At what point does one know when stringer replacement is due?

[daddy b]

I know it sounds strange but how safe or crazy is it to try to run old stringers on a 60-70 mph flat, 1970? They are solid but have many holes, and delamination in quite a few places. I thought I would fill the holes and sand back the bad areas, relay glass resin etc. The boat might see the lake 2-3 times a year. Is it stupid to try this or should I attempt a stringer replacement ( I've worked with many surfboard repairs but this is a bigga board!!)
I appreciate any feedback. Daddy b :rollside:

[Jake W2]

I think your main worrie would be if the are delaminating of milking where they meet the hull.You can fill the holes with wood dowls and sand off delam on the sides of the strigers but if there is any milking you would need to fix that area too.
I filled all the holes in mine and laminated Carbon fiber over then for looks and so you can not see the plugs.Materials were about 150 bucks to do it in Carbon.
Jake

[Tahiti350]

Replace the stringers when:
A. The motor and drive now sit between the seats instead of behind them
B. When the motor bounces higher than your girlfriend/wifes hooters
or
C. when the thought of "A" or "B" makes you nervous enough to worry about it.
Had bad stringers in a '24 Reinell cuddy cruiser, ended up with a slant 6 chevy after it all came apart. Tore out the transom at the same time. Fast tow to shore and got it on the trailer before it went down, but too much damage to save it. Both stringers were gone (literally-no wood in the glass shells), and the transom was soft most of the way across. Not a good buy after all.
Tahiti350

[DaveA]

Consider this: cut the glass off the top of the stringer, and then you can inspect the glass on each side of the stringer. If it's delamm'ed, then you can pump resin down into it if you don't see any other problems, like the stringer being unstuck from the hull bottom. This is kinda how you might handle a transom on an outboard, except on a smaller scale perhaps. I've cut all the glass off the stringers on one of my Raysons because of the same problem. On one of them the entire glass shell lifted right off after I used a zizz wheel to cut a line along the base of the stringer. Now that woulda been a problem if left unrepaired!
By cutting the top off, you can decide if you want to cut more of the glass off the sides, then re-glass them to the hull again. This would give you a chance to dowel the holes properly.
Just my opinion. :coffeycup

[Sangster]

I think your main worrie would be if the are delaminating of milking where they meet the hull.You can fill the holes with wood dowls and sand off delam on the sides of the strigers but if there is any milking you would need to fix that area too.
I filled all the holes in mine and laminated Carbon fiber over then for looks and so you can not see the plugs.Materials were about 150 bucks to do it in Carbon.
Jake
Got any pics of the floor??

[Jake W2]

Sangster I have pics but it just looks black.I used laminating carbon fiber and only did the stringers the carbon down the center is covered with black jel.
On a side note when I layed the carbon on the stringers I was not sure what to expect so when I was done with the layup and it dried I went over it with resin agine and thought it looks like crap and had string bumps where the grey string held the carbon togeather.So I sanded it down till the string bumps were gone , it really looked rough so I coated it agine and holy shit when I was laying the resin down it started shimmering and shining to say the least it came out looking better than I hoped .I have 3 coats on it now and will sand it down for the last time and coat it agine then polish it out.What I expected was for it to look alike the fake carbon you see on cars and stuff but i tell you it looks way cooler than that fake stuff it has this cirten shine to it I cant explaine.But if you were thinking of doing it this way it is worth the 150 bucks or so.
Jake