ChautauquaSun Stringer and Floor Replacement

[chautauquasun]

Finally decided it was time to get this project started but I am no where near as motivated as Okie or the others that have done this job themselves. I have great respect for you guys. I looked at doing myself but really didnt have the space, time or equipment. I will miss the pride of doing it myself but I have plenty of other projects on this boat that will keep me busy.

I had a great conversation with Chris who redid his boat last year...he goes by c43amg on here. You may remember he did a very quick and nice job on his comp. He does this work here in the Pittsburgh area and his shop is about 45 minutes from my house. So in the next three weeks or so mine will be going through a rebuild as well. Pretty excited to finally have made the decision and feel good about Chris's abilities. If anybody else is looking to have this work done you may want to touch base with him.

As soon as the project is underway I will send pictures. Okie...no way my thread will even come close to yours...I read through the 28 pages today...wow...you have been busy. I will keep you update on my progress

Dan

[dshaff24]

Trust me, Once you tear into it there is NO RETURN! haha Seriously though I just got my boat back in the shop yesterday and let me tell ya, Im no where near where I'd like to be with it!

Who's the guy in pittsburgh? I live practically in pittsburgh so I wouldn t mind talking to this guy

[chautauquasun]

His name is Chris and is on this site and checks his email here. c43amg is his profile. He is located in Beaver. you can see some of his work on here. He redid his boat last year. I have his phone number and other email in my office which I will send to you tomorrow.

Where do you live in Pittsburgh? I am in the Wexford area.

[csuggs]

Dan - I'm glad you made the decision to get your stringers and floor replaced - that's really great! I think you'll be happy you made this decision.
Clint

[Salty87]

good for you Csun...you'll be happy when she's done. you're not really missing out on anything. lol

[Okie Boarder]

Good for you! You'll be happy when it's done, I'm sure. Be sure to post lots of pictures. If I had the option to have someone else do it, I would have. Although I am proud of what I'm doing, it would be nice to not have to do all the work...LOL!

[chautauquasun]

I finally got my boat over to Chris at CK Fiberglass and Canvas. He is going to replace my stringers and floor and carpet. I hope to start posting pictures of his progress in the next week. Here are few other small projects I have started. Have a long way to go. I also plan on replace the helm and steering cable, new rub rail, new strut bearings, refinsh all of the teak and metal pieces, maybe reupholster (may need to wait until next year) wet sand and polish and install a stereo system and speaks...not to mention fix all of the wiring and accessories that dont seem to be working. Here are a few pictures of some of the teak work I have done and wire brushing of the seat pedestals.

[chautauquasun]

Here is some of the teak refinishing I have been working on. The long rails go on top of my windshield...mine has the long windshield. Also the battery box cover. You will see in the pics how black it was when I got it. Love the lighter color after cleaning and lightening but you will see the oil darkens it quite a bit. Should look good once it is installed.

[chautauquasun]

Amazing what a wire wheel on a drill can accomplish. As you will see the aluminum bases were pretty corroded. The wire wheel really shined them up.

[saltare inverts]

Pedestals look great. If you want to go extra mile you can use a buffing wheel and your drill on them. If you do they will shine like a chrome bumper!

[dshaff24]

Saw your boat today when I dropped mine off, Looks like he is going to have his hands full with all the work he will have till spring! Anyway Post some pics I want to compare!

[Okie Boarder]

The teak is looking really nice. It is amazing the change that takes place when you clean it up. That seat pedestal looks good. I might do something similar to mine. Keep us posted on your progress.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Nice work bud!!!! She will be ready to be shown off this summer!!!!

[chautauquasun]

yeah...I am very excited about how she is going to run and look this summer. Looking at the engine and mounts again when I dropped her off...I think i was very lucky to get her through last summer without a catastrophe. The engine is leaning forward and to the left on the mounts pretty hard...I could see the shaft breaking or bending or the engine just tearing loose.

Very excited about having a new(old) boat this summer. going to be great.

