Glass advice on 58 Glasspar Delmar

Hi all;

Name is Troy Stone, new to this site. Looks like a good one - have seen some good input here!

I replaced stringers, floor, and glass quite successfully in a Tahiti style boat before, so I have some experience.

My scenario:

The floor and stringers are sound in my boat (it was in a dry barn in CA for many years), but I want to reglass the floor as it is worn to the fiber in several places. The boat I did before was low profile. This one has high sides on it, which seem very thin. In fact, toward the back of the boat on either side of the passenger area the sides actually have some flex and cant be more than an 8th of an inch. The sides seem to be plastic, not fiberglass and in fact I thought I heard that these boats are actually plastic and glass.

My question(s):

When I reglass the floors, should I glass up the insides of the boat to add some stiffness or are they supposed to flex and woiuld the rigid glass not be good?

I noticed a thread here about foam filling the bilge. I dont know if this boat even has one - there isnt' a pump but there is a small drain plug in the back. There is a small brass "nut" flush in the floor which seems to indicate there is a void. Should I concern myself with foaming the bilge?

THanks all, looking forward to getting this boat rolling, er, floating!

Troy

[Mark_Denis]

Welcome Troy! Sounds like a great project. Hang tight, I'm sure someone will come around soon with some advice for your Glasspar. The weathers getting cooler around here so it's slowed down a bit. Boater hibernation I guess...

[Bigfoot]

Hi all;

Name is Troy Stone, new to this site. Looks like a good one - have seen some good input here!

I replaced stringers, floor, and glass quite successfully in a Tahiti style boat before, so I have some experience.

My scenario:

The floor and stringers are sound in my boat (it was in a dry barn in CA for many years), but I want to reglass the floor as it is worn to the fiber in several places. The boat I did before was low profile. This one has high sides on it, which seem very thin. In fact, toward the back of the boat on either side of the passenger area the sides actually have some flex and cant be more than an 8th of an inch. The sides seem to be plastic, not fiberglass and in fact I thought I heard that these boats are actually plastic and glass.

My question(s):

When I reglass the floors, should I glass up the insides of the boat to add some stiffness or are they supposed to flex and woiuld the rigid glass not be good?

I noticed a thread here about foam filling the bilge. I dont know if this boat even has one - there isnt' a pump but there is a small drain plug in the back. There is a small brass "nut" flush in the floor which seems to indicate there is a void. Should I concern myself with foaming the bilge?

THanks all, looking forward to getting this boat rolling, er, floating!

Troy

Hey Troy. I think in the old days folks refered to fiberglass as plastic because fiberglass was somewhat new in the 50's and some thought fiberglass boats would break. Older boats to me seem thinner and some flex imo is normal. Its late now and im tired but I would bring the glass up the sides 6" and blend it in. Im sure others can weigh in on this, Hey I see your from Cali. Alot of guys from the gsg are in the northern part of the state. check out http://www.goldenstateglassics.com/ and maybe others can help you too. Ill check in later, Mike

[Helmar]

Hi Troy.
I have seen both in fiberglass layup. Some very thick in areas they felt were needed, then very thin in other places.

If you find some structural places you feel need built up, no problem.

I have seen some boats that seem to be pretty flimsy on the upper sides of the hulls but down low, more matting and glass resin was used.

I am sure you will find more jumping in here soon.

[Tim_Mattson]

Foaming and glassing G-pars

Troy,
If you simply want to re-skin the old floor in place,then sterilizing and rolling out a whole new skin in Fiberglass cloth would revitalize the old floor.
I`ve found the staples used to assemble the floors to the stringers are usually broken and no longer attached on several Glasspars.I`ve been simply screwing in Silicone Bronze screws into the stringers every couple inches or so until all are evenly connected.We see saltwater which rots the steel staples......50 years of use seems like more than they planned so this seems acceptable.
I also foam up the outer areas which taper down to the outer side and then stop at the center void which I almost always leave open for water draining.The boat had no hole for under the deck but I simply put a single #12 SS screw into a new hole I bored into and found some water that had been stored for years......."Glasspar Wine" anyone?
There is a center stringer on some so the hole had to go off-center slightly.I call it an "Inspection Hole" and only pull it when I get too much rain in the cabin.....
Side flex is somewhat normal but a single layer of cloth will stiffen things up if truly wanted.Flex with noise is not normal so a ride may be needed to really learn what`s up.
The transoms also can use a new dose of cloth as the single lightweight layer usually has some holes here and there.
My Seafair got one solid pc of Woven roving which went corner to corner and 5-6`` up each side.
Main thing is to do "Balanced" improvents where both sides get equal treatment.Foam it up if things are moving but it isn`t needed in every case.
By drilling the pour holes for foaming first,these can be used to verify stringer contact with new screws when re-securing the floor to the structure.Foam before glassing the surface as the new cloth will seal the holes nicely.Goodluck.
TimM

thanks tim

I have gotten some really nice replies here and even an offer to talk on the phone...I really appreciate everything...