87 Skier floor replacement

[Planefreak]

So, I had another thread going but that is more about getting ready to do the floor. This one is about actually doing the floor. I have several pics and hope to eventually post them in an album when I get done. Should be another great resource to this already great site.

Here's the boat. What can't be seen is the warped floor the dry rotted areas and so much more.

Up to this point it is all pretty basic. Find the bolt take it out and remove. Repeat. The carpet comes out easily too.

I used a reciprocating saw to cut off the side shelf (not sure if they have a real name or not). Also, I'm not sure how the rest of you guys have done it but I used my dremel with a 1.5" cut off wheel to cut through the glass holding the shelf to the side of the boat. It seemed like a relatively safe and effective way to do it. In all it took me about 4 hours to cut around the engine, the shelf on top the floor around the edges and finally the floor.

This last one for now is all the foam being broken up in the boat. I knew it would take up a lot of space. I filled up 3 garbage cans and 2 large plastic bags.

I need to finish cleaning out the bottom. The foam really doesn't want to come out. Then I need to test the stringers. I've been told that I need to drill through the stringer in several places to check the wood. Is that correct?

I don't know if anyone has noticed this but the floor is held on with staples. I was thinking of using screws but I don't like the idea of putting anything extra into the stringers. Is it possible to just put some resin onto the stringers and glass the floor into place?

I would like some flooring recommendations too. I've seen some composite stuff around but from what I hear it is very expensive is just a little lighter. I'm not too concerned with some extra weight. And lastly, does the foam need to be replaced. I could be wrong but I think it also gives the floor support.

Please feel free to comment on anything here. Anything that looks bad...

[gwinton]

I replaced the stringers in my 85 Skier. What a job that was. I won't attempt to do that again.

This is the cheap way and works pretty good.

Drill from the top middle down about 2 to 3 inches. I used a 1/2 inch bit. If the wood comes out dry, you are in great shape. Check around the motor and the back of the boat. That's where I found most of the damage. If you find a little, I would get at least 1/2 gallon of wood root. Drill holes every foot and at least 3 inches deep. Pour the wood root liquid in the holes to the top. Let it soak into the wood. Repour more in about 1 hour. This will soak all the wood and turning it into a solid plastic wood stringer. Now go get some resin and fill the holes with the resin to the top of the stringer. Sand flat and paint. Good as new and maybe a little stronger that before.

Of course you can try to replace the stringers. This is very time consuming and expensive.

Good luck and contact me if you need any more info.

[BigJerDog]

I would suggest screwing down the floor. Predrill and then coat the screw with 3M Marine Adhesive Sealent Fast Cure 5200. You can get this at West Marine or pretty much any marine supply store. This will seal the holes pretty well so you dont have to worry about getting water in them.

For the floors I used Marine grade plywood. The composite stuff is nice but expensive and If you glass the Marine plywood correctly it will be waterproof, bulletproof and just as good as the composite. If you look closely at your floors that you just pulled out... You can tell that they really did a crappy job of sealing these floors up when the originally built the boat. I dont knwo if that is because technology has advanced or what but thats just my opinion. The job you do will be much better than that of the original builders.

I have talked to some who have not redone the foam but it does help add to the structural integrity of the boat as well as insulate and soundproof. Hit a goodsize wake without it and you will feel it bow and hear it too. Go ahead and redo the foam. It is a cool technology and fun to play with at the very least. Should cost about a 100 bucks or so I think

I dont have any pics to help you with but feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I just did this rebuild last summer and it was difficult but I am glad I did it. I would love to help if I can.

Jeremy

[rugger]

Glad to see you are on your way. Also glad it's not me this time doing it! Reading this reminded me of a few other pointers...

Save everything you cut out! The floor, particularly in the front, can serve as a nice template for the new stuff.

I agree with the guy who just posted... you need the foam. You may also notice the boat "rebalanced" due to the amount of water the old foam takes on over 20 years. The foam makes the boat safer as well. I thought about adding ballast tanks under the floor instead, but it wouldn't amount to enough anyway if you do the math. These boats are too low profile.

Also agree about the screws. It's the right way to do it. Use stainless screws and an epoxy that will seal the holes. Malibu uses something called "plexus" (now, not then). Also, I would go with marine wood or something similar. There are a bunch of boat builder sites you can peruse. This is an excellent Malibu specific resource, but not for structural / professional glassing. I found a bunch of links for buying materials and the folks are very helpful. The BEST way to do it, is to glass both sides of the wood with good epoxy resin, but of course you could just glass the top to save money on materials. Either way, the other guy is right it should be better than it was stock.

