1988 Supra Mariah Floor Restoration

[cjtpilot]

Got 99% of the grinding done on the bottom of the hull, and all of the transom removed. Spent a lot of time this weekend with the 9" sander getting the bulk of the grinding done, and used the 2" grinder to get things tuned up nicely. Preparation is key, so I've been going over it with a fine tooth comb. I just need to finish grinding the transom and I can start rebuilding. I am going to make the transom one piece instead of 5. Swim deck brackets will also have a nice aluminum plate backing for added support. One of the screws for a speedometer pickup went right into a stringer, I'm sure that didn't help things!

Some pics of the progress. That blue/green glue peeled off in sheets from the transom. What a pain in the rear that was! I spent a lot of time grinding that glue off of the hull from underneath the stringers so I get a good bond to the hull.

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We were just discussing doing one solid piece on Jetlink's Comp this weekend for the transom.

[lmnelson86]

We were just discussing doing one solid piece on Jetlink's Comp this weekend for the transom.

I find it odd that the transom isn't one piece from the factory. I can only assume that since the only load bearing surface is where the swimdeck attaches, they just piecemealed the rest of the transoms together as necessary for the tie down hooks and whatever else they needed. No big deal now as it will all be replaced as one solid, dry piece! Looking forward to the rebuilding process

[lmnelson86]

Well I was able to finish all of the grinding on the boat, except for whatever little bumps and bruises may appear when bedding the stringers and rebuilding. Thank god that is over, what a mess!

After I ground and cleaned the transom, I noticed some irregularities in the layup. There seems to be an overlap of layers of glass smack in the middle of the transom, so I may have to end up doing the transom in three pieces. My thoughts are to do the middle/top in a "T" Shape, and then do the two swim platform mount areas. One piece would be ideal if this were a perfectly smooth surface, but because it is not, I would like to have more surface area to glass to than just the perimeter of one big piece. This will also separate the outer swim deck pieces from the main piece in case (god forbid) any water does end up leaking in. This also gives me more surface area to fiberglass to as well.

Attached are two pictures, the picture labeled with 1,2,3 is what I am thinking of doing at this point. The other picture is how the transom was originally setup, which appeared to be in 7 pieces. Turns out it was actually 5, the dotted lines show were the center portion was just an additional piece of plywood on top of the piece that spanned the top from left to right due to the step in the hull. These pictures were taken before I finished grinding. All of the glue and excess glass is gone.

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[lmnelson86]

Double Post

[lmnelson86]

I spent Sunday cutting and fitting new pieces for the transom. I decided against doing one piece for the transom due to irregularities in the hull. I didn't want to have empty voids due to changes in thickness of the glass, or have to spend time cutting and trimming the back of the plywood for these "bumps." First I cut the piece of 1/2" that spans the back of the hull to pad it out and make the face of the transom one even surface. This is three pieces from the factory, mine is now one piece. I then cut the individual swim deck side pieces and the center section from 3/4" plywood. Once all cut and trimmed, I coated the backsides with resin to cure overnight. Hopefully Tuesday night I can get these pieces installed on the transom, and then glass them in on Wednesday evening.

All of these pieces will be bedded on the back and bottom with what is called "Gunk." Its a polyester resin based "bondo", just like most other stuff used for similar purposes. Luckily I live in a city littered with marinas and boat storage/repair facilities, so we have a store in town that specializes in fiberglass sales. No online ordering for me, and if the store is closed you can just call the guy at home and he is always more than happy to open the store to help you with your project so you don't have to sit and wait. Can't beat that.

Spent the first hour or two of my morning cleaning the garage and setting up the table saw for the day. First cut the 1/2" plywood to pad out the transom, and then cut the other three pieces. Another reason I decided to not go with the one piece transom is if, god forbid, the swim deck holes were to leak and get the wood wet. I would simply have to replace individual pieces instead of the whole thing. I'm hoping this never happens again, but at least it makes life easier for whoever owns it twenty years from now.

Enjoy. Comments/Thoughts/Ideas welcome!


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[Jetlink]

Are you planning or in need of replacing the wood under your rudder port and the strut backing plate?

[lmnelson86]

Are you planning or in need of replacing the wood under your rudder port and the strut backing plate?

Everything seems to be OK at this point, but I may tear it out because now is the time. How often do these actually rot? I was almost afraid to touch it.

[lmnelson86]

Everything seems to be OK at this point, but I may tear it out because now is the time. How often do these actually rot? I was almost afraid to touch it.

Well I hopped in the boat and checked it out at lunch, all of the wood for the rudder port and backing plate seem super solid. I may cut a small window into one of the pieces for a quick visual, but I think I'm good.

[Jetlink]

Everything seems to be OK at this point, but I may tear it out because now is the time. How often do these actually rot? I was almost afraid to touch it.

I did some exploratory checking of mine and the wood is shot on mine.

[lmnelson86]

I was able to finish glassing the transom Saturday morning, and got both main stringers cut and the bottoms shaped to the hull by the end of Sunday. Didn't get done as much as I'd like, but we had some family over Saturday and I needed a second set of hands on Sunday so I waited for my brother to get home and help. Still happy with progress though. Tonight I am going to grind a lot of the grey paint out from the center of the hull so the new glass has something fresh to stick to. I ripped two 12" pieces of luan and screwed them together as a template so I didn't have to lug around a 2x12x16 all afternoon.

By the end of the weekend I hope to have both main stringers cut to their final height, bedded to the hull, and have the outer stringers cut and bedded as well. Maybe I'll get lucky and have the time to trim out the wood for stringers around the motor mount portions as well.

Do you guys use 1/2" or 3/4" for the floor? My floor was such a mess, I never really did pay attention to what thickness it was. I suppose either would suffice. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. This project has been lots of fun so far, glad I decided to do a cap-off resto. There really is no other way to do it!

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