Restoring childhood boat. A 1972 Ranger. Help needed (pictures).

[artfan1]

I finally have the transom loose from the cap. This took me over a week to do but its loose now and I am so happy. :clap2:
I did have to cut down through the top edge of the transoms cap. There was just no other way of doing it on this boat.

I tried taking photos of this but it was too tight in there and I couldnt get a good photo, so I included a cross section diagram of what this one looks like.

As you can see, there just isnt enough room to get that blade to cut straight up in between the cap/splash guard and the wood of the transom. I tried flexing the blade so that it would reach up further but all that did was allow the blade to cut through the curve in the splash guard.

So I made several cuts along the top edge about 1/4 away from the inside edge, using my multitool. The multitool was used just to remove the gelcoat and fiberglass, giving me a starting point to access the transom. Then I inserted a pointed course tooth sawzall blade and plunge cut down as straight as possible. I could have just made one long cut all the way across but I wanted to leave some areas so that the piece had support. Since I progressively used a longer blade until I had a 12 blade on there I joined all cuts together by cutting at an angle to each insertion point.

So now it lifts straight up. Thats all I could do today because it started storming just as I was finishing up. I plan to try and lift it onto 2x4s tomorrow. If I can find someone to help me lift it off, I will move it out of the way.

 

[sphelps]

Good deal ! Where there's a will there's a way !

 

[gm280]

Ha artfan1, I do like your rendition diagrams. Where di you get the designs for the sawsall? But that did show what you were talking about very well. And that is all it takes... Good job... :thumb:

 

[archbuilder]

Good news on the cap and nice diagrams!

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Congrats! One thing you can scratch of the list. only few others left

 

[artfan1]

Thanks for the compliments. I created the designs in Illustrator mostly. The sawzall was also created in Illustrator. Although I mostly do web development now, I have also been doing commercial design for 26 years (print for 26 years and web for 18 years). I love when I get to create diagrams like these. It helps me to understand how something must be put together when you can't see for yourself.

 

[gm280]

Thanks for the compliments. I created the designs in Illustrator mostly. The sawzall was also created in Illustrator. Although I mostly do web development now, I have also been doing commercial design for 26 years (print for 26 years and web for 18 years). I love when I get to create diagrams like these. It helps me to understand how something must be put together when you can't see for yourself.

Seems we have a lot of folks that were either programmers or design engineers or something to those careers. I did Computer Programming and Circuit Design and used both Visio and SolidWorks myself, of course with all the different computer languages... Never hurts to use pictures and/or diagrams to get the point across. JMHO!

 

[artfan1]

Ok, the cap is off the boat now. :triumphant:

Im not sure, but I dont think there is a liner that will lift out. It looks like the compartments were partially built outside of the boat, then glassed in place. I think they are plywood sides with glass over them. Then the tops where set in place and glassed in. The back of the fuel compartment access has a plywood support along the back edge, as seen in this photo. It's about 4" wide.

The rest of the sides appear to be a single layer of chopped strand in some areas and maybe roving in others, from what little I know. I could be wrong but thats how it looks and feels to me.

Im not sure where to go from here, but today I will go ahead and clean up the tabbing all the way around the hull. If for no other reason, just to get rid of the the sharp stuff. Once I remove it, and/or cut it even with the edge of the hull, I will be able to see things better. There are areas that have no tabbing and all I see is clean hull material, then a layer of roving or mat, then some kind of primer further down.

Having said all that, either way, removing the cap is a big plus for sure. I will have full access to all areas of the transom. Speaking of the transom, what approach should I take there? I know it needs to be totally dug out but do I wait until the floor is removed? Do I dig it out trying to leave some of the glass on the inside or do I cut the glass on the inside all the way around the border of the transom and go at it from that direction, leaving only the hull shell intact?

By the way, those areas of the transom that are higher on the ends, appear to be 2x2 boards and are not part of the plywood transom.
And the transom is thicker along the top 8" as you can see in the 2nd photo above.

