Stringer Replacement Ideas

[wiatowski]

Anyone thought about Line-X instead of glass for stringer replacement?

[WakeSurfCanada]

Is you thought to use line-x as the resin when laminating the stringers. . . It defiantly an idea, I would more be interested in how it saturates and works with the fiberglass matte. That is where all your strength comes from.

[wotan2525]

I don't believe that Line-X has much structural strength.

[wiatowski]

yes the idea would be to epoxy stringers/cross members into place then have inside Line-X'd.
As far as strength.... The storm chasers spray it on their vehicles to prevent damage, and Myth-busters have tested it too. Plus it's water proof so not worried about sealing it. I've seen it used on swim platforms and docks. lets not over look cost effective.
Daff and I had a discussion about aluminum stringers but came to the conclusion that they wouldn't have enough give.

Thoughts?

[wotan2525]

All of the applications that you have described have been to protect the surface it is being applied to. The fiberglass in these boats actually provides some structural rigidity.

[suprasam]

Line X, is a rubber compound based. Fiberglass and resin hold the wood into place and also act as a huge structural support for everything. The line x wouldn't hold, at least not for a long period of time. The reason storm chasers use it, is so that stuff that is being flown around doesn't damage the trucks as easy(rubber). Good luck.

[Salty87]

the biggest problem with going with an unconventional rebuild is you're probably a guinea pig. lots of sweat, money and time for something that might not work. fiberglassing is messy and stinky, at least poly resin is, but it's not the hardest part. it goes pretty quickly. stringer shaping and placement took me a long time. i think i remember seeing a thread where someone posted size specs for sunsport stringers....templates essentially. grinding is probably the worst of it and you'd have to do that anyway to epoxy the new stringers in.

[DAFF]

How about prebuilding the stringers from a composite material and drop the whole thing in .... Much like how the new boats are built. All you need is a donor sunsport for some rough measurements. This way the boat would only be down a few days.... NTM if you can build it once then I bet there might be a market for it for others out there.

[wiatowski]

How about prebuilding the stringers from a composite material and drop the whole thing in .... Much like how the new boats are built. All you need is a donor sunsport for some rough measurements. This way the boat would only be down a few days.... NTM if you can build it once then I bet there might be a market for it for others out there.

yes I thought about this when doing research trying to find the cross section for your boat a complete floor and stinger drop in..... Stringer replacement for me is a few years away but I want an alternatiove to doing glass work.

[a_deleon]

Has anyone tried to use the seacast poreable mix that you can fill into the stringer and take out the rotted wood? I seen pages about it being lighter than wood and strong stuff to use.

I am trying to explore options because after this season I am going to repair mine. I just searched "secast porable mix" and it brings up some places using it. Pricing doesn't look to bad depending on how far the kits go. If you need like 30 gallons I can see it adding up really quick.

http://invisionboatworks.com/seacast.html

Here is the link I found that says home of seacast
http://www.transomrepair.net/index.php

[suprasam]

I didn't go through the whole website from seacast, but what do you do...take the wood stringers out of your boat, make a mold and pour the seacast in? Or do you leave everything the same and just pour the seacast in and on everyting under your floor? I would love to hear from someone who has used it.


I just read the site, stuff looks awsome, and great pricing.

[Salty87]

i checked into seacast too. getting all of the wood out is a requirement and that would be tough. some of a rotten stringer will turn to nasty 'dust' but much of it is water-logged wood that's hard to get out. you have to save the fiberglass skins to pour the cast...easier said than done. in the end the cost is probably just as high it not higher and probably take more time. even if you got it done, i don't think i'd want a boat with essentially cement for stringers. the hull flexes, you want something that will allow a little flex or you could end up with hull failure.

this is a place to check for composite: http://www.preforms.com/

good luck speaking with them. they're geared towards supporting manufacturers and don't speak DIY. at least not when i was doing my rebuild. i tried to tell them that they are missing a large untapped market of home re-builders. i got no reply. this was back when boat builders were shutting doors, too. you'd think a few hundred or more stringer sets would help the bottom line a bit but whatdoiknow about their business? bottomline on this was i could never figure out what i needed from them and they couldn't/wouldn't help me.

plywood and fiberglass can last a really long time. the factory did a crappy job and the results lasted 20 years. don't cut corners, add some drainage and the results can last alot longer.

even with composite materials, they need to be glassed in.

[wiatowski]

Has anyone tried to use the seacast poreable mix that you can fill into the stringer and take out the rotted wood? I seen pages about it being lighter than wood and strong stuff to use.

I am trying to explore options because after this season I am going to repair mine. I just searched "secast porable mix" and it brings up some places using it. Pricing doesn't look to bad depending on how far the kits go. If you need like 30 gallons I can see it adding up really quick.

http://invisionboatworks.com/seacast.html

Here is the link I found that says home of seacast
http://www.transomrepair.net/index.php

Winner, winner chicken dinner! This looks extremely do-able
http://www.transomrepair.net/pages.php?CDpath=1&osCsid=cb25a0f44194466a26eb9797764fed5b
the instructions look fairly easy and straight forward for stringers. Cut top hollow out and fill. Thanks man.

[a_deleon]

Winner, winner chicken dinner! This looks extremely do-able
http://www.transomrepair.net/pages.php?CDpath=1&osCsid=cb25a0f44194466a26eb9797764fed5b
the instructions look fairly easy and straight forward for stringers. Cut top hollow out and fill. Thanks man.

I am thinking of getting a gallon kit and trying it out in a small section. I want to see how far it goes and how hard hollowing it out is going to be.

I was thinking if you got one of those multi tools that move side to side with a cutter blade on it. Maybe you could cut one side out of the existing stringers out to help hollow it out and just glass it back in. In my head it would be easy to cut out sections and glass it back together with strips of glass and then poor it in.

[bens250ex]

I'd say try sea cast. It will work as you can see they have used it for stringers before. Call them and talk to them about your plan. I don't see why it wouldn't work

[wiatowski]

I'd say try sea cast. It will work as you can see they have used it for stringers before. Call them and talk to them about your plan. I don't see why it wouldn't work
my question is how hard is it when dry? can you put lag bolts in it?

[sybrmike]

I'd imagine digging all that wood out would be just as much work as glassing in new wooden stringers. The outer stringers are pretty thin & might be difficult to dig the wood out without damaging the glass walls. Typically in a seacast transom repair, they use a chainsaw to cut/dig out the old transom wood - quick and dirty, but a little more finess needed for the stringers.