84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

I have an 84 Scarab II I hav had it for about a year I bought 2 502MPIs and ProChargers. But before I repower this ***** I want to figure out how I can tell if my hull is rotten or not? here is a pick
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...o/IMG_3994.jpg

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

best thing is a moisture reader, or, a screwdriver pushing in any place you can see wood... but I prefer moisture meter...

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

I have the same boat that Iam inthe process of doing a deck off resto,you will need to get a moisture meter to check the stringers and the bulk heads .Remove all access covers including the one's under the fridge and the sink check bulkheads especially there for cracks .Check forward access cover the one at the very front for cracks in bulk head that joins to the beginning of the stringers.Check all drain holes wth a screw driver for soft wood or no wood at all.Alot of times these holes were never resined up .
Mark

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

thanks you guys I will let you know the out come in a few days, and where the heck can I get a moister meater?

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

Try your local marine surveyor , throw him some green and have him make a profesional judgement. Most home inspectors use them too. I'd think any pretty good tool co. would know what they are. The surveyor will know what to look for though. Be ready to open a can of worms but sounds like you want to do it right the first time.

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

ya I want to do it right but if I fined out the stringers are bad I am just going to sell the boat how it is now, and buy a newer one, I am just going ot have it checked out

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

Im undertaking a project myself, I purchased a scarab 400 in feb last year, came from texas.. was told boat was ready for the water, engines and outdrives needed to be installed. YAY, SO upon checking of the engines after the boat was home, removal of the heads, threre was rust in the cyls but they HAD been re done. So I decided to clean the engine compartment, OYE...I was brushing it with a hand brush, on the floor, and I put the nose of the brush through the bulk head facing front where the gas tank is located. Holy crap, here comes the sawz all. Out comes the bulkhead...friend of mine who builds boats came to the house, we cut open all 4 stringers, found ROT. opened the sides of the stringers to dry out. Found rot inside the floor storage holes in the deck, The stringers were rotted there too. Cut them open to dry out. Found rot in the side stringers in the engine compartment...YAY those are out...Great transom is solid were the stringers WERE. Yesterday .Found the center stringer wet....VRRRRRRooom goes the sawz all, out it comes. Transom is wet and soft where center stringer met the transom, boat guy comes out, says to take the water pickups out,...did that stuck my fingers in the holes and found a very rotted and soft wood. Mean while the interior, cabin of the boat is in my basement getting re-done. OUCH. THis past week I took off of work to put her back together and found more crap. We "blocked" the stringers and re-fiber glassed em, all four behind the bulk head in the engine compartment and the 2 in the access storage hole left side and right side. Thats when I decided to check the center stringer. What a mistake. I have a checkmate, I re-did and it was not as stressfull as this. Luckily in the cabin the 2 sringers are good, the floor is good. I think where the air conditioner/ heater sits under the driver/pass seat is rotted too. All the bulk heads in the cabin seem solid. Thank god. Ima bout to take my chainsaw and cut the boat up and leave it for the trash men...any advice? im not a premium member because this Scarab is eating my wallet so if someone wants to repost it for me on a new thread, Id love it.

Dave

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

Wow! blast from the past!!! that boat looks familiar :D did you buy it with the yellow graphics still on it....or straight blue like in your pic? I was partners in that boat with a very good friend of mine for about 3 years....untill i needed to buy a house and had my buddy buy me out of it...he kept it for about another 2 yrs or so and sold it to someone in WA i think....

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

Dave if you want to send me the pics of your project i can post them up for ya:
bigblockwally @ hotmail.com

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

thanks wally, ill get to that. martin, I am replacing the stringers in the engine compartment, for sure, they are torn out. The stringers I am refering to are behind the engine compartment bulk head, and there was NO WAY i was pulling the top half of the boat off the hull in my back yard. I just crawled in with the good ol air saw and yanked out the rot and stopped cutting when i found solid wood. I left the boat cut open all summer because it was a hot summer and I didnt want to be locked into working on it when I was on my smaller boat, 86 checkmate enchanter...boy she moves...but thats a different thread. Id like to know what your thoughts are as to how to apply pressure to the new transom during the setting of it?

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

Yes wally I have you boat old boat now. WOW small world. When I bought it. it had the yellow on it but I took it off. What do you know about this boat? All I know when the last owner Jason brought it to washington he had to put 2 new motors in it and that is all I really know. Could you give me some history

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

Well i dont know who had it before me as i got it through a broker type deal....and they had it free and clear at that time....but when we got it i put all new gauges and throttles on it.....the first season i had it it was all stock .....then one of the drives busted a lower gear and everything was pulled off to be re-done....the motors at that time were re-done to the 420hp specs...but with better intake/exhaust i was guessing it was closer to 450hp ea....the drives and trannies were both re-done by BAM down in FL....there was never an issues with drives or trannies after that....or before for that matter other then that one busted lower gear. When the engines were redone i upgraded to 4" exhaust so i had to cut open the transome for bigger tips.....there was onlu a hint of rot around the deges of the old holes....and luckly cutting open the new holes took all that out. And i glassed the holes shut to make sure there was none in the future.
As far as the rest of the boat goes i cant tell ya how the previous owner kept her up that you bought her from.....but i can tell ya that the guy before him (my old partner on the boat) didnt have too much time to keep up with maintenance... :( I do know that stringers and transom were all solid when i sold my half off to him....that was a good 6-7 years ago i'm guessin.....i do know that there was some cosmetic things that needed attention when he sold it to Jason......the shore power was ripped out once when pulling away from the house and forgetting to pull out the chord! the plexyglass entryway cover was cracked from someone stepping on it....there were a few chips around the dash panel from use....i think there was some stitching coming loose on the back seat and hatch cover .....the interior was just about all brand new when i was bought out of it....i do know that my buddy had some issues keeping the fridge to stay in place from rough seas here on lake MI...dont know if he ever did anything about it though.....and i also know that one of the motors had a busted roller rocker when he sold it to Jason as well....but the sounds of it Jason must have yanked the engines out and redone them....
Overall that boat was awesome once you get the feel for it.....ive run her in 4-6's and kept up with 38's out here :D and never had any problems......but like i said..its been a few years so i have no idea what its been through now.... PM if you have any other questions

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

Well it looks like im gonna be into the scarab 400 for the transom now as well. Wally I have a TONE of pics, but I dont have a way to do any resizing for you....

Re: 84 SCARAB II Rotten or NOT?
 

thats ok...i can resize for ya if need be...