Another project.... a boat with soft floor
 

Bought a 1995 Larson 214 LXI from an old college friend's parents this summer. They were the original owners and in their late 70's, were no longer using the boat that much. When I showed up to buy it, I quickly realized it was going to need some floor work eventually. Starboard captain's chair mount and floor directly behind it was soft. Other than that the rest of boat was pretty nice. About 400 hours total time. 5.7 Mercruiser Alpha 2. Have not had a boat for over 20 years, but with young grandkids, it seemed like it would be fun to use when they came to visit. We had fun with it this summer after replacing the rusted trailer with a used Shorelandr. Looks like I am in for a project this winter.

Went to Lake James in Indiana a couple times.... kids loved it.
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Had to dump it into the pond to swap trailers
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Started tearing it apart a couple weeks ago.... This job is gonna suck, but the deck and stringers will be better than new when finished.
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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1513555662.jpg

Is that Marine plywood?

Pretty sure it is just ACX plywood.... I am likely going to use epoxy for the rebuild and do a much better job encapsulating everything regardless of what type of wood I use. All screw holes will be sealed also. I am confident I will never have to do it again. I intend to keep this boat as I like the seating arrangement and it can legally haul 13 people.

My favorite boat sight, might not help you as I know you have skills but i like to put it up for the pure enjoyment of it. Very expensive boats and how they're constructed ....He ( David) goes to hurricanes and looks at boats that have been torn apart to see what they're made of. One story is of a Bertram that went through a restaurant and came out the other side unscathed, Ha! Boats, Yachts: Preventing Rot in Encaplulated Wood Structures

The Larson is a good boat. It's not a Cadillac, but it's a Buick or Lincoln. Very solid. You have the desirable optional engine. The hallmark of the Larson is the quality of their fiberglass. It has some technology to make it more slippery in the water. They are very solid boats and the rot you found is unusual. Glad you could make it like new.

Couple of cans of Flex Seal and a roll of duct tape, mebbe two :)....

I already fixed a thing or two when I first got it..... Buffed boat. Repaired trim position switches. Took drive off to install new boots. Re-screwed loose rubrail. Took rear seats to upholstery shop. Power-washed and treated all canvas. Modified/repaired new used trailer. Repaired trim pump mount. Replaced horn.






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This is gonna suck some serious @ss. :D
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Just be careful.

https://youtu.be/EYX1rIe3SaQ

Boat project update.... been busy this winter with life, but I need to get this boat done soon.

Tore out starboard side rotted floor and bulkheads.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1522850263.jpg

New starboard stringers and bulkheads now glassed in with epoxy.
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Last night I added began adding some cleats to secure new decking to. Hopefully will have deck installed within a few weeks and then start the cleaning and re-assembly.

Nice job!

Nice project Tim! As you've gathered by my recent thread, I love boating. For us at least, there is no better family activity. Pretty hard for your kids (or grandkids) to be playing on a device when they are swimming or tubing.

Yep - that's for us too - until they get older and take your boat with all their friends..........

Nice work Tim.
It's so nice once all the funk and corruption is removed and the fresh material is going in.
Your glass work does look good, the time epoxy gives really helps with getting layup done well.

One concern is the ply bulkhead in the bilge. I would want to soak many applications of penetrating epoxy into that piece to prevent water getting to it in use.

Penetrating epoxy is much thinner than the laminating epoxy, and does a good job of soaking in to making wood more impervious to water.

That job will be so satisfying to get done. And get the boat back together for more family fun.

Cheers Richard

I pre soak the bottom raw edges of all parts prior to bedding them in place. All joints then are filleted and will receive a minimum of 3 layers of 17oz biax cloth with the final layer completely covering both sides of all stringers and bulkheads. Bilge will receive additional layers of cloth and epoxy over existing factory joints.

Excellent plan Tim, not surprising, knowing the work standard you persue.

With epoxy being so superior to polyester, some folk take shortcuts in layup counting on the resin to make up for the lack of effort and material.

It's allways fun watching your projects unfold.
Is this going to be your championship racing season?

Cheers Richard

Gonna take the racing one race at a time.... Until I have a bad night, the goal must be to win the championship. If I have a bad night and don't make an A-main, I will likely start looking at lakefront condo rentals for several weekends this summer and allow myself to skip some races.

You probably know this - but sherwin williams makes a great product that works in the bilge (paint) called Tile-clad. When ever I do wok like this - I like to put another layer of protection - and make it look nice .......... :)

Looks like you are doing it right.
My guess is that this boat has been sitting in the water uncovered.
Hopefully fiberglass rot has not set in.

