John's 1973 19-6 Rebuild

[John G]

I picked up this 1973 19-6 last spring.  Used it over the summer and now it's in my garage in NH being torn apart.  Not exactly sure exactly what I'm doing to it yet.

[John G]

Around the fuel tank.  Not sure if it's original.

[John G]

Here's a few photos from last nights progress.   How do I know if the tank is original or a replacement?  Not that it matters - just curious. It sits slightly off center.  The sides of the fuel tank were foamed in all around.  No smells coming from the bilge area or around the tank until I started removing foam.  The foam around the sides of the tank was almost candy-like where it was against the tank. About an 1/8" of dark tan, shiny and brittle.  Once I got some of that removed I got a slight gas smell.  Not sure if it's permeating from the tank or it was fuel spilled years ago trapped in the foam. The tank is pretty much empty so it shouldn't be leaking that high up.  Nothing seems wet except for water seeping from under the tank.  It's probably time for a new tank anyway.

[McAllgeyver]

Awesome looking oldie.  Glad you got to use that thing before tearing it apart.  Did you have that 85hp yamie on it?Also, can you measure and let me know what the distance from inside the the transom to the back of the gas tank is? Good luck with it. you have a lot of info here at Classicaquasport to help you along!

[John G]

Awesome looking oldie.  Glad you got to use that thing before tearing it apart.  Did you have that 85hp yamie on it?Also, can you measure and let me know what the distance from inside the the transom to the back of the gas tank is? Good luck with it. you have a lot of info here at Classicaquasport to help you along!

Yes, the 85 Yamaha was on it.  Solid running motor except I just ripped it apart to replace the upper mounts (another thread).  It's undersized for this boat but that's what it came with and I haven't decided if I'm replacing it yet.  As I go along I keep adding to the list of things that I "need to do" vs. what I'd like to do.

I'll take a measurement on the tank tonight.

[Capt. Bob]

How do I know if the tank is original or a replacement?

Look for a build date on the label.
Might be by the address.

[John G]

How do I know if the tank is original or a replacement?

Look for a build date on the label.
Might be by the address.

Unfortunately, the picture above is all I have. Half the decal is missing.

[John G]

I've spent hours and hours on here reading everyone's 196 rebuilds and I'm still a bit lost  . Any chance someone could point me in the correct direction on how to cut the flooring out, and what prep should be done prior to cutting? I've been digging at foam around the tank for hours and think it would be easier to get the floor out of the way first.

Is everyone cutting the new flooring by hand?
I've got a 5x10 cnc router that could shortcut that process for me, but I'd have to somehow get the shape into the computer.
 Thanks!

[mshugg]

Most use a portable circular saw.  Set the blade depth to 3/4” +-, and cut around the perimeter.  If you make your cut counter clockwise, with the narrow side of the base plate toward the liner, you’ll be left with about 1 1/2” ledge around the outside.  Many just mount their new deck on top of that ledge raising the deck for better self bailing characteristics.  An oscillating multi tool will work will for curing the corners where you can’t reach with the circular saw.

As for the CNC router, I don’t see a real advantage.  Fiberglass just doesn’t require that much precision.  I cut my deck core with a jigsaw, and glassed the deck before dropping it into place.

One more thing, I recommend you look through all the build threads, not just the 196 threads.  There are a lot of great ideas in many of them.  Aquasport construction and engineering was pretty consistent across the line, so many of the techniques and shortcuts will apply to your boat too.

[Tampa Bay Mike]

  He beat me to it. Good advice all around

[John G]

Most use a portable circular saw.  Set the blade depth to 3/4” +-, and cut around the perimeter.  If you make your cut counter clockwise, with the narrow side of the base plate toward the liner, you’ll be left with about 1 1/2” ledge around the outside.

That's exactly what I'm doing, so I guess that I'm on the right track.  I ended up measuring and marking the stringers from the fuel tank hatch and cut up the sides of the stringers so I wouldn't cut into them. Photos to follow later.  Whatever they used to secure the deck to the tops of the stringers is like cement and not easy to remove.  I've been able to pop the decking from the adhesive in certain areas, but making a mess in other spots with the decking tearing apart.

[Fish Head]

I remember watching one of those episodes of ShipShape where they removed the solid deck and reattached it after stringer repairs. I thought great my deck is solid I will do the same thing. Wishful thinking. I had the same issues your having. Deck would not release from stringers. What a PIA. Had to make a bunch of cuts and piecemeal the deck out in 1ft by 2ft sections from the stringers. I feel your pain! Lol

[wingnut]

That greenish polyester leveling putty is a nightmare. Luckily is grinds easily (it is not very dense). If you have a power planer, that works well too for removing it once you get the deck off.

[RickK]

The bonding putty they use when they set the liner in does it's job, for sure.

[John G]

Floor is out, tank is out. That bonding putty was a total nightmare to get the floor removed from it.  The stuff looks like concrete and is hard as concrete.  Smashing it with a hammer barely effects it.  I need to get it off so I can cut open larger holes in the stringers to remove foam.  So far the bottom 1" of foam in the stringers is wet in stern.  You can see where somebody cut a round access hatch in the floor just after the tank and they cut into the support.

I read that people were having a hard time with the tank being stuck to the foam underneath.  Mine was stuck also, so I put a block of wood against the stringer and a block of wood against the back corner of the tank, then used a crowbar to give it a little push.  It eventually popped.  Tank is in bad shape.  As I removed all the foam the smell of fuel was overwhelming.  I had my wood stove going and figured it might be time to open the garage door before the place blew up. I didn't see any leaks but the foam smelled like fuel and there is corrosion all over the tank.  The fuel fill hose had a dip in it before it went into the tank.  Not sure if that was intentional, but the hose was very soft in that low spot where fuel was sitting and I could squeeze it closed, even with the wire reinforcement wrapped inside it.  The new tank search is on!