Glen-L.com

Full restoration of 1959 Thompson Plywood 14' runabout.
Should i Glass the Bottom?
Will this add or decrease value of Rebuild
I know it's better as far as keeping the inside of the Boat Dry and easier for most boat users.

I'm no expert on those boats, but I think it will neither hurt nor help it's value. As you already said, it will definitely make it more user friendly. There are some guys who go to great lengths to restore to original specs. For example: on the woodyboater.com forum, one of the owners of the site was adding a bimini top to his Chris Craft. He was going to what I consider ridiculous lengths to find the correct zipper manufacturer that would have come on the boat new. If this is not a show boat or a rare boat, I would glass it and relax.

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2011 MALAHINI - KICKED IN THE HEAD

I wake up with a 16ft woody every morning
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=534DBtp1Cnc
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/2011malahini/

I am in racine wi . retored several boats from 50s. your boat is laps track fiber-glassing will cause problems;trust me. E mail if you want details. I did cruiser of same year . you can epoxy the boat but wood needs to expand with moisture. Glass will crack.
sincerity

pete boat fanatic

As peteschiele said,
your boat was assembled in the "lapstrake" fashion in which there is overlapping long boards. Seals with pressure against each other through swelling and very tight fitment, there are very few methods to overcome that and gravitate from.

I have restored a couple few vessels like this , one being a Jersey Speed Skiff from late in that particular era (50's), and another being an old 40 something foot Bay Head Skiff from the Johnson brothers in NJ.(I have no idea what the size was, the transom ended up being built with a BIG ice chest/cooler in it for big game which added, well, several inches, lol)

In my opinion not difficult to deal with and can be managed a few ways...
If you are having water entry problems, dunk it in more often! Allow it to swell.
If you are having rot issues, re-rivet that sucker with fresh board and dunk it in more often!
Oh, did I mention dunk it in more often!?
Then there is the old saw dust method... not going there, lol

Lapstrake hulls hate being out of water unless you are doing a COMPLETE restoration of the clinkers with newer products but original processes. They certainly do not like being sat for a long time especially not chocked properly in dry dock.

Traditional methods cannot be beat.
Some 3m 5200 mixed in with copper rivet nails. (AWESOME write up on the riveting process in Wooden Boat copy #191!)
I.M.H.O I believe is the best thing to do. Epoxy will certainly crack due to not enough flex additives,(tried that once on the bay head skiff!!!
...and forget glass completely... although there was a old man near me whom used to build lifeboats that believed in taking the clinkers and laying something like one inch strips of glass/epoxy mix BETWEEN the boards like double sided tape and THEN he would copper rivet them.
The speed skiff was out of the water for nearly two years AFTER I finished her due to the owner getting sick, and for a trial run before a sea test she was dunked and only leak we had was from the owners son not connecting the intake hose to the sea strainer and the ball valve being WIIIIIDE open caused a small dribble, LOL
Damn kids!

Just my Two Cents...spend them wisely and you will be happier later on, LOL

Michael

Oh, and as far as value... there is an as$$ for every seat, so it all depends on how pretty it finishes and how desperate someone is to want it.

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Like how my son spelled Fabrication!? It allowed me to fit within the letter limit! LOL

"Poor craftsmanship starts with duct tape." ...very true Pops.

Riveting is a seperate issue than caulking. Caulking of any kind does not keep any kind of boat from flexing or evening opening up. On solid and aged woods all you are doing is causing unncessary grief down the road. Boats move and flex because of two reasons. The interior structure is inferior or aged with fatigued fasteners if applicable. There are those in the business that recommend 5200 which only creates nightmares down the road, especially in aged hull thats redone unless you rehab the entire boat hardwareand or investigate the soundness of its framing too. Sea skiffs built with solid timber reacts entirely different than boats built using plywood for the planking. Painting 5200 with anything is next to impossible and using two part paints which many people do here on it is a waste of energy and money too.
The use of rivets is favorable for the solid wood applications because of the need to move and an age old practice proven to stand the test of time when plywood was so "in the future substance". But those years also prescribed to oak and hardwood framing and interior parts that combined together to make the boat one unit. When planks fatigued, replacement was the order of the day for the proper craftsmen.


Of course folks patched and puttied and got by but rarely did they not understand the increased maintaince for leaky boats and suspect woods. Many of the bigger boats were also stored in the water which also kept things together. This is a plus too to keep boat parts and movement of boats in good condition to a minimum too. One of the reasons why cotton and oakum was used with such success was to allow for the seasonal changes that occurred in all traditional boats. For some reason people recommend the use of 5200 type caulking for wooden boat seams to fix huge seam cracks only to literally destroy the boat when it hits the water from being stored on the hard.
Rivets are not needed and really not even recommended on lapstrake hulls when you also use epoxy. All it does cause is an uneven surface on both the inside and out in which to paint and refinish around.

BoatCarpenter,
If you want more in depth results look at the "Whisstock" boat plan site. he has a "article" section that is very informitive.

If you have any questions... DiscoverySE7Guys@yahoo.com

You did not specify wether you are disassembling the entire boat or doing a few quick fixes.
What exactly are your plans?

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Like how my son spelled Fabrication!? It allowed me to fit within the letter limit! LOL

"Poor craftsmanship starts with duct tape." ...very true Pops.