Okay, should have kept the Pantera.. as it WAS solid as a rock.. Finally got my oldschool 24 Super, after settling for a 24 excalibur, than a Pantera, Finally got my 24' SUPERBOAT.. I should know better by now but I guess not. Well after making the 900 mile trip for the advertised "solid as a rock" and "been stored indoors for the last 25yrs" It was a little dissapointing ride home.. Towing the boat. I was determinded, even after making the trip, and with the price reduction to make the best of it. But I know form exp. this was going to be another hard road to hoe, as I been around the block with old boats a couple times and it very seldom gets better form the intial start when it comes to a seemingly rotten boat.. Well here's my question for you guys. This boat is definetly the classic Super I was after, no steps, old school deck (1978) and I/O stet up. Not looking to do a Barret Jackson resto, but want to build something fairly safe and solid, in hopes to do a couple OPA P-6 races. Got home, stripped out all the shot interior, gauges, hardware, etc. and started digging.. Transom seems solid, stringers pretty solid, Floor, some soft flexing spots.. Now if you know Supers the deck mold is a liner. Basicly the screw holes for the seats leaked water and rotted the floor core. The floor is encased in glass, so compared to my old 79 Excalibur, which had a rotten floor, which in turn rotted the stringers, this boat is not built that way. So my plan may be to leave it this year as it has a little flex in it, wait until winter, cut both layers of the liner and change the gas tank. I thought about cutting the top layer, and redoing the floor coring, not touching the bottom layer. That would not be bad, and I could hammer that out in a weekend, but kind of pointless if the tank starts leaking down the road, all the work will be for nothing. Now the tank looks in good shape, no leakks, but is 35yrs old. So.. thats an issue. Now for the deck.. this so far this is the worst area. There are some spots that are very soft and flexing. Not something you want to be walking on. I ripped out all the cabin interior, carpet, and did some exploratory surgery with my small hand drill, (from the inside) most of the soft areas seem dry, just bad delamination, and then there are some areas around the deck hardware, cables, cleats were there is rot.. Now again, the decks on the Supers are encased in glass' with Balsa core sandwiched between. No fun way to really fix, coupled with I'm no glass expert! Just a back yard guy. I talked with JC, asked about maybe epoxy injection?? He laughed and said no way! and asked me again, why do I keep messing with old boats!! ( I had a couple 21 Supers in my earlier days I used to bother John with advice for repairs) Well it sucks I told him because in your heyday of around 1986 I was only 16 yrs old, loved the boats, but took me until now to afford to play with them, and most of them are shot! Love'em or leave'em I guess. Well back to the deck.. Maybe stiffen up with some extra bulkheads?? JC seemed like that, said would not be a bad idea. As he said it very hard to re-core the decks correctly if you don't know what your doing. My main thing is saftey. I know I have owned boats with no coring in the deck whatsoever, like my old Allison and a Signature. Both those boats were just glass decks, that you really did'nt want to walk on. In a perfect world I wish the core was solid, but its not. What do you guys think? Band-aid with some bulkheads?? Pump some epoxy in?? Use it the way it is this year, take it easy and hope for the best?? Sawzall the whole damn thing out and make a major project right now?? Wait until this winter?? Use it and don't have any fat azz's jumpin on the deck?? Gonna upgrade my account so I can post pics of the project here shortly for those that are interested.

[IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/1z6duyw.jpg

http://

Sorry to hear...in my opinion and please don't be upset but I would sell it and find something solid. I don't mind mechanical work but major fiberglass is just not worth it to me anymore. I think we have all been in your spot at some point in our journey with these addictions we call boats.

.

Hi MM72.

Please before you sell her or put support bulkheads, call Predator.

Predator can fix that for you. Arnaldo would like to give you an estimate, but he needs to see the SB 24 (we're located in Long Island).

Predator can return that back to factory specs, or if you wish, better than factory specs...



And if you like his work and his pricing, perhaps he can complete the whole boat for you(tanks, flooring, transom). He also paints hulls (in and out)

Check out what Arnaldo has done:

http://predatorpowerboats.com/service.htm



...and his prices are not outrageous



Noli
cell (917) 957 - 5758


.

Thanks for the replies. Definetly not selling her, I've rolled with some punches alot worse than this, a Challenger with a transom made out of peat moss, and a rotten carcass 24' excalibur we re-did. Don't get me wrong, Its definetly dis-enchanting, as my main skills are in the mechanical end of things. The pic is the way i brought her home, Memorial day weekend, less BBC. Already rebuild the bulkhead behind the dash, rebuild the hyd. steering. Our goal is to make the OSS race in Morehead NC in September. Already got the block bored and must of the hard motor parts, we are going to run a mild pump gas 477BBC, should be good for an honest 500hp. The transom seems solid and the stringers (motor compartment pretty fair for what I can see, hammer taps, motor mount bolts removed, small drilled holes. Of course she's not primo, but again 35yr' old boat.. I wish she was more solid, but for $2500 and a nice trailer, hell you get what you pay for. I think this year we are just gonna pump some poly in the deck, injected from underneath. Take her out see if there is any flex. If so, I'll add a bulkhead before the race. Gonna get rid of the blue max and squirt the sides in some white Imron. Stress cracks thus far are almost not existence throughout the entire boat. If we don't break her in half, and holds up well, having Predator re-core the deck over the winter could possibly be in the cards.

.

Awesome plan!

Also please show us pics of the engine build and any other work that you do.

The more detailed pics, the better



.

You know there's only 1 way to fix that boat. if you messed with those old boats before, then you should know what to expect.Hit one big wave the right way and that deck will slice your neck off.That boat will fall apart faster than you can save your ass.

I remember seeing that boat along the road for sale several years ago in Bazetta Ohio on route 305.

..