It was a trailered boat its whole life. The water entered through screw holes in the deck then rot spread. While this type of repair is not rocket science, I will never buy another boat that was made prior to about 2000 by which time most manufacturers quit using plywood for stringers and bulkheads. My epoxy encapsulated repair will last much longer the factory's sloppy original polyester coated crappy joints so I am not too worried about ever doing it again on this particular boat.

Nice job, that's how it's done.

Got the floor pieces screwed down for a test fit.... Will epoxy encapsulate the bottom sides and then bed/screw them down with thickened epoxy tonight. Finally the end is in sight!

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Got both the ski locker and the fuel tank bay glassed in. It took about 1 gallon of epoxy. Multiple layers of 17 oz bias glass in the corners and one layer covering the entire bays .... this sucker is sealed up tight. With the new keel cover boards and a bit of epoxy putty to level out any depressions, the ski locker and fuel tank bay will drain much better now than the sloppy original job by the Larson factory.

Front bulkhead

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1524236417.jpg

Fuel tank bay

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1524236417.jpg


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Rear bulkhead
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Serious skills there man.

I'll second that, nice job! Very well done Tim!
Now where is that ski rope.

Cheers Richard

Tidy work there Tim.

Having made a few surfboards I know you can get a bit untidy with fiberglass if you haven't got the skills :eek:

This hand rolled stuff is nice and strong too.

Tim, the Larson is a good boat right from the factory. You have made it better than even the original designer could have hoped. Your great grandchildren will complain that they can't kill this boat in order to justify buying a new one. Well done.

Transom is solid.... Limber holes are in centered in the bulkheads. Cavities under the new floor will be completely filled with 4lb foam that I still need to pour in.

I've said it before Tim, I'll say it again, you have mad skills...

The top of the other original bulkheads may want soaking with "GitRot". It's an epoxy treatment to stabilize and fill older wooden parts.

You have done an excelent job in your repairs Tim!

Cheers Richard

Already treated a couple spots in the port stringer with antifreeze a couple months back just for good measure. It truly is solid and I will fill/soak the top with epoxy prior to adding a thin strip of glass to cap it. Just too big of a job to do both sides for me this year. I am going to put a 10oz layer of glass cloth over both sides and all gaps/screw holes with be completely encapsulated with epoxy. I am fairly confident the port side will not give me any future headaches but if need be, I could replace that side too someday if required..... The starboard captain's chair base had been indexed and rescrewed at some point and the six old screw holes had never been plugged which is where the water entered to rot the starboard side.

1st race cancelled this past weekend due to weather so I got my 4lb foam poured. Cut all my holes then did some rough calcs on volume of each bay. My shop was about 70 degrees so to get to 80+ (as recommended for proper foam cure) I put my heat gun in each bay for about 5 minutes to preheat the cavity and I also set my measuring cups filled with resin on my wall heater to preheat them a bit. Seemed to work out nicely. On my first pour I ended up drilling one additional hole to add a bit in a corner. I ended up with a process using concrete blocks to cap holes as the foam rose to the top thus forcing the foam to spread out more internally towards remaining open holes. All in all I am pretty satisfied that I have completely filled bays.

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This stuff expands to about 15:1. Mixed up too much on 2 occasions.
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Made a tool to sand out the cured pour holes to then re-install the plugs with epoxy.... worked good. Floor/hull now VERY solid.
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Plugs epoxied in place.... A light sanding tonight and will be nearly ready to epoxy glass floor.
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Boat is completely sealed up now with epoxy and glass. Added some seat pedestal risers with epoxy filled blind mounting holes (the seat screws through the original deck were the primary cause for the water intrusion in the first place).

Ready to paint ski locker and bilge now and new carpet is on it's way. Rear storage area will forego the new carpet and just get coated with Nason Fulthane paint.

Finally done with making itchy dust!


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Nice work!
I sold these at a boat show for a week in the 90's.
You are doing a way better job than the guys that built it.

Got the ski locker, bilge and floors painted with about 3 coats of Nason Fulthane last night. FedEx truck showed up this morning with my new carpet. Won't be long now.

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Carpet is in! Wont be long now.

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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1527599177.jpg

Tim. That is coming out looking very good! Even better know how well all of the out of sight work is done.
Very nice job!

Cheers Richard

Tim, that is turning out awesome. Won't be long and you'll be back on the water.

Thanks Matt and Richard.... This project took way longer than I expected. It will be in the water within a couple weeks, but I still intend to completely re-pinstripe the boat, compound the entire boat, build a custom swim platform, re-cover the sundeck, install Corsa exhaust diverters, rebuild my trailer brakes and repaint my trailer black. With my Saturday night racing and subsequent repairs, I might not get my list done until next boating season.

Fantastic work, Tim.
And the best part is: it is very unlikely someone will punt you into a wall at speed so you have to repair it all before next weekend!

Best
Les