TOPIC: 1963? Crestliner Canadian Mustang Deluxe Refit

Hi Everyone.

Ok i just recently acquired a 60's Crestliner Mustang Deluxe. now the boat has a rotten transom and the floors are soft! now the fun part i noticed the hull/floor was soft and it looks like plywood under the fiberglass but noooo.

After pulling the fiberglass off ( literally ) I discovered what i can best describe as a jenga puzzle laid flat, there were various lengths of 1-1.5 inch i assume balsa wood on the hull surface
NO stringers at all. now i'm not sure if they just used the balsa/plywood to stiffen the hull or is there supposed to be stringers? I will take pics and post tomorrow night. and if anyone has the same or very similar boat pics of your cabin floor would be greatly appreciated for comparison.

the boat is a 14' Crestliner Canadian Mustang Deluxe from canbar Marine Model 2055

Thank you for your help

Welcome aboard and I'd love to see those pics.

Sooo after talking with a marine repair shop i was apply told i had remover the balsa core and to throw the boat away cause its to expensive to fix and replace the rotted balsa.

Any ideas

welcome varidian,if you like the boat,it can be done other ways,like making stringers on your own and glassing them in.
now if you are going to get a marine repair shop to do it yeah it would be very expensive.
what you should do is ask yourself if YOU think the boat is worth it,if you are planing on restoring it for yourself.
i cant wait to see the pics,john

Here are the pictures i took

It is not easy learning to post pics here. Most of the time the file or picture size is too big. Try reducing the size of the pic. To post multiple pics you do one and submit it. Hit edit and post another and keep doing this.

Hey thank you that worked well

WoW are you going to redo that floor. I bet it looked great.

The floor had already been cut open and poorly glassed back together.
It was all wet inside and a number of the balsa were rotten or soft.
and the transom is full of rot just like mulch.
so im going to attempt to fix it just have to dry the hull out. and try and fix whats messed up.

Hi Varidian
I'm new to the site but I had to jump in and put in my two cents worth.
I too have a Canadian Crestliner Mustang with the Jenga block balsa floor.
Mine however is a 1968 but with the front and back facing seats not a bench like yours.
I was lucky enough to find it 100% original with the original interior still in place, in restorable condition, original 40 HP Evinrude motor and factory trailer.
The floor however is rotten and needs to be replaced.
I'm also in the process of splitting the hull because I'm not 100% confident of the transom.
I've restored cars as a hobby almost all my life and decided to approach restoring my Crestliner in the same way.
I may have sourced the Balsa Jenga block floors.
Have you tried Noah's Marine Supply in Toronto?
They list a 1" thick Balsa core laminated to a 24" x 48" fiberglass mat. It looks like the Jenga block floor like you and I have.
Check out their website.
It looks like a boat restorers paradise.
Ron