[Okie Boarder]

Yeah, as I've torn mine apart I noticed some of the same type of thing. The wood really wasn't holding much anymore.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

The engine is leaning forward and to the left on the mounts pretty hard...

Wow! I wish I could see a pic of that somehow....

[Okie Boarder]

Mikey,

Maybe this pic will help. This was my left front engine mount area. See how the mount was actually cutting into the fiberglass?

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu144/OkieBoarder/Stringer%20Pics%20092209/IMG_6774.jpg

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Holy cow! As far as I can tell that is not happening in mine.... Thank you Oakie.

[Okie Boarder]

No prob. Yeah, my engine mount on that side looked like it was smooshed into the fiberglass a little, which I always thought was weird. It wasn't until the engine was out that I realized how bad it was.

[chautauquasun]

No prob. Yeah, my engine mount on that side looked like it was smooshed into the fiberglass a little, which I always thought was weird. It wasn't until the engine was out that I realized how bad it was.

Mikey...that is exactly what mine looked like but you could see on the stringer where mount was originally mounted and now where it sits...probably a good 1/4 or a little more forward. I will see if I can get a pic of the engine before Chris takes it out. Not sure what yours looks like but you can see the rubber bushings pushing forward on my engine so the the engine is leaning forward over the mounts rather than being overtop of the mounts. Like i said I think I got lucky last summer.

[csuggs]

Mikey...that is exactly what mine looked like but you could see on the stringer where mount was originally mounted and now where it sits...probably a good 1/4 or a little more forward. I will see if I can get a pic of the engine before Chris takes it out. Not sure what yours looks like but you can see the rubber bushings pushing forward on my engine so the the engine is leaning forward over the mounts rather than being overtop of the mounts. Like i said I think I got lucky last summer.


Sounds like you guys were in a little worse shape than mine. The motor on mine had not shifted nor had the mounts "sunk" into the stringer. But nearly half of the motor mount bolts would not tighten, so it probably would have been the next thing to have the motor shift. Making the decision to do the repairs is money well spent I guess, huh?

[chautauquasun]

Here are some initial pics of the tear down. You can see the top deck in the background. Just like he did on his boat's rebuild, Chris used a huge moveable boat lift. You can also see it in the background. It has B-52 wheels on it and you actually pick the boats up with it and transport them to the water. Never seen anything like it.

Feels good to have the build under way.

[dshaff24]

Here are some initial pics of the tear down. You can see the top deck in the background. Just like he did on his boat's rebuild, Chris used a huge moveable boat lift. You can also see it in the background. It has B-52 wheels on it and you actually pick the boats up with it and transport them to the water. Never seen anything like it.

Feels good to have the build under way.
Yeah it will not be long till its done, I was looking at your boat when I picked mine up and Id say the stringer's definitly put there time in!

all and all you will be happy with it when done

[Okie Boarder]

Very cool. Man, look at those huge boats in the background. Kinda dwarfs your boat, eh?

[chautauquasun]

Yeah it will not be long till its done, I was looking at your boat when I picked mine up and Id say the stringer's definitly put there time in!

all and all you will be happy with it when done


yeah the stringers are shot. Like I said..i think I am luck to have gotten through last summer without a major problem. Although it did create a few issues with the prop and driveshaft. the engine was leaning so far forward that it pulled the prop shaft forward so that the prop was basically grinding on the prop strut. you can see it on the strut as well as the prop. Also the shaft is bowing somewhat so after the engine is out I will have to check to see if it is bent.

Just got my prop back from refurbishing. Looks pretty good. few small issues but with what they were working with I guess I cant complain

[chautauquasun]

Very cool. Man, look at those huge boats in the background. Kinda dwarfs your boat, eh?
yeah...there are some huge boats there...what is amazing is that transport lift is designed to pick those big boats up and transport them across the street to the river. Wonder what their insurance looks like?

[dshaff24]

Wonder what their insurance looks like?

Lol That was the first thing I thought, Id love to put them boats in the water with that big machine!

