TOPIC: Restore question - New glass over old glass

Hi folks... Newbie to the forum and restoring boats.

So I have been reading alot of posts here and other sites, I wanted to get opinions on refurbishing my '59 Dorsett. Long story, but comes down to I want to bring this girl back to life so to speak. I am not looking to restore to original standards, I plan on useing this boat for fishing. Which was the main reason some friends and I bought her 12 years ago.

Well she has been sitting for over 9 years, water under the deck has trashed the stringers and floor. There is some hull damage where it meets the Transom.

So my main curiosity is, because the glass is so old, before I redo the stringers, should I grind down the hull a little and lay in another layer or two of glass to " freshen" / stiffen the surface? ( I am probably useing wrong terminology here too.. my appologies )

Regardless of the new layers in the hull, when I go to install the stringers, I'm wondering if the glass is still workable being so old, and have been sitting in wood rotted water for such a long time... would it be worth trying to retore over the Old glass ? From things i have read, I understand that you can use Epoxy over Poly, which is what I would like to do in this case. But as I said, a lot of my concern is that the existing glass is too trashed to rebuild her safely...

Thanks in advance !

I will try and get pics up as soon as I can. The pics I have, the files are way too big to upload.. I need to crop them


Also, anyone have a transom pic of a similar year Dorsett ? I see alot of side pics, but none form the back !!

Adding a couple pics


One of 2 spots of Hull /Transom joint dammage.



Right side Hull/Transom dammage



Hull dammage on bow. This I am not sure how to repair ?

from your pictures you have a restorable old boat. your best bet is to strip out all the rotten wood, cut out all the glass that the stringers were mounted to , grind out the hull , clean it out and see how it all looks . the original glass is more than likely still very strong and probably wouldnt need another layer but that choice is up to you . You can use either epoxy or polyester resin to do all your glass work but remember once you use epoxy resin you have to stay with it because epoxy sticks very well to polyester but polyester bonds poorly to epoxy .

Gil is absolutely correct. You have your work cutout for you. Everything has to be stripped. The bottom back of the transome is goona take some real work. It looks like most of the "meat" is missing. Just an idea, you might want to pop the upper part of the boat off, if possible. It'll make working on the deck easier.

I don't mean to offend you - but you asked for advice... so here mine is: That Dorsett is very rough & it's going to cost way more to fix than its worth. Resin and glass have become very expensive -the structural repairs your boat needs will be in the high hundreds of $$ if not more. Then there is paint, seats, rigging. Get the picture? Since you are in Nevada, those Dorset boats are everywhere out here. I have a decent one in my back yard that I got for free a couple months ago. I'll give it to you if you want to drive to Redding Ca and pick it up. It just needs a motor. Seriously. But please think about this old gal before you spend a ton of time and $$ on it.

Thanks for the input guys! Bruce, No ofense taken !!! I have always known the boat is worth way less than what it would take to fix it. Heck, buting another used motor for it will top what its worth! let alone all the glass work... LOL

I wouldn't mind seeing some pics of the Dorsett you have. My concern with any other "older" boat I may get in lieu of this one is, will I have to still rip the deck up and fix the stringers? Dont get me wrong, I know a better hull will mean less cost in the long run to rebuild the floor... But none the less, its a concern, since I will have to invest the same amount of time and money. This is why part of me would just rather fix this boat, then get a different one.

But, Hey I'm open to options! It may be worth the 11 or so hour drive to come get the boat you have Bruce... ?? LOL

I am looking to see how I would have to go about fixing the Hull damage. It looks like at one time the boat was worked on... in the pics, oyu can kind of see what looks like a second glass layer on top of the original hull. there is red under the white line of the shreaded glass.... or possibly a bondo layer ??
From what I understand, when the hull is laid, the transom joint to the hull and sides, get laid up a little thicker ??

So to fix the center damage, I would guess that I would need to cut out the damage and install a backing that keeps the shape of the hull, and lay up the glass from the inside, just like when it was initially laid.. But with the damage on the right side, would I need to do the same process? The hull is not breached on the right, but in the center it is... Or if I cut the center out, would I have to blend the entire transom to Hull joint as 1 piece, or is the patch in the 1 spot acceptable ?

AS far as teh extra layer of glass, yes I would want to add at least 1 layer of CSM to furthur water proof the old glass. Per layering specs, Mat /cloth/ Mat.. Originally, the builder did not lay down the top layer of Mat... I was going to grind down the paint on the interior anyway, which the way the finish is currently, I'm sure will cut into the top cloth layer, so I may as well make the finish better than it was.

Again Thank you for the comments so far!!! I would appreciate more input on how to go about fixing the hull damage.

Thanks
Chris

I'll try to get a couple pictures of the boat posted on Sunday.

Here are some pictures of the Belmont I have. The boat is your for the taking - free. The trailer, the mercury motor control box, and the steering wheel assembly are not included. You will need your own trailer and straps, or I will sell you a decent trailer (not the one the boat is currently on) The boat has current CA registration - and the title is somewhere in my office. I have floated this boat & it does not leak from what I can see. The floor has one small soft spot, but feels good otherwise. The keel is straight - the bottom has a repaired area. but in all, it's way better than what you've got. The price ain't bad either..

Let me know if you want to come get it.

Bruce

You should jump all over that offer...

Even if you have to pay to have it shipped, you'll save money over the project boat you're working on now- It is just too far gone.

And, At least in my opinion, that Belmont is a WAY cooler boat.

-Andrew

Story of my life...a guy wants to give away a really cool boat and he lives over 2,000 miles away!

I restore boats for a living. The one I'm doing now has been stripped of all flooring and stringers and the transom has been rebuilt. I have only bought the foam, plywood and seats. With labor, the bill so far is just over $4,000...and I work cheap! If you were to do your boat...and do it right, you could expect to lay out about the same amount for parts/material alone, no labor figured in.
Drive to California (fast) for that Belmont!

Thanks Guys !! I appreciate the comments! I totally agree, Ya can't beat the price!

Unfortuntely, I am going to have to pass. The boat thing is going to have top be put on the way side for a while. My job has got me pretty busy,and I will not have time to work on anything for a while...

we'll see what happens when my schedule slows down...

Chris