1986 hulls on 22 classics

[daved]

I have my 22c at a restoration shop being painted and have asked the shop owner to also check the transom and stringers as best he could for signs of moisture. I trust this guy, he has done plenty of other work for me and his reputation is great. Everything looks good with no signs of moisture, I just wanted to know how the 86' hulls hold up? After the budy work is done I might upgrade the motor, nothing to crazy possibly a built 454. I have an alpha drive soI wanted to keep it a bit tame. The 7.4 in it now seems very strong and has never seen salt but I just want a bit more speed and I like building motors. Any hull info yould be great.
Thanks, Dave

[MOP]

Did your guy use a moisture meter, it is very rare to find a dry one. I have the same year, I had rot in the lower section of my transom due to the drain plug and also from the stringer ends wicking moisture into the sides of the transom. The limber holes in the stringers wet the the stringers which got into the transom.

As to your engine upgrade question, a few extra ponies should not hurt the Alpha if you don't abuse it. Most will says swap it out for a Bravo, you can blow a few Bravo's before you come near equaling the cost. Plus there is an after market Alpha with a 3 years warranty, that is some hard to beat!

[gcarter]

To me one of the important things to do to the stringers is to cut open the base of the inside and fill the the void w/thickened epoxy or something similar. Donzi simply set the stringers into the hull w/square bottomed stringer cores so that the stresses associated w/ engine weight and torque land on the "knife edge" of the stringer outer corner.
Take a look at;
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=50476&page=5
and see how to rectify the problem. If you read on the next several pages, you'll see the damage that can be done.
After filling the voids, add several courses of 1708 bi-directional stitchmat to the stringer base radii.
This is very easy and inexpensive to do at this point and will save a lot of money down the road.

[daved]

Guys, Thanks for this info..
We did use a moisture meter at every spot we could. I also had infa red pictures taken and saw no moisture. The infa red camera is used to see moisture on building roof systems and is pretty reliable.I borrowed a friends camera, $6k for one of these things. I am not sure if it has ever been used on a boat but the shots looked good. After removing the exhauset tips and all other hardware for painting the visible wood looked dry. I will do as George suggested with the stringers. From reading his posts I think he has the experience for this,wow,awsome job. I will have to do some small stress cracks in the top deck but need to do one thing at a time so I don't go broke. The hull resto is going ok. The last owner started a paint job on this boat on the transom using an automotive paint. The resto shop owner had to use chemicals to remove it but he got it all off. Two coats of epoxy are on now so a couple more weeks should do it. I decided to go with Awlgrip Vivid Red with three coats of clear. I have used this in the past and the stuff is hard as a rock. I have heard that Awlgrip is difficult to repair without doing the entire side but this shop has done it plenty of times and he stands buy it. I am no a restoration guy so I don't know how it's done. I hope I never need to find out..
I will post pictures this weekend.

Thanks again,Dave

[MOP]

Oh No not another RED boat just kidding, you need to check out Georges Red boat ( http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=50476 ). I like boats of color sets them off in a group. The infra red is fool proof, it is so cool!! Best of luck with your boat will watch for pictures.

Phil

[daved]

Yes, another red one... This is the red with the white deck and a red stripe, lots of these around I guess? One thing I like about checking out other classics is the different colors. I don't think I have seen one I don't like.
Dave

[Pismo]

Who is painting it and about how much did it cost to get it painted?

I have a red boat that needs painting.

Thanks

[daved]

I saw the boat yestersday and took some pictures. I need to figure out how to post the before and after pics. I got three estimates on the job, one was for $2,500 using Automotive paint. One was from a Donzi dealer for $6,000 The guy painting the boat is Wilco Marine on Newbury, Mass. He has a great rep in the area and is factory authorized from a few different makes of boats. The cost is $4,000 and includes removing all hardware, installing a new rub rail I supplied. three coats of an epoxy primer, three coats of paint and three coats of clear coat. He has painted other boats for me, mostly fishing boats and the work was perfect. I think because I am a repeat costomer he is giving me a good deal and going above and beyond what we agreed on. The job only included the red sides and the white stripe. Next year I will have some small stress cracks repaired in the top of the dash and on the back of the boat past the engine hatch.
Good luck getting your boat painted.
Dave