67 flatback project - father and son

[ncrowe]

Hello everyone

Just drove down to Sugarloaf Key yesterday to pick up a ‘67 flatback for my son and I to restore/redo - we’ll be tearing into the boat this week and posting progress - it’s going to be a great experience for my 11 year old and some of his friends to breathe some life back into a revered hull and create something new and improved.

The hull is a ‘67 - came on the trailer - we purchased it for $800 and the owner was kind enough to put new trailer lights, new winch, and new latch on the trailer for us. I brought down 4 wheels and tires with me, and when we arrived he was there and helped install them, he also greased up the bearings for us as well. He told me he had 30 some inquiries about the boat, but decided to sell to us because we knew what the boat was and he liked the fact it was going to be a father son project.

Here’s a few pics - I’ll be updating more throughout the week

[Tampa Bay Mike]

Sweet deal. My kids have done lots of work on mine over the last year. Should be a great project.

[Capt. Bob]

Welcome back Nigel.

Long time , no read.

What ever became of the CCP?

[ncrowe]

The CCP was sold years ago prior to a move to west palm and then St Louis - we have been back in FL almost 3 years now and I just finished up redoing my 2860 prokat - twin Suzuki 300’s - beautiful dive boat and offshore fishing machine, but I’ve always wanted to do a flatback

[ncrowe]

Got some work done with my son - he’s enjoying the demo

[ncrowe]

Okay - so its time to pull up the floor - we are going to take the boat down to the hull and redo stringers - what is the best way to pull up the floor and get all the foam out. As I started the process I took a circular saw and made a few cuts near the rear. There is no foam in the stringers - the foam is between the stringers. Also I'm not seeing and wood - its only fiberglass over foam?

[mshugg]

Portable circular saw set to 1/2-5/8” deep around the perimeter of the deck.  You may need to go deeper, but it’s better to proceed with caution.  Depending on the condition of the core, it may be helpful to cut the deck into sections, again with portable circular saw.  Then pry it up with wonderbar, chisels etc.

[ncrowe]

Happy Thanksgiving - got more work done this morning - used my sawzall with a demo blade - cut through all the floors like butter - and way less dust than using a circular saw. Also - a little tip for those who don't know - get a cheap bottle of talcum powder and coat yourself with it - I wore shorts and a t-shirt today with flip flops (yes had a face mask and glasses) and just covered myself with talcum powder - zero itching (YAY!!)







So - some work has been done in the past - the transom wood looks good, but I'm still going to yank it out just to be safe. THere looks to be a liner in the boat (all the stringers are attached and the stringer system seems to be one piece. Something strange - the stringers are hollow and the cavities between them were filled with foam. The baitwell forward of the console had been glassed in and you can see it was full of water - most of the foam was dry with the exception of the center stringer area near the rear. There was no foam there, but there were roots and a potato growing there. The roots extended all the way forward (up to the baitwell) under the foam between the stringers.

Anyways - tomorrow I'll be getting the rest of the foam out and pull the center stringers out as well.

[RickK]

The stringers were fabbed out of the boat and set in all at one time like a liner. There should also be a liner covering the inside hullsides to the cap. If you can get that off gently, you can cut down the lower portion by the amount you raise the deck and re-use it to cover the unfinished hullsides.

[ncrowe]

The stringers were fabbed out of the boat and set in all at one time like a liner. There should also be a liner covering the inside hullsides to the cap. If you can get that off gently, you can cut down the lower portion by the amount you raise the deck and re-use it to cover the unfinished hullsides.

Thanks - now I see that

I'm going to be pulling it all out and build a new stringer system - more work, but it'll be done right. There is bits and pieces of an inner liner, but being this was a crab boat, its been patched and botched. The casting platform area there is no liner, but towards the rear of the boat there is one.

[ncrowe]

Okay, quick update for today

got center stringer and baitwell out, pulled inner skin off transom.

So to raise the transom, new pieces were glassed in on top of old, then new inner skin (parts of which were bone dry as I was prying it off)

So what should I be doing first; transom or stringers? Also, please comment on how I should do the transom.

I'm thinking I'll take out 1 foot of stringers, and just gut the bulk of the transom given the way it was patched and just give myself a 2" lip all around and do a completely new skin - i'm thinking it will end up being less work in the long run and better end product - advice?

[mshugg]

You'll  need the aft 18” or so out of the way when you rebuild your transom, so it only makes sense to do the transom first.  Then that will give you one last chance to check the hull for square and true before you immortalize it by rebuilding the stringers.

[RickK]

 X2 with mshugg. 
Also lay a board across the cap and get good measurements to the top of the existing stringers and document them. Document the existing stringer system as far as distance from each other, from the hullside, height from hull bottom, width at top and bottom. This is history of the original hull in case you change your design mind, like raising the deck height, which is pretty normal..
You will be changing the low point in the hull when you rebuild the transom (maybe it has already been changed if rebuilt before). Here is a link to where I explain the thought compensating for this with the addition of a PVC pipe
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg133124#msg133124

Here is a link to where I show what is actual problem
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg133556#msg133556

Here is a link to Hawgleg's rebuild that shows the PVC pipe installation to keep a drain at the new low point of the boat
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg134262#msg134262

[ncrowe]

You'll  need the aft 18” or so out of the way when you rebuild your transom, so it only makes sense to do the transom first.  Then that will give you one last chance to check the hull for square and true before you immortalize it by rebuilding the stringers.

Thanks - should I take the outer skin or leave it?

[ncrowe]

X2 with mshugg. 
Also lay a board across the cap and get good measurements to the top of the existing stringers and document them. Document the existing stringer system as far as distance from each other, from the hullside, height from hull bottom, width at top and bottom. This is history of the original hull in case you change your design mind, like raising the deck height, which is pretty normal..
You will be changing the low point in the hull when you rebuild the transom (maybe it has already been changed if rebuilt before). Here is a link to where I explain the thought compensating for this with the addition of a PVC pipe
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg133124#msg133124

Here is a link to where I show what is actual problem
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg133556#msg133556

Here is a link to Hawgleg's rebuild that shows the PVC pipe installation to keep a drain at the new low point of the boat
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg134262#msg134262

Thank you - I will definitely be doing the PVC and taking measurements

I’m also debating about how to do new stringers - wood or fiberglass filled with foam - or maybe just rebuild the original 2 -

What’s the best way?