1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

[Mostly Harmless]

Hello again everyone. Last year I created a post about restoring my '74 Super Caprice and I am back again. A little summary:

In 1974 my father brought this Super Caprice (he was about 22-23) brand new and has had it ever since. In about 1999 the engine started to give him problems (I say him because I was 15 at the time) and it sat on the side of the house until last year when I finally decided to get it back into working shape (I was 25) so that I could enjoy it like he did. The restoration included patching up the floor, replacing the carpet, the seats, updating the gauges, bufffing the gel coat and trying to get the '74 85 Hp Evinrude working again....

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

On July 3rd of last year the 35 year old Evinrude decided to quit, about 3 weeks later a brand new Evinrude 115 was sitting on the boat. This engine completely kicks some major *****. It's quiet, powerful, reliable and very fuel efficient, couldn't be happier....

But there was still an underlying problem. At the start of last years project I patched a part of the floor because it was dry rotted. I literally used the boat 4-5 times a week through out the summer and the floor just took a pounding, even though I had to back track over a lot of work I did last year the floor needed to be replaced:

And after taking apart the floor I saw the condition of the stringers and new they had to be replaced.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

After removing the stringers, the foam and sanding down the old fiberglass I was left with this:

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

The old stringers looked like they were built outside the boat then glassed in. On top of that there were 4 inch strips (1/2 thick plywood) that were also glassed in and on top of that was the 3/4 thick floor. Now I am up to building and fitting in the new stringers:

The stringers are made out of 3/4" marine grade plywood. Right now they are held together with 3M 5200 marine adhesive. I am currently awaiting a 210LB order from uscomposites (fiberglass, epoxy, and foam) so I can start glasses the corners of the stringers together (should be here tuesday). The next few weeks will be dealing with fitting the stringers back into place and then glassing them to the hull. I am going to follow the original plans with the 1/2" thick strips with the 3/4 floor on top of that. The carpet I installed in front is giving me a hard time trying to get it off (glued it in last year, I know, I am annoyed that I have to do it again). I built supports to hold the boat together while everything was removed. This floor should be very solid when it's finished. I was surprised that the old plywood that came out of it was 7 layers thick while the new stuff I have is 13 layers thick, really nice stuff.

 

[Aqualift]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

Great pics of your project. Nice work.

 

[sprintst]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

It's cool when old boats have a history to them and stay in the family.

Nice work. It looks like she'll be around for a long time to come.

PS Nice E-Tec

 

[wrecks1971]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

Great job love the pics keep them coming. Looking forward for the next up date.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

Hey guys, just wanted to give an update on the project. Since last time the stringer assembly was completed. The stringer assembly is made out of 3/4" marine grade 13 plywood and was coated with epoxy to ensure maximum durability. The corners were glassed with 18oz woven cloth to provide some strength, but mostly so we could move the assembly around without having to worry about it shifting:

The original stringers had 1/2" plywood "landings" on top of the stringers themselves. We replicated the same thing with 1/2" marine grade plywood. The "landings" were glued down with 3M 5200 adhesive and glassed underneath to provide addition strength. they were also coated with epoxy. With the "landings" installed the stringer assembly was complete:

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

With the stringer assembly completed it was time to install it in the boat. One of the big issue we encountered was that the hull was slightly deformed from not having the support of the stringers. I installed some supports under the hull to lift it so that the same spacing was maintained along the entire stringer assembly. Once I was satisfied with the alignment the assembly was glued in place with 5200 adhesive and then fiberglassed in with 24 oz woven fiberglass down the center only. Two 32 gallon garbage pales were place on the assembly and filled with water to provide weight in order to hold the assembly in place:

After a day of curing (both glue and epoxy) you can already feel the boat stiffening up. Because of NY weather things are progressing a bit slower then I would like. Cure times are a lot longer but I rather get it right then rush the project. The next steps are going to be to mock up the floor and then align the rest of the boat. Once I am satisfied with the alignment the rest of the stringer assembly will be glassed in with the 24 oz woven glass. After that the 2 part foam will be poured and the floor installed and glassed over. More to come shortly.....exciting times......

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

That stringer asembly is a thing of beauty. Very nice work.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

That stringer asembly is a thing of beauty. Very nice work.

Thanks! Built it so it will hopefully outlast the boat. With the weather hovering in the 70's this week I am hoping to get a lot more done. I would really like to have to boat in the water by the begining of May.

 

[BigBoatinOkie]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

Well done sir!

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

Hey guys, just wanted to give a little update. Since the last time I posted I have poured the two part foam (4lb density). I did this without the floor installed mostly because I was too nervous that the foam was going to push the floor up. I poured the foam until it just came up past the top, then I trimmed it flat to the stringers. This method worked very well. I also poured some on the other sides of the stringers too, almost going up to the side wall (don?t have a picture of it).

So in the end the foam created a flat surface for the floor boards to sit on. After installed the foam I started to cut the floor boards out. The rear and secondary board were pretty easy. The rear just need the bilge cut out and the secondary just had a slight taper. The next board was a bit of a challenge. It had a transition from the flat edge of the boat and contoured the ?V? while curving in. For this I built a test board (it?s a lot cheaper to ruin a normal piece of plywood then the 13 layer marine grade stuff). When that fit just right I used it as a trace pattern for the marine grade plywood.

I improved on the original design by chamfering the edges so it would sit very close to the hull. The original design did not have this and the fiber glass just cross over the transition from the hull to the plywood, this later cracked an let water in.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

There is also a ?shelf? in front of the boat that I use to keep the anchor and other various items. This section is hidden by a trim piece. Since it had signs of rot (very little) I decided to replace this too.

The transition piece from the front shelf to the floor probably was the 2nd toughest piece to install. To improve on the original I brought it as close as I could to the edge of the boat. It involved some modifications to my table saw and more angles then an 8th grade math book. But in the end it came out pretty good.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

With that finished the floor is complete. I fastened it to the stringers with a healthy amount of 5200 adhesive and some decking screws (life time warranty against rusting). I also filled all the edges around the floor with 5200 to close up any space that the fiberglass would travel over.

I just laid down the first layer of glass over the floor (10 oz cloth mat, don?t have pictures yet). The lines on the floor are there to help with alignment when the CSM goes down. The next few days call for rain (NY weather) so I am going to be out of luck working on her. The next step is to sand the 10 oz cloth and lay down the 1.5 oz CSM.

 

[fauxmeister]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

That floor is a work of art...great job!

 

[osborn159]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

looks very nice to this point, maybe you can hand this one off to your child, maybe they wont have to do a rebuild, keep it up!! looks great!!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

Excellent work. You've definitely brought this boat up to being well worthy of that awesome E-tec you have hanging on her.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1974 MFG Super Caprice Stringer/Floor Replacement *Warning lots of Pictures"

Wow nice job

That 115 Evinrude is a thing of beauty. I would love to have an 80hp etec for my rig.