Reenforce glass hull under the waterline? - 1967 StarCraft

[seafox22]

Hi all - I’ve got a 1967 Starcraft Bahama - glass boat. 10 years ago I did a “structural restoration“ - popped the deck, gutted it, redid stingers, Transom, floor, etc… put it all back together, just repowered with a 1995 50hp Johnson and it’s running great.

With all that new, Re-enforced innards, I wonder now about the strength/viability of the exterior fiberglass shell under the waterline.

any thoughts on flipping it, grinding down the gel coat to fresh glass and laying down a fresh layer of glass? Just for the area under the waterline that takes the brunt of waves, etc…. I probably should have laid down a Re-enforced layer on the inside when I had it all open, but was not thinking ahead…

I‘d also like to redo the gel coat to start bring back the aesthetic looks… so seems like this could be done together.

any reasoning to this? am I just worrying about problems that don’t yet exist?

thanks!

 

[matt167]

Glass was better in the 60s. Hand laid ect. I wouldn’t add any thickness unless you have cracks. Your pretty good on weight as well since you stayed 2 stroke

 

[jimmbo]

Interesting pic of the Stringers. Are the Stringers each one long continuous board, or are they several short pieces?

 

[Chris1956]

It doesn't look like the stringers follow the contour of the hull. They look much flatter. Is there something under the stringer layer? Maybe there is foam under the fiberglass over the stringers?

BTW - that is a lot more stringers than most boats have. It should be good and strong.

 

[jimmbo]

It doesn't look like the stringers follow the contour of the hull. They look much flatter. Is there something under the stringer layer? Maybe there is foam under the fiberglass over the stringers?

BTW - that is a lot more stringers than most boats have. It should be good and strong.

It is a fairly Flat Bottomed Boat

 

[seafox22]

Interesting pic of the Stringers. Are the Stringers each one long continuous board, or are they several short pieces?

Most of the lateral ones are new/marine plywood that I put in. Shaped to the hull.

Most of the the fore-aft ones were original - Just fiberglass draped over a small 1x1 frame that had rotted away. .

I laid extra glass/resin over those to beef them up before slapping the new floor in.

 

[seafox22]

It is a fairly Flat Bottomed Boat

Yes it is - even a bit concave

With a 1” keel running down the center.

 

[seafox22]

It doesn't look like the stringers follow the contour of the hull. They look much flatter. Is there something under the stringer layer? Maybe there is foam under the fiberglass over the stringers?

BTW - that is a lot more stringers than most boats have. It should be good and strong.

The stringers were just hollow.

And - I’m confident in the stringers, was just worried about the “beefiness” of the skin in between them…

 

[seafox22]

Interesting pic of the Stringers. Are the Stringers each one long continuous board, or are they several short pieces?

Some pics from the original tear down

 

[jimmbo]

These areas look more like sections than continuous Stringers

 

[jimmbo]

Well those breaks will certainly affect the Hulls Integrity, effectively being a Hinge Point

 

[seafox22]

These areas look more like sections than continuous Stringers

Yep - those plywood sections were my selective replacement of the existing glass-only sections. I replaced the trashed ones, and beefed up the rest.

Should have just ripped it all out and put in continuous stringers.

 

[seafox22]

Well those breaks will certainly affect the Hulls Integrity, effectively being a Hinge Point

Well - not too different than the initial design.

Most of the new stuff is all butted up and wrapped with glass. Not much opportunity for hinging

And - it is all bonded to the floor

But clearly not as good as continuous material.

 

[seafox22]

Before the repair, the boat would twist and flex like crazy.

It is solid now.