Anyway back to your boat, I saw the shaft was about an inch or so forward, Did it effect the area where the shaft goes thru the hull any? Did you have any kind of a leak?

[Salty87]

chautauqua...take a close look at your strut before you get it all back together. mine was bent so bad you could see it was out of alignment but i never bothered to check. had to remove the shaft and pull the strut to bring it in. i bet all of our old set-ups were letting the motor move more than we thought or could see. kinda adds a pucker factor thinking about things that could have gone wrong.

[chautauquasun]

Salty

Yeah as soon as the engine is out I am going to remove the shaft. I was going to replace the shaft bearings anyway. Looking at the stut it seems okay an not bent but I will look at it again. I sent my prop out to proper pitch for repair and I talked to them about the shaft...they can straighten it and the cost was pretty reasonable. hoping it isnt but that is wishful thinking.

No problems from what I can tell in the shaft log through the hull...but will have a better look at it once the shaft is out.

[chautauquasun]

Here are a few of the old stringers and the current state of the boat. Should have the stringers in and glassed by the end of this week. We discovered that one of the previous owners had the deck off before and redid the floor and carpet but did not replace stringers. You can see the multiple rivet holes in the hull in one of the pics. May make it interesting putting it back together when trying to line up or drill new holes.

[Okie Boarder]

Looking good. So are the stringers going to be done in multiple pieces?

[dshaff24]

Whats your plans for your boat anyway? Just stringers? or more?

[iLikeBoats]

are you going to stick with the old ski pole?

[chautauquasun]

Sorry guys got busy with work and family. Here are a few new pics. I plan to keep the ski pole and really just restore the boat to what it looked like when it came from the factory. I kind of like the teak...dont know why but i do so I am going to keep with the classic look. I was going to redo the interior as well but I dont think it is in the budget for this year. Hoping to get it done and be able to use it all summer then finish the interior and some other details next fall/winter.

We are a little behind schedule but am hoping to have the floor finished and carpet installed by next week and the deck back on next week as well. Here are some recent pics. Not great ones. Chris has the stingers in and all glassed up and new foam. The boat is solid. Floors have been cut and pieced and should be in by the end of the week...then the final layers of glass.

[chautauquasun]

Here are a few more..

[chautauquasun]

I decided to use a different product for the teak. I had done a number pieces with natural teak oil but was not happy with the finish and found that it is already starting to discolor again and it isnt even on the boat. I did some research and talked to a few guys and found that Sikkens Natural Teak may be a better way to go. I keeps the teak looking more natural and lighter in color and it sounds like it should last 3-4 years. I used the satin product...and you can use a nylon scrub to take the satin shine off. Looks pretty good...now I have to decide if I want to strip and the pieces i already oiled...

Here are some before and after shots of the back grab rail. They are a bit shiny in the picture because I just finished apply a 3rd coat. Dries to more of a satin appearance. You can also use a nylon scrub to remove any shine....I like the look and hope the maintenance is a lot less.

[chautauquasun]

It is fir and is going to be resined then layer of fiberglass. He was going to use pressure treated but it was too wet to cover with fiberglass. He tried drying out the pressure treated first but found that the drying process caused it to warp. He actually spoke with George Fowler who originally built the boat and he said to use...the type of fir plywood. I am sure there are a dozen ways to rebuild these boats with all different materials. He is going to fiberglass it up tight so I think it should be good. It is built way better now than it was when it left the factory.

[chautauquasun]

I have some other pics on my work computer of the oiled teak. I will post the pictures of the oil the Sikkens to compare.

[chautauquasun]

That teak looks great. I was gonna start restoring mine this weekend. I take it Sikkens is not on the left two pics.
Where do you buy? Does it dry fast and how many coats are you using? I think that looks very natural. For the amount of work it takes to do these boats, it should last 3-4 years.

Let me know. Thanks.

Thanks ngavdba...I love the look of your boat and that is part of the reason I decided to keep mine orignal.

The left two pieces are just after I put the teak cleaner on them. I forgot to take a pic of them before I put the cleaner on. Basically looked about the same in color but not wet.

