Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

[Tommy1]

Hello,

I recently purchased a 1975, Glastron Carlson CV 16. I'm excited a bout it. She is in very good shape all things considered. She is my first boat, and I was expecting to have to fix a few things to make her ship-shape for use, and I found what she needs to have fixed. But I need some advice. The floor was rotting, and I have removed most of it already. A previous owner did some work to fix / strengthen the transom (maybe more), but a portion of the job was poorly done. The holes allowing water to flow into the bilge pump well were not low enough, so water stayed in the bottom of the hull and the floor rot began. The stringer looks and feels solid. This is what I want to do, and I am hoping to get some advice to make sure I am on the right path. There is a brace coming from the transom to the floor, and the wood supporting the brace is rotting. I can't remove the engine at my place, so I was planning on supporting its weight from below to prevent any possible damage to the transom during the floor replacement and rebuilding of the braces. I want to fill the space below the floor with the polyeurathane, closed cell foam to prevent future water damage to the future floor and add flotation to the hull. I plan to glass both sides of the new floor.
What kind of adhesive is used to secure the floor to the hull?
Would it be an acceptable idea to stiffen the hull with 2 additional, small stringers running parallel to the existing stringer? Possibly flat pieces of plywood glassed, then glued to the bottom of the hull prior to the foam nstallation? Now would be my chance.
I also have to repair some fiberglass at the point where the bulkhead meets the floor of the hull and I am going to replace the fuel tank just to be safe.
Some of the wood in the back of the gunnels is bad, and I was going to use oak as the replacement wood.

Once I finish these repairs and install new carpet, I'll put the seats back in. I'll then turn my attention to the engine which, I'm told, only has a water pump problem. After all of this, I'll work more on the other cosmetic issues.

Please comment on anything you can. I will appreciate any help I can get. If anybody has a photo of an original CV 16 transom from the inside, I would love to see that.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

Cool boat! PL Premium would be your adhesive. Adding additional stringers should be fine. Bed them with the PL Premium. What HP is the motor? Take care of that Tilt n Trim unit. They are kinda rare and real expensive on the pre-1978 motors.

 

[Tommy1]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

Thanks for responding Ezmobee. The work the boat needs is something I can handle without problems, but not having any real experience with boats, per se, but I do appreciate all the help I can get with the details.

The motor is a 115 hp unit, V-4. There is hardly a smudge of grease or oil on it, and there are new gaskets, etc. all over it. It looks like it might have been rebuilt in the recent past. I got a manual with it, and there are hand-written maintainance logs in the back of the book. Once I fix the floor, I have to drop the lower unit from the motor to find out why it isn't pumping water. I'm guessing it's something simple like a gasket put on backwards or a port clogged with too much sealent or . . . ? I've never worked on a boat motor, so it will be a discovery process.

I paid $700.00 for a boat that is in great shape for it's age. The trailer, motor, nice seats, and other extras came with her. I can't wait to get her on a lake.

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

Mike,

Just curious why you started another thread on the same boat??

Have you drilled exploratory holes in the stringers and the transom to confirm that there is no rot. With that Old of a boat I would be highly suspicious. Since you have it torn down this far I would make sure that all is well before i started the rebuild. Use a 3/8 drill bit and drill into the stringers and the transom from the inside at different locations. if you get dry shavings then you are ok. If you get dark wet shavings then you will need to replace both the stringers and the transom if you want a structurally sound boat that is going to last.

I'm just sayin...

 

[Tommy1]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

I started the second thread hoping to get more advice. I'm new to the forum, and I began to think I should have placed my first thread in the restoration area to begin with.

I'll take your advice, because I hear what you're saying. I like the drilling idea. The wood in the transom is new, so I think I am OK there. (I hope anyway.)

Assuming my transom and stringer are good, does anyone know if I can leave the motor on the boat while I take out the braces going from the bad floor to the transon. I need to remove those to install the new floor in one piece from aft to bow. I think I can given that the lower end of the motor is supported from the trailer, and I can add some supports to carry the weight. I don't otherwise have the means at my house to remove the motor.

 

[Tommy1]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

Why do people use what I call miniture golf carpet in boats?! A previous owner of my boat installed this "indoor / outdoor" garbage and thought, "Wow, I can race around the lake, and then stop to play a single hole." Well, they glued this junk to the inside of the gunnels over a beautiful blue metallake finish. I'm surprised they didn't hang cow bells off the back.

Has anybody got experience removing contact cement from finished fiberglass? Acetone works when there is just a bit of the glue, but I have enough of it in areas to require a scraper, which I don't plan to make use of. I may try a plastic putty knife, but I thought I would ask.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Tommy1]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

Here are some before and after images of the forward bulkhead. I think that on this boat, the bulkhead was buillt on a Friday afternoon. I think the torque exerted on the boat over the years caused the meager fiberglass installed just before Miller time to tear. I'm new to fiberglass coating, so I have only applied one coat for my first run, but I intend to add a few more layers, and extend it out. It ain't coming apart again.
I'll get out my sandpaper this weekend and get back at it.

Mike

 

[Tommy1]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

I have a question to ask, again. I'm getting closer to installing my new floor, and once I have it down, I will prepare to carpet it. But I don't want to carpet the whole inside of the hull like some do. I was considering using a rubber paint on the vertical walls inside of the hull. Has anybody else ever tried this?

Thanks,

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

Yep, commonly used for painting pools. Just make sure it has UV inhibitors/protection in it or it won't last. Just curious, what did you use for your deck?

I'm just sayin...

 

[Tommy1]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

I will be using what came in the boat originally which is a 5 ply 1/2 inch plywood. After reading many things from people on this site, I plan to glass both sides of it to keep it protected. I will carpet the bottom of the inside hull, but I am listing all the way on the rubber paint for the inside walls. I'm almost ready to install the floor. I have been rebuilding the original transom braces back into the boat. I found photos of those on this site. Once those are in place, I can remove some braces a former owner put in that are supported poorly. They had the supports on top of the old floor which was unspported from below, hence about as useless as the proverbial breasts on a boar. Once my new braces are finished, I can get those old ones out, pour my closed cell foam under the floor space, lay down the new floor, carpet, paint, and go boating! Then attend to other minor cosmetics over time. Oh yah, a new gas tank, etc. All it takes is money!

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Tommy1]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

I added small stingers in the hull which will serve more as additional floor support with possibly some added strength to the hull. The material is 1 x 4 solid polyurethane. It is glued in with PL Premium polyurethane adhesive. The pieces are glued into "channels" that run parallel to the original stringer. It was suggested to me by a few folks that this adhesive might not take the stresses exerted upon the hull once in use. It was suggested that I glass them in. I was, of course, hoping to avoid this, but not wanting anything less than a good job done, I thought to ask. Any ideas?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

What is the 1x4 solid polyurethan material? I doubt that Fiberglass will adhere to it and I doubt that it is structural. The PL will NOT keep the material adhered to the hull without additional structure. I can not and would not advise using this material for stringers.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Glasstron Carlson CV 16 Renovation - Advice Sought

Hey wood, honest question, what would be the difference between using this material and some of the boats we've seen with foam filled stringers? Doesn't it just have to provide a substrate to hold the glass to form the stringers? I was just wondering.