Chaparral 2000 SL Sport floor, and more?? [SPLASHED Sept 2017]

79_banshee

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Love the pics tearing into it. You'll have it torn apart in no time.
 

Baylinerchuck

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So today after church and getting a ton of yardwork done, (dang white pines are shedding), I got back on the boat. First order of business was getting the starboard side panels off. After that was getting the rear bench seat out. The plywood frame was in much worse shape than I thought. Real carpet really hides the water damage. Once that was out I starting pulling up carpet. Though some of the deck plywood was still glassed fairly well, what lies beneath was really bad. Some of the wood was so rotted it was dirt.
 

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Baylinerchuck

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I cut a couple of inspection holes in the deck beside the stringers. The goal was to see if there was foam, and if so was it wet. Well the starboard side was very wet. The port side was not wet the whole way through and the plywood was in better shape. Looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me getting this foam out.
 

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Baylinerchuck

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Wow, that boat was in rough shape...

Thx banshee, digging in.

Yes Drew it is much worse than originally thought. There was really only one soft spot in the floor. I can say that the carpet definitely hid the rot well. More to come!!!
 

jbcurt00

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Yes Drew it is much worse than originally thought. There was really only one soft spot in the floor. I can say that the carpet definitely hid the rot well. More to come!!!

Yep, small soft spots often hid much larger problems.

Good luck w your project
 

Baylinerchuck

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Some more of the nasty stuff. Pooling water between the tank and rotted stringer. I can literally squeeze the foam and water comes out. At this point I'm really considering NOT putting foam back in this boat. The only foam I have found is this little bit in the floor.

Now that I have a little more exposed, I can see that the stringers are not one solid piece that run the length of the boat. So far they are split between the two bulkheads that are fore and aft of the fuel cell. This should make construction a little easier.
 

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79_banshee

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I could push on my foam with my finger and the water would run out. It's crazy how it will hold the water. It was the flotation foam 2x4 brick type though and more than likely as old as the boat. I also had water in the bottom of the hull. It had no way out witch I plan to fix if water should ever get under the floor. Not sure if you seen the pic in my one post baylinerchuck but here it is
 

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Baylinerchuck

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I could push on my foam with my finger and the water would run out. It's crazy how it will hold the water. It was the flotation foam 2x4 brick type though and more than likely as old as the boat. I also had water in the bottom of the hull. It had no way out witch I plan to fix if water should ever get under the floor. Not sure if you seen the pic in my one post baylinerchuck but here it is

I don't recall that post, though I am subscribed to your restore thread. Like you, I will be fixing the trapped water problem. It amazes me the amount of damage this trap causes, and why it wasn't better engineered. Then again it did last 26 years....
 

79_banshee

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It amazes me the amount of damage this trap causes, and why it wasn't better engineered. Then again it did last 26 years....

I know right. I've always said they don't make them like they used to cause all the older trucks and cars where built to last. Although my boat is 37 years old I guess it did last a long time but you can still find cars built in the 50 or 60s that aren't rusted out or in a junk yard. Guess it all comes down to how well it is taken care of. But you would think that the older boats would have been built to last forever. But I guess everything breaks down after a while like my lower back lol
 

drewm3i

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I would definitely use foam...the problem isn't the foam, it's the oem build quality and lack of proper care. Carpet doesn't belong in a boat. I ripped out the carpet in my Chaparral 2335 and went with marideck faux teak.

Mod EDIT
 
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jbcurt00

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Although my boat is 37 years old I guess it did last a long time but you can still find cars built in the 50 or 60s that aren't rusted out or in a junk yard. Guess it all comes down to how well it is taken care of

That bolded bit ^^^ is important. Left in a vacant field w busted windows for over a decade, a 50s car is going to be a heap.....

Neither cars nor boats has an indefinite life cycle, they have a planned 'useful' life. What that cycle is or how long it is, is probably a factor of original price point when sold new.

And dont forget these are PRODUCTION boats, not high end, 1 off, exotic construction, custom boats. Pretty much as many as you can, as fast as you can.

Plus, like many here can tell you, if you own a 16ftr, you'll likely want an 18ftr in a year or 2. Own a single engine 22ftr, you'll probably be shopping for a twin engine 26ftr sooner or later. A manufacturer isnt really vested in giving the 2nd, 3rd or 4th owner a perfect boat, because by then its more about care and condition then how well it was built originally.
 

Baylinerchuck

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I would definitely use foam...the problem isn't the foam, it's the oem build quality and lack of proper care. Carpet doesn't belong in a boat. I ripped out the carpet in my Chaparral 2335 and went with marideck faux teak.

