hidden problems, HELP!

[salvagefirst]

purchased a 1989 23cc last june, looked around the boat shows and decided to replace the 200 merc with a 250 suzi or E-tec carried the boat to a repair shop they said the transom seems solid that he wouldnt be afraid to hang a 4 stroke on it.so i am calling around trying to get the best deal possible, while im waiting, i ll just fix that little soft spot between my console and leaning post,now i have found a bad tank, rotten tank support left stringer loose from the hull and the foam wet in the bottem of both stringers.First question,where would you cut the floor out for stringer repair, What weight fiberglass and type of epoxy to fasten the stringers,i plan on building a new fuel tank deck and using strips with 5200, The foam seams to be what killed it the first time and will the stringers dry out or do i need to remove the foam and refoam them any info would be very helpful

[FELLOW-SHIP]

Hi Salvagefirst
Welcome to the board and sorry about all the problems on your 89. Looks like if I were you I would take nothing for granted on this boat. First off you should remove the CC and leaning post with all the wire, motor, tank hatch, tank and the deck under the tank. You might have already done this but if not you need to just to make the next decisions. Next is determining what to really do about the stringers and the deck. (Maybe at this point you could just drill 1” holes in the stringers to help drain the water or maybe you will have to cut the tops off the stringers and rewove the foam out of the inside they re foam and glass over the tops again. Maybe the one loose stringer isn’t so bad that it could be re glassed into place maybe you will have to replace the whole thing. Basically you will need to keep on digging until you find a solid starting point. As for the decks they might need replacing this would be a great time to do that and maybe the transom needs replacement and this would be a great time for that as well. I had to do my entire boat and I moved on the premises “When In Doubt Cut It Out” you might need some help/advice regarding where to start the re building point from. I would take some good pictures and post them or get someone to help you make some suggestions first. As for glass and materials my guess you will need a verity of methods for each part of this project undertake. I personally love epoxy for repair work and there is a lot of info regarding the how too’s after you determine where to start.
FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[salvagefirst]

Pulled the merc sunday afternoon found the transom rotted as well, sent finster some picks this morning i might try to lift the whole liner up its already loose from the hull,ordered a new 136 gallon tank from rd tanks, they built the original,They beat everybody by 3 to 4 hundred dollars. Has anybody run a 225 or 250 4 stroke without a bracket?

[Finster]

From the pic's it all looks pretty standard issue.

[Bryan A.]

Looks like a typical SC project. I want to see more pics of the Tri five.

[FELLOW-SHIP]

If it were my boat I thing I would postpone the stringer decision for now, I think I would drill some holes in them to see what comes out First lets say every 2 ‘ or so close the bottom of the stringers in all the concerning arrears leave open, dry and move on. Then I would do the transom as my first real project. I would raise the transom to 30” and buy your motor accordingly, by the way 225 or 250 is a great choice on the transom for your boat. Then after the transom done go back to the stringers and make your decision. From your pictures it looks to me that they could be repaired not replaced if they are dry in there. You could grind out the cracks and add 2 or more layers of glass and tie them back to the deck. Then after that make your deck for the gas tank and install it after that check out the boat deck if ok put the tank in and in just a little time after that your project will starts looking like a boat again. When my boat was in the ugly duckling stage I had a guy chasing me down for over a mile by car trying to ask me if I was taking the heap of cr*p to the dump and if I was could he have it.
FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[Bigshrimpin]

Just like fellowship said . . . Those stringers are tabbed to the hull . . . they are pre formed outside the hull and then glued (tabbed) in place with fiberglass tape (18oz roving and 1/2oz cloth). Those bonds should never come apart . . they didn't do the prep work (i.e. sand clean with acetone). This is why tracker gets a bad reputation.

Anyhoo . . to fix: Get a cutting wheel or a thin disc for a 4inch grinder and run it along the base of the cracked tabbing on the stringers. Remove the old tabbing. Dry out the stringer (maybe some 2 inch holes evenly spaced). When the area is dry prep the hull and the bottom 4 inches of the stringer . . . clean the area with acetone. Buy 25yards of 6" wide 1708 or 1808 fiberglass tape and a gallon of epoxy.

www.uscomposites.com

Tab the stringers back in place ( if 6" isn't wide enough you can "widen repair) by overlapping of the layers . . . make sure that the overlap covers the seem i.e. where the stringer and hull meet).

3 or 4 layers of 1808 should be enough.

[thedink9]

Hi Salvagefirst

I have a '85 23' in what appears to be the same layout and went through some of the work you have in front of you, over the past year. For the stringers, I found a number of voids where the foam must have been poured too quickly. I found you could actually sound them out with a rubber hammer. Drill access holes above these points near the top of the stringer, at least 1" in diameter. I would also drill drain holes along the entire bottom edge of the wet stringer. I used a couple portable fans aimed at the top holes and eventually over a few weeks, dried up the foam. Then patch the lower holes as Big Shrimpin described and pour new foam (SLOWLY) into all of the access holes on top. I actually used a complete one quart kit on my stringers, that were supposed to be filled at the factory. Once cured, patch the top holes and you onto the Fuel deck . There are many threads on the site on fuel deck replacement. I found that bedding a 3/4" epoxy coated piece of marine ply, into a strip of fiberglass putty, along both edges worked for me. The putty is available in a gallon size from Mertons supply, and has many other uses in the repair process as well. I covered the top and tabbed up the sides about 6 incles, with a 6oz mat and a layer or two of 1808 biax cloth. Hopefully bulletproof hereafter. I built a rear edge onto the deck, as well. Regarding attaching your tank to the deck, I also used 1/4" strips w/ 5200 to attach but I didn't foam the tank back in. Instead, I layed a small strip ( 1/2 x 1") of foamcore between the tank and the stringer on both sides. These strips take up any of the spacing in which the tank could move side to side. Between the 5200 strips on the bottom, the rear edge and these foam strips I do not believe the tank is going anywhere. I bought the tank from SP tanks in NJ, which I believe may be close to you. They offer for a small additional price to exopy coat the tank, which I would recommned. One word of caution. Make your final tank measurements (especially the height measurement) after the tank deck is glassed in. remember you'll be adding 1/4 " strips under the tank and a layer or two of glass to the top deck, so take that into consideration. Good luck and keep the pictures coming. Dink