plywood hull

[guppy18]

hi,a newby to wood boats,am looking at an early 60s greavette-17 ft. with plywood bottom,
boat has been in inside storage at least 5 years,the bottom is warped where rested on trailer,some other questionable spots.on bottom
How involed a job to perhaps replace complete bottom,once boat is set up for work?
the rest appears sound,good sides,top needs re-finish
anything else i should look for?
thanks

[ion barnes]

Cant see anything, however, I re-did a Glen L Squirt in my early days and it was not much of a problem. Get the hull up on a steady set of legs at a good working height, especially when you are streched out trying to reach for the centerline. Strip, sand or scrape the perimeter and where ever you think there maybe fastners buried and pull them. NOT ALL OF THEM! Just one panel, and peal, pry the panel off. It maybe the pattern for the new or you may have to start from scratch. When the new one is fastened down, proceed to the next one. Have fun Ion

[L.W. Baxter]

Is the bottom actually rotten? If it's only warped, that can be fixed from the inside, maybe with some blocking between frames? As for the "questionable spots" unless they're really soft, maybe you could just sand and glass the bottom? I guess it would depend on how much work you want to do, but a forty year old plywood boat might not be worth the new materials and labor to rebuild. Unless it was a real peach to begin with...

[GROOVY]

I think a 40+ year old boat IS worth saving !
I would try to figure why the bottom looks warped, other than that do find a comfortable inverted position for your repairs...........

[ion barnes]

If the warps are from the rollers sitting inbetween frames, as in poorly positioned, reblock and put some weight inside on the depressions and wait for spring.

[L.W. Baxter]

Groovy, I didn't say he should burn it! Just that getting it up to snuff might be easily done without rebuilding the bottom.

Incidentally, I've seen at least a couple forty year old boats that weren't exactly special when they were new. So they can't all be worth restoring!