From On Can - Looking to Restore a 60's Home Built Flatty

[Speedyzee]

Hello Garage/custom shop owner - I've got a well built Bronco II rock crawler and a twin turbo fox chassis Mustang, but always wanted a fast boat. Stumbled upon an almost free 16' flat V-drive that someone built in the 60's. Bare hull, rough around the edges, but someone put a lot of time and love into her at one point. Initially seemed solid, so I parked her in my shop and went about finding parts; found a Casale box, 6L LS in the corner of my shop; 6-71 blower etc.... A few months later (after it dried out), I was going to get at a few repairs on the hull and found a pair of rotten stringers (they seemed ok before I swear, lol) some weird water pockets under the fiberglass inside and a section of soft/separated glass under her nose.... I'm a sucker for punishment and hate to loose a bet, so against better judgement I'm going to get at it... if anyone has any experience with this type of restoration, or can point me in the direction of a forum or person who has; it'd be appreciated

 

[Riverbound]

Putting big lower in a delaminating boat would be against any advice I wound give you. Rotted stringers is one thing but delaminating fiberglass is another. My advice aloud be to cut it up and turn it into a bar.

You don’t want thing coming apart at the wrong time.

 

[cofooter]

Agree with this^^^^

When you add that kind of power things can turn dangerous quickly.

If you found a squishy section, it is likely that there is more wood around it that is wet, but not yet squishy, but may feel/sound solid. Once water gets in between the fiberglass and wood, it cannot get out and rots the wood from the inside. It;s only a matter of tim til it gets squishy. That kind of construction is great til water intrudes, and then its all over.

You may not want to hear this, but you need to take all the fiberglass skin off inside and outside below the waterline and check for wet wood, replace and then re-skin. And figure out how to keep the boat from losing shape when you do this. Then new stringers. At least that what I would do. If you're pouring 100s of hours into a project you want to make it right.

If you want a project, youd be better off starting with a rotted out fiberglass hull for $500 where you only have to replace the inside wood (i.e. floors/stringers). I have a thread here on one of the ones I did.

'73 Sanger Flat - Another Winter Restoration Thread

Thought I'd post up some pics of my restoration. This is the boat back in the day - not the exact same boat and it did not come with the hotties.

www.riverdavesplace.com

 

[jetboatperformance]

60's Miller Flat I helped my little brother resto I was great untill the glass/over wood floor separated from the transom on sunny day and sank like a "hot rock" in a cove at San Antonio lesson learned , Ive Been restoing Jets and V drives for thirty + years , there are some sadly relegated to Kids sand boxes or backyard Bars or trailer queens

 

[Speedyzee]

Thanks for the responses - Trust me; I'm not going to put any type of engine in it unless I've dealt with the issues; hence why I was asking questions on how to go about it in the first place. My twin turbo Mustang has earned her name as the Death Machine for a reason - I've learned not to tempt fate with big HP in a questionable vehicle of any kind.
Maybe this wasn't the best place for me to have asked for advice....
cofooter, there is a little rot in the stringers and I'm going to replace them as opposed to ignoring it or trying to inject something to "fix" them.
I've cut the inner glass out where it was soft and found the original builder used balsa below the waterline as the core, so the soft spots are rather small and contained - I've cut the inner glass back a few inches and found dry wood.
The trailer is redic overbuilt with four full length bunks (included in the 500 price, lol) that are a foot wide; so it's well supported once the stringers are removed.
Yes I could've bought a rotty glass boat that only needed inner wood done, (I could buy a new one for that matter), but I didn't want another project in the first place; this damn thing kinda found me - as far as cutting it up; someone spent a lot of time and love to build it 60 years ago and since none of my project vehicles have ever made sense; why start now? Thanks again for the responses

 

[cofooter]

Right on Bud, post some pictures up in the boat restoration section!!