A hearty Homer Simpson "Doh"! - At least now I've got a really cool brass paper weight with "SUPRA" cast into the side...Quote:
Originally Posted by Salty87
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A hearty Homer Simpson "Doh"! - At least now I've got a really cool brass paper weight with "SUPRA" cast into the side...Quote:
Originally Posted by Salty87
that thing is worth its weight in gold almost.
removing rotted wood from the stringers sounds great and probably isn't too hard with crumbled mush but what about wet, solid wood? as long as he gets it all out and covers the tops good, you should be fine. i'd still want some drainage, personally. composites are great but water has a unique way of messing most things up. the floor will still be encapsulated wood, water/moisture will find a way in. i don't think the weight difference between wood or 'seacast-like' will be significant. lastly, i'd prefer some mechanical fasteners holding the floor down but it's not the only way.
is this guy giving any sort of warranty? can you stop by and check on the progress often? wood-less stringers wouldn't suck.
Oh man, not what I wanted to hear. I only want it off to replace the shaft packing since I have a slight leak. Maybe I can get enough slack in there to back off the nut and get some packing material in there.Quote:
Originally Posted by sybrmike
Did you try using a puller of some sort?
Hmmm, I'm skeptical of the technique. To me, the best way to do this is to completely remove the old stuff and start fresh. Anything I've seen anyone talk about less than that sounds like trouble. It might be OK for a few years, but that would be it.
I tried a pickle fork (what I had) between the tiller arm & packing nut. Drove it pretty hard with a 3# sledge, but didn't go all out in fear of really screwing things up. I'd try a real puller & reducing the OD of the top 1/4" of the rudder shaft. It's "supposed" to slide right off once you release the side load pressure from the all-thread. I was able to drive the tiller arm down against the packing nut to remove the key & could have worked on the top of the rudder shaft then. Probably a mute point anyway - I don't have a micrometer, but I think my shaft was worn beyond usefullness (I can see where the packing nut had worn the shaft & had lots of side to side play).
Yeah, solid stringers wouldn't suck. I definetely would have inspection milestones (only about 40 minutes away) - primary one seeing it all prepped before the pour. They use a variety of methods to get the wood out - even chainsaws (deep transom replacement). I forgot the specifics of the warranty, but yes.
I'm also leaning towards letting the subfloor breathe somehow.
Speaking of letting it breathe - I finally got the first layer of plywood off the floor that the PO had installed directly on top of the original. The original didn't look too bad actually with only a soft spot on each side. The only bad sign was the mushy rear bulkheads in front of the mufflers. O.K., maybe only need a partial patch job.
Well while removing some more bilge hardware, I sprang a streaming leak into the bilge when I removed a hose clamp screw from an inner stringer - not good. Guess what I found lurking below the original floor? Typical rotted cross braces, saturated foam, and even standing water ~ 3" deep in one compartment - this after sitting in a dry garage for 3 months.
Oh well, so much for the solid motor mounts - be curious to see what they're really like even though the bolts are tight? Still looking at options for the repair. Don't think work's gonna let me DIY this in any reasonable timeframe. Looks like it's time for the proverbial BOAT - Break Out Another Thousand (or two, or three, ...)
Sybrmike...thanks for pointing me this direction on dshaff thread, looks like we may be in similiar places. I'm going to pull more of my floor up and see if I find lots of water like you did. If I do, I was thinking my first cost/effort control move would be to cut a couple breather holes at the bottom of stringers. Best case, the wood inside is solid and I glass around those holes and put a new floor back on knowing the water will drain and bilge going forward. If the wood is rotten I'll know I have to re-do stringers. Thoughts?
Comp,
If you haven't done so yet, do a search here - "stringers", "rotten", "rebuild", etc. and you'll find several great threads on what you're likely to find lurking down below... Like ngavdba said, the problem is inherent to the design - unprotected wood (cross braces, notched joints, underside of ply) with foam poured in direct contact. After 20+ years water is going to find its way down there with no way out and begin the rot process. Depending on how much water and for how long, it can mean a relatively minor patch job or a complete rebuild. You just never know for sure until you open it up, but most have found pretty extensive damage. I hope you're one of the luckier ones...
Sybrmike...thanks, and I will indeed take a closer look in the next couple days and search on those key words. The other option (I've had the boat for 12 years myself and gotten lots of joy out of it, but it only has 650 hrs and runs great) I've entertained is selling it to someone else who is better situated for the extensive stringer job and buying a new (old) one. I've found quite a few in $10k-$15k range which are mid-90's age. Two questions...
1. It appears you bought yours knowing there could be quite a bit work needed, mind sharing (PM if you do) the purchase price so I get an idea what I can expect market value to be?
2. Any idea whether Supra addressed this design flaw (no breather holes) in a certain year going forward (ie. 1990 forward) to avoid the standing water/rot problem?
Yep, looks a lot like mine. Surprisingly I only found a couple areas where there was "standing" water. I cut out my last stringer last night. There were a couple areas I was cutting where water oozed from the wood a bit. Just as a point of reference, I started taking it apart in September and it hasn't seen outdoors or water since then. Pretty amazing that portions are still damp / wet, huh?
Oh...edit:
Supra addressed this problem with their new designs. They're now using the NW method. NW = No Wood! he he.