1987 Larson DC-215 restoration

[sms986]

Hello all,

I have a 1987 Larson Delta Cruiser 215, and it is a beautiful but old boat. The goal with this boat is to restore it and give it to my dad when he retires. There are a lot of things that I'd like to repair, but I'm having trouble finding restoration parts. The biggest thing that I'm looking for is a dashboard/gauge console. The one I have is cracked. I'd also like to find original trim parts all around, like some of the wooden trim boards and swimdeck supports. Does anyone know of a source that may provide some of these things?
The other thing I'd like to do is leather upholstery. I am pretty good with upholstery work, but not on boats. I assume I need to use pressure treated lumber, but is there anything specific I should be getting? I'm going to do the engine cover as well as the seat frames, floor, and the side pannels on the boat.
​​​​​​Last, I wanted to get some information on the hull strength, mainly the transom area. It's fiberglass, and I've always had aluminum boats. We have taken the boat out on lake Erie a handful of times since I got it back up and running, but there's always that worry that one night the main engine will cut off at 3 am and leave us stranded. We have two 9.9 (15) Johnsen Seahorses, and I have one on the back of the boat now. The previous owner made a lovely little kicker mount that comes off of the swimdeck. I bought a new swimdeck mount kicker mount and just for the fun of it, we put both of the 9.9s on the back of the boat, one on each side. The difference was night and day. Control was much better, it was easier to keep it straight while trolling and we got the boat speed up pretty well. I'm not sure how feasible it is to have two kickers on the back of the boat, but I figured if I I have two motors and all of the cables and brackets to hook them up it might be an interesting addition. I'd like to get transom mounted kicker brackets instead of swimdeck mounted ones, but I want to make sure the transom is strong enough to hold the out drive as well as two auxiliary motors.

Any thoughts on any of this are appreciated, thanks!
​​​​​​​

 

[tpenfield]

You probably won't find a new instrument panel. Maybe you might find one at a boat salvage yard (maybe). Your best bet would be to fabricate a new one. Trim parts may be unique to the boat, so you may not find original stuff and have to go with generic parts of a close match. Great Lakes Skipper is a good source for older parts, but it is hit-or-miss, as they tend to buy up surplus inventory.

Leather would not be a good idea for boat upholstery. Vinyl will be the way to go. For interior upholstery, there is faux leather to replace the old style cloth. There is not much difference between boat and car upholstery, except the boat upholstery is usually mounted to a wood base. Plan on all of the wood backing needing replacing. Carpentry skills?

Hull strength and getting stranded may not have much to do with each other. As far as hull strength, you should check the floor, stringers, and transom for soft spots and other signs of rot. Keep in mind that although the skin of the hull is fiberglass, the supporting structure is wood (being a 1987). A 31 year old boat may have some issues in that regard.

In order to avoid being stranded out in the middle of lake Erie at 3 am, I would suggest not being out in the middle of lake Erie at 3 am

Post some pictures so we can see what you are seeing, as that is always helpful in giving responses.

 

[kcassells]

Nice looking boat!

 

[sms986]

As far as OEM parts goes, I unfortunately had a feeling I wouldn't be able to find original parts anymore. I'll have to find a scrapyard and do some poking around.

For the interior, I have vinyl rolls. I'm just so used to doing leather that I seem to refer to it all as leather upholstery. My woodworking skills are more than enough to do the job, but I want to make sure I do it right the first time so tips and tricks for materials and assembly would be great. I used to work at a greenhouse growing up and every winter we stapled plastic up on the windows to help insulate. We used a thick plastic strip, about 1" wide, as a backing to keep the plastic on in case someone snagged it walking past. Since most of the upholstery seems to be coming off at the Staples, I think I'm going to get a roll of the backing and give it a shot. Mainly, I want to make sure I get the right lumber. That's the big part.

