you do remove the cap it is fairly easy. The only place Glastron used fibergalss to connect the cap to the hull is the transom area. You will have to chisel and or sawzall undeneath the spashwell to seperate the two. That part can be a pita. If will however be easier if the transom is badly rotted.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

Thanks! I have to do another entry soon. I put some more work into the boat over this past weekend and kept the video camera near. Do you have any advice about the v156?

- Josh

Advise, sure.. as you know it's not a big trihull at 15.2 ft.. best served on calmer waters... tri hulls can be punishing in wavy conditions.. if your in rivers or smaller lakes, it will suit you well. I had mine for (1) year,, it was my first boat, quickly found out it was not large enough to handle the NYS Finger Lakes... early morn or evening the water calms down it was fine,, it's the 10am6pm time with breeze is up as were the waves... I've got a deep V hull now.. more suited for what I want.. you should go flying along nicely in that...

 

[jmink]

Re: 1973 Glastron V-156 Sportster Floor/Stringer Restoration

How many stringers are in the boat? Its hard to tell, but it looks like you have two main stringers and two smaller outboard stringers.

Keeping the hull planing surface true is very important as you probably already know. If the bottom of the hull gets deformed during the rebuild, the boat may handle poorly and/or not even be able to plane out. Do a search for "hook" to see problems it can cause.

The cradle is a good idea. Be sure to put it in the cradle before you remove the existing structure. I didn't do a full cradle on mine. What I did do is I removed and replaced the outer stringers before I removed the original center stringer. That is another option for you.

If you do remove the cap it is fairly easy. The only place Glastron used fibergalss to connect the cap to the hull is the transom area. You will have to chisel and or sawzall undeneath the spashwell to seperate the two. That part can be a pita. If will however be easier if the transom is badly rotted.

I believe there are four stringers like you pointed out. I like how you cradled your boat btw, thinking about doing mine the same way.

Is this picture from your photobucket the problem area you mentioned chiseling/sawzall ? http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j364/Salado71/PC140121.jpg