Mod EDIT

Thx for the link, I'm on the forum but didn't see your post til now. I like the faux teak, but not sure how it would look on a bow rider.....I do like the idea of a snap in carpet.
 

ondarvr

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I know right. I've always said they don't make them like they used to cause all the older trucks and cars where built to last. Although my boat is 37 years old I guess it did last a long time but you can still find cars built in the 50 or 60s that aren't rusted out or in a junk yard. Guess it all comes down to how well it is taken care of. But you would think that the older boats would have been built to last forever. But I guess everything breaks down after a while like my lower back lol


I'm not sure what old cars you're talking about.

Old cars were not built to last, the average new car now can go far more miles with far fewer issues than at any time in the past.

Most 25-50 year old boats are junk, very few were built very well, you see some that held up better than others, but junk yards, land fills and backyards are full of them. Boats built now are signifficantly better than they were in the past.
 

79_banshee

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I still see original 60 70 and 80s cars and trucks driving around still in good shape they may not get driven everyday but either does a boat for most people. And I find it funny how with all the emissions junk they put on them now and computers controling everything how they are more reliable cause I work on that crap all the time. These trucks are in the shops get that worked on more than out working making money. I was just saying things are not built to last any more. Example my mom and dad just bought a brand new fridge and they were told that they are designed to last 5 years. They've had there old fridge 25-30 years and it finally quit on them. I know nothing will last forever and everything has a design life span. Sorry baylinerchuck for the high jack. Anyway this is not what his thread is about its about his rebuild. One would just think that they would have made a way for water to get out of every area of the hull when being built if any water was to ever get in it
 
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Baylinerchuck

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Well gentlemen, that's why we're here on iBoats. To share the stories of our 20, 30, 40 and older boats as we recondition them to be better than factory. Just like anything mass produced, corners are cut and efficiencies are made to hit a consumer price point. Some great, some have us scratching our heads. We on the other hand can take our time and re-engineer those imperfections, making a final product we can enjoy for years to come.
 

JASinIL2006

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Love the work you're doing and I like how you're documenting it with photos. It's very interesting to follow and I bet it will help some other Chap owner in the future!
 

wrvond

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Chuck, I once bought a 1967 Mark Twain that had a soft spot. Turned out that soft spot was 8 feet wide and 18 feet long! I was so overwhelmed by the project I ended up giving the boat away. Kudos to you for taking on this project.
You said you are considering not replacing the foam. My first thought concerns noise. It seems to me that without the foam this will become a very loud boat indeed. Do you plan on using some other material for sound and vibration deadening?
I also have to wonder, how did the water get in there in the first place? Is there some indication of where it came from? Could this be years of rain water that entered through the ski storage?
I think a nice fiberglass deck with non-skid surface and snap in carpet would represent the ultimate in low maintenance good looks and serviceability.
 

Baylinerchuck

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Chuck, I once bought a 1967 Mark Twain that had a soft spot. Turned out that soft spot was 8 feet wide and 18 feet long! I was so overwhelmed by the project I ended up giving the boat away. Kudos to you for taking on this project.
You said you are considering not replacing the foam. My first thought concerns noise. It seems to me that without the foam this will become a very loud boat indeed. Do you plan on using some other material for sound and vibration deadening?
I also have to wonder, how did the water get in there in the first place? Is there some indication of where it came from? Could this be years of rain water that entered through the ski storage?
I think a nice fiberglass deck with non-skid surface and snap in carpet would represent the ultimate in low maintenance good looks and serviceability.

Thanks wrvond....i saw in another post some time ago that flotation foam was not required in boats over 20'. The little amount of foam this contains leads me to believe it's not for flotation, and if it was, it couldn't have helped much. I'm not sure about sound deadening since the entire center of the boat from the bow to the fuel tank was open. I wouldn't think it would be too much louder without foam, but that's certainly worth thinking about. If the foam was used as structure for the stringers and deck, the material I use will more than make up for that. More to come on that in future posts.

I think your guess about rain intrusion is probably the most likely possibility of how the foam got wet. The PO said it was garage kept, but I think that was in the winter. I think it was moored at Lake Anna all summer. Though it was covered those leaked badly. This is evidenced by some of the other parts I've pulled. The problem was obviously caused by improper storage by the PO. This boat will always be a trailer queen garage dweller while I own it. I hate rotten wood.

As far as what I have planned, for the immediate future I just need to make it solid. I will be using it late spring, so the time is ticking. I want to eventually do the non-slip deck, snap in carpet......maybe as a phase II. We shall see.
 
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