How Much Work to Restore is Too Much

I ran across a boat for sale.  The owner says the floor needs replaced and the rowers seat needs some work.  I have not seen the boat in person yet (100 mile drive) and the owner is not on site to take more pics..  From the picture I got, I see truck bed liner sprayed on the hull and up the sides.  I went through the photos and saw alot of restore projects but none that had this spray on finish.  So my question, at what point do you determine the restore isn't worth the work and it would be better to just start from scratch.  Any info. or insight would be appreciated.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this site and the info. I have discovered.  Going to try and attach the picture.

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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on August 31, 2011 at 9:11am

Ron, one of the first things I do when I evaluate an old boat like this is to push on the sheer rail between the stem and the frame.  I'm trying to rack the boat.  A solid boat will not rack and will feel like a single solid unit.  A boat that has rot or soft wood at the chine and side-frame to bottom-frame joints will feel "soft" and let you push the boat around.  

 

Do the same at the oarlock by trying to push the sheer rail into the center of the boat.  It should not move at all. 

 

After these two quick tests you start poking around the chine with a small screwdriver or awl looking for soft wood.

Permalink Reply by Ron Shealer on August 31, 2011 at 3:01pm
Thanks for the info..  Disregard the private email I sent you.  My main concern is that truck liner coating that goes up the sides.  In the photo, it looks like it goes well above the rub plates.  To do the restore right, wouldn't I have to get that off the side boards?  If it was all just wood the restore would be just like several pictured in the photo section.  Anyone deal with a repair that has been coated with bed liner yet?  Thanks in advance.
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on August 31, 2011 at 12:11pm

I wouldn't hesitate to rebottom a boat if thats all it needed for the right price.  But chances are if the floor is rotted out, some frames probably need work too. 

If you are thrifty, have plans and find good deals on wood you can build from scratch for under $2k.  at least I could in 2009.  Might be different nowadays...

Permalink Reply by Ron Shealer on August 31, 2011 at 3:01pm
Thanks for the info..  My main concern is that truck liner coating that goes up the sides.  In the photo, it looks like it goes well above the rub plates.  To do the restore right, wouldn't I have to get that off the side boards?  If it was all just wood the restore would be just like several pictured in the photo section.  Anyone deal with a repair that has been coated with bed liner yet?  Thanks in advance.
Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on August 31, 2011 at 3:34pm

Ron, I've had truck bed liner on the inside bottom of a boat that I own for fifteen years. 

The difference in temperature expansion and contraction between the bedliner and the plywood will cause the wood in the plywood to pull away from itself.  The bedliner will stay in one piece and look great but it will not be water tight.

If the bedliner is in good shape and the wood under it is not rotten then I would leave it.  I would find a way to take off the chine and the bedliner at the chine and rebed the chine with polysulfide like 3M301 or with 3M 5200 depending on your flavor of that argument.

The only real reason to worry about the bedliner is if the wood underneith is already soft.  

Permalink Reply by Ron Shealer on September 4, 2011 at 8:49pm
Dave - send me an email.  We live pretty close, I am over in State College.  Checked out your blog site, we have alot in common.  Would like to ask a few PA specific questions on boat designs.  ronshealer@yahoo.com
Permalink Reply by Troy Nicolls on August 31, 2011 at 10:50pm
Thats a good lookin boat compared to the one I rebuilt a year or so ago. I had to replace the bottom which was well worth the money and effort. I also had to scrape, grind and sand off lots of paint and replace /scarf repairs in the sides...that was a lot of work and would make me think twice. Personally I would not tackle another rebuild which required significant side or frame repairs or replacement...especially if there was alot of paint to remove. From the pic, the sides "look" OK and if you replace the bottom it wouldn't take much effort to remove the bedliner on the sides and do something different. Since I did a half a$$ job on my boat, I ended up with leaks this year through the badly checked (read rotten) sides even though I had applied a couple coats of floor and deck enamel. To fix, I sanded out the bottom 6" this spring and applied 6" of 7oz cloth and epoxy resin. I will post a pic on my page for fun. Was pretty easy and should last another 4 years or so until I build another boat. I don't know what the price on that boat is, but it looks mighty tempting to me if in it passes Randy's suggested test's.
Permalink Reply by Ron Shealer on September 1, 2011 at 3:32am

Sounds like I had better go check it out.  Owner is asking $200 with the trailer.  The price makes me wonder just how bad the condition is but I might get lucky.

 

Permalink Reply by Dave Z on September 1, 2011 at 5:42am
This "wood" be a no brainer. (pun intended) $200 with trailer!  go get it.  even if you got a season or two out of it with minimal work, it would be worth it. my opinion, at least.
Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on September 1, 2011 at 7:03am

The price is right.  The trailer is worth $200.  The boat is free and is your opportunity to get some experience in restoration.  Randy's suggestions  at evaluating the old boat are right on.  The truck bed liner is the unknown in this one.  Properly applied it is a good idea on stitch and glue but maybe not on a framed boat.  I say maybe because I don't know for sure.  If you tackle this rebuild you might be the first to take on the problem of truck bed liner removel and restoration on a framed boat.

I have seen several framed boats with truck bed liner applied.  Most of them had it done because the owners felt they could not do the proper repair work, ie new bottom, leaky chine joint, so the bed liner was an attempt to do the "repair" the easy way.  My questions would be what was the condition of the wood before the bed liner was applied?  Was it applied over epoxy/glass covered wood? This would be the best case scenerio.  Or, was it a last ditch effort to keep this boat alive for a few more years.  This would suggest problems under the liner that have'nt gotten any better over the years, most likely rot.  This boat may be one of those, but heck it's free so have at it and keep us posted.  I would jump at the chance to buy this rig for $200 just to see what it would take to restore it in spite of the bed liner treatment.

 

Good luck and keep us in the loop.

AJ

Permalink Reply by Troy Nicolls on September 1, 2011 at 8:44am
I imagine that bed liner could be hard to remove. The stickyness of the melting liner as it is ground off will likely plug up must aggressive sand disk / belts. I bet wet sanding with a 36 grit disk on a air sander might work ok?? Not sure, but in hindsight, I will be trying that next time I try a refurb.
Permalink Reply by Ron Shealer on September 1, 2011 at 12:34pm

Thanks Troy.  I was checking out your project photos.  I will see what needs to be done on this boat in comparison.  Sort of a toss up to take this for cheap and put in alot of time to fix it up or just build new.  I will look it over this weekend and get a prognosis. 

 

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