Stringer patch job?

[jtomasik]

You guys will hate me for this (...if you don't already).


I've decided to sell my '86 TS6M. I bought it late last season because after getting into boating for the first time. We've (my son and I) found out that my son wants to wake surf and isn't interested in wake boarding. So, we had to get an inboard boat. However, the closed bow and resulting limited space of the boat is very undesirable. So, I'm going to sell both it and the open bow I/O drive I bought at the beginning of last year (to get my feet wet in boating....lol), and buy an open bow inboard to use both for wake boarding and surfing.

Anyway, my limited knowledge of boats (at the time) 'allowed' me to unknowingly buy a Supra with some stringer rot. I'm not sure of the extensiveness of the damage, other than the top swim deck mount bolt on the left side of the boat is stripped and the deck is loose on that side. I'm sure it's water damage to that stringer. I'd like to secure that bolt without ripping apart the boat to replace the stringer. Anyone know of a repair that would secure the boat and seal off the hole from allowing any more water to enter the stringer?

I'm not looking to stiff someone on the sale...just give them a boat that's ok to use for a couple of seasons and, if they like the boat enough, rebuild it after that. If it wasn't for the limited size of the boat, I'd rebuild it correctly and keep it myself.

[wotan2525]

The swim deck is not bolted to the stringers. You will need to remove your back seat and fuel tank to get access to the back side of this bolt. I don't think on the TS6M that you will have to cut any access into the floor (someone else will know.)

Put some backing plates on the screws, or some big washers. Replace the lag bolts with some bolts + nuts and use 3M 5200 to seal it all up. The platform will be solid and the leaks from that area will stop.

Good luck!

[SupraSteve]

I'm not sure if my 85 is the same but here are a few pics that may give you an idea (Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong).
Also, excuse the mess, just took the bulk of the foam out and pulled the motor this weekend.


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[chris young]

I just did mine a few weeks ago and to expand on what's already been stated here, (assuming your comp is the same as my Rider and I'm pretty sure it is based on suprasteves photos) Supra glassed in plywood and put blind anchor nuts into that plywood. The plywood rots and then you can't tighten the bolts. I drilled out mine and installed heavy aluminium plates that extended from the bottom of the hull to well above the upper bolts. My plates were thick enough that I could just tap them so no nuts were required. RTV the hell out of it all and bolted it back together. Sorry, no photos as the phone was out of gas and I wanted to get it all back together.

[jtomasik]

Awesome info, guys. Much appreciated for pointing me in the right direction. I'll remove the tank after this weekend and do the repair next week. We're really limited on warm days on the lake here in Colorado, so I have to fit in this repair into our season.

Oh, ran across this stuff, while I was looking at stringer rot. Anyone ever try it?

http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityourself/rotrepair/rotrepair3.htm

I know this doesn't apply to my repair, but thought I'd pass it along.

[wotan2525]

I bought the rot doctor system but when I talked to the guy I learned that it wouldn't work with ANY moisture in the stringers. I still have the cans in my garage, unopened.

[jtomasik]

They did say the wood has to be dry. I wonder how long it takes to dry covered stringers...lol.

[jtomasik]

I'm curious....are wood stringers used to intentionally allow flex in the hull of the boat?

[wotan2525]

They did say the wood has to be dry. I wonder how long it takes to dry covered stringers...lol.

I had mine covered, in a heated garage w/ an additional space heater and a dehumidifier running for 6 months and it was still wet/mushy. My best guess? Decades.