San Juan rebuild

[Gmitchell]

I have recently purchased a SJ 21 with need of fiberglass repairs. The gel coat needs lots of work as well. The hull repairs would be much easier if I could take the deck off. Has anyone tried this or should I forget it??

[Greenhand]

Do you mean you want to unattach the hull-deck joint and just remove the whole deck, leaving you with two separate shells to work with?

I don't have any advice, as my smaller boat is only 3 years old, I just wanted to clarify.

[Gmitchell]

Yes. I am seeing pop rivets and inside seam has been fiberglass end over. Not sure if joint itself has been glued in someway.

[onestepcsy37]

IIRC, they used 5200 and pop rivets to join hull and deck. Ought to be quite a job to separate them and then rejoin later on. Sounds like you have an awful lot of work ahead of you. Unless you're doing this because you need a project in your life, I think you would do better to look for one in better condition. They go for $2k to $4k around here.

[Gmitchell]

Not sure what 5200 is but sounds like what I was afraid of. No, I have a whole $1.00 invested so far and far more time than money. Repairs can be done as is but would have been easier to refinish interior if separated.

Thanks much!😀

[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by Gmitchell

Not sure what 5200 is but sounds like what I was afraid of. No, I have a whole $1.00 invested so far and far more time than money. Repairs can be done as is but would have been easier to refinish interior if separated.

Thanks much!😀

Oh, if you don't know what 5200 (aka devil's glue) is, you have much learning ahead of you!

Good luck!

[RedHerring]

Welcome to the cohorts of San Juan 21 owners

I presume you are looking to re-core the deck. There is a couple of articles about how to do it on this boat. PM me for the links. Make no mistake, it is a big, nasty project.

[Gmitchell]

After investigation, yes deck needs re-core. Would you use balsa again or is there better product? Also, the keel has a crack down the leading edge. Is this serious or just need refilling??

[RedHerring]

In case you haven't seen these yet.

Deck Recore - San Juan 21 Fleet 1
San Juan 21 Class Association • View topic - deck Recore

[RedHerring]

Between re-coring and a crack in the keel, you may be better off buying another SJ21 and using the one you have for spare parts. Where there are active SJ21 fleets, a club-competitive boat that doesn't need any of this work goes for 3-4 grand, not more.

Unless you bought the boat for the sake of a restoration project, of course.