1978 20ft Proline rebuild

[gman 82 aquasport]

Looks good, your coming along pretty good on the transom

[elite51203]

I'm at the point where I need to make that decision....Pros and cons?  I would reallly like to hear some feedback from a few people!!

Thanks!

[RickK]

Did the boat have one originally?
My '70/71 170 has a one piece liner that ties everything together.  The FBs didn't have a liner like that - they had a cap and some type of lining on the hull sides but they were not connected.

[gran398]

Yes...what year and model?

[RickK]

In my rebuild I kinda have a half liner now.  The side walls are still there although I've trimmed a bunch off and I put a new sole in that I will tie to the side walls thus kinda creating a liner again.  

[elite51203]

This is where I am now.....

[gran398]

Jay,

Your boat was built and assembled in three pieces. The hull, pulled from a mold. The stringer system, most likely pulled from a mold. And the liner, definitely pulled from a mold.  Your liner is comprised of deck (floor), sides, and integrated gunnel cap.

Other boats... four pieces...hull, stringer system, liner including deck and sides, and lastly on the install....one piece gunnel(aka deck) cap.

It is possible to remove what is left of your liner...but most wouldn't. You have attacked and are going along fine to remedy the problem, the saturated stringers and deck. Leave what is left of the liner, structurally it is fine,  and work to it.

Keep up the good work, and keep us posted!

[Aquasport Commodore]

If it was me, I like the old school caps of the Aquasports, I would cut the liner down near to cap top say 4-6" and brace from under it. This would keep the top part original and you know it fits your boat. The rest down I would cut away.

The down part just prior to where the casting deck was and after the side rod storage area, I would use that small part to incorporate the casting deck. Sort of looking like an Aquasport . By cutting that inner liner out, would also give you about a foot more deck space width wise, (approx 6" on each side ).

[RickK]

The down side of cutting off the liner sides is that you'll have to finish the bare hull sides now.  On the early Aquasports they lined the hull sides with a thin material to cover the bare glass.

[elite51203]

Definitely some pros and cons to both. I like the idea of having a little more deck space (even that little bit).  And also favor the looks of the boats without liners.  I'm leaning towards taking the liner out and leaving the top cap and down about 4 inches.

I would really like to see this exact boat that has been  totally rebuilt to give me more ideas!

Thanks for all the feedback guys.  

[Capt. Bob]

I would really like to see this exact boat that has been  totally rebuilt to give me more ideas!

Going out on a limb here and assuming you two guys have traded ideas????

viewtopic.php?p=75842#p75842

[elite51203]

Not directly Capt Bob but I have read through his thread  

[elite51203]

Well after doing alot of research and keeping my budget in mind, at this point I think I am going to use marine grade ply for the stringers.  The same Aqua Tech plywood that I used for the transom.  It is treated and kiln dried and seems to be really good stuff.  From what I have read, using wood for stringers is not always a bad thing, if the installation is done correctly.

The original stringers that were in the boat were in decent shape and they were 1/2" plywood and 1X pine boards.  They were not completely encapsulated with glass at all, leaving many areas of the stringers with exposed wood.  With that said, and being 35 years old, the original stringers had minimal rot (see picture below).  My thinking is, if the stringers held up that long (poorly installed), the new wood stringers should surely last another 30 years with todays materials and a correct installation.    

My initial plan would be to double up two 3/4" sheets with a layer of mat/biax between (making approx. 2" wide stringer after glassed).  Seal the wood with epoxy resin really well and glass with several layers of biax.  Shim off the hull bottom to eliminate "hard spots". Incorporate drainage holes between bulkheads, etc, etc.

Unless I can find foam material at a decent price, my plan right now is to use wood.  Unless you guys talk me out of it of course!

[wingtime]

The only other argument I would consider is what would the weight differences be between wood and foam stringers.

[RickK]

There are still a lot of builders using wood and are successful at it.  http://bateau2.com/ is a proponent of wood.