Delamination...

[396_Z]

Well I got my boat home last night and went out today to inspect how bad the damage was. Not good...
First it's 18'2" but I still don't know the exact make. I bought it knowing the interior floor was delaminating but I didn't notice how bad it was untill today. The entire floor is stress cracked and several spots are peeling up. The stringers are also delaminating over about 70% of it's surface. In a couple of spot on the floor where the glass has already peeled up there is plywood underneath that has started to surface rot.
On the exterior there are some shallow stress cracks but nothing shows on the inside and all of the cracks are on the top surface except a few that are on the sides. It's about a 70 and it's still wearing it's factory gel, that'll be changing this winter. Suprisingly the bottom of the hull is in better shape than the rest, no problems that I can see with it on the trailer.
The V-drive looks to be in great shape but I thought all Casale drives were water cooled? Mine has two bosses labeled water but they aren't drilled or anything. The propshaft looks to be in perfect shape and the prop itself has some surface rust but not one nick or ding. Gears are in the range of 22's or 32's.
The cav plate only has about 5/8" up/down travel over 9 positions, no overide pedal.
The engine is out. 428 Ford with Basset OT's. The previous owner pulled it before last winter to overhaul it and failed to protect the interior and snow got in causing the worst of the damage. I paid $2000 for everything including the tandam axle trailer (no dam brakes on it either). The up side of the deal is the engine has been overhauled and the Bassetts are brand new.
So whats the best way to repair the hull? The stringers are 30+ years old but are dry and solid. I'm thinking the best thing to do is grind out the whole floor where the damage is and reglass the entire area vs spot repairs. With the rotting wood can I router that down to dry and use 1/4" ply as patch repair before glass? Should I replace the stringers or go with the ones that are there after removing the loose glass? Did I get screwed?
This is my first boat but I'm not a newbie to them. I'm experienced with glass repair so I'm not afraid of the work and since my bud has a 30' garage I can do all the work inside where it's dry. I also drive a tow truck on the weekends so lifting it off the trailer is not an issue. I've been reading everything here I can since I made the purchase arrangements for it and you guys seem to know what needs to be done. I can also get pics tomorrow if I get off work early enough, just let me know if you want to see anything specific.
Sorry about the book,
-Mike

[superdave013]

sounds like you will have a busy winter.
A good person to talk to about fiberglass and gel coat is Havasu Barney. He has his own site and even has a forum just for gel & glass talk. Here is the link if you want to poke around over there.
Barney's gel & glass fourm
Clean that prop up and have it mag checked for cracks. Most likely it's still ok but check it to be sure. I would not sweat the cooling of your v-drive. Unless you are going endurance racing it will be fine.
Can't wate to see the pics. I bet someone from here can identify your hull.

[boatguy222]

396,
I might be able to help you out, if you want to bring it up it Eugene, I do do glass work and Iam about 900 miles closer that Havasu Barney. Don't get me wrong, he does good work, SD boat is a great example.
From what you have described you got quite a project going. and I'd be more that happy to look it over and give you my opnion.
Marc

[superdave013]

I was just giving him a place to go to chat about glass is all. From reading his post it sounded like he was going to do it his self. But yes, If I was in the north west I would have droped off my boat with you for sure.

[boatguy222]

superdave013:
I was just giving him a place to go to chat about glass is all. From reading his post it sounded like he was going to do it his self. But yes, If I was in the north west I would have droped off my boat with you for sure.SD,
It's not a problem, I just wanted him to know that there was somewere else to go.
Thanks,
Marc

[DaveA]

396,
Your boat sounds nearly identical when it comes to hull condition as mine is, a 72 Raysoncraft 18LP (lo profile) hull. Here's where it stands, FWIW.
The hull sat outside full of oak leaves for about 18 months and got water thru every crack and bolt hole in the aft 6'. Delammed the bottom, but didn't do too much damage to the stringers.
I've cut all the glass off the stringers (lifted off nice as could be up to about the v-drive) using a carbide tipped skil saw blade and die grinder. In the Rayson hull, they laid the bottom in the mold, then the stringers, and then laid 1/4" plywood down on each side of the stringer. No, the stringer didn't sit on top of the ply. The ply went out to about 1-2 inches inboard of the chine, and they left about 8" to 10" open along the keel. This got built up with layers and layers of cloth/resin. The ply stopped where the cavitation plate started, so the cav plate bolts thru multi layers of cloth/resin, laid just like the keel. Two layers of glass & resin went over the rest.
My plan- I've cut off the glass off the stringers, as I mentioned, and have cut out the glass tanks (PHEW- ply absorbed gas like crazy!) and the glass over the ply in the bottom. I've taken an air chisel with a wide blade and gouged the plywood off the bottom up to about the v-drive area. There's good wood/glass there, but I'm going all the way to the front bulkhead. I'm hoping that I can use balsa and epoxy to repair it all, and tie the stringers back into the bottom at the same time. Gotta make all the cuts nice and straight before I put the balsa back in. I haven't cut thru the bottom anywhere, but I'm not worried if I do. It'll get flipped once the inside's done, to true the bottom up. When I visited Rudy Ramos in April, we devised a layup schedule to use.
I'm all fired up to get this done somehow since Stumpy brought his freshly built Mandella over to the house Sat evening, and it has a balsa bottom in it. Looks trick. Goes like a bat, too.
Neighbors haven't been the same since we went roaring around this part of the lake with the open headers!!
Sorry about this book too. Hope it helps somehow.
DaveA

[396_Z]

Thanks for all the advice guys, it helps.
I'd have pics but I came home from work sick today and proceeded to go straight to bed at 12:30 and only got up about 3 hours ago. I'm taking tomorrow off so I should be able to get them up.
BoatGuy, I'd appreciate the input but I'm 165 miles from Eugene, down here in Klamath Falls so I think it might be a little far and I work 7 days a week for now, thanks anyway.
Dave your describing my problems exactly, my hull is laid up the same way so I'm really thinking it's a Rayson. Theres enough of a cracking problem that I really think I'd be better off starting at the transom and taking all the glass off up to where the cracks stop and then I can remove the ply and build it back up from there. I was thinking a layer of heavy weight cloth and then a layer of mat both with epoxy resin to come back up to original thickness.

[boatguy222]

BoatGuy, I'd appreciate the input but I'm 165 miles from Eugene, down here in Klamath Falls so I think it might be a little far and I work 7 days a week for now, thanks anyway.
Dude,
I'd thought I'd offer, I like to see stuff before I give my opnion, but from the sounds of things you'er on the right track. If I can help, let me know, and Good Luck
Marc

[DaveA]

396,
I'll go back and look at my notes for the repair layup schedule that Rudy Ramos gave me. Give me a few days; it's in my Daytimer somewhere and I've gotta make sense of all the chicken scratching I did.
Once you post some pix we'll give you some idea of whose hull it is.
DaveA