Carpet replace/ flooring issue

[amski79]

Finally pulled the original carpet out of a '79... floor was in pretty good shape. Guess the old resin coating approach was really a smart one! Two issues I came across:

1) flooring between post and front seat gives a bit (highest traffic area in a boat, IMO), but the wood is in pretty good shape. There is a slight gap between the plywood and aluminum below for some reason. Does this aluminum go forward towards the seat more than a couple inches or does it really just serve as a cross support for the pole? That area seems really difficult to try and replace any wood, as the built in seats really are a pain to work around (Can't even get the new carpet under the edge). The constant flexing of the plywood will surely mean a sooner death if left alone. If aluminum goes forward, maybe some kind of stays to fill the gap? Maybe just use a couple bolts to suck it down to the aluminum near the engine compartment edge?

2) speaking of edge of carpet and front seats, has anyone just gone up and over the L foot with new carpet? My other issue is that all of the screws for the foot of the seat are stripped out completely. Relocating them seems difficult b/c you have to cover the old holes which are now very faded gelcoat over fiberglass. That way screws could go in new locations and have no coverage issues. Just not sure how easy carpet will go up and over the small edge. Thx for any help!

[RonT]

By the pics you posted the floor panel ahead of the pylon needs to be replaced.

The aluminum pylon mount is a motor mount/pylon mount combination 1 piece welded frame, the pylon is centered in a pair of 6" wide aluminum flat bars welded to the 6" wide flat bars that attach to the stringers, it does not continue forward.

At a minimum, I would remove the rubrail, hull/deck screws, lift the deck up from the front& leaving 2 x 4s on edge between the deck & hull with a gental taper   toward the aft end so you dont have to pull the fuel hoses. This will give you sufficient work room to do what you need to do. Feel free to call with any questions.  985-542-4336

[backfoot100]

Actually, the floor is cracked pretty bad right next to the engine opening too. There are also crack blisters starting just aft of the "L" on the observers seat. All things considered, that floor looks to be in really good shape yet for a '79. I'm assuming that it's been kept fairly dry between ski sessions and kept covered or in a garage. I would check pretty close around the screw holes at the base of the drivers seat too.

The crack next to the engine opening is a sure indicator the foam is wet and the floor has started rotting and will continue to rot there until you have no choice but pull the carpet all over again and do the floor at that time. The damage is already done but it's obviously been cared for pretty well to date. As long as it's maintained the same way, it may last quite a few more years before it reaches that completely rotted out stage.
I would just figure on replacing the floor and then recarpeting if you plan on keeping the boat at all. With the penetrating epoxies and/or the composite matierials available now, replacing the floor and carpet now will be the last time you'll ever have to do it if done right. That's just me though. I guess you can do what you want to do.

Ron is dead on for lifting the seat base. The only way to do that properly is to remove the deck. Just propping up the front of it and keeping the rear in tact might work if you're just doing a patch job but I would still remove the whiole thing to do it right. You have much better access to everything then. Again, that's just me.

[amski79]

Thx for the tips, BF. Yeah, it's been in our family since new, almost 35 years now. It has lead a pretty decent life, almost all garage storage. I think b/c of the time of year and lack of man hours to do the floor completely (along with the fact it's already ski season out here in Cali), I'm going to short cut it and do a small resin/glass patch over that high traffic area in front of the pole, and add a shim along the edge of the aluminum near the engine side to help. It'll get me through the season at least and get me to a window where I can go at the bigger replace job on my own schedule.