best defense

This boat I bought has engine mount stringers that are made out of wood with fiberglass all around them.
The wood is rotten inside the fiberglass and I want to repair the stringers.
I am looking for information about how to go about doing that.
Any guidance or assistance would be greatly appreciated
I live in Western Oregon, USA if that makes any difference.
So if you are running a boat repair place outside of the pacific northwest I will not be able to take the boat to you.

Contact me at [email protected]

Griff

Lots of threads with pics in the Fiberglass and Paint section about this

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

yes, definetly post up pics in the FG section. Lots of guys on here have made it through this exact project with some coaching from the members here.

Its not a particularly difficult process but does require some good tool skills and can be labor intensive. A lot of cutting and grinding, etc. Also requires a lot of planning ahead but thats where the coaching comes in, i refer to it as "staying out of trouble"

best defense

Yes, there are plenty of videos of people repairing fiberglass. My question is why would anyone use wood to fill fiberglass structures, especially around the bilge area, and when I repair it what kind of material should I use to put in place of the wood? I would not want it to rot out again.

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

composite panels from Thermo-Lite or Coosa. I use composite panels regularly but it depends on where and what you are using it for that determines weather it is the right choice or not. I still prefer wood for engine stringers and transoms on high performance applications, but thats largely a personal preference. Wood does not rot because its wood, it rots because of how it was installed and cared for. On high load applications (extension boxes and #6's) i have seen composite transoms develop "eyebrow" stress above and below the transom assembly as well as compression stress and composite engine stringers need to be handled with a fully self supporting mount that does not put a shear load on the through bolts. Most OEM type installations can be done in composite and will be fine, in fact this is where the product shines. Cost is the other issue that usually deters someone from using it in an older rebuild.

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

oh and the composite panel products you should be looking at are Space Age Synthetic - Thermo-lite Tough in the 24 to 26 lbs range or Coosa - Nautical 24

http://www.coosacomposites.com/

index.html

best defense

Thank you Glass Dave.
The stringers are strictly for motor mount because all of the thrust in this design goes on the transom. The shaft that goes into the drive is a slip fit.
I will search for the Thermo-lite Tough in the 24-26 pound range.

J-Bonz

iTrader: (3)

J-Bonz

iTrader: (3)

TexomaPowerboater

Some great help here on the topic, use these fiberglass resources to help you remove the stringers and prep for new ones. Pay a professional to install the new stringers.