Just purchased 1975 19-6.

[fitz73222]

Yep,
I'm inclined to say a nice piece of starboard; thick enough to where you can mill pockets in it for a couple of Tervis Tumblers, bottles and a center rectangle pocket, for sun glasses, wallet, keys, loose change, whatever. Get it nicely radiused and smooth for a nice look. Someone handy with a router could do the job or what I would do is strap it down in Bridgeport mill and hog away!

[RickK]

I guess I didn't specify enough...its still sort of rough/wavy (might have gotten a little crazy with the 60grit flap disc...it was 28deg and I was cold).  Can I smooth it with some filler of some sort and then paint it?  What would the "proper" course of action be in this case?  I was going to fill the various holes with Marine Tex or Six10 (whichever I can find in the garage first) and then I wasn't sure what the best way to get it smooth would be.

Seriously though, my buddy's first response was "find some better looking carpet".

Those flap sanding wheels work too good sometimes and are quick to gouge the material you're sanding - I have plenty of gouges from the wheels I have used on the 170.  I would get some decent bondo and use that to smooth it out and then use an inline sander or long board and random orbital sander to finish it off.  Bondo is poly, like gelcoat, so they're compatible.  I picked up a gallon at an automotive paint place.  When done then you should seal it off with paint or gelcoat.
Then you can put some shag carpet on it  

[SaltH2OHokie]

I wish I had a Bridgeport Farley...but alas, I do not. A router I do have, and I don't have a steady enough hand to draw a circle and follow it, but I could probably come up with some jigs to accomplish what little I'd need out of the top of a veneer piece.

Also, not a huge fan of Starboard...if I put a veneer on it, it'd likely be teak, but otherwise would follow your suggestions of milled sections for holding stuff from rolling around.

If I skimmed it with a body filler, would Formula 27 work?  My buddy has a wholesale account with a marine supplier and on our last order I thought I was ordering the cheapest flare kit I'd ever seen (so I ordered 3 of them).  Turns out the catalog had a misprint, and the flares were supposed to be part # "XXX-OR"...instead they were shown as  "XXX" with no suffix.  That was also the part number (and price shown) for Formula 27, so I ended up with 3 cans of that instead of 3 flare kits.  Rather than return it, for what little money it cost, I put it on the shelf.  Seemed like I could use it somewhere.  Maybe here?

[gran398]

SB, re the lead, good to know,  was interested in the where and how. Mine is a-ok.

Thanks, good info

[seabob4]

SB, re the lead, good to know,  was interested in the where and how. Mine is a-ok.

Thanks, good info

A little "sidenote" on lead usage Scotty (ya know I always have these little "rest of the story" bits... ).  Around '08, the price of lead basically about quadrupled in price, maybe more.  So JW tasked me and my engineering cohort to come up with a replacement.  Our biggest constraint was the physical area where the ballast had to be located.  Obviously, because of that, there was no substitute, in certain boats, lead had to be used.  But where area size was not a factor?  Bags of cement.  Good ole Portland cement, stacked on top of each other, foamed and glassed in place.  It was dirt cheap and obviously did the trick.

Me thinks that would be a little difficult on an existing build, though...

[SaltH2OHokie]

SB, re the lead, good to know,  was interested in the where and how. Mine is a-ok.

Thanks, good info

A little "sidenote" on lead usage Scotty (ya know I always have these little "rest of the story" bits... ).  Around '08, the price of lead basically about quadrupled in price, maybe more.  So JW tasked me and my engineering cohort to come up with a replacement.  Our biggest constraint was the physical area where the ballast had to be located.  Obviously, because of that, there was no substitute, in certain boats, lead had to be used.  But where area size was not a factor?  Bags of cement.  Good ole Portland cement, stacked on top of each other, foamed and glassed in place.  It was dirt cheap and obviously did the trick.

Me thinks that would be a little difficult on an existing build, though...

Not going to lie, I would be a little upset if down the road I tore into my boat and found bags of Portland glassed in.  Just feels wrong.  That said, when we're doing renovations and the owner is breathing down our neck and worrying about how rough things look while they're torn down to the basics, we always tell them that they probably wouldn't eat sausage if they knew what went into that, either...  :tongue:

[seabob4]

Ryan, when the head honcho tells you to do something, well...

Know what you mean, wondering what that big arse lump is over there in the corner...cement??  

[gran398]

Interesting SB! Had a Kencraft 210 CC years back with a 200 Merc. Sucker was fast, but wouldn't stay in the ocean in any kind of decent swell. Kept hopping off real bad prior to re-entry, totally airborne, prop catching air and hitting the rev-limiter. It had a huge in-deck fishbox that ran under the console and forward. Was planning on putting about 200 pounds of sandbags down there....but bought a bigger boat.

