Rot.....

[mapleleaf]

Was poking around under the gas tank this morning, hooking up the bilge vent, and what a surprise.... I managed to get a srew driver through the port side stringer. There was some cracked fiberglass under the rear bench and I thought I'd "poke" around.. I'm assuming now that most of the stringer's may be rotten from the inside out.... The bilge side looks good, but who knows about the rest.....
Gotta go to work now thinking about this....will get some pic's up after work.
The floor's still solid, hopefully I'll make it through the summer......

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Gulp... Sorry to hear it bro. Is it limited to the stern or how far towards the bow does it extend? Maybe this is something Rot Doctor could help with if it's not the whole stringer. Do you think something is/was letting water in like swim platform bolts or exhaust outlets? That would suck if water draining the rear ski locker, from wet lifejackets for example, got trapped back there. That could happen to me too...Good luck

[csuggs]

YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Mine is rotten in the same place, I'm guessing because of the ski locker drain holes that allow water to run all over the fuel tank and then onto the floor. Great design, huh? They should have at least routed the water to the center of the boat so that it would end up in the bilge area.

[DoctorJD]

I would check really closely around the engine before making the decision to use the boat this Summer. When I discovered the rot on my 91' Conbrio, there was little, if any, wood left around the port-side engine mount area. I was very fortunate that the engine didn't rack under load, otherwise...

Maybe you're lucky and the damage was confined to the rear of the boat, hopefully something that can be patched without a full-on replacement. Good luck, and if you need any counciling mapleleaf, I've been there.
JD

[Salty87]

from having torn that area apart on mine...the ends of the stringers aren't glassed to the transom very well. with the bow up in the air the voids or air pockets get filled with water eventually. water wicks into the end grain of the plywood.

sorry to hear about it.

[michael hunter]

Maple
Check the prop shaft alignment if its good then enjoy your summer it wont be any
worse than it was last year. I read that the factory will install all fiberglass stringers
and floor for $5000? I don't know if its true or if your boat is worth putting that much in
to. All you guys telling me about rotten floors and stringer got me wondering.I pulled
the motor mount lag bolts and looked under the ski storage everything looks good so far.
Sorry for your luck at least try to make it a winter project your summer is short enough
all ready.

[mapleleaf]

The damage doesn't seem to go too far forward on the bilge side of the stringer, but who know's what's behind, this is definitely a result of wet butt's and jackets on the rear bench, I won't get back into it til about 7 tonight..... or maybe now, I'll go get some shot's of the screwdriver handle.......
Doc, thanks....I gotta love her the way she is.....hopefully she'll love me til Sept.........

[chautauquasun]

The damage doesn't seem to go too far forward on the bilge side of the stringer, but who know's what's behind, this is definitely a result of wet butt's and jackets on the rear bench, I won't get back into it til about 7 tonight..... or maybe now, I'll go get some shot's of the screwdriver handle.......
Doc, thanks....I gotta love her the way she is.....hopefully she'll love me til Sept.........

Maple

I too have been losing sleep over the stringer issue. I havent done to much investigating because I am afraid of what I might find. I am going to do some fortification around the motor mounts and get through the summer......good luck.

[mapleleaf]

The port side is definitely worse, have the same cracks in the glass on the starboard side but can't get the screwdriver in, maybe they're not too far gone....will be checking engine mounts, but am pretty sure it hasn't rotted that far up...
Here's what I got so far....third pic is starboard side...

[wotan2525]

It will take some more investigation but IMHO the motor mounts are always the first to go. If you have that much rot, that far back... your stringers are probably shot.

Welcome to the club. Be very careful that your engine doesn't pull away from the mounts and "twist" or come out of alignment. That's what happened to mine and then my prop-shaft wore through the shaft-log and caused the boat to "sink."

[mapleleaf]

OMG, Wotan that's gotta be worse case scenerio, I have yet to check motor mounts, when it stops raining I will. I suppose thwe stringer's could be shot, but there's definitely solid wood on the starboard side and no evidence what so ever anywhere near the motor mounts or anywhere forward of the rear bench.... When I rebuilt the rear bench seat it was rotten completely, I'm hoping it was water from wet people, weather and what ever..... at the transom.
Once a stringer starts to go, I agree it's gone, but maybe some of them might have a couple good month's left....... Can you tell I'm in denial overhere!!!

[bellsons]

I've not had enough experience to say “don’t worry”.
But, as the previous posts say, this is a design problem. Therefor is a common thing.
Mine is that way . this is my first year with mine, but around the motor is good and solid.
Poke around the motor thoroughly. If its not soft. Keep going. You can and should spend your winter months doing necessary repairs anyway. Project time.
I’ll pray for you and your boat…

[csuggs]

I agree - as long as most of your motor mount bolts are staying tight, and the motor is not moving I would run it - at least for the summer. Save the teardown for the winter months!

[knoble]

Damn Mapleaf!
That is nasty!! Sorry to see that!! What year and model boat do you have? I have a 86 Sunsport and have been lucky so far my stringers seen sold and I check then every year and do touch ups to the fiberglass as necessary! My lag bolts around the motor are sold and i marine caulk them regularly!! Good luck and keep us updated on what you do!

:cool:

[Blackntan90]

You guys are starting to scare me...I am also afraid to "poke around"! So far she is one of the better maintained '90 supras I have seen, but I havent got a garage to put her in so I go through covers every couple of years! Hope I don't find anything too scary...

[mapleleaf]

I think for this year I'm not doing much, gotta put it together so I can use it!
Next winter will be deck off time, or perhaps a bigger boat.........
I got a good deal on a boat with a strong motor, so if I keep her I still can't lose....even if it is a huge stringer job I'm looking at.
I may have a couple screws loose, to go with the ones in the boat!!!!!

[saltare inverts]

Has anyone tried putting aluminum or ss braces over stringers on older boats to repair them? Not a total fix but through the season system.

[csuggs]

I thought about that, but then wouldn't you be changing the position of the motor mounts?

[chautauquasun]

Has anyone tried putting aluminum or ss braces over stringers on older boats to repair them? Not a total fix but through the season system.

I have been thinking along the same lines. I need to bolt my engine in laterally and was thinking if the wood is too bad....maybe looking to get some sleeves fabricated out of steel or aluminum to slide over the existing stringers and using a long bolt and nut to stablize things for the summer then look to do some stringer work over the winter.

Again not sure how bad mine are but I have a feeling they are not going to all that great. I dont have all the engineering figured out yet but seems like I should be able to make something up to get it through the summer.

[mapleleaf]

Ok, not great, but not the end of the world....The motor mounts each took a quarter turn to snug up, but would let me lean pretty hard on them without stripping...good sign. Better yet the gas tank lags, that bolt in directly where my rot is also held under torque, so it's not as bad as I thought and will definitely let me get through the season...On to carpet install.......
Stringers are for winter time...!!!