TOPIC: stringer modifications?

My little spitfire has some large stringers that double as side bench frames and..."cubby"...frames. I'd like to know if I can remove them, and put in a different configuration, as I'd prefer forward facing rear seats. The front bench side to side frames/stringers show some rot, but still "clunk" nicely, but I think I'm going to have to fix them also. What structural issues do I have to consider?

got pics, gotta resize, barry.

maybe...

and..

Welcome to Fiberglassics, Barry.

From your photos - the wood & structure actually look pretty nice. But of course - photos don't tell all. Do you know if the hull has a "cored" bottom? A "cored" hull looks like any ordinary fiberglass boat - but instead of having stringers - the inside bottom of the boat is a sandwich of wood & fiberglass. This makes the bottom of the boat strong enough to keep the shape and strength without stringers. Non cored boats just have a standard fiberglass bottom with stringers bonded to it for strength. Stringers are usually topped with a panel of fiberglass & wood - which makes the floor of the boat. Back in the 50s this was called a "double bottom" hull. The stringers do a much better job of stiffening the hull when a floor is attached to the tops of them. This is because the floor panel ties the stringers together.

If you tear out those seat boxes, you need to compensate for the loss. You could install traditional longitudinal stringers that run fore & aft - then lay a floor over these to tie them together. This would work, as long as the boat has enough freeboard to accommodate a raised floor.

Regards,

BG