Mainly, I just want to make sure the transom can hold that much weight. I know the boat is in fairly solid shape. The only rough spots I've found are one soft spot, about 4" in diameter, on one of the steps into the cabin, and the passenger side paneling, which was redone in partical board that is now flaking apart. I've drilled a few small holes through the transom to mount small things like a transducer and other accessories, and I have not hit any soft spots yet.

I probably shouldn't be out on the lake at 3 am, but hey, the fish call at odd hours! In reality, I do trust the boat, and I have enough tools on board as well as some spare parts to get me home in a minor pinch, but things do happen, and I can't help but to worry.

I just got the boat in the shop today, so when I uncover it I'll follow up with some pictures. Thanks!

 

[dezmond]

For interior panels use exterior plywood and coat it in poly or epoxy. That would be my suggestion. That’s what everyone else here seems to be doing as well. That’s about all the advice I can give you now. I will be watching. Have fun

 

[sms986]

So, I've yanked out a lot of the panelling on the boat that I will be redoing, and other than that, the boat seems fairly sturdy. I found two soft spots, one is on the floor where I talked about earlier. There is one step, and it is on hinges so that it can be flipped up and used for storage. The entire bottom of the box under this step is rotted/soft. It carries through to the floor in the corner, but it's only about 4" in diameter. On the other side of the step is the fuel tank, and the rib that separates them is sturdy. Should I even worry about this? The other soft spot was in the storage compartment that goes across the boat above the engine. A fairly small spot right on the port side. You can see it in the picture where the wood looks almost black. The transom looks solid and I didn't feel any soft spots from the inside. I haven't pulled the floorboards because I'm not sure I want to get in that deep, but the engine cover is waterlogged. It's still sturdy and there are no soft spots, but the wood is definitely moist. I'm assuming the floorboards are in similar condition. That being said, should I pull them or leave them? I've attached a few pictures of the boat below.

 

[dezmond]

You can't "feel" the rot.... As many on here will agree, you should do some core samples and see what's going on. If you have a soft floor, I would be ripping it out for sure. Then you can asses what's going on underneath. I thought my transom was in great shape... NOPE.... Same with stringers and bulkheads... If you want a safe boat that will last a long time, I think you may be looking at a gut and rebuild.. But that's your call... It's really not that big of a job and since you are indoors you can work on it all winter long

Have fun eace:opcorn:

 

[sms986]

So, I drilled a few holes in the transom today. Some of them came out with dry, hard wood chips and others soft. Seems that the transom is hit or miss here. However, the bulkheads and stringers are done. I was able to kick holes in some of them .that being said, I have two questions. One, what am I looking at for a cost if I do it myself? Two, is there a way to patch up the transom rather than redo the whole thing?

 

[JASinIL2006]

I hate to say it, but your boat is showing the signs that an extensive restoration is in your future. as Ted and dez have suggested, this is an old boat with wooden structure... I would guess you have much more rot than you have found.

 

[tpenfield]

Well, you were looking to do a restoration. It looks like you got a good one . . . for that :noidea:

 

[sms986]

Stringers and bulkheads are ok with me. What scares me is doing that transom. All of the videos on transom repair are done on outboard transoms, or boats set up to use outboards. The wood is cut then slid up and out. On this boat, I'd have to do some major structural rennovations, which I don't want to do.

 

[tpenfield]

Transon work does not look all that bad . . . typical runabout / cuddy.

 

[sms986]

...and so the restoration begins.

It's bad, but not as bad as I thought.

Surprisingly, the rot did not get worse. I pulled all of the floorboards and such and found the only rot I had was where I previously pointed out. I took small core samples all around the transom, and it seems the only bad spot is in one of the upper corners. That being said, I'm going to leave the transom for a few more years. Is there a way to slow down the rot that I do have in the transom?

As far as the stringers and such, I am probably going to replace them all. It actually looks kind of fun. I love working with wood and I'm not a complete stranger to fiberglass. I did a car hood once, the front corner was smashed in and I remodelled it in foberglass then painted. Turned out well!