I bought a quart at the West Marine Store here in Pittsburgh. I talked to the guy that owns the store who also owns a large cruiser with lots of teak. He said he did his and it lasted about 4 years before he started to see signs of weathering.

It does dry fast so you have to work kind of fast and becareful not to leave brush strokes. I just take the brush and do a quick pass over the wood so it is one long continuous stroke. I am using 4 coats. You have to let it dry 24 hours in between coats. Before applying a new coat I take a nylon scrub...dish scrub and use it to lightly sand any imperfections. The nylon scrub works well because it does not remove much of the product and makes it feel smooth. It should last about 4 years which is way better than the teak oil which seems to last about 3 weeks.

[brack]

funny thing , in my shop i have some of my teak some with just a can of teak oil from lowes and a few done with Sikkens ( my boss gave it to me becuase he didnt like the gloss ) I like the natural look of just the plain oil , but the Sikkens product is really starting to look good to me . .. Going to put on 3 coats ( his advice ) and see how it looks ...

[sybrmike]

Looking good, Chat. Glad to see you're keeping the hat rack, um pylon.

Just a friendly suggestion - I'd replace that PVC elbow on your water intake with bronze and add a bronze shut off valve before your hose. Wouldn't want to rely on a plastic fitting to keep my ski-boat from becoming a u-boat.

Hope she's back on the water soon.

[Okie Boarder]

Chat,

I used doug fir plywood too, upon the recommendation of some of the guys on another forum. Marine just uses a different glue and pressure treated has issues with moisture and resin adherence, from what I've read and been told. I coated all my wood with CPES, then resin and glass. Even with them not using CPES, the resin and glass on the wood will be plenty. My whole boat is doug fir lumber or plywood. Are they glassing both sides of the plywood?

The boat is looking good. It won't be long now and it will be ready to float.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

87 Mikey is gonna be upset now that you're keeping the pole. Oh well when you go skiing by him at 37 mph, be sure to wave.


Hahahaha! You got me there! I don't go faster than 25 anymore most of the time lolz. I will be sure to wave to your passangers that will all be sitting in the bow. :)

[chautauquasun]

No problem on the question...sorry If I came off the wrong way with my post...sometimes things get lost in translation when typing.

I hear you on the perfectionist thing. I suffer from it as well....it is no doubt a good thing but I also find it to be a curse to me sometimes. There have been a few things that I have discussed with Chris during the rebuild that were different than some of the others on here. We talked about the pros and cons of each approach then we made decisions on how best to proceed. I am sure there will be some things I will want to change later but I think all in all the rebuild is going well and I am going to have a much stronger and more durable boat than what came out of the factory.

Thank you to all for all the comments and well wishes...

Floor is in and glassed in...however, we found another problem with the rudder. Looks like a crack in the fiberglass let water into the wooden rudder mount and rotted it out...also I didnt realize it but looks like I bent the rudder shaft last year when I accidental dragged it on the boat ramp. The mount has been repaired but I have to get the rudder shaft straighted...looks like it is about 3 degrees out. anybody have any ideas? I am thinking BFHammer...but that probably isnt the best way.

Going to check with ProperPitch that did my prop. They straighten drive shafts so I am thinking they maybe able to straigten rudders. I am thinking it probably needs heated up then straightened but dont know exactly.

Anybody run into this issue before?

[sybrmike]

Sorry to hear about the rudder. Can probably be straightened by a good prop shop. For reference, I recently discovered my strut is bent & was quoted 60 bucks to straighten it.

[chautauquasun]

Just got a quote for ProperPitch in Delaware for $65 to straighten it. I have to add shipping to that back and forth so it may be better to look for a local prop shop and see what they quote me. Sounds like it shouldnt be a big deal....a lot better than buying a new one $400.

[chautauquasun]

Okie

Same...CPES on the underside...resin and glass on the top. Should be good to go for a while.