 

[gm280]

Bravo artfan, Bravo! :clap: Seem you finally did it! Seems like a lot of work for such a miniscule top cap. But some times that's how it goes. Depending how much more rot you have will depend on how much further you need to gut the hull. Obviously the transom is gone and needs to come out. But if the floor has any soft spots or rot, then it has to come out as well. Anything that just doesn't seem solid anymore has to come out. However, take lots more pictures and measurement if you are planning to refurbish exactly like it was. If not, then just remove everything and proceed to grinding... All that hairy (but extremely sharp) glass around the top edge has to be grinded out. Follow the hull design both inside and out to know what is secondary hull or just the outside of the hull from the inside. In other words, the step section on the transom is either a filled area or the way the outside was made. So use that for your guide. Others will chime in and offer more understandable info I'm sure. JMHO!

 

[artfan1]

Yes, it all has to come out for sure. As you can see on the first page of this thread, the floor is shot and I'm sure the stringers will be too.
I'll get the tabbing all removed for now.

I would like to access the flooring after that if possible. My gut feeling is that I will need to make cuts around the compartments and lift them out so that the floor is accessible.
According to Ranger, the stringers stop before the upper level casting deck. I assume that deck is plywood too although it feels very solid.

 

[gm280]

Yes, it all has to come out for sure. As you can see on the first page of this thread, the floor is shot and I'm sure the stringers will be too.
I'll get the tabbing all removed for now.

I would like to access the flooring after that if possible. My gut feeling is that I will need to make cuts around the compartments and lift them out so that the floor is accessible.
According to Ranger, the stringers stop before the upper level casting deck. I assume that deck is plywood too although it feels very solid.

Yes, I was thinking that most everything will be gutted before it is all over. But that is how so many others had to do as well. So there is a wealth of good information available as you move forward. You probably will gut the entire hull and then grind the old junk out and start fresh with a simple clean hull again, just like everybody else has had to do. But when you get this boat all back together again, it will be a forever boat afterwards... I am presently building rod boxes for my '76 Tom Boy boat and once those are completed, I can flip the hull and start the painting effort. So we all are in different stages of building out boats as well. Hang in there, there is a lot of dirty, nasty, stinky and sadly itchy grinding work ahead of you yet. But it will all work out. I can guarantee that much. And I know you can do it too! :thumb:

 

[DeepBlue2010]

When I was gutting out my boat, I wasted sometime playing with oscillating tools and the like, it was a big waste of time. Finally, I installed a cutting wheel on my angle grinder and traced all the edges of the wood structures. In tight areas, I needed the help of reciprocating saw. This turned a turtle speed progress into a light speed one.

Make sure to position the disk so it is not cutting through where it shouldn't on the other side and don't be so worried about making clean flush cuts, you will be grinding down the glass in long itchy sessions latter on . Just separate the connection and you will be good to go.

You can use the same setup to trim all of these sharp edges left from tabbing and you can do the exact same thing with the deck after.

 

[Woodonglass]

Again, take LOTS of Pics and LOTS of measurements, and then start tearing it apart. Neatness does NOT count!!! IF you cut a hole/slice in the hull it can be fixed so don't be too afraid. Just get everything cut out so you can start with a Clean Slate!!!

 

[kcassells]

Yup to all above. The GRINDER is the CHOICE of tool for most here. Albeit a few stitches here and there. Be careful and move slowly with the beasty boy. He has no mercy and surely does get the job done. I've read there are also "cut" prevention gloves available at homedeblow but no sure how they will withstand to a metal cutting grinder blade. Get the thin blades, always run it straight, don't try to bend it as it is moving or the blade shatters.
Get a grinder that shuts off when you release your thumb from the button. Others have a lock button that keeps on running even if you drop it or simply plug it in if the person before you did not release the trigger.
Someone was using my grinder that way before me and when I plugged it in it started up and skipped acrosse the deck right onto my ankle....24 or 30 stitches later...then I had to find the chord to pull out of the socket. Nasty but necessary buggers in boat rehab. Don't worry about the glass....Just your bones!

 

[jigngrub]

As clean as your demo work looks, I'd say you might have a bit of OCD (and I mean that as a compliment)... and if your build and finish are as clean, your finished product will be a sight to behold. You and your family will be very proud!

