YIKES 1979 20ft seacraft HELP PLEASE
 

It's a 1972 seacraft

ok I know I did way more damage here than good. I listened to people in other forums and they had no idea what I was working with. Started with a soft deck which I found to be two decks and I've was over layed on the other. So I ended up getting the entire boat and now I am down to a bare hull. Major paint issues also.

I fired the stringers which are solid foam. Ruffly twelve inches wide and about 11 ft long by six inches deep. People in other forms told me because the foam was wet to remove the foam. So I cut the tops of these massive stringers which were solid foam and zero wood. Now I'm putting the foam back in but this pour foam is no joke and you can't keep it flat.

So I have 17 oz fiberglass to put back on these stringer tops but should I do that and cut a relief in them every four feet four when I pour the foam. I'm using a 2lb. Also how do I keep the caps perfectly straight and flat, is 17 oz cloth enough?

Next in the original deck in the rear it had hooked down to the bottom of the boat I was assuming was for a wet deck. Should I leave these our what should I do here?

As you can imagine I'm going to have a ton of questions. I'm more than grateful to any and all input:confused:

more pictures
 

Some pictures of the overall

some more pics
 

reasons why I gutted it

Looks like a good time! Your boat is a tad different than mine as I have the older 4 stringer design but you will find a ton of info if you look at past projects on here. I did a bass boat that had stringers like yours and here is how I did it.

I removed the top of the stringer just like you did and removed the foam. I then put the tops back over the empty stringer and glassed them back down. This maintains the shape pretty well. After that I used a hole saw to cut 2" holes every few feet to pour in the foam. When pouring, the foam expands upwards and towards the open part of the stringer (ideally) and the excess goes out the 2" hole. You can then just cut the holes flush and glass them over. Easy as pie. Just be careful about the amount of foam you pour at once. Its powerful stuff.

2 things to note. There is some debate about using 2 or 4 lb foam in there. I suggest to do your own research. Also, now is a good time to think about raising your floor. I did mine by adding height to the stringers. If I were to do it over, I would add the height to the bottom of the floor before placing it in the boat. Seems to me like it would be much easier to do it that way.

Good luck with the project. You are in the right place now. These guys will steer you right and are always willing to help. You can learn a ton just by spending a couple hundred hours searching old projects. Enjoy!

Thanks for the input. Sadly I cut the tops off and discarded them. I'm kicking myself pretty hard for it now. So now I was thinking of taking my glass and cutting it just wide enough and laying it on a piece of cardboard and wax paper then just making the cap like that and then laying the cap on the stringers and reglass it to the stringers. I already used 2 lb foam in the one stringer so I will be using 2lb.

Are you sure that is a 1979?

Vezo, Part II

It's actually a 1972

This will work but it'll be tricky to get the corners to wrap without some sort of radius to them. Might want to think about that. Wouldn't be a bad plan to pour your foam 2" higher and shape a radius into it. THen just wrap glass over the whole thing and down the sides of the stringers (after grinding them clean for adhesion). This will raise your floor and be easier to wrap with glass. Cleaner end result too. I remember seeing at least one boat done this way on here.

I think that if it was a 72 it would have the 4 stringers like mine. I've read on here that the larger stringers you have began in 73. Is there a hull ID stamped into the transom?

No hull id just the title says its a 1972 and the make is unknown

Any help with these questions please. I'm gonna raise the floor but what where the holes in the deck for. Were the suppose to be plugged?

can anyone tell me what the holes that are in the deck and go through the hull to the bottom of the boat. Are these suppose to have a plug in them when in the water or are they for a wet deck scenario

mr wwfb those holes ar fer takin a leak

Spidey is correct, however practice on your aim is critical when you use those!!! :)

Self bailing scuppers. I only plug mine when fishing with chubby passengers, full fuel, and full livewell.

Those are the original scuppers, for letting water off the deck. You can close them if you would rather they go out the back of the transom.

