1984 starcraft islander

[matt167]

Pic looks like marine grade which would be Douglas fir, AAX plywood basically. How thick is it? Looks like it’s varnished.

You could use exotic woods like Ockume or Meranti but you don’t need to and that is a stupid expense… simply ABX or better but you could even get away with CDX in a pinch

 

[Gibbles]

^ seeing those two side by side, the big piece of ply the po gave you has the same pattern, so that makes me full of ****.

 

[Neschenbrenner]

How close does the new transom need to be to the inside corners of the boat? As close as i can get it?

 

[Neschenbrenner]

Made a template today following what the boat works today guy does and the wood the previous owner gave me is way off. To small.. Will have to get new.

 

[Gibbles]

Its pretty loose on the corners.
I saw the upper corner on my islander the other day when switching out a vent.

I had at least 1/2in to an inch from the sides of the boat.

I think the important part is just the bolts/ holes have a place to bite.

When making my transoms,
I have always gone for maximum size/tight fit.
I'm sure it's better to clone the orignal vs what i do... lol

 

[Neschenbrenner]

Its pretty loose on the corners.
I saw the upper corner on my islander the other day when switching out a vent.

I had at least 1/2in to an inch from the sides of the boat.

I think the important part is just the bolts/ holes have a place to bite.

When making my transoms,
I have always gone for maximum size/tight fit.
I'm sure it's better to clone the orignal vs what i do... lol

My old transom basically turned to dust when i tried to remove it. lol

 

[Neschenbrenner]

What thickness plywood should I use for the floor?

 

[Neschenbrenner]

Also is there a certain pattern I should use when putting the floor back down? The floor in this boat also crumbled when I took it out so I have no patterns to work off of. Planning on making a run to the plywood store next Friday. How should I calculate how much epoxy I would need to seal everything up?

 

[DWbaseball]

Original floors were 1/2 thickness but most upgrade to 5/8 or 3/4 to eliminate any flex under your step. I used ACX plywood which was described as the next best exterior grade behind marine grade for about 40% of the price.

My method for making template was to mark and measure the width of the boat every foot after I had the stringers installed. I then drew a straight line down the middle of my uncut plywood, and marked every foot on that line. I then took half of each width measurement, and marked that distance out from the center line of the plywood. I then cut each side off of thr floor using those marks and what was left in the middle was my section of floor with custom widths by foot.

 

[MNhunter1]

Google "joggle stick method" if you need to template some of your deck boards. I used it to do a casting deck and the process came out pretty close to perfect. Might not need it for some of the more subtle curves, but it works well when you're dealing with the bow and such.

 

[Gibbles]

note that if you go thicker on the floors the trim will need to be adjusted to go along with it.
I did 3/4in on my floors on the chief, part of that was to support the pedestal seats, but If i were to do it again I would go with 5/8th in.
I would also coat the floors with more epoxy, especially on the bottom of the deck.