 

[artfan1]

gm280, yep, sticky, itchy for sure. Not sure about the stinky yet. Maybe when I get to the floor and stringers.

DeepBlue. Got the cutoff disk. Actually, I bought a new grinder for this project. Didn't have one. I love that thing and wonder how I've gone so long without. As for the cutoff though. It turns out I already had one and didn't know it. My wife bought me a RotoZip a few years ago. I use it all the time for drywall work but forgot that inside the box was an attachment that turns it into a cutoff wheel. It cuts through the compartments like butter and even has a side vacuum attachment.

WOG. Lots of photos..."Check". Lots of measurements..."Check". With digital cameras and iPhones, there's no excuse not to take lots and lots of photos. hoto:
Can't promise I won't still try to be a little neat about the cutting though. I'll try to make a few destructive cuts here and there.

kcassells. Yes, the grinder I bought shuts off when you let go. That's a scary thought, the grinder coming at you like that.

jigngrub. OCD? Yea, that's about right. I've been called that many times before. But honestly, the attention to detail and the careful demo work is most likely because this boat and I go way back. Growing up we had respect for the boat and rules of course. It's still kind of weird to be cutting it apart, removing stuff and basically destroying it (temporarily). I'm getting over that as I go along but it's just weird. Hard to explain. Plus, I figure that since I don't have any experience here, the more careful I am, the less of a chance I will make a mistake that could add hours or even days to the restoration...and the OCD thing again.

Ok, so I will be cutting, grinding, removing, etc. Could be a few days before I have any real progress to report but I'll be back with photos once I have something different to show. Thanks.

 

[archbuilder]

Nice work on the getting the cap off Art! That thing really didn't want to come off!

 

[gm280]

actfan1, If your lower hull section is as rotted as mine was, then you are in for a neat game. Instead of wack-a-mole, it was wack-a-roach. They took up home in the hull and as I cut more and more rotted floor and stringers out, the more went running. So my dead-blow hammer got a lot of usage that day. And the crazy thing I found under the floor was interesting. Sealed cans of what looked like some type potted meal and uke: who knows what was in those cans. I tried to offer them up to other iboaters, but I didn't have any folks wanting to take them... So as you gut more, there is no idea what you may find. JMHO!

 

[kcassells]

Art,
I missed the prior cap removal..{must of been snoozien}.congrats to you looks nice. Save as many of the molds/liner as you can for replacement and as you will add new ply to them and glass them then install back. :deadhorse:. That pic is really a mule...Looks like you are kickin some A dbl scriblle! eaceful:

 

[artfan1]

I wanted to go ahead and update this thread with some of the progress Ive made over the past few days.

Ok, so I removed all of the compartments. They came out in two sections.

Then I cut around the perimeter of the floor with a skill saw. The fiberglass of the floor came right out since it was delaminated. The plywood pulled up pretty easy too until I got towards the bow end. It was still fastened down really well. Actually, so was the fiberglass in that area.

I focused on the transom for a couple of days. A little tough in areas but its all out now.

Then I cutout the leftover strips down the side of the floor and removed the remainder of plywood.

Im working on grinding now but I still need to remove the stringers. But first I had some questions about that.
Other than measuring everything, do I need to do anything else first that would need to be referenced later?

For example, the stringers do not equal the height of the hull where the plywood rests on it.
I assume this is incorrect and that when I put the new stringers in, they should ideally be level all the way across, just like any floor should be. Right?

The stringers are higher at the stern than the hulls support.

But then about half way towards the bow, they are much lower.

One thought here is the support under the boat. I meant to ask before but didn't.
Should the keel be resting on the rollers of the trailer? They don't. The boat is supported by the trailer bunks and the new supports I installed around the hull but the keel is untouched. Could this be a problem here?

I left the stringers in for now just in case I needed to do something here to find the correct position. Otherwise, I will start removing them.

As for the profile of the stringers where it matches the hull, I figured I would just use the old stringer as a guide, then keep testing it for level.

Please let me know if Im overlooking anything here. Thanks!