advice needed

[Russ Pagenkopf]

Hi folks,

Here's the story. I just bought an older 14' fiberglass runabout with a
45hp outboard (for $500) and after doing some initial work I've got some
questions.

I spent today basically gutting the interior as all the wood flooring and
seats were waterlogged and mushy (BAD THING). Upon removal of the flooring
I discovered that there are/were two 2x6's that run the length of the boat
that were fiberglassed in but the wood and fiberglass have badly
deteriorated (VERY BAD THING) and I'm resigned to having to cut these out
and replace them. There are also custom cut stringers that run across the
boat that will also have to be replaced. Now I don't mind cutting the wood
and doing the fiberglassing, but the question here is what can I treat the
wood with before I fiberglass it in to help it resist having this happen
again? I'm going to need to put screws through the fiberglass and wood to
anchor the new floor.

Next, the floor will be made out of plywood (without the bloody
water-sucking carpet this time) and while I could fiberglass it as well,
what are some alternatives?

I picked up a can of No.10 Green Preservative from Cuprinol that I've used
on some of the wood I've already replaced in other areas; would this work?

If I use the No.10 could I fiberglass over it? Anyone done this?

Last question (for now :), anyone know of any sources of manuals or
otherwise for McCulloch outboards? This one runs well enough, I'd just
like to get some documentation for it.

Thanks for any help.

rus (who's now proving to himself that a boat is a hole in the water that
he's rapidly pouring money into)

Russ Pagenkopf (ru...@ism.net)

--
Russ Pagenkopf (ru...@ism.net)

[Chris Crandall]

Russ Pagenkopf (ru...@ism.net) wrote:
:Here's the story. I just bought an older 14' fiberglass runabout with a
:I spent today basically gutting the interior as all the wood flooring and

:seats were waterlogged and mushy (BAD THING). Upon removal of the flooring
:I discovered that there are/were two 2x6's that run the length of the boat
:that were fiberglassed in but the wood and fiberglass have badly
:deteriorated (VERY BAD THING) and I'm resigned to having to cut these out
:and replace them.

:what can I treat the wood with before I fiberglass it in to help it

:resist having this happen again?

Resist the temptation to put pressure-treated wood (cedar or southern
yellow pine), as the process dramatically reduces strength and
flexibility of the wood.

: I'm going to need to put screws through the fiberglass and wood to
: anchor the new floor.

You best bet is to keep the water away from the wood. Epoxy is one good
solution, and you can coat the wood with 3 coats of epoxy after it has
been fully shaped, and then install it (again, using epoxy is probably OK
here).

What should you do about the screws through the glass into the stringers,
though? You may wish to cut out drill holes, fill this with epoxy and
filler, and then set the screws into the epoxy instead of the wood. Or,
you might use bedding compound, marine sealant, or (worst of all) the
dreaded silicone.

-Chris

[Wes Gardner]

Possible Q & N (Quick and Nasty)
Get some doug fir for stringers and glass those suckers in there. Drill holes as
nexessary bed in any fasteners with 52 (that's 3-M's miracle goo 5200) and
that boat will probably last longer than you and I (or a least till you sell it to
some other . . . )
Good Luck