I am new to boats though. What materials should I get. I'm going to go with outdoor plywood for all of the wooden parts, but how do I coat the wood and with what material?

I'll post some pictures later tonight when I get to a stopping point.

 

[chevymaher]

LOL Noooo do the transom now.

 

[sms986]

I have 3 reasons for not doing the transom now.

1, I just had the guy from the local boat shop come look at it with me (I'm good friends with one of his mechanics) and he said it will do fine for quite a few more seasons. There is only one small spot that has some water in it, and it is very far away from the outdrive. He said he has some treatment to put in it and slow it down .

2, the stringers and transom apear to be two separate jobs, with the only linking factor being the engine. With how easy it was to access the engine this time around, I think I'll be ok with pulling it again in a few years. We have a forklift at the shop that makes life easy. Took an hour to pull the engine.

3. I am not afraid of getting my hands dirty, and I love building/restoring cars, but I bought this boat to fish, not to do a full blown restoration.

If anyone disagrees, please say so. I'm not posting all of this to be disrespectful to those who suggested otherwise. I just put a lot of thought into this and my decision was to keep the transom for a few years. If anyone has some reasoning for me to replace it, please let me know. I don't want to make a big mistake here.

 

[sms986]

Ok, so I am going to start ordering materials today. For the fibreglass, does it matter what I get, or can I just get a big sheet of glass and work with that? Also, for the resin, I am going to use west system 105 resin and 206 hardener. I will use west system 406 to attach the stringers to the hull then use good and the 105/206 combo to do the fillets and skin. Sound right?

 

[tpenfield]

I would take the boat apart first, which I'm not sure you have done yet. Then plan out for restoration and materials. You probably are getting ahead of yourself thinking about materials at this point.

West system is pretty pricey. You probably can use a standard poly resin at about 50% of the cost.

 

[chevymaher]

Okay out of 30 years it has 3 left an expert says. So it is basically shot. In a experts opinion.

I know the analogy of the way you look at things. Half empty or half full. But the glass is empty no matter how you word it.

2-3 extra days and 50 bucks more now and it is ready for 30 more years.

I got mine I had no intention of doing anything just clean it up and go fishing myself. Never intended to do more.

But if I got to do it I don't want to screw with this boat again just get it done and enjoy it for a long time. Me It would drive me nuts knowing it was just about to start leaking.

 

[sms986]

Nope, the boat is apart! Everything is out and it's stripped down to the stringers. I had a full gas tank that is now 2 years old so it is currently being punped into a 55 gal. chemical drum on a small diaphragm pump. Tomorrow the gas tank and the engine are being popped out. I've read a lot on poly versus epoxy, and I've found mixed reviews. Still haven't quite made up my mind yet but I've read about people having used poly and later on finding premature rot. Could be the poly, could be a poor quality cheap job. Not for me to say.

As far as the transom, maybe what I'll do is post a picture of it next time I work on the boat. If you folks can help me determine where to cut and how to repair I may do it now. I've been behind on pictures. Last night I was out in the shop until 2 am stripping the boat out.

 

[dezmond]

Transom is one of the easiest things to do. Trust me I thought it was going to be a difficult job at first since I never did it before either. Easy Peazy. I struggled more getting a decent pattern for my stringers. Your call though. It’s your boat . I wanted to make sure everything was done right when I started to dig into my restore. I know it’s solid now and will be for years. Also if I decide to sell in 5 years, I can feel good with saying it’s solid.

My boat is an I/O just like yours and they are a lot easier to do. Pull the engine, get your pattern, glue in the new, glass, cut keyhole and drill bolt pattern and your done .

I figure I will have around 1500-1900 in supplies for the rebuild. I’m using epoxy. I bought a lot of extras and will need more plywood and glass but that’s because I am converting to a center console and re doing all my interior.

We can all help you through whatever process you plan to do.

Good luck