1976 Bicentennial Restore

[rjlehr13]

Removed the transom today. What a mess. All the wood down to the bottom of the transom was wet. I am going to wait until the remaining wood that is attached to the transom to dry before grinding it down to the glass. The transom glass panel that remains seems very flimsy compared to the rest of the hull of the boat. Will this stiffen up when I build the new transom? Do I need to put a few layers of fiberglass on the tansom, then put the new board on over those new layers to give it some added strength? How thick of boards do I use for the transom? What is the best way to build the new transom. Can someone give me a step-by-step plan or show me to an already exisiting thread that gives the instructions on how to build one?

[77viper]

The glass on the transom is real thin, I put 2 layers of fairly wet csm between the glass and the first layer of wood. Then I put 1 wet later between each of the 3/4" marine plywood. I knew mine would have a lot of power on it so I made my knee braces out of my stringers. I used 3 pieces of 3/4" plywood for my transom.

http://hydrostreamforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=88&start=10

[rjlehr13]

Tonight I removed the foot rest and the under deck to get at the bow core. What a mess! The core came up very easy and all the balsa was mush.



When I pulled up the core attached to the keel, I found water between the rotton core and the out layer of glass.



This is the pile of core and glass!



This shows the "mush".



All cleaned up. Will tackle more tomorrow.



Should I keep these to use as a template? This is the foot rest and the bow deck. Does anyone put these back in after a restore?



This was a surprise. I found water on my garage floor and noticed I must have jarred a piece of glass loose in an area that already had the gell coat worn away. Another repair when I flip the boat over and work on the hull gel coat!

[Hippie459MN]

Looking great!

That foot rest is actually the air box and its up to you if you want to put it back it. I'm not going to put the air box back in mine. I am just going to put a bulkhead in. Then I can use the space for gear storage more.

It's just an additional attempt for floatation and doesn't need to be put back in if you don't want to. Just make sure to have some sort of a bulk head up there though.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[ccrick]

I scrapped mine to. Gotta put a bulkhead there to support the hull though. Fun ain't it!

[VultureNo2]

Keep up the good progress. Bill

[Sonik]

TTT.....any progress??? apparently I've missed alot over here over the last year....guess I need to pay attention!!

[ccrick]

Don't worry, he's in good hands. This boat will be cool

[rjlehr13]

Today, I added to the fleet (with the wifes permission of course). The whole purpose for buying this one is for the power on the back of this boat. A 1977 Mercury 1500 XS. Plus it came with a multiple of features that I need for "Old Glory", including a nice custom Cobra trailer that is made for a Viper. This motor should work well with the bicentennial. The boat floor is solid, but we all know that looks are decieving and most likely she will need a core. Very little hull stress cracks. The owner had this boat since 1983 and stored it on a hoist. Thanks to Lynn and Rick for their advice and help in finding this motor. That's the one thing I love about this forum-the kindness of everyone out here affering their time and advice. Thanks everyone.







Almost done with removing the old core. Been kind of slow the last few eeks with winterizing the big boat, kids have been sick, wife has been sick, plus the "honey do" list grew a little since the weather got nice. Hope to be grinding by the end of this month.

[HST4ME]

Oh man.. score on that motor, it looks very clean even if it needs love inside.