Trojan Boat Forum

1976 F32 Stringer problems. I ve been told the stringers on my boat are bad. Can anybody offer some constructive advice on the repair which I plan to do myself because it costs a fortune to have someone else do the work. Would appreciate any helpful advice. Please dont tell me to shoot myself, jump off a bridge or junk it. Thanks, Mike

There have been several stringer repairs posted. Go back and look through the old posts and I'm sure you'll find some help. I've not done one myself...hope I don't have to.

will the bad stringers outlive you ? thats the question I always ask, I find alot of people go way overboard in repairing an old boat that the repair often exceeds the value of the boat, just a thought, if the stringers are aging, and they will last a long time, whats the difference?

How bad are they and where? If under the engine mounts then they need to be repaired soon. If forward of the engine room then maybe not a rush item, you have several options.

The easiest way is to cut off the top glass roving to expose the wood and let the damp wood dry, remove any crumbling wood then use CPES to treat the bad wood, fill with epoxy and then cover with a new glass covering.
http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/index.html
http://www.smithandcompany.org/6piece.htm

If the rotten wood is below the engine mounts then things are a little more complex in that you need to support the engine as you remove each mount to do the repair below them.

Another way of doing it is to remove the bad wood and then replace with new within the glass casing.... IMO this is more effort than is needed as the CPES system is designed to bring back wet wood once dried (not crumbly wood) to original strength.... without fitting and bonding new wood within the casing.

Look around the above site to get a feel for what CPES can do for you.

Read the thread that Mac32 posted "Another Stringer Topic"

His thread covers how to repair rotten stringers.

I will post something on the thread so it will be brought to page one.

Having replaced the forward stringers only (MAC32) has done forward and engine, I found it not that expensive if you can do the work yourself. It is however time consuming I put in about 50 hours to replace just the forward stringers, cost = about $275.00 not including the new floor. It is messy work.