Summer Ends Early

[HtxConbrio]

So I have made the decision to go ahead and start the restoration process on my 90 Conbrio. I am going to start the stringer replacement now since the motor mount screws have started to loosen up. I do have a few questions for those of you that have tackled this project in the past.

1. What are good lifting points for the cap?

2. I am going to be doing the work in my 2 car garage but have access to an overhead crane setup. Can I put the cap on a flat bed trailer and trailer it safely without causing damage? Also is it safe to trailer the hull without the cap on? If so, do I need to brace the hull or cap to keep them from flexing? I plan on moving the cap into storage while I am doing the stringers and floor since my HOA would sh#%* a brick if I left it in the driveway.

I am sure I will have a ton more questions throughout the process and will take lots of pics and post them along the way. Thanks for all of your help ahead of time.

[TitanTn]

You can tow the cap if you support it well. Hopefully it's a short trip and you can drive carefully.

For towing with the hull, you'll want to screw some 2x4s across the width of the boat at the top of the hull. This will keep it from flexing while towing.

Good luck on your rebuild. It's a lot of work, but it's so nice to have a solid boat when it's done.

[sybrmike]

Front and rear cleats are good lifting points. I also lifted at the air intake vents for another support towards the helm for 6 total since my Saltare was so big.

I'd brace the cap for trailering, even if minimally just to make sure. Not that familiar with the Conbrio cap, but my Salt cap was pretty flimsy especially at the rear. Also like Titan said, measure the hull width at a couple of places before you take the cap off and cross brace it to those dimensions once you pull the cap. It'll trailer o.k. without them, but you want to hold the hull in original shape during the stringer rebuild cause it will walk on you once you start removing the floor structure.

[HtxConbrio]

I have removed all of the upholstery and carpet. After doing so I discovered that someone had glued and screwed fresh plywood down over the original floor structure. As I pulled some of the plywood out it is ripping a good chunk of the floor structure with it. So far there has not been a solid piece of original flooring. I have only pulled the starboard side out since it has been a royal pain to get the wood up. Is ripping up the original floor going to cause me problems with the shape of the hull?

[TitanTn]

Ripping out the original floor - no. Ripping out stringers with the floor - maybe. But I doubt that's what happening. It sounds like you're ripping up the old floor with the newer one. If that's the case, it's no big deal.

[HtxConbrio]

For the most part the stringers are remaining intact. However in a few spots the cross bracing from stringer to stringer and stringer to hull have come up with the wood. I haven't pulled the motor yet. That will be done sometime after labor day.

[sybrmike]

Same here. PO had glued & screwed resin coated plywood over the original floor (but I knew this in advance). Lots of the old floor came up with the new. Should be fine if you take some measurements before you split the hull, since I think you've already pulled some foam?. I was surprised at how structural the foam was (might have been the only thing holding mine together :rolleyes:).

[HtxConbrio]

I have pulled some of the foam out. I was curious what everyones complaints were all about. I have to say they are more than justified. That stuff is a pain. After what I saw in the little bit I pulled out I am leaning more to the no foam side when I finally start going back together with everything.