Fiberglass Help

[AugustMoose87]

Haven't been on for a while, too busy gettin after fish and game to be working on the boats But now that spring is around the corner, I got a few things I need to get taken care of.

I have a fiberglass tri-hull that I got dirt cheap from E-Bay, and I'm in the process of re-vamping it. While going through things, I noticed that the two large pieces connection is basically gone.... (wow... not even sure how to say that more clearly.... I'm not as think as you drunk i am :lol: )

From what I can tell, the two halves had a small lip that was riveted together, a strip of fiberglass (about 3" thick) was run on the inside. This was used to hold the screws from the rub-rail on the outside.... (Clear as mud, right??) May have to try to get some pics in the morn....

So if you can follow that, the lip that existed before has been pretty much destroyed by the rivets and screws ripping out....

SOOOO...... long story short.... I'm looking for help figuring out a good, DIY way to re-connect the two halves, both structurally AND cosmetically (the prior rub-rail is toast)..

Any ideas????

 

[ben2go]

Give us pics and we can prolly help you out.

 

[Macgyver]

the hull to deck joint . grind it out and glass over it again..

 

[AugustMoose87]

the hull to deck joint . grind it out and glass over it again..

Thats the one. I was thinking of that, but didn't know if that would be considered strong enough.... Then I assume I could just screw a rub-rail over that if I'm so inclined, and hide my dirty work... yea??

 

[Specknreds]

the hull to deck joint . grind it out and glass over it again..

Thats the one. I was thinking of that, but didn't know if that would be considered strong enough.... Then I assume I could just screw a rub-rail over that if I'm so inclined, and hide my dirty work... yea??

Usually the screws are about 6" apart on a quality liner hull. Do what Macgyver said and you can move the screws to a "fresh" spot inbetween the old screws. Or, put the old screws back in and add a few more inbetween.

A lot of old tri-hulls had wood in their hulls or at least in their decks. It would be a good time to check the condition of the wood when you take the screws out and can peek into the hull.

Covering up the seam is a rub rails second job. I've built quite a few fiberglass boats and am working on a prototype plug for another mold. It is very difficult to put a liner or cap on a hull and make that seem look good. The rub rail covers most of the imperfections in even new top name boats.

 

[AugustMoose87]

A lot of old tri-hulls had wood in their hulls or at least in their decks. It would be a good time to check the condition of the wood when you take the screws out and can peek into the hull.

yea, i had been thinking about that. From what I've been able to see, it seems like there are small pieces of plywood embedded so stuff can be wood-screwed to the fiberglass. All of that holds mostly cosmetic stuff (the horn, lights, etc.), but nothing structural, so I'm not sure I'll mess with those.

The deck feels pretty solid, but I'm kind thinking that while I'm in there it might be wise to just replace the wood too (especially since the boat is about 30 years old and has been stored out side most of that). Also thinking I'll do the transom while I'm at it.

And this reminds me of a second question I had.... the rear 2/3 is open, and the from 1/3 is like a molded bench seat. Long story short the "floor" of the forward 1/3 is not the same as the rest of the boat, and as such it has a drain hole. Looks like its just one solid piece of metal tubing.... so I'm thinking that the edges may just be flattened, kinda like a rivet holding the two together. Any advice on how to remove and replace that when I take the two halves apart???

Again, I know pictures would help, I'm gonna get them this weekend...