91 Impulse wood repairs

[dannyrds]

I bought my 91 Impulse about 5 years ago knowing that the floors were soft and going to need repairs. I was able to use it for 2 summers but then decided the floors were getting unsafe, I slowly took parts off it for the last couple years, interior/gas tank/dash, rear floors and foam etc... But I am now diving into it, in the last week I removed the swim grid, rub rail, vents, motor, and other bits. Today we removed the top cap, only took 15 minutes to actually lift it off and set it down. After that we removed the rest of the floor and all foam. We also gutted the left side stringer in preparation for the fitment of a new one that we will be cutting tomorrow, we left the right side intact for reference. I am planning on working on it consecutive days with 2 part time helpers and having top cap back on in next 10 days... wish me luck. We have noticed that stringer rot is worst around areas where blocking and braces are. We are going to put some "limber" holes in the stringers to allow was to flow into the bilge, using different foam, leaving cavities open so they can breathe instead of trapping water that might get in. Some changes and one the fly improvements. Other plans include replacing gauges, interior, carpet, stereo, tune up, teak grid and some others.

Pics

[dannyrds]

[dannyrds]

[dannyrds]

[ngavchris]

Nice work... Thanks for all the pictures. Good luck on your project.

[chris young]

I've got a quick kind of unrelated question. I that trailer aluminum or steel? The reason I'm asking is I'm toying with building an aluminum trailer, and I need to know how big the the frame rails need to be. I've never seen a steel trailer that is channel, but I've seen an aluminum one.

[dannyrds]

The trailer is steel

I've got a quick kind of unrelated question. I that trailer aluminum or steel? The reason I'm asking is I'm toying with building an aluminum trailer, and I need to know how big the the frame rails need to be. I've never seen a steel trailer that is channel, but I've seen an aluminum one.

[dannyrds]

In the last two days we have made both stringers, gutted the right side stringer, made the pieces for the motor mount area, cut and fit the out floor supports. then I noticed the fiberglass on the transom was cracked, check that out and found the wood was rotten, so we gutted all the pieces on the transom, then noticed the prop strut support and rudder support were cracked, more rotten wood, so now we have replaced 100% of the original wood in the boat. The transom pieces, rudder box, shaft strut and outer floor supports are all glued in. Tomorrow we will be fitting all the "dams" in the floor, drilling drain holes, making the floor etc...

[dannyrds]