67 REBUILD

[INOVERMYHEAD]

I just purchased a 67 222 flatback and have a few questions on the process.  Looking for all the suggestions I can get.  Here is my plan:

1:Remove floor and inspect stringers

2:Address transom, I plan to rebuild it but would like to sub that out to the professionals, any suggestions in the south Florida area (West Palm Beach), also what kind of price can I expect.

3:Top cap is in decent shape, would like to beef it up with Nidacore without removing it, is this suggested.

All help is greatly appreciated

[dbiscayne]

1.  if the boat's been kept dry it's whole life you're probably in good shape, did the '67 models have the same foam filled fiberglass stringer system as the later models?
If so, you're in good shape as long as there's not a bunch of poorly sealed screw holes in the deck that go all the way down into the stringers to let water in, same goes for the seat screws & some of the console mounting screws could penetrate all the way into the stringers (they did on my 1970).  Or cracks in the hull  

And if you've got the horizontal rod holders mounted to the sides of the hull they've got screws at their base that penetrate the outer stringers.  Mine were letting in so much water the fglass on the top of the stringers was mush at each rod holder.  The screw holes were oval & huge probably from the sides of the boat flexing & the deck being fairly solid/stationary.

if you're going through the trouble of replacing the floor, it wouldn't be much more work to cut some access holes in the stringers in a few spots to really get at the foam in there.  I found that my foam was wet throughout, and also not poured very evenly, lots of places where it didn't get enough & didn't expand to the top of the stringer.  They used some kind of light weight grout material as filler between the deck & stringer, chipped off with a hammer pretty easily, cut the tops off the stringers, dug the foam out with the help of a sawzall, then re-foamed & glass the tops again.

2.  Again, if the foam in the stringers is dry you're way ahead of most.  The factory did not put glass on the transom of my boat until after the stringers were in place.  That left a big area of raw wood in contact with the stringer foam, which was wet, & turned the transom to mush in those areas.  The rest of it seemed pretty solid, made of two sheets of 3/4" ply bonded together, the outer layer was pretty solid no rot yet but was damp (not bad for a 1970?).  There were also a few areas at the bottom of the transom left exposed, no glass, but at least that had a chance to dry out now & then.
Glue Products in west palm beach can probably refer someone local to you for glass work, 561-833-1863.

3.  It seems the weak link in the top cap is not the actual cap material, but the way they supported it.  With the only support being at the transom and along the outer hull edge it's going to flex if you put weight on it.  Now if you reinforce the area you can access, but not the areas being supported by the transom & hull sides, it's probably going to not flex across it's entire width & will instead snap off along the seam of the reinforcement.  The only way to really do it right is to either remove it & then reinforce, or add a few vertical supports bonded to the hull side (not the liner it's thin & flexes too) & all the way down to the outer stringer if you can while the deck is off.

good luck
& pics usually get people more motivated to chime in...

[INOVERMYHEAD]

Thanks for the info, once I get to cutting I will have a better idea of what I'm up against, pics will be coming soon.

[RickK]

Welcome aboard INOVERMYHEAD  :!:  :!:
There's lot's of experience here on flatback rebuilds - do a search or two.

[INOVERMYHEAD]

Here's what I started with.  After cutting and removing a 1 1/2" of rotten wood deck I found 2x10" wood stringers and a rotten wood gridwork supporting the deck.  These stringers must come out now that I see the wood.  can i remove the wood and keep the glass if well attached and fill with foam?  Or should I star from scratch?  I like the way the foam filled stringers and nidacore bulkheads look, I think this will be my plan.  I would like to address the transom before removing and rebuilding the stringers.  I am looking for a professional in the south Florida area for the transom.  All suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[dbiscayne]

might as well make sure the hull is supported really good right now before you get the rest of the rotten wood out of it.

[gran398]

For professional restorers, Hammerhead of Tampa remains the Cat-Daddy. But tough to get in touch...seems he stays busy.

Look at their website for ideas.

When you get a belly-full, go with our member's recommendations. Poured transoms seem to be the new best thing, but nothing wrong with laminate in terms of strength. Decide which way you'd like to approach it, then  I'd go with a TRUSTED  local fiberglass guy, with your guidance. Keep it simple, keep it local. Depends if you would like to keep it original (20 or 25 inch transom) or completely closed, with bracket.

You have a lot of solid advice right here with the boys.

gran

[RickK]

Man that thing must weigh a ton with all that flooring, not to mention the stringers  

[INOVERMYHEAD]

I think I am going to stick with laminate for ease of working with. As I said this is my first rebuild and don't want to over complicate things.  I would like to close the transom and add top cap with a bracket.  And yes after picking up pieces of the deck this thing does way a ton right now.

[No Class]

I saw the pix you posted & am confused . i have owned a 1968 22-2 flatback for 27 years. Several years ago I opened up the deck to install a bilge pump & a bronze drain plug. Below the deck was only fiberglass trapezoidal stringers, NO FOAM ! Sure, the deck was soft in spots, but, the stringers ware as the day they were installed. The fuel tank was (& is) above deck, under the console. I would like some input!

[fannydunker222]

i dont think she is original because if u look forward of the console there is no front deck i got a 1970 flattie and its all original and i got the front deck with the giant fish box and wet storage

[beeermann65]

Its definetly not the original sringers, and for no class, unless someone has cut your floor out and has taken the foam out of the stringers something weird is going on?! I have cut many floors out of 19'6s and 22'2s with original stringers and all of them has had foam in them, usualy good foam! Im not sure if this is the case also but I have a 69 in my yard Im working on right now w/ no front deck and its because the front was holding water so whomever owned it at the time took the front deck out and glassed plywood over the hole. My 69 222 when it was original it was holding water also under the front deck.