Rotten???????
 

I have a 38 fever, i just noticed today while installing new sea strainers that the wood in the middle main stringer in the motor compartment is rotted out . Does anyone have any advice besides cutting it out and redoing it??? I heard that i could possibly fill in where the wood is gone with epoxy anybody know what type to use and do you think that that would work for any lenght of time??? :eek:

think about that..its like JB welding a bad spot on the frame of your corvette.. not to mention, without pulling the motors and getting in there, what else is bad??

Well to get it in there i was thinking about just drilling a few holes and filling through there and what else is bad u ask ....well i dont believe anyhting that i can tell.

Damn sorry to hear that, I am redoing the stringers on my stinger at this time. More then likely if it is rotten there it is in other places also. I would do a lil inspecting if I were you.. The worst part is there are so many other boats with bad stringers and the peeps don't even know it. I am using west systems, it might be a lil pricey but the aval to me is easier then others.. Good luck
John

Sound to me like the original strainers were not sealed where they were bolted in. Also, sound like there has been a lot of standing water in the bilge. Not good whatever caused it , but you should find out before you patch it up. I have used West Systems stuff before and worth every penny and then some.

Good luck............

Have any pics?

I do have pics but im not a paying member so cant post them sorry and to Helmwurst the strainers were not there before the ones on there are crap they are made fo small engines on small boats and they dont even have filters in them so that is the reason for changing the strainers ...... i know where the water is coming from too and i have fixed that problem ...... but i do have another question for you all .....what do yall think about running the boat with that bad stringer when of course that is what the motors (merc. 600's) are mounted to ....i was thinking about running it b/c i dont want to lose the whole summer b/c i have a fiberglass man and a man that can pull the motors out to fix it but it wont be for a while and not sure if it will be ready for a major Florida vacation ......... suggestions would be greatly appreciated

thanx

Ya gotta pull the motors and cut out the rotted stuff - there is no way around this - those engines will shift and you will cause yourself more damage to the other stringer your mount is bolted to, also will tear up your transom assembly. You simply cannot boat with spongy stringers. Sorry to hear about it.

i agree with him. I would have the motors pulled, use a holesaw bit, drill in a few random spots where you spotted the rotton stringer, check for sure, you can always fill them back if they are ok. It is better to lose a summer, then play against the odds, take a chance at tearing up something big time, then you will spend more money and time in the long run. Just my 02.
John

Well i agree with yall but my dad heard from a bunch of friends with powerboats that he should run it and not lose a summer but i told him think about this.....if we run it like it is we are gonna screw up more stuff if those motors move just a little bit then we will lose more money than if we juss fix it ow but he dont believe me that something could happenso i dont think it is gettin fixed til next winter......:(

best case scenerio..you run it all summer and everythings great..worse case scenerio, stringer lets go, motor shifts, rios a bellow and your boats on the bottom of the lake and you and your friends are hopefully still swimming when somebody finds you.. now if its just that one section of string..pull the motors on saturday, cut and grind on sunday, rebuild it after work during the week, drop the motors back in saturday, hook everything up and have a few brewskis sunday.. 35-40 hours of your own labor, $300 in materials, you loose 2 weekends of boating. do the wirk yourself and it will cost less than the gas you woukld burn in those 2 weekends and by the 4th of july your back in the water with no worries

more than likely the couplers will blow out due to the motor shift and you will have to pull the motors anyway.

p.s. while the motors are out and you are replacing couplers....fix the stringer(s). Oh yea....check the transom too.

Well i guess ill try to talk my dad into doing something like that .....so thanx.

Well precision marine pulled the motors about a week ago, the only thing that is rotten it the center stringer (motor mount) we sent it to blue dot marine's fiberglass man he has finished it we just have to go pick it up.

when we bought the boat the starboard motor had just been redone, so precision marine is redoing the heads, changing blower oil, etc, on the port motor, then the motors will be put back in and we will be ready for the season :evilb:

BINGO - give that man a quepy doll

peace of mind - priceless

How much do you think the bill will be?

couldnt really tell you, dont know yet, all i know is a few grand for the stringer, not sure bout motor yet

Just a little update. Well just got back from precision marine, after having the top end of one motor redone we went to see it dynoed. At 5200 rpm's the hp is 618, at 3.994 lbs of boost.
I was very happy with the performance of the motor, when the boat was bought we were told that the "600's" were true 600's. That statement was proven today on the dyno. Decided to do the same to the other motor and also having it dynoed, i will let yall know the results on that one when finished. Should be ready for this boating season!! :evilb: :evilb: :evilb: :evilb: