86 Exciter Resto

[Rob B]

Depends on how "perfect" you want the floor to look. From looking the pictures, you should able to roll gelcoat on with little or no inperfections. The floor needs to be as smooth as you can make it. Take a look at BadBK's resto and see how he removed the top at the transom area. You've done everything I would've tried.

 

[Ramifications]

"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and u shall move the deck" - keith4216

I had a 8' 4x4 on a fulcrum and it didn't budge. I also tried two floor jacks, one on either side of the gas tank over the stringer with a 4x4 spanning the splash well and it wasn't moving. It was making all kinds of sounds I didn't like. I backed off because it was dark and I didn't want to break the deck.

 

[yellowfiero88]

I personally like the thought of gel coated floor with velcro in carpet. It would be a lot of work as I, like many others am a perfectionist.

 

[keith4216]

Shag carpet, disco ball and good light show

Thats what i'm doing anyhow!

 

[Rob B]

How's the boat coming along, any updates?

 

[BADBK]

I jerry rigged a floor jack setup in mine to get the top deck off...

Move that hideous gas tank out of the way, coming out anyway right?

Floor jack in middle of floor, stacked 4x4's until close to the splashwell, used some 1/2" plywood and big 2x's to distribute the load and up we went.... like you, I heard a few noises that caused me some concern so I chipped more hull/deck putty away, no dice. Finally just said fk it and was gonna jack it until something gave, one jack more than the last 3 attempts and CRACK, it separated. Happy camper. Just do it!

 

[Ramifications]

I jerry rigged a floor jack setup in mine to get the top deck off...

Move that hideous gas tank out of the way, coming out anyway right?

Floor jack in middle of floor, stacked 4x4's until close to the splashwell, used some 1/2" plywood and big 2x's to distribute the load and up we went.... like you, I heard a few noises that caused me some concern so I chipped more hull/deck putty away, no dice. Finally just said fk it and was gonna jack it until something gave, one jack more than the last 3 attempts and CRACK, it separated. Happy camper. Just do it!

I will "pop" it apart Saturday morning, since there just isn't enough time during the week. I will apply a little more pressure and see what happens. If I break the splash well, I'll just go lipless like you are. Actually, I might do that anyway. After you of course, so I can follow your lead.

I wasn't planning on pulling out the gas tank, unless I have to. The transom is dry and solid, so I'm only replacing the horizontal support that is wet. We'll see how that goes... Also, the gas tank is almost full!

 

[BADBK]

I'll just go lipless like you are. Actually, I might do that anyway. After you of course, so I can follow your lead.

 

[Ramifications]

I went out this morning to finish breaking the top deck loose from the hull. I figured I would try with the 4x4 again, before setting up the jacks etc. One try and pop, apparently letting it sit for the week did the trick

I lifted the top deck and walked it forward a couple feet to give me access to the transom. I found something that was likely contributing to the water in the flotation box on the starboard side. The bilge pump hose was broke and only hanging on by a thread to the thru hull fitting. I'm sure the bilge didn't run much, but when it did, it just emptied the water in the flotation box.

Moving on, I cut out the horizontal support and the remaining few inches from the flotation boxes. I used a reciprocating saw to cut out the horizontal support. I started with a multi tool, but it was just taking far too long. The wood in the horizontal support was soaking wet. It probably weighed about 7-8lbs per foot. Once I got everything cut out, I sanded it all down with a 60 grit disc.

I started fabricating the new horizontal support with 1/2" exterior finish ply. I made it a total of four layers with the bottom and top a continuous piece and and the middle is broken into three pieces. I broken them into three pieces so I could add the webbing support. The two layers with the web are seamed at the knee supports. I think I will add one more continuous piece in the middle, making it five layers thick. I filled in the webbed area with a packer piece to create an even plane for glassing it in. My thoughts are this webbing will addition support to the transom where the engine mounts by bridging the load to the other side of the knee towards the corner. What are your thoughts?

I'm going to resin everything together and clamp it tight in place, which is the only way I can do it. Once it sets up I will add cabosil and glass in all in. Is there anything I should add, change etc?

