74 tournament skier wood rot

Your boats in a hell of a lot better shape than mine kevinb, but it will turn out good in the end. I also added two galvinized plates to the top of the floor stringers with 5/16 nuts welded to them to support the two vertical braces beside the engine. I think adding two plates to anchor the engine cover hold downs is a good idea too, I don't know about lag bolts just in plywood. My ski pylon anchor points were in great shape, they were just 4 layers of 1/2 plywood fiberglassed togther, but they were not quite as tall as the floor strigers so there was a space between the plywood floor and them. I figured since I have to rebuild the hole floor and stringers I might as well make new pylon anchor points that are flush with the floor strigers. I also found that the two front bolts on the ski pylon were just on the edge of the anchor point, so I will make them longer than they were to get more bite.
Slow going job, I found it took the longest to fit the plywood floor peaces because of the angle cut along the side of the hull. Put them in, take them out shave off some material, put them in, take them out shave off somemore, put them in. I wanted the angle and fit fairly close because I want to take up any spaces with resin before fiberglassing the plywood down.
My exhaust heat exchangers are diferent than yours, looks like a pretty nice boat though.

We'll keep pickin away.
Started working on the transom rot.

Jim, CPES is (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer) supose to stop any water from ever entering the wood and fiberglass apperently sticks to it like hell.

 

I believe the end grain balsa is dipped in epoxy before it is placed in the hull. That is probably why the hulls themselves are so durable.

jim

 

While digging into the transom and finding more rot we decided to cut out the outer fiberglass to remove all the wood from the transom. At this point we noticed that the transom was made out of two different sizes of plywood. The outer layer of plywood is the same size as the hull but the iner one is smaller and sits on top of the balsa. We also noticed that some of the balsa has gotten water in it, because of poor attention at the factory, and is saturated. Why should I be worried about water being into the balsa? I intend to completly dry out the water before repairing the transom and after I'm done water will not be able to get in again. This transom rot all started because someone at the factory left a cavity in the fiberglass on the inside of the transom down at the bottom and water found it's way into the plywood in the transom and eventually into the balsa wood in the hull through poorly done fiberglass work. I hope no one else has to deal with what I'm dealing with right now, just one thing after the next and allways for the worst. I'm really close to scraping this thing and selling of the parts!
Maybe my boat was made first thing Monday morrning or last on Friday.

 

The theory of the end grain balsa is that since the filaments are vertical, and they are only as long as the thickness of the core, the water cannot travel far if it does get in, and is easier to repair.

However, if you live in a climate where the hull is subjected to freezing temperatures, it is my theory that the water in the core can freeze and actually break the core filaments and travel further. I believe this can happen in closed cell foam also. I have seen saturated foam which I believe was originally closed cell.

You should be able to tap on the outer hull and tell how far the water has traveled. The dead sounding taps are the bad areas.

I think I see your problem. You have the outer skin off and do not have good access to the core unless you also remove part of the inner skin of the transom and hull. I don't have a detailed suggestion because I can't completely visualize the situation, but when you are through every thing should be bonded together for a strong structure. Resin will not bond to damp wood.

There are some members that have rebuilt these boats and realize afterward that it would have been cheaper (or nearly so) to buy a new hull. In your case the I/O hulls are not available new unless you wanted to modify a new outboard hull. My boat is an I/O converted to an outboard. I like it better in all respects as an outboard.

jim

 

Dyne74

The gentleman I recently bought the twin rig from has a complete I.O. hull that looks like it is good condition. It is completely stripped out, but the bare shell looks like it would make a good transplant. He will sell it for $100.00.

Bob

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the project so far

 

Well work is still progessing, all the rot and fiberglass work is complete and the boat is back from the paint shop. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel for this job.
I have a few more pictures of the work so far that I want to show everyone and may be give some motivation to others struggling with there restorations.
Looking forward to spring!!

 

While you have everything apart, take a look at the side play in the drive. Wear in that area can create excess side play and create excessive torque steer.

I actually took my drive off and milled out the area that takes the side force and replaced the aluminum with a stainless plate to minimize the wear. It improved the steering a lot, and since it became stainless on aluminum, it never showed any signs of wear again.

I know the explanation sounds a little vague, but I think if you look at it you will see what I mean.

jim

 

I'm not sure were you mean??