1986 Invader v210 help

[scubacy]

Hi all,
I've inherited a 20 foot intruder that has been running up until about 3 years. I found the box in the floor storage area had delaminated and the wood inside was completely rotted.
I've been cutting back the floor and everything seems to be sitting on foam for the most part. There's a box around the engine bay, fuel tank and storage area and it looks like they all need replacing on the port side at least, the sb side is solid which seems odd and everything forward into the cabin looks ok.
I'm thinking about just cutting back the foam enough to replace the boxes and add a couple support bulkheads and getting rid of the storage area altogether.
The transom seems solid. No cracks and doesn't feel hollow tapping with a hammer. Are these normally solid fiberglass? Should I drill a test hole inside when i get to the rear section?

Sorry for the long post. I'm new to this except for shaping and glassing some paddleboards. Also curious if anyone knows about these boats and any "gotchas" to look for.
Thanks!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Pull the drive and motor.

You have a full restoration on your hands

Make a hull cradle

May need to pull the cap

 

[airshot]

You will find everything velow that floor and the transom will be rotted and need replaced. No way around it, you have a big project ahead !!! You sure it will be worth it ?

 

[todhunter]

"Inheriting" and "acquiring" boats is expensive! Agree with the others - it's a full gut and restore. Replace transom, stringers, and bulkheads. In that first picture, is it a layer of plywood on top of each other? If so, that's a deck-over, which means someone band-aided it in the past instead of fixing it correctly.

 

[airshot]

There is an old saying.." The most expensive boat you will ever own, is the one you got for free" !!! You are gonna find how true that can be....

 

[scubacy]

Thanks for the replies. It does look like someone added a layer of 3/4 ply and carpet over the original fiberglass-covered plywood floor. As far as being worth it - I would feel better about spending all my weekends if it were a small Boston Whaler or something like that.
The transom was my biggest worry and if it needed replacing I was going to scrap which it sounds like I will be doing. Maybe I can get a few bucks for the outdrive and motor. I was going to drill a small hole in the transom from inside just to see what it looked like. I swear it feels like solid fiberglass but it could be a nice shell around wood compost

 

[Scott Danforth]

Thanks for the replies. It does look like someone added a layer of 3/4 ply and carpet over the original fiberglass-covered plywood floor. As far as being worth it - I would feel better about spending all my weekends if it were a small Boston Whaler or something like that.
The transom was my biggest worry and if it needed replacing I was going to scrap which it sounds like I will be doing. Maybe I can get a few bucks for the outdrive and motor. I was going to drill a small hole in the transom from inside just to see what it looked like. I swear it feels like solid fiberglass but it could be a nice shell around wood compost

your boat has a "deckover" where the floor is spongy so they slap a bit of 3/4" ply over the floor.

equivalent of duct-tape and bondo on a used car. makes it look purdy for the next buyer, but doesnt do anything

the floor is the last bit to rot. that rots 5-10 years after the transom and stringers

Transom repair, deck repair and stringer repair is easy...... just itchy.

even Boston whalers have issues

 

[scubacy]

Thanks Scott. I think I will continue with cutting out the old foam exposing everything down to the hull. The original floor is still under the cabin and is solid, but since it rots from the bottom up, maybe I need to dig that out too...
Is a hull cradle necessary for support because of the transom removal or is that if the cap needs to come off? It's still sitting on the trailer and I thought I could do a cross-brace if needed.

 

[Scott Danforth]

if you pull the cap, you need a hull cradle to hold its shape

you can build a cradle that holds the shape to the trailer. I did that with plywood and dimensional lumber

you do have to pull the drive and motor

you may get away without diving too deep into the cabin. depends where the rot ends.

 

[mickyryan]

Decap gut rebuild any other boat you buy is liable to have same issues it's not hard just time consuming but after it's done you will have a great boat!

 

[airshot]

Or...consider finding an aluminum boat, far less wood and much easier to replace if needed. They generally have a better resale value after fixing them up.

 

[mickyryan]

Or...consider finding an aluminum boat, far less wood and much easier to replace if needed. They generally have a better resale value after fixing them up.

Alum have their own issues

 

[scuba-cy]

Happy Sunday all!
I've been moving through this slow, but the port side is stripped down to the hull from the cuddy to the transom. The rot stopped short of the cabin but I cut it back almost flush to the bulkhead.

I removed the swim deck and started removing hardware -there were a bunch of screws everywhere on the transom... In some of the holes near the top, you can see daylight and no gaps. I still need to remove the outdrive & engine to look at things closer, but it seems like the only wood is in the 3 'pop-out' areas as reinforcement? I tried to show it in one of the pictures.

 

[mickyryan]

Any progress is good progress