'87 21' Enchanter Deck and Stringer Replacement

[elizabetsy]

After the sticker shock of the estimate to replace the floor of my boat, my husband and I decided to do it ourselves. This Forum has been very helpful. We're experienced with carpentry but new to glass work. Been watching YouTube videos. There's a Boatworks one that been great.

Here's where we are at this point:
- deck and stringers have been removed
- in very bottom of boat (spine?) under a layer of heavy fiberglass, I have to remove a long strip of mushy wood blocks (wet and black)

Been taking pictures as we go and have a diagram of rebuild with dimensions.

Questions:
-what type of wood is used in the spine? They're small blocks 1/2 inch high.
-Stringers get glassed to the hull. Should the stringers be glassed to the plywood deck? How? Only access will be from the ski locker side.
-looks like hull and deck putty is used to bed the stringers, right?
-how difficult is it to replace a bilge pump? Figure while we have the gas tank out, now is the time. And are bilge pumps universal?
-any advice on working with fiberglass would be appreciated. Already have a 1 1/4 inch belt sander on the way to remove the rest of the old glass that I couldn't pry up.
- once all the debris is removed, what do I use to wipe down the existing plywood? One YouTube video mentioned acetone, a post said alcohol.

What else should I be asking?
Thanks!!!

PS. If I can figure out how to attach pics, I will.

 

[KevinR]

Balsa wood is the hull material

 

[JT Patroni]

If you review the Photobucket link in my signature, you can get an idea of the basics doing a floor stringer restoration. My hull is a Starflite but you can see what I went through.
Good luck with the repairs. Don't rush, do it right the first time.

 

[Diplomat82]

Another great YouTube resource is a channel called “Friscoboater”. He has a series from start to finish on replacing Stringers and floor on a SeaRay. A lot of great info.

Here is a link on this site of my stringer replacement.
http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32801&page=2

 

[karzrus]

Questions:
-what type of wood is used in the spine? They're small blocks 1/2 inch high.

This is the balsa wood core, it’s purpose is to save weight while helping to make the hull stronger. This is done by putting space between the inner and outer layers of glass.

-Stringers get glassed to the hull. Should the stringers be glassed to the plywood deck? How? Only access will be from the ski locker side.

The plywood floor gets glued to the stringers
The preferred material is PL5200 and most use it to bed the stringers to the hull as well prior to glassing them down

-looks like hull and deck putty is used to bed the stringers, right?

PL5200

-how difficult is it to replace a bilge pump? Figure while we have the gas tank out, now is the time. And are bilge pumps universal?

Now is the time and they come in sizes but are rather interchangeable after that.

-any advice on working with fiberglass would be appreciated. Already have a 1 1/4 inch belt sander on the way to remove the rest of the old glass that I couldn't pry up.

To help you not be itchy from dust when cutting/grinding/sanding fibreglass, use throwaway paper coveralls,gloves and a dust mask. At the end of the day a cold shower first to get most of the dust off then a hot shower. This is to minimize getting fibres into your skin and itching for days.

- once all the debris is removed, what do I use to wipe down the existing plywood? One YouTube video mentioned acetone, a post said alcohol.

You will need acetone to clean the fibreglass resin from your tools. (Must be done before the resin cures) so that’s what you can use to clean the wood and anything else. It drys(evaporates) fast.

What else should I be asking?
Thanks!!!

PS. If I can figure out how to attach pics, I will.

Good luck with the project.