Ryan, that's a funny story on the sausage

Sounds like a hundred pounds of something as ballast on the port side, you're golden

[aquaprouts]

hello salt h20.....i too have a 19 6 but a 1977 that i am working on.....was wondering if you could take a measurement on ur boat so i can replace a few missing pieces on mine.  I am looking for the width of the center console mahogony/teak trim footings that the console sits on....looking for the width of the side trim pieces that run from the back of the console to the front.....they should be somewhere around 3 inches wide plus minus...urs appear to be in good condition and would be a good example to get the exact measurement.......my email is kprouty@comcast.net or txt at 781 799 8943....thanks for your help

[SaltH2OHokie]

aquaprouts:  I responded earlier in this thread, but I'll email the info along to make sure you get it...

[RickK]

If I skimmed it with a body filler, would Formula 27 work?  My buddy has a wholesale account with a marine supplier and on our last order I thought I was ordering the cheapest flare kit I'd ever seen (so I ordered 3 of them).  Turns out the catalog had a misprint, and the flares were supposed to be part # "XXX-OR"...instead they were shown as  "XXX" with no suffix.  That was also the part number (and price shown) for Formula 27, so I ended up with 3 cans of that instead of 3 flare kits.  Rather than return it, for what little money it cost, I put it on the shelf.  Seemed like I could use it somewhere.  Maybe here?

I think it would be fine.  I didn't dig into the chemical side of it to see if it was poly based but if you're going to cover it ti won't matter.

[fitz73222]

Back to the list; I assume this is a list at rest and not a running list? So if the list is at rest, that says we have 12-15 gallons of water suspended in the stringer without any known root cause as to how it got there. Typically an incorrectly bedded T-Top where the screws penetrated the stringer tops and allowed water to enter but no evidence that she had one at one time? (old patched mounting holes). The other can be a wet transom core the weeped into the stringer foam because we have seen a path created by the fact that the transoms were not independantly glassed in the area where the stringers connect so core material was essentially bare and exposed directly to the stringer foam. This was a build flaw that seemed to prevalent in early models. But we're talking about 40 year old boats which are still floating well past the original design intentions. One idea to validate the presence of water would be to cut an access hole for a pie plate or hatch in the area of the floor for mounting a bilge pump and drill and exporatory hole in the lower rear quadrant of the stringer, about 5" in front of the transom and up about 2" from the bottom and see if water starts to weep out of the foam. Jack the bow up high and let her drain. I'd go in with a 3/4" hole saw so any loose foam would not re-block a smaller hole and stop the weep. Once drained, just install a drain plug or just leave it open. Heck, do the other stringer while your at it. Other than cutting an access hole in virgin floor which sucks, I think this is a good way to alleviate the condition, get a better understanding of what's in the future for $ planning purposes and continue to use the boat without adding countering weight on the opposite side.

[GoneFission]

Regarding lead for ballast - the NASCAR guys used it for years - but now they use tungsten - 1.5 more density than lead.     Anybody know what a block of tungsten costs?  NASCAR guys don't care...  

Tungsten Block: 2-5/8" x 3-5/8" x 6"    $1,876.88

http://www.stockcarsteel.com/tungsten

http://www.tungsten.com/raceweight.html

[Georgie]

One idea to validate the presence of water would be to cut an access hole for a pie plate or hatch in the area of the floor for mounting a bilge pump and drill and exporatory hole in the lower rear quadrant of the stringer, about 5" in front of the transom and up about 2" from the bottom and see if water starts to weep out of the foam.

X2  That will help you determine exactly what you're facing.  I too hate the idea of punching a hole in virgin deck (especially if it's not already spongy), but this is the type of situation where it's most definitely warranted.  Spend the $$ on a higher quality floor hatch that will give you excellent access to the bilge (and both starboard and port stringers) in the future, and let it ride.  It'll make future sea strainer, thru-hull transducer, livewell pump, wiring, hose installation etc. projects much easier.

I personally HATE not knowing exactly what I'm dealing with, and I can think of no better way to narrow down the possibilities while at the same time planning for future rigging projects.  

Fingers crossed for ya!  If she'll drain even half of that water you'll be in a much better place.

[gran398]

Good thinking guys, and if memory serves, that surgery was performed on a member's boat with a good degree of success.

As Farley suggests, he ended up installing transom plugs in the back of the stringers. Every winter, he'd pull it inside, jack it up and let it drain.