Carpet in a V drive?

[FlatUgly]

The floor in my Rayson Craft looks okay, not as shinny as some ive seen. Does anyone put carpet in an old flattie, or is there a way to make my floor look good. thanx guys

[Chief]

Mine in my Mandella is plain no paint no nothin I m looking forward to seeing some of your responses.

[DansBlown73Nordic]

Im also looking for some response on this subject. In my Nordic I have nice cleean glass between the stringers, but on the outside of the stringers is some really ugly black stuff.......:yuk: Im pretty sure the only way to cover it is with a nice rug!!!!!;)

[Morg]

The carpet will get wet & hold moisture against the floor. This will eventually get into the floor & rot the whole deal.
Their are many options to gettting the floor back into shape. A simple one would be to getting some rubing compound & going to work. You can take it to the extreme by removing all the hardware, grinding out & filling any cracks, sanding the whole deal & re-coat with flo-coat.
Billy B. would be the guy to set you up right.
Morg.

[Morg]

Originally posted by Dans66Stevens
Im also looking for some response on this subject. In my Nordic I have nice cleean glass between the stringers, but on the outside of the stringers is some really ugly black stuff.......:yuk: Im pretty sure the only way to cover it is with a nice rug!!!!!;)
Dan, on my floor to cover the ugly stuff & veneered the whole deal. Came out absolutly beautiful. SHIT load of pain in the ass work.

[RaysonKid]

Not to long ago.
Somebody posted something about how they gave their floor a carbon fiber look.

[Morg]

Sangster has done a few boats w/ carbon fiber floors.
I think the millers are using some carbon fiber.
Billy helped me get my floors done with white maple veneer.

[mouzer]

Ive had to put carpet in several old flats.you can put it down each side and across in front of the v-drive,not under the v-drive or motor,use only marine carpet with the rubber backing.so it wont mold, this will work and look good if your floor is in real bad shape,i have seen people paint there floors all black,but a nice light gray marine carpet looks nicer,but .....a clear floor in a flat always looks best.

[Sangster]

If you have cracks and/or delamination and you know it.. Why not fix it right the first time...It's not gonna get any better by covering it up... But, it will get alot worse for sure.... The sooner it's fix the easier the job will be.....:cool: :cool: :cool:

[Dave Sammons]

http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/5187hal_r-med.jpg http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/5187hal2-med.jpg http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/5187hal3-med.jpg
Here's a few shots of a 71 Hallett I'm doing right now for a customer. I cut out all the old seat braces, filled all the stringer holes and did a little work on the floor. It's Rhinolined. The color is 77 corvette yellow, what else is going to go with that metalflake green! My guy can mix any color and do the whole boat for $600. The stuff is bulletproof, hides all stresscracks and seals everything. I think it's a pretty good fix for older flatbottoms.

[Kim Hanson]

Carpet in a V-drive:D That' funny........( . )( . ).....Unless they are washing them:D ...........( . )( . )..........

[BILLY.B]

The problem with carpeting the bottom is you can't tell if you have any delamination going on down the road. Anytime I see a floor that has been covered up with anything other glass then I figure there was a problem somewhere that they were hiding. Now that can go for a vener job also. But if the guy is going to go thru all the effort to make the vener look right he usually spent the time to make any necessary repairs to the floor. I always leave about a 1/4 inch gap between the stringer and the vener so i can tell if the stringer ever comes loose from the bottom.

[dmontzsta]

I have had carpet just in the front of my boat for about 2 years. It actually came up after 1 year, the water soaks into it and takes forever to dry, actually I dont think it ever dries and that is why it has come up. I basically just need to tug it up and it will be off, you slide on it and it sucks, I do not recommend it. That rhino lining looks sweet.

[Sangerboy]

Originally posted by RaysonKid
Not to long ago.
Somebody posted something about how they gave their floor a carbon fiber look.
That would be me, although I don't have any pics, cuz the boat hasn't been home since the inside was redone. Sangster did an excellent job for me. Originally the plan was just to redo the inside with new glass and carbon fiber just the keel. But after getting into it. Sangster found that although the wood floor and stringers were in great shape, they had been stained because of cracks in the glass that were deep enough to let a little water/oil mixture come in contact with the wood. At that point we decided to carbon fiber the entire inside. It looks great and I'll post some pictures when it's back from Billy's shop.

[DansBlown73Nordic]

To correct anyones thoughts. Im not covering up any delamination. I don't think the outside area of this boat was ever a nice clean glass section. It has matting that is painted black. Maybe I should try to take some pictures of it.

[Hud]

That rhinolined looks pretty good!

[HavasuDreamin']

The other problem with carpet is that it will eventually (sooner than you think) get beat down and look bad. Then you have to pull it up and replace. You all know what that calls for, scraping glue. :yuk:
I say do anything but carpet. :cool:

[superdave013]

CARPET WILL GET TO BE AN OILY MESS IN SHORT ORDER IF YOU ASK ME

[coolchange]

I 've seen carpet on the floor of a flat that looked good but dont do over the stringers. Seems there is always a little oil in the water in flat and that will break down the adhesive. I had a flat that I gel coated the floor Fawn beige and most people didnt even notice because it looked like a light wood.