[gwinton]

I looked at the plastic boards also, but for the cost I went with marine wood coated with expoxy on all sides. I put on 3 coats. I scewed all board down and used marine sealant in between the stringers and the floor. I also glassed the joints where the boards came together. I then call a local home builder that was putting foam in the walls of the new homes being built. I meet with him at one of the homes with the boat and had him inject the foam in the boat. It was fast and simple. Paid him $100.00 If you don't have any homes going up in your area, look in the yellow page for home foam installers.

[BigJerDog]

Wow Qwinton you got off easy. I bought the 2 part mixture from Tap Plastics. It was a bit messy til I got the hang of it but lots of fun to play with. I like your idea better though. No fuss no muss!

[saskie99]

I have a bad stringer on the driver side. Can I use the wood rot to repair? What is the rotted wood is wet, then what? For some reason the driver side has all the damage. Is there any other products out there as I really really don't want to replace the whole stringer. It is bad from the back engine mount back. Any ideas I would love to here. Where do you get the foam to replace the old foam? Does is matter if I remove just the old foam from the just from the back if the boat? Last year just as a quick fix I replaced the wood on the floor, but did not have the time to do the stringer repair. I did not glass in the floor, just so I could take it out easier to repair the stringer this spring. Any advice would be great! Thanks

[BigJerDog]

I got my foam from tap plastics. I dont know if they are all over the place but I know they have a website that you can purchase from. I am not sure how the wood rot repair stuff works. Im guessing it is best used on areas where you have just a little bit of rot. You are talking about a 3-4 foot area.

[jetskipro550]

Another crew member from Salem!

[WakeGirl]

Plane,

Did I meet you last summer out on Lake Billy? The boat looks familiar.

[Planefreak]

I'm surprised that this thread has generated so many replies in such a short amount of time!!!

As it stands I'll probably go with marine plywood and replacing the foam.

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=79&

That's the foam. I think that's what came out of the boat. The flooring i'll probably pick up at a local boat shop or parr/home depot... which ever one is best for money. I'm going with marine plywood because of the cost of composite flooring, but I haven't yet looked at the epoxy or resin to cover it.

Any recommendations for the new fiberglass cloth? I've looked around and so far learned about several types of glass cloth but am now lost. What did you guys use? Does it make a difference as long as it's close to the similar weight and size?

It's nice to see locals on MalibuCrew

[BigJerDog]

Yep thats the stuff. Make sure you test it out first before pouring. It expands so fast and so much you need to have a good feeling on how much to use for a goven area. I would also suggest getting the epoxy from Tap if you can. They have a Marine grade meant for boats. It is also cheaper and can buy in larger quantities than at West Marine.

I can not remember what thickness of cloth. It wasnt the thickest but not thinnest either. Somewhere in the middle to thicker side of things if that helps. but definitely use the weave pattern. That is going to be the strongest I think. Do they have a Tap Plastics store in your area? They have all the glass on big rolls and that way you can see what your getting.

Jer

[gwinton]

I have a bad stringer on the driver side. Can I use the wood rot to repair? What is the rotted wood is wet, then what? For some reason the driver side has all the damage. Is there any other products out there as I really really don't want to replace the whole stringer. It is bad from the back engine mount back. Any ideas I would love to here. Where do you get the foam to replace the old foam? Does is matter if I remove just the old foam from the just from the back if the boat? Last year just as a quick fix I replaced the wood on the floor, but did not have the time to do the stringer repair. I did not glass in the floor, just so I could take it out easier to repair the stringer this spring. Any advice would be great! Thanks

If you are looking for a quick fix, Then drill the holes from the top of the stringer down about 3 inches. The wood rot is a very thin epoxy that is able to be absorbed by the wood. After drilling the holes I would let it dry in the sun for a couple of days just to make sure the wood soaks it up. The manufactures say it will displace water. The type I used was "Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer" made by Smith and Co. Ph. 800-535-5053 I found it by doing a search for it. After you pour it in let it dry for a few days and fill the holes with standard marine epoxy.

[Planefreak]

I finished cleaning out the foam (mostly) and learned of a new problem. I found that the smaller stringer on the port side of the boat is dry rotted. It is right below where the passengers sit is probably the second wettest place on my boat. To repair it I plan on cutting some of the stringer out and stopping a few inches behind the end of the dry rot and glassing a new one to the old and sealing with glass. I think the main culprit were all of the staples that where in this area. They didn't look very well sealed.

From what I can tell without drilling into the other stringers they look like they are in relatively good condition. With some luck I'll be able to test the stringers and prep the boat for the new floor by the end of the week.

I went on Tap and found one relatively close. Less than a hour drive

Edited March 9, 2009 by Planefreak

[gwinton]

I found that part bad also. It looks like the factory does not seal this area very good. I cut away the bad part and epoxy a new piece in. Make sure you get some thickener for the epoxy to make it like mayo. This will help keep the epoxy to stay in place. Watch out it will harden fast. After you mix it you will have around 15 to 20 minutes to work with.

