1989 Sea Ray 160CB OB Restore

[ba5e]

Hi All,

My name is Will and I took on this fine Sea Ray last year knowing about the 'squishy' floor on the aft deck. I am residing in Sweden so right now its real cold and I have been looking through this forum to get some inspiration how I should tackle the Job this coming month.

The general condition of the boat is good for a 89'er but here are the problems:
1) Squishy aft deck (visible clearly in first photo)
2) Portside passenger chair fixture loose (starboard rock solid)


Edit: i sold her to someone willing to pullvthe deck up and replace it.

 

[ba5e]

Re: 1989 Sea Ray 160CB OB Restore

I now have had a good look at the starboard stringer and done some 'stab tests' to see the condition. It seems to be about 1 to 1 1/2 foot of the stringer is rotten starting a foot or so from the back of the petrol tank bulkhead. Could I just cut out the rotten part and replace with new wood bonding with epoxy and glassing it?

Also, I have purchased a large sheet of ply and a length of 2x2 to fabricate the deck and details. It seems to be a pained ply, brown colour but of course when I cut it up I will expose the wood at the edges. How should I go about protecting the ply and 2x2 and do i do it before/after fabricating the deck and misc parts?

 

[rickryder]

Re: 1989 Sea Ray 160CB OB Restore

I would say you have a project on your hands.... I'll try to address some of your issues.

You will have to cut out any rotten wood from your deck.
Check your flotation foam for water saturation.
Drill core samples in your stringers.
Drill samples in your transom. Measure thickness of transom through drain hole and only drill 3/4 of the way through with a 3/8 bit in multiple spots starting at the bottom working your way up and to the sides. Check all wood shavings for dampness and or rot.
Any wood you will be replacing must be covered in fiberglass and resin.
You can sister splice stringers and glass them together.

Read up on some of the resto threads to see what you might find under deck! See oops!'s thread on the hull extension for great details on glassing,look at mine for splices,and plenty of others have valuable information to help you out.

I also check your fuel tank for rot and pin holes...

As fas as splashing the boat by April 23..... depends on how much rot you uncover! Good luck!

 

[ba5e]

Re: 1989 Sea Ray 160CB OB Restore

Great, thanks for the advice! I am going to go down on Saturday and take a look at the transom and pull up the rest of the carpet.

I have already fabricated the new floor parts but will most likely not cut the stringer out until the autumn as my boat club does not allow boats to stand in the yard over the summer.... I will get some pictures of the progress and upload ASAP!

 

[starcrafter65]

Re: 1989 Sea Ray 160CB OB Restore

Ba5e,

I can offer no worthy advice - but that was my exact first boat - I loved it. That thing would go 50+ trimmed up with that Merc in Sea Ray clothing. It was an awesome ski/fish/ boat - kind of wish I had kept it.

I am onto fixing up old tinnies now - but good luck!!!!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1989 Sea Ray 160CB OB Restore

As boating season approaches, we ALL get excited about getting on the water, BUT... based on the pictures you posted, I STRONGLY advise you to SLOW down and do a thorough inspection of the overall structure of your boat. It really appears that you COULD have some serious rot issue going on. Make SURE you are absolutely certain that it is SAFE to go out on the water with her. NOTHING ruins a day at the Lake like a SINKING BOAT!!!!!!!

 

[justchecking]

Re: 1989 Sea Ray 160CB OB Restore

I have a 91 SeaRay 160 OB I am putting a new (old) engine on and general cleaning up. I'll be interested to see your progress, and good luck!