170 Intro - "Help, I'm all torn up and stuck on land"

[rsolberg]

I bought this 1974 170 in April and brought her back to Blacksburg, VA and began replacing the floor. I'm new to all of this, so this website has been an invaluable resource.  I'm finally to the point where I'm putting her back together.  Here she is when I first got her and some pics to get to where I am so far:















Here's a link to the whole album  (not sure if this will work):

http://s829.photobucket.com/albums/zz212/rsolberg/

I've certainly learned a lot and definitely would do some things differently next time around.  But I still think at the end of it all I will have one beautiful fishing machine.  Hopefully she'll be ready to rock sometime soon,

Rob

[slvrlng]

Welcome aboard! That is one hell of a first post! Looking good! Did you have to replace the casting deck also? Did you encapsulate the original stringers with ply?

[Marcq]

Hey welcome Rob    That's quite an entry alright  :) What is it that you would have done differently for the benefit of the audience ?

Marc..

[Capt. Bob]

For "being new at this" it's lookin' pretty damn good.

Welcome aboard.

[JustLucky]

Looking great!  Keep us up to date!

[rsolberg]

The casting deck was in good shape - so I didn't replace it.  I did remove the wood from the backside of the hatches and replace with 3 sheets of 1.5oz mat.  The wood on the stingers was to raise them just slightly so that the new floor will fit on top of the lip I left for the old floor.  And that is the major thing I would have done differently:  

I would have cut down the stringers leaving the top of the floor in place, removed the layer of wood from the floor and replaced, then bonded the new floor right on top of the old floor.  This would have saved trying the pry the floor off the stringers (which was back breaking), all of the chizeling, grinding and sanding off the top of the stringers, and the leveling that I am going to have to do make sure the new floor fits properly on top of the old one.  

I also would have built just a flat panel instead of an entire coffin for the gas tank.  There are lips on the side of the stringer where a flat panel would sit and could be glassed in.

I would use plascore (the white stuff the floor is made out of) for everything.  It's very easy to use - cuts with a utility knife and has a surface coat that makes a poor bond and delamination almost impossible.

I also wish I had discovered 1708 and 3M marine filler earlier in the project.  The filler is great and comes in handy in many places, and 1708 biaxial mat is just God's gift to the boating world.

Hope this helps some people - I'm no expert, but I think these pieces of advice might help out someone who undertakes a project having never done this before.   Take care, Rob

[RickK]

Welcome aboard rsolberg  :!:  :!:

Looks good  

[Marcq]

Hey Rob, did you have to dig out foam on each side of the stringers ?
Marc..

[rsolberg]

Marc,

The foam, surprisingly, was very dry.  I thought about it, but that seems like a lot of work.  I did resin over the outsides of the stringers to give them an extra water barrier.  By the way, I looked at your pics - The console and floor look great.  I haven't decided what to coat the floor with - Kiwigrip looks pretty good.  How is it when its wet??  I read a review a while back that said the interlux nonskid was the best thing going for the money,  any thoughts on that??

Thanks,

Rob

[Marcq]

Rob, don't know about interlux nonskid, never tried it but will tell you that KiwiGrib is, for the price and ease of application the best thing since slice bread, In my case very easy to clean with just water, I choose a non so aggressive texture, just enough so it is not slippery when wet. That stuff is tough, when changing spot while fishing I always leave my anchor on my casting deck and it wont scratch anything. Sometime my deck gets pretty dirty after a day of fishing , a small wash later and it looks like I just redid my deck new    I have a liter left that I can keep Indefinitely for touch up if I need to

Oh, and thanks
Marc..

[rsolberg]

Here are pics of the back of the floor being glassed and the spacers that I am using to level the floor.  I'm hoping that the plastic under the 4 x 8 sheets with make the floor fairly smooth so less filling is required to get er flat.  The spacers are 2" pvc pipe cut to length by laying an 8' across the hull from edge of the floor to the the edge of the floor on the other side.




http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz21 ... G_1649.jpg


Did anyone else have this problem: that the original floor and the stringers were not quite on the same plane (closer towards the bow and further apart towards the stern)?  Also are the stringers supposed to be level?  Mine are angled slightly outward.  Hopefully the bonding putty makes all of that a non-issue.


Also had to cut out the coffin - found a leak in the keel.  Turns out its coming from inside the keel and can't really be fixed from the inside.  We removed some fiberglass and poured resin down in the de-laminated space.  Plan to fix from the outside and then cover the fix with keel guard.  What length keel guard do you all recommend for our boat (because it's a BBBIIIGGGG 17 footer) 7'??

Thanks,

Rob

[RickK]

...Mine are angled slightly outward....

 
The original floors (sole) are bowed up slightly to force water out to the sides.

[rsolberg]

Here is the floor with PVC cable chases.  Also had a problem with this spot in the keel.  I filled it with resin, then tried to glass it with 1708, but could not get the glass to bond well because of the shape of the original keel in the spot. Should I try to grind it to shape and re-glass it or just leave it?  Should be structurally ok I think??




Marc - Does the floor have to be faired before you apply kiwigrip?  Mine is flat but has all the bumps in it from fiberglassing.  It looks from your pics like the kiwigrip would just cover that right up.

Thanks,

Rob

[Marcq]

Marc - Does the floor have to be faired before you apply kiwigrip?  Mine is flat but has all the bumps in it from fiberglassing.  It looks from your pics like the kiwigrip would just cover that right up.

Thanks,

Rob

Hi Rob, what kind of bumps are we talking about, the pattern of the fiber cloth ? If yes, then it will, like it did on mine hiding my old diamond shape non skid. Are you planing on making waterways on your deck?
Marc..

[rsolberg]

Yes, just the pattern of the fiberglass, I'll sand off any larger bumps.  That's good to know I don't have to mess with fairing the floor.  Thanks for the help!


Rob