1979 17' imperial restoration

[sarvertron]

Bought my first boat this year, grew up with some boats as a kid with my family now i am excited to to give my wife and kids the same great experience.

So here it is my restoration of the boat i picked up for 500 bucks off craigslist with no test drive. Ha anyone worried yet.

first thing i tackled was of course the rotted out floor that was fun i have photos that will show some of the progress.

used pressure treated 2x6's to to replace the 1x boards that were pretty much non-existent after pulling over 200 lbs of soaked foam out of the hull. Used almost 2 gallons of fiberglass resin and almost 20 square foot of fiberglass clothe to tie the new deck frame to the hull and remaining non rotten frame back together.

some pics of what i first saw
View attachment 147625View attachment 147626
and some pics of what we did to fix it

View attachment 147627View attachment 147628View attachment 147629
​

 

[sarvertron]

Re: 1979 17' imperial restoration

Some more pics of the project



more to come this is my first boat for my family so i think i am going overboard (pun intended) but i want to make sure it is safe and that i wont have to do it again in my lifetime

please any advise is welcome as well as tips on boating in general

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: 1979 17' imperial restoration

Hey savertron...Welcome to iboats and glad you are joining the madness...

I am by no means an expert, but you may want to post some questions about the PT/dimensional lumber, and also appears that you may have used the spray in foam... I try not to say anything critical, because I am a newb myself, but I think some folks may come along with some caution against both...

Glad to have you on the dry dock! There is lots of good info on here and even better people... So keep posting lots of pics (most people prefer photobucket, because the pics are larger and you don't have to click on them).

 

[sarvertron]

Re: 1979 17' imperial restoration

thanks for the advise

i will try photobucket, i used 3/4 inch below grade ply and fiberglass resin over the top and around all the edges with some more cloth to tie the ply into the sides of the boat on the inside and towards the front under the console to keep the entire compartment filled with foam water tight.

yes i did use spray foam about ten cans of 20 oz big gap filler what is the downside to the spray i am very green to boating so i tried to use my best judgement and of coarse what i could find in my area i would of course like to use the boat this season as well so i wasnt going to wait for anything else to come in the mail from an order lol.

still working on the photobucket but these are some pics of the day i picked the boat up

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1979 17' imperial restoration

sarvertron, Welcome to iBoats!

A few questions are in order.

1.) Did/Have you inspected or core sampled the Stringers, Motor Mounts and bulkheads to confirm that they were/are solid and not water saturated or rotting?
2.) Did you do the same to the transom?
3.) What kind, MFG of resin did you use and where did you purchase it?
4.) What kind, MFG of Fiberglass Mat and or Cloth did you use? What weight was it? Where did you purchase it?
5.) Did you Put Fiberglass mat on all of the wood that you coated with the Fiberglass resin?
The spray in Foam is NOT waterproof. It will absorb water over time.
It is approximately 300% more expensive than the 100% waterproof Pour In foam that you have to Wait On when you order it.
In order to ensure that the boat and your family will be safe we need to make sure that your restoration is done using the appropriate methods.

 

[sarvertron]

Re: 1979 17' imperial restoration

i did inspect and sample the stringers and motor mounts if by stringers you mean the two main beams that go from the aft to just under the console i used 3m fiberglass resin and clothe that i purchased at lowes and did cover all the pt wood that i put resin.
On as for weight of the clothe i am unsure and will have to look. As for the foam do you have a good link that i can get for that i def used spray foam from lowes also.

thanks for the info and i like your thread bout paint your boat for under 100 bucks

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1979 17' imperial restoration

So, the stringers and transom when you drilled into them, the drill shavings were dry and light in color? For a boat of this vintage that is very unusual. The Resin and cloth from Lowes is really of poor quality for restoring boats. Since you already have the deck installed it's a little late isn't it. Are you considering removing what you have done and starting over? If so, www.uscomposites.com is one of the best online vendors for fiberglass supplies. www.fiberglassite.com is closer and you might save some shipping costs but their prices are a bit higher so you will have to do some comparisons. 1.5 oz CSM and 1708 Biaxial cloth is what you need. If you did not use a combination of Mat and Cloth when you did your fiberglass work, I'm sorry to have to tell you but it will delaminate and not be waterproof. Cloth needs mat in order to adhere properly. Also the Resin sold @ Lowe's has wax in it which means you must sand and wipe down with acetone in between layers of resin and cloth.

 

[sarvertron]

Re: 1979 17' imperial restoration

yes when i drilled into them they were dry and light in color the damage seemed to be isolated to the middle of the boat. there are 2 patches on the outside of the hull one forward on the port side that doesnt appear to be fully thru the hull and another almost directly under the captains chair, this one was pretty large and i am thinking that water had gotten inside the boat thru this hole and sat which caused the rot just in the aft and middle portion of the floor after soaking into the foam in this area. strangely the foam was soaked up to just under the console then dry as a bone from there forward.

I probably wont be replacing what i have down already but it sounds like eventually i will have to and now i know. i didnt think there was much difference in resin and such but this is all a learning process for me.

what do you recomend for fixing the outer hull i would like to repatch the patch that was put on by a previous owner just to be sure it isnt still a leak.

also ther are what appears to be some small stress cracks along the transom from what looks like the boat getting backed into something at one time. these are not large thru cracks but look like they are just on the surface