I did a little experiment with a moisture meter... I took the wet horizontal support that was still rapped in glass and put the moisture meter on it, and it was off the charts. I than used the moisture meter on the transom in an area I knew was dry. It showed 16% moisture content, which is average for being outdoors. I checked all over the transom, and it showed from 16% to 30%-35% around the engine mounting holes. It seems as though the moisture meter works through fiberglass. It is the type that sends out a signal, so it doesn't have the prongs. I will get the exact model number tomorrow if anyone is interested.

Also, is it safe to use poly resin to level out the floor before installing gel coat?

 

[Rob B]

Looks good!! Fill the gaps and glass it in place!! Poly resin for the floor will be ok prior to gelcoating. I'm amazed at how people don't catch things like that hose for the bilge pump. Btw is there any mat holding the knees to the floor?

 

[Ramifications]

yes, the knees are matted in all the way around. The bilge hose wasn't visible behind all of the foam in the flotation box.

Are you saying I shouldn't glue the wood up prior to glassing in?

What do you think about adding one more layer, making it 2-1/2" thick?

 

[JT Patroni]

IMO it would have been much easier and stronger if you had removed the knees so the strongback would have been one piece. The knees attached to the floor and not the bottom of the hull as part of the stringers really don't add much support. From a fabricators standpoint, they are useless the way the factory installed them.

 

[Ramifications]

IMO it would have been much easier and stronger if you had removed the knees so the strongback would have been one piece. The knees attached to the floor and not the bottom of the hull as part of the stringers really don't add much support. From a fabricators standpoint, they are useless the way the factory installed them.

I'm no boat builder, and won't claim to be. I'm learning as I go, and if you really think it will make a big difference, I will rip it all out and do it over again. I don't want to cut corners or have to redo it again when I put a bigger engine on the back.

 

[Rob B]

yes, the knees are matted in all the way around. The bilge hose wasn't visible behind all of the foam in the flotation box.

Are you saying I shouldn't glue the wood up prior to glassing in?

What do you think about adding one more layer, making it 2-1/2" thick?

You should glue them together first, wrap them, then glass in place. JT does have a point about making the strongback one piece. Cut the knees loose make one piece across the transom then add your knees back.

 

[Ramifications]

You should glue them together first, wrap them, then glass in place. JT does have a point about making the strongback one piece. Cut the knees loose make one piece across the transom then add your knees back.

Should I glass the knees back to the floor or do something different to make it stronger? Maybe open the floor and glass to the floor and stringer?

 

[Rob B]

Should I glass the knees back to the floor or do something different to make it stronger? Maybe open the floor and glass to the floor and stringer?

I hate for you to open up the floor, but to make it stronger the knees need to attach to the stringer/stringers and transom.

 

[JT Patroni]

I am not familiar with the Exciter and what it looks like under the floor.
If you plan to go larger HP I would at least try to find out what is under the floor. It is easy to close up the floor and glass it back together. A little security now will pay back big dividends later. You have made it easy to work in the boat by removing the cap so it is much easier to beef it up now rather than later.

Has anyone in the forum with an Exciter opened the floor back at the transom to know what the structure is like under there?

 

[Jetmate]

Ram, I don't know about opening the floor to get to the stringers, but if the floor is in good shape and is strong, I would at least make the knee boards bigger and longer. Make the knee boards come much farther forward and incorporate the back board to the knee boards as one unit to be glassed in.
IMHO. Looks good so far!


72 Jetmate resto:
http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14018

 

[Ramifications]

I am not familiar with the Exciter and what it looks like under the floor.
If you plan to go larger HP I would at least try to find out what is under the floor. It is easy to close up the floor and glass it back together. A little security now will pay back big dividends later. You have made it easy to work in the boat by removing the cap so it is much easier to beef it up now rather than later.

Has anyone in the forum with an Exciter opened the floor back at the transom to know what the structure is like under there?

I opened it up under where the rear seat would go. The stringer is about 3-4" there and only gets slightly larger towards the back from there. What exactly do you need to know?

 

[Rob B]

Looking at the pictures he's got two stringers going to the transom. He might need to pull the gas tank, cut the stringers back about a foot then fabricate knees/stringers, kind of what I did on the Enforcer.