Re: 1978 Starcraft Tri-Hull Rebuild Project
Finished most of the stringer glass work (just got to add the capping glass pieces and a few patch spots at the front), added the cross pieces (I doubled the size from the originals), glued and screwed everything down.
I'll be doing some more prep work next weekend (sanding down the joints, building the bilge area, little more glasswork, and waterproofing).
The stringers are very strong, there's no way I can move move them laterally let alone vertically. I'm very surprised at the strength... and they will be even more sturdy once the flotation foam is poured and the deck is in place.
You can't see the extra stringer tabbing to the transom in the below pic, but they're glued to the transom, 1 layer of PB with 1/4" hairs for strength and filleting, followed by a layer of 1708 tabbing, followed by another layer of 1708 (when laying the 1708 on the stringers I just continued the excess onto the transom), followed by another layer of 1708 tabbing which connects the transom stringer AND hull.
When this was all pulled apart (which lasted 30 years) I could pull up the stringers with no effort (there was no bedding) and the only glass on the strings was in 3 spots, not to mention the glass only touched the top of the stringer and never followed it down the sides. The foam and deck was what really held it together.
Doesn't look like much and is not very pretty but there was a lot of glass work and fine adjustments to get this into place (like leveling the boat).
Each cross section is cut at a 45 degree angle at each side, is PL'd into place then screwed down, and then more PL is squirted underneath the 45 degree cut and the hull, sort of joining the hull with the secondary stringers and cross sections. This was the original design.
The random cross piece in the front is to add little more support to the deck top cap section that is made out of plastic and built in. This is not a factory piece.
