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84 Entertainer Restoration

C

checkmate stacey

New member
Bought a 84 19ft Entertainer at good price and knew it had issues going in. I've pulled up 50 % of the floor and found all to be rotten. What I found was strange was the configuration of the floor. On each side of the center, there was a 4 inch high 3/4 inch plywood section wrapped partially in glass then behind it water logged foam. I've read several discussions above having stringers replaced and so forth however I find it hard to believe these are really stringers. It appears these plywood sections just served as an interior form for which the foam could be injected behind. My question is this- did the 19foot 1984 Entertainer have stringers at all? Can I remove the foam in its entirety and simply building the deck back w/o it. Thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated. It's impossible to find marine grade plywood or kiln dried plywood in my area so I'm going to use finish grade when I rebuilding and wrap completely in glass- again any suggestions? I certainly can't be the first to make a replacement such as this.
 
checkmate stacey said:
Bought a 84 19ft Entertainer at good price and knew it had issues going in. I've pulled up 50 % of the floor and found all to be rotten. What I found was strange was the configuration of the floor. On each side of the center, there was a 4 inch high 3/4 inch plywood section wrapped partially in glass then behind it water logged foam. I've read several discussions above having stringers replaced and so forth however I find it hard to believe these are really stringers. It appears these plywood sections just served as an interior form for which the foam could be injected behind. My question is this- did the 19foot 1984 Entertainer have stringers at all? Can I remove the foam in its entirety and simply building the deck back w/o it. Thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated. It's impossible to find marine grade plywood or kiln dried plywood in my area so I'm going to use finish grade when I rebuilding and wrap completely in glass- again any suggestions? I certainly can't be the first to make a replacement such as this.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum!!! First pictures would help show the problem areas. You do have stringers or use to have them.:D Exterior grade plywood will do the job for you.:thumb: I didn't replace the foam in either of my resto's, however that's up to you whether or not to replace it. How's the transom, you might want to check that while the boat is apart.
 
:welcome:to the forum. Try the search box or scroll through the restoration section. There are many great and informative threads here...
 
You really don't have "green pressure treated plywood" available at the Home Depot, Lowes, or other hardware store?. Water proof the plywood yourself using resin that has been thinned with acetone so it soaks in. Mix up the resin with hardener in it and then cut the batch ~50% with acetone. You will find that a couple of coats will soak right in. Also you will find you need to add a little extra hardener to the batch to reduce the cure time.

It's your choice whether you want to replace the foam, many restorers do not as it is a great moisture trap.
The stringers in these boats are made of wrapped 3/4" plywood, So yes those were the stringers.
You will also need to check the balsa core for water damage, it's under a layer of glass after you get the foam and stringers out.
There are a number of great restoration threads on this forum, check them out, they have pictures and are very detailed, most have done and covered everything your going to do.
 
hey stacey, the core serves as an effective means to thicken and strengthen the hull, where if you just had solid fiberglass that thick it would be way heavy, but you can drastically increase the strength with multiple layers of fiberglass with something layered between them. when the balsa gets wet it will rot, and then you lose the both the structural integrity of the middle layer, but also the bond effectively linking the two layers of fiberglass, greatly weakening the hull. Also if its wet but not rotted, you want to fix it because it will rot and will spread through the balsa, eventually rotting a lot of the hull out.
 
Thanks- I thought I got a good deal on the boat but I'm not so sure anymore. I'll get the floor and foam out it this weekend and review the balsa. When reviewing the balsa- I'm looking for dark discolorations- correct?
 
checkmate stacey said:
Thanks- I thought I got a good deal on the boat but I'm not so sure anymore. I'll get the floor and foam out it this weekend and review the balsa. When reviewing the balsa- I'm looking for dark discolorations- correct?
Click to expand...

Yes. Once you identify the problem areas if any remove all the wet balsa and replace it.
 
Okay so I think I got lucky. I got the cockpit floor and foam out this weekend and found no dark spots at all- hull looks in good shape. The stringers where completely rotten however so I spent a lot of time getting them out. One thing I noticed was that the factory installed a lot of hard white paste along the bottom of the stringers- I guess it was simply a filler for where the stringer didn't fit tight. My thought is to get his junk out completely and make new stringers that fit better. If I have to use filler then I was going to use the West Poly system and add microlight filler to make a paste.

Any suggestions for doing this in a better manner?

BTW I want to post some pics of the project but can't figuire out how too do it- is there a tutorial on this on the website that I haven't found.

Much thanks for all your help.
 
test

checkmatestacey
 
Engine Compartment Coating

In the interior of the engine compartment, there appears to be a factory applied coating- black. I've tried every chemical I can think of to take it off but when Acetone didn't work I stopped. I'm thinking I have to grind it off with some 400wt paper on a 6 inch sander. Basically I need to get the coatoing off so that when I glass the new stringers in I have a fiberglass to fiberglass connection.

Any thoughts on how better to remove the coating?
 
checkmate stacey said:
In the interior of the engine compartment, there appears to be a factory applied coating- black. I've tried every chemical I can think of to take it off but when Acetone didn't work I stopped. I'm thinking I have to grind it off with some 400wt paper on a 6 inch sander. Basically I need to get the coatoing off so that when I glass the new stringers in I have a fiberglass to fiberglass connection.

Any thoughts on how better to remove the coating?
Click to expand...


36 grit on a 4 1/2'"grinder will remove it quickly!!:thumb:
 
Small Soft Spots in the core

Last night while preping the hull for installing the new stringers, I found two small dark spots in the core. After opening them up, I'd say they are no larger than 2 inches round. My thought is to fill them with west 105 mixed with 406 colloidal silica then cover with 105 and 3/4 fabric. Any suggestions on a better way?
 
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