[dshaff24]

I believe the factory used 1/2 plywood and What we have is 5/8 so im really wondering hose the top mates with the hull! I need to test this but my boats not ready yet!

[Okie Boarder]

Chat,

If you still can do it, think about adding a layer of glass to the underside. I was told the plywood likes to "check" and the glass on the bottom helps with that long term. I just used a 4 oz glass cloth.

dshaff,

This was one issue I ran into. Be prepared the top won't fit down exactly like it did. I stillhad plent of material at the mating area so I just drilled new holes to put everything back together and I'm going to shift my rub rail to cover it.

[chautauquasun]

I believe the factory used 1/2 plywood and What we have is 5/8 so im really wondering hose the top mates with the hull! I need to test this but my boats not ready yet!

Chris said my stringers and floors on the Rider were very different than your Sunsport. I believe he used 3/4 on mine and that my floor sits a lot lower than yours. When we took mine apart we found that it had been apart before and new holes were drilled so mine is going to be interesting because now we are talking about potentially a third set of holes in the hull. Fortunately, I am letting Chris put the deck back on.

How did you paint your motor...did you take it apart or parts of to paint or did you do a good masking job? It looks fantastic.

[chautauquasun]

Chat,

If you still can do it, think about adding a layer of glass to the underside. I was told the plywood likes to "check" and the glass on the bottom helps with that long term. I just used a 4 oz glass cloth.

dshaff,

This was one issue I ran into. Be prepared the top won't fit down exactly like it did. I stillhad plent of material at the mating area so I just drilled new holes to put everything back together and I'm going to shift my rub rail to cover it.

Ill check into the glass on the bottom side. I have had conflicting info from different people on that underside. I have had two marina's that do floor work and Chris say not to fiberglass the bottom so that any moisture can escape. Supposedly the fir is also supposed to be better at allowing moisture to escape...but what do I know...I sell 401k plans for a living.

[dshaff24]

Hows things going? Everything working out?

[chautauquasun]

Hey guys looks like everyone is getting out on the water and enjoying their new boats and rebuilt boats. Mine is almost complete. i apologize for dropping off here for a while. I have gotten extremely busy with leading my division through a buyout and the boat took a back seat. I have to get my priorities straight don' t I :). Sorry I have not been diligent about updating my thread. I am hoping to have her in the water this weekend. Chris did a great job with the stringers, floors and carpet and putting her all back together. I am finishing things up with a new helm and steering cable, putting in all of the teak and reinstalling the swim platform. I am hoping to finsh up cleaning her up and buffing her this weekend but we will see. I will post some updated pics.

Hope all is well with everyone. I hope to be back among the living this weekend.

[mapleleaf]

Boating doesn't come first in your life? What a shame! No, we got to pay for it somehow right? And I do mean pay!!

Still need to work on my teak and after seeing yours and I thought I would knock it out quickly. But I started to use my boat every weekend now and won't break it down cause I can't get it started or finished during the week due to all my work obligations. My teak may just have to wait till fall.

Good to hear about the progress and hope to see pics soon.

I've got the same, wait til fall list myself!!!!
Dan, Glad you're chiming in on your rebuild, and that it went well. Hope you're 2nd maiden voyage goes great.....
Probably gonna be down on the Alleghany late July early August!!!!

[dshaff24]

I been wondering how things been!

[sybrmike]

Welcome back, Chat.

Glad to hear of your progress. I'm still woefully behind schedule (damn work schedule). Sounds like you're getting close. Good luck!

[Ironcross25]

chataquasun,
Do you happen to have the contact info for the guy doing your stringer job? if so could you email it to me at [email protected]. I think I am staring a stringer job in the face and dont think I wanna try to do it myself, but that all depends on what the going rate is.

[dshaff24]

chataquasun,
Do you happen to have the contact info for the guy doing your stringer job? if so could you email it to me at [email protected]. I think I am staring a stringer job in the face and dont think I wanna try to do it myself, but that all depends on what the going rate is.

412 951 1055 His name is chris

[Ironcross25]

thank you. i will call him today