[rugger]

If you find a bunch of rot in them, those outside stringers are pretty easy to replace if you just did the whole thing. They used two strips of plywood butted up to each other, with a quick glass to the base. since they are just floor supports, there's not much else. Most boats (natiques, mastercraft and malibus) didn't glass over of those either, they just glassed them to the floor. I chose to wrap them in glass too, but it was excessive (kinda.)

[gwinton]

Mine were 2 x 4 x 8 It was simple to cut these out and glass new 2x4's in. Check the back end. I had rot there also. The platform was bolted to these and the water leaked into the bolt holes soaking the wood.

[Planefreak]

Mine were 2 x 4 x 8 It was simple to cut these out and glass new 2x4's in. Check the back end. I had rot there also. The platform was bolted to these and the water leaked into the bolt holes soaking the wood.

Thanks for the tip. Today I hope to check out the stringers and see if there is anything else that needs replacing. I'm still working on pulling out all of the staples then I need to take off the excess plywood. Not sure how much more time it will require. Seeing as the smaller stringers for the floor support are easy to replace, I'll most likely end up tearing out part of the driver side too. It doesn't look great and it's a lot easier and cheaper to just take care of it now. I think I'll probably glass over them but if I don't they will at least get a good coating over the entire area to seal any holes.

[gwinton]

It took me a while. Almost 3 months. But I replaced all the stringers. There was a company I found http://www.onlinemetals.com They made aluminum 2x4's. I was thinking on doing this, but if the boat lasted 20 years on wood and if I could get another 15 years I would be doing good. So I put in wood and spent the time to make sure I sealed every part of the wood. I ended up using about 10 gallons of resin. I also used resin on the whole inside of the boat so that it was water tight. After doing the job I think the boat will be around for my children's children to use. It is more solid in the water that when I bought it 5 years ago.

[rugger]

Cool! congrats on finishing.

Here's my best Cliff Clavin impression:

Nothing was ever wrong with wood stringers, in most cases they are stronger than composite anyway which is why they were and are still used for racing. In my research I found out the polyester resin they used 20 years ago was crap by today's standards, and was easily compromised with micro cracks, etc. for water to find its way in. But even more so, the amount of screws and staples they used without proper sealant is mind boggling. So if you use newer polyester, or vinylester, or especially epoxy resin and you seal it right -- you're as good as new and much better than it was when it rolled off the showroom floor 20 years ago. I know I've said it before, but I think adding a bulkhead across the back to seal off the foam is also a good idea.

[gwinton]

That is exactly what I did. I sealed off the area where the foam is. I added the wood where it ends under the drivers and passenger seats. I was worried that I build a trap for water. So I drilled a hole at the back with a plug that can be removed. This way I can tilt the boat up in the front to allow the water to drain out in the back. I am glad someone else agreed with me. Many people thought I was crazy for doing that.

[66mstgfsbk]

i just got done cutting and laminating the floor in my 84 now im at the point that all i need to do is "tape" the floor in. after a long process things that i learned are.

tap plastics the x30 foam is good an easy to use, messy at first, but if you mix it with the drill cage it will expand fuller and look nicer. then you can get a chip brush and apply a layer of resin over it to prevent water from penetrating it again.

the 1/2 ply that i used was strong, i made it stronger by using 12 mil glass on both sides that made it a lot stronger. to fasten the ply to the stringers i used deck screws and will be sealing them with resin. where i didnt cut the wood perfect so i have open gaps about 1/4 of an inch where the ply and glass edge meets. so i got something called spheres to help fill the gap then will tape over it with knytex 4 inch tape.

the resin that i used was the laminating polyester bond coat B from tap, i used this because it had a long very long pot life about 25-30 minutes. since i used B and not the finishing A type i didnt have to sand the top layer to get the "wax" off of it. i always have the fear of adding too much catalyst to the resin and having it catch fire, yes ive done it it smokes then its all fury from there. but with the B type and the long pot life it was 1 qt of resin to 3/4 oz of mekp it never got hot, i glassed in 45 degree weather and it cured just fine. the b stays tacky for a bit but it will cure within 48 hrs to a hard state. if you make resin cure too fast it will be weak and brittle, but if you can slow cure it will be a lot stronger than fast curing.

i think after the wood, foam, resin, glass, gloves, misc mixing tools, i was in the floor about 550. the marine grade was about 80.00 a 4x8 sheet, i needed 2 one for the front and one for the rear.

thats some of what i learned/did, hope it helps.

i also have to replace the engine stringers and the wood glassed into the transom for the swim step support, thats next weeks mission.

[gwinton]

How did you make out on this project?