[miller19j]

Why do almost all Flatty owners not use carpet and almost all Jet owners do?
Basically they are the same size boats and have the same freeboard. So they probably take on about the same amount of water. Most Flattys run faster and have a rougher ride so I guess it would be more common for them to have stress cracks in the floor. Is this the reason?
I’m not trying to stir the Jet/V Drive pot I am honestly curious?

[spectras only]

jet drives are normally partitioned off at the front of the engine,so there's no oil or such contaminating the carpet. BTW ozite type carpets dry superfast , and last a long time. However bright colours fade fast if the boat's uncovered too long.Lamborghini gray is the longest lasting.

[Picklefork]

Way back in the 50's when flat bottoms were built w/ thin skin plywood and cross battens, it was possible to fracture the plywood if you stepped in between the battens. Raised, upholstered floorboards and side panels evolved to keep the feet dry and comfortable. When fiberglass bottom halves appeared in the 60's, upholstery and carpet was no longer needed, but the more expensive boats still had it.

[mouzer]

Originally posted by Dave Sammons
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/5187hal_r-med.jpg http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/5187hal2-med.jpg http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/5187hal3-med.jpg
Here's a few shots of a 71 Hallett I'm doing right now for a customer. I cut out all the old seat braces, filled all the stringer holes and did a little work on the floor. It's Rhinolined. The color is 77 corvette yellow, what else is going to go with that metalflake green! My guy can mix any color and do the whole boat for $600. The stuff is bulletproof, hides all stresscracks and seals everything. I think it's a pretty good fix for older flatbottoms. you got to be kidding.blahhhhhhh and if buying it i dont want you to hide all the stress cracks......aand that goes the same for carpet,you dont want to hide anything,

[dmontzsta]

How much did that rhino lining cost?

[FlatRacer]

I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy a boat with Rhino Liner in it, because I would be way too suspicious that the seller was trying to hide something..........whether he was or not.
In fact, I wouldn't buy a boat from my Mother if it had Rhino Liner in it.
FR:yuk:
Did I mention the word NEVER???

[FlatUgly]

So whats the trick to get my good floor looking great, I have nothing to hide so I've nixed the idea of carpet but I do want to improve on what i have(sorry no pics) Rubbing compound,clears,polishes?

[Dave Sammons]

Hey Mouzer, take it easy! The floor and stringers were in great shape. It was done more get a consistent look. It's a 33 year old boat! Everyone who has seen it live, thinks it looks great. Granted it probably only makes sense on certain hulls. The main thing is the owner likes it and he's had the boat for 31 years and is planning on passing it on to his kids.

[mouzer]

To be honest it was starting to grow on me,the picture just shows alot of floor,it will look pretty clean when its back together.post some finished pictures,cant wait..........some times i have to kick myself in the ass.

[Dave Sammons]

Hey, that's what makes this all so fun!

[HM]

Here is my Mandella with the recent Balsa laminate.
It is a bit dirty in the pic( and wires all over), but turned out real trick. Everything else on the interior was done in black flow coat.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/290boat12-04-030011.jpg

[HotHallet]

I am with Holy-Balsa Core and Flo Coat all the way. No carpet in V-drive flatty.

[76BARRON]

Back in the 60's my dad bought a stevens flat bottom(silhouett)
with a 427 ford. What he/we did was make plywood cutout's of the area's we wanted to carpet,each side of engine and in front of seats then glued an screwed on 1"x3/4 wood runners under plywood cutout's then varnished the heck out of them then glued
on indoor outdoor carpet to match the boat color ! Now after
almost 40 years they are still in service! The glass on the hull(floor) still look's new. with the runners on floor board's any water/oil runs under the carpet and if carpet get's wet it dry's quickly!
If you have a race type of boat I may not do this but if its a ski/ family flat with wet manifolds then i think you will be very happy!
BUT! if you go with this route then neatness count's .The cutouts should fit as close as possible and still be removable for cleaning
or ? that way there will be little or no rattle.add a few strips of thin cork or foam to cushion or pad any rattles and you will not even know they are there. Except on the very hardest of hits!
I have done two boats like this and have been VERY happy so far.
I know what it's like to step on wet/oily glass floor and I have the scar's to prove it:D I hope this helps you to decide. and don't even think of any RINO type stuff or we will be talking about you on these forums for a long time:D and not in a good way:D
:D GOOD LUCK TO YA !

[gochappy]

I had carpet in my rayson and ripped it out...it was a pain in the butt...always wet, would slip around sometimes..I'm going to prep and paint mine...its much nicer to climb in there with a hose to clean it....I agree with the comment on the rhino lining as a way to hide something and if my boat is coming apart, I would kind of want to know it. I think the weight is high on that lining also.....

[superdave013]

My schiada never had a nice wood floor to begin with. We fixed the cracks and anything else that needed it. Then we gel coated the inside. Came out real nice too.

[DUCKY]

Originally posted by superdave013
CARPET WILL GET TO BE AN OILY MESS IN SHORT ORDER IF YOU ASK ME
I second that from experience!

[Picklefork]

Silly me, but. Why don't you just fix the oil leaks?