1976 Bicentennial Restore

[Hippie459MN]

Boy, you have your work cut out for you on this one but I am so glad to see it being saved! It will be well worth it when its all finished.

You can pull the deck off if you don't want to cut your spashwell up otherwise I say leave it on if you plan to redo all the paint/gel work. Just cut splashwell out and go at it that way. That's what I am doing myself. I know most people leave the deck on but its really personal preference.

Keep the pictures coming for sure!

[ccrick]

Don't cut the well. Seperate the deck. I cut my old stuff out with a 4 1/2" grinder and a cut off wheel on it. Very controlable. Really the hard part of whole resto is going to keep the original gel. Tower of power all the way too! Remember, I'm right in the hood! This thing will be so cool when done!

[hydrostream76]

yes being the bi-centennial colors i would seperatte the halves
save the gel coat for last it can be saved

[rjlehr13]

Today, I ripped out the rest of the carpet, removed the gunnel vinyl pads, removed the rest of the steering wheel mechanism (sterring was froze up), cleaned up the interior a bit, and got a bit excited and began to rip out the core. I only did a small 1' x 1' area that was coming up by itself. The fiberglass came up easy and the balsa was disintigrated for the most part.


This was after I scrapped away the balsa and vac the pile. There is still some of the wood stuck to the hull. Do I just use a hammer and chisle to remove these leftover chuncks?


This is a closer pic of the same area. My question is am I to grind down the "squares"? The cross weave fiberglass in this pis...is that the outer hull? Is that what I grind the core down to?


Also, what the heck is this??? This came from under the deck on the port side in the bow. I remember seeing these in my uncles stars and stripes when I was a kid and just wanted to know the purpose of these? I am missing the starboard side one and want to know if I need to put these back in? If so, how do I make a new one for the starboard side?


Finally, I decided to split the boat as I am hearing one of the hardest parts of this project will be the gel as I am keeping the original metal flake. I am getting to the point when I am ready to begin splitting the hull and deck and was wondering where to begin. It looks as if I need to pop the rivets that hold the rub rail in place first..correct? If so, is there an easy process in popping these rivets? Then, how do I break the bond between the deck and hull? Do I need to get her off the trailer first before doing all this?

Thanks for your help!

[77viper]

I used a large sharp pry bar and would slide it across the hull to get the leftover core out.

The foam is for flotation, there was one on each side under the bow at one time. Some people will use a inflated inner tube under the bow for flotation.

I'm not sure how to split the deck, I cut my spashwell. I did my core on my trailer, it has 6 bunks and it stayed straight.

[ccrick]

pm sent

[Dustin0330]

That's going to be a bad a$$ stream when you finish it.

[rjlehr13]

I got the metal rub rail off and exposed the meeting point of the deck and hull. My question is what's the best way to seperate the bond holding together the hull and deck? Do I get my Sawzall out and just start cutting??? Anyone who has seperated a boat before, please let me know as I am ready to go!!! Thanks!

[ccrick]

I've never done it on one of these boats but I here a sawsall is the best with a fine blade.

[rjlehr13]

Be patient with me as summer is here and we recently bought boat number 4, a 28'Carver Riviera Cruiser. So my time has been directed towards cruising with the fam on Lake St. Clair and skiing behind my other ski boat as well. Tonight, however, I had a little time and finished cutting the seam that bonds the hull and deck and they are now seperated. Now begins the arduous task of grinding out the core and removing the transom. What is the best tool to use to grind down the core?

Also, another question is what did Hydrostream use to bond the hull back together? There were spots where it looked as if they "spot welded" the deck and hull together, but with an epoxy or glue. Any thoughts? Just curious for the future when I put them back together. Thanks!