Welocme aboard jimbo :!: :!:
Another addition to the 170 family and one that has had his boat for a long time too. 8)
First of all I don't think they made any size in the 17 ft range but a 170 in 1971 (I have one too) so I was a little confused by your subject line.
http://www.classicaquasport.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/551You can edit that if you want by clicking on the first post and then click edit in the bottom right - this way we don't think that we found a new size after all these years
The boats were measured straight down the middle for length so if you measured on the outside you'd get a longer size. Your badge should also say 170.
Second - my boat has a liner, does yours? Either way, when I replaced my sole I set a skil saw to just cut through the sole and nothing else and then went as close as I could to the sides and casting deck which left about 2" around the edge - I used that to tie back into the liner with the new floor. Good luck trying to re-use the deck skin. If you're worried about the non-skid, don't, we can show you how to put on some real nice non-skid easily. I also cut around the wire/cable chase that runs from the back of the boat to the console. I didn't want to try to make a new one of those. It's fairly easy coming out if the sole is real bad - it'll flake if it's rotten. Clean up all that mess and then you need to drill some test holes in the trapazoid stringers and see if the foam is wet. One of my stringers was destroyed in front of the console and I had to rebuild it in the process. If the foam is wet you can cut the tops of the stringers out, leaving a few connections across and then pull that foam out. Get as much as you can out. Clean up the inside and then get ready to have some fun putting it back together. It's really not hard if you have basic carpentry skills. You have many choices of materials from wood to composites - there is really no right or wrong - some of these boats have outlasted many an owner with wood in them.
We'll help you wherever you need it. We'll need pictures to really help though. Look at the
LAST post in this topic to see how to post pix from photobucket - piece of cake.
Again, welcome aboard.