Almost at a loss for words..... really.... ! Hard to believe I know..:rolleyes:

Ugh, when you have holes in the bottom of your boat, they are
for one or two things !!! WATER IN or WATER OUT !! :eek:

Maybe a Coast Guard, Power Squadron course etc. might do you some good..

Never ceases to amaze me people like you are on the water !

Never ceases to amaze me that someone has to come in being ignorant. I have never seen holes in a boat below the waterline. Not in my 24 ft chris craft which has them above the waterline. Quite possibly you could have answered the question without the bs :eek: Maybe a guy hasn't owned a boat with these before but then again maybe you know every single vehicle made and what all its components are right.

From what I know this forum is for people who are looking for help. If I was easily discourage I would probably just not ask questions anymore but I am in fact trying to finish my boat and do so properly. If you don't like the fact that I am in this forum asking questions about things I don't know then maybe you can find somewhere else to go pop off with your smart a$$ comments while the nice gentlemen of this forum help me finish my ultimate fishing boat.

To those who had the respect to answer my question Thank you.

Now my second part to the question would be do most of you leave them in or remove them. This is going to be a fresh water boat which will fish lake Erie replacing one of my smaller boats. We do see 3-6 seas often. Again thank you guys

You'll get mixed answers on this, but I glassed over mine and am installing scuppers through the transom above the waterline. Some people like the through floor ones, citing that they make a vacuum while running that can drain a deck quickly. For me, I'm eliminating as many holes below waterline as I can so I did what I did. You definitely want a scupper of some sort whether it be out the back or down.

Bones. That was kinda rude. Cut the kid some slack! Lol.

as for the thru the deck drain plugs I never found them to be a big deal I would just put the plugs in while using the boat and when or if any water started collecting on the deck get the boat moving pull one plug get a lil more weight on that side and it would suck the water out shortly .Removed while on the trailer they kept water from getting into the bilge. If I remember correctly with the boat docked overnight I pulled them and let them drain (even with the 225 evinrude on the back ) but you need to keep them in while using the boat IMHO

Thanks guys. I think I'm going to bring them above the waterline connected through a rubber hose to a thru hull fitting. I might also just drop it straight to the bilge as it will be an auto bilge. What do you guys think on this. I don't fish in the rain much and don't really play in five footers much but occasionally we'll take a big wave over the bow when we get stuck but other than that it's a once a year thing

A big wave over the bow?
Look, you got the floor up, you would have to be nutz to drain to the bilge.
Raise the floor and go out the back.
Have you searched here, it's been done and done.

NO NO BILGE !!!!
Out the transom is the trick. Go to the search function
Many threads coupled with photos for your reading pleasure on this topic. Be sure to read the " Vortex" solution.

Sorry boys......
Not backing down on this one !
You can not fix STUPID...

go be an ass somewhere else.

I will check it out. I was planning on raising the floor as it was recommended by many others in the begining of the thread. Lake Erie gets ruff very fast so to take on water here and there is a given. My 16 ft boat gets drenched a good amount and it's pumped out by the bilge. Our waters are a different animal than the ocean. 2 years ago we were fishing about 12 mi out and 18 over west what started as 1.5 ft seas ended ruffly 3 hours later as 13ft seas due a storm building as it came across the lake. I do appreciate your guys time and input. Thanks

Maybe just think about when the bilge pump fails as they all do at some point. You need to get the water overboard, not in the bilge.
Rod

X2 on this and Capt. Chuck's post.
I got my 20 Bertram because the PO set it up for draining into the bilge and sank it at the dock when he had a failure. Bilge pumps and float switches are notoriously failure prone (and batteries often die). A self-bailing cockpit bypasses a huge part of this problem by keeping a whole lot of water out of the bilge; water in the bilge then becomes the red-flag it should be rather than a commonplace thing. Personally, I hate the idea of NOT having a self bailing cockpit.