First time boat owner 19.5 cuddy repowering with inline 6

[RDTBC]

Thanks for the feedback. Considering that this may have changed with the model years, or the keel stringer may have been added for a reason that I’m not aware of, I think I’ll go ahead and replace it. I found a nice fir 2x4 straight grain and clear which I’ll cut to size and glass in.

Must say that I’m jealous of GlasHawks stringers which step down at the rear and appear to accommodate the engine mounts for a V engine. I stuck with an inline because my stringers would conflict with the wider engine mount spacing and I didn’t want to mess with them.

[Glashawk]

I saw another early 70’s bilge in an online ad an saw the keel stringer, so it appears that was how they built them.

[RDTBC]

Thanks. I verified from the HIN that it’s a 73. I’m moving forward with replacing the stringer, and I’ll just stick with the original fuel tank - rather than restructuring half the boat to accommodate a larger tank.

The front of the aluminum ruler will be the end of the harmonic balancer. This measures 56”. I’m planning on side mounts rather than the front mount that was common to the Merc 140 and the inline 6 (250cid). My old tank measures 60” long, 5.5” deep. Not sure how unsafe it would be to have the aluminum tank below the harmonic balancer… maybe I’d need to put in some sort of shield so that a broken belt or something doesn’t break free and puncture the tank. I will also need to look at where the fuel pickup will be relative to the moving belts… it might not be a very good plan to put moving parts close to fuel lines 😬.

[RDTBC]

Has anyone seen different tank placements, like saddle tanks, or tanks below the aft seats (ie. adjacent to the dog house)?

Also, I’ve read that someone is collecting HINs for a registry. Is that still the case?

[RDTBC]

Looking for feedback on my repair plan. I’ve nearly finished grinding out the delaminated/deleterious fibreglass. There was a layer of chopper glass which was about 1/2” thick. It was delaminated and in poor condition. In the process of grinding this out, I gouged into the hand laid layer of the hull in a few spots. The top of attached sketch shows what I’ve removed. The bottom photo shows how I plan to reinstate the keel stringer and fibreglass. Due to the damage I caused, I thought inserting a layer of fabric would help bridge any resultant weak spots.

step 1: PB fillets at main stringers (to replace what I ground out)
step 2: tab the main stringers to replace areas that have been ground off
step 3: overlay the entire area with a layer of 1.5oz mat to create a live glass layer (allowing subsequent layers to bond better)
step 4: 6oz fabric X 12” wide tape the length of the keel stringer
step 5: pre-apply resin to fir keel stringer
step 6: peanut butter below the keel stringer, and install stringer
step 7: one layer of 1.5 oz mat over the keel stringer

I plan to use polyester resin for all the work.

Any suggested changes to this plan? Not enough? Too much? Not feasible?

[aaronalfa]

That's a really, really nice looking decking job there. I'm impressed! I'm curious to see how your repower goes, as I'm considering the same thing. I have the 4cyl volvo which is somewhat running, but needs new carbs and I'm just over the whole Volvo parts hunting thing.

[RDTBC]

Finally starting to lay glass. Just PB the stringer fillets, but a step in the right direction. Hopefully no more grinding