Hi and thanks for the wonderful job you are all doing! I just bought a light blue fiberglass Old Town off Craigslist. The serial number is 195271. It's got a small hole in the tip of one of the decks, and I'm hoping to find out what material the decks are made of so that I can repair it. Thanks!
Serial number 195271
- Thread starter Nathan L
- Start date
Welcome, the Old Town canoe with serial number 195271 is a 16 foot long fiberglass Carleton model with no keel that weighed 78 pounds. It was built in May, 1973. The original exterior gelcoat color was turquoise. It shipped on May 25th, 1973 to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The back side of this record shows that there were some dark specks in the gelcoat and it may have been in Appleton, Wisconsin in August of 1983 when there was a previous request for a copy of this information. Scans showing both sides of this build record and the 1973 catalog pages describing it can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below.
These scans and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will donate, join, or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. The decks are made from an acrylic/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene plastic. Some people drill small holes in the tips of the decks to help drain the water out when they are upside down or to attach a painter line. An epoxy glue may be the easiest way to patch a small hole in the deck. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions,
Benson
These scans and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will donate, join, or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. The decks are made from an acrylic/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene plastic. Some people drill small holes in the tips of the decks to help drain the water out when they are upside down or to attach a painter line. An epoxy glue may be the easiest way to patch a small hole in the deck. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions,
Benson
MGC
Scrapmaker
If it's a small hole in the ABS you should be able to repair it with West Systems G/Flex 655. You may tint G/Flex with pigment to match the color of the decks.
G/Flex has a very long working time so you should be able to achieve a good smooth finish by fooling around with Saran Wrap or baggies.
Depending upon the shape of the hole you may need to think about whether it will "travel". These decks (and the seats) tend to crack. Drill a very small hole at the end of any cracks you find and hope that stops it from travelling.
G/Flex has a very long working time so you should be able to achieve a good smooth finish by fooling around with Saran Wrap or baggies.
Depending upon the shape of the hole you may need to think about whether it will "travel". These decks (and the seats) tend to crack. Drill a very small hole at the end of any cracks you find and hope that stops it from travelling.
So it's actually a fairly large hole—it looks like the tip broke off of the ABS entirely, so it's missing the first inch or so on the top and sides, down to the rivets that are supposed to hold it all on. Is there some kind of material I can wrap over the whole tip and then glue in place? Alternatively, is there an easy way to remove the whole deck and replace it with a new piece?
MGC
Scrapmaker
Old Town was always really good about having both seats and decks on hand for replacements. That does not seem to be the case anymore...the website has taken a literal nosedive . You might try calling them to see if they have a source/supply of parts available. https://www.oldtowncanoe.com/custom...MI9fGK8PHJ6AIV5__jBx1cSAV0EAAYASAAEgLtDfD_BwE
Your best bet is probably going to end up being an Old Town dealer who still has stock on hand. I bought gunwales and decks locally a few years ago for a boat I was fixing up.
Your challenge (for deck replacement) is that the deck and rail design was changed in the 80's (if I recall correctly) so fitting parts to the older hulls required replacing both the decks and the rails so that they would match up. The cost to replace all of those parts and the PIA to pull all of the rivets and then replace them is hardly worthwhile unless the hull is one of the royalex hulls...they have held their value. Pay close attention to the length of the decks if you find replacements.
You can try poking around on the internet and see what turns up... https://www.tgwatersports.com/old-town-canoe-replacement-top-plate-roto-a/ you might get lucky. Decks can be painted.. The challenge will be finding something that fits.
Soooo.....if were me. I'd pull the deck and repair it by building up a new tip with fiberglass. You can use the other deck as a template. You can make a form with Saran wrap and spray foam. Use the wrap to keep the foam from sticking to your good deck. You can lay of the glass cloth in the form you make....the foam will grind away once you have the repair piece shaped. Bond the repair piece to the damaged deck and blend away to make it look as good as possible. I've repaired scads of these old ABS seats and decks with fiberglass and had great luck with the repairs holding up...so if you can't find parts. this is the kluge fix. Or, just live with it.
Your best bet is probably going to end up being an Old Town dealer who still has stock on hand. I bought gunwales and decks locally a few years ago for a boat I was fixing up.
Your challenge (for deck replacement) is that the deck and rail design was changed in the 80's (if I recall correctly) so fitting parts to the older hulls required replacing both the decks and the rails so that they would match up. The cost to replace all of those parts and the PIA to pull all of the rivets and then replace them is hardly worthwhile unless the hull is one of the royalex hulls...they have held their value. Pay close attention to the length of the decks if you find replacements.
You can try poking around on the internet and see what turns up... https://www.tgwatersports.com/old-town-canoe-replacement-top-plate-roto-a/ you might get lucky. Decks can be painted.. The challenge will be finding something that fits.
Soooo.....if were me. I'd pull the deck and repair it by building up a new tip with fiberglass. You can use the other deck as a template. You can make a form with Saran wrap and spray foam. Use the wrap to keep the foam from sticking to your good deck. You can lay of the glass cloth in the form you make....the foam will grind away once you have the repair piece shaped. Bond the repair piece to the damaged deck and blend away to make it look as good as possible. I've repaired scads of these old ABS seats and decks with fiberglass and had great luck with the repairs holding up...so if you can't find parts. this is the kluge fix. Or, just live with it.
Thanks, this is great! I think the fiberglass repair is going to be the way to go. I've never done any kind of fiberglass repair before, do you have a good guide to materials and techniques handy? If not I'm sure I can ask around or Google it myself, but if you've got ready access to a good one I'd love to take a look.
MGC
Scrapmaker
There's not a whole lot to it...pick up a can of resin and hardener at your local hardware store along with some woven cloth. You'll want a few pairs of rubber gloves, some plastic containers for mixing (like used yogurt cups) a pair of good scissors to cut the cloth (I learned that my wife does not like me to use her Ginghers…), a can of acetone for cleanup and some cheap brushes to apply the resin to the cloth. Mix the resin in the exact proportion recommended. Never use too little hardener and only go a bit heavy with it when it's cool out. Don't mix too much at one time. Mix thoroughly. Mix what you can use in about 5 minutes. Cut and lay out the cloth before you mix the resin. Have a plan for how everything is going to fit and try to position things as best possible so that when the resin is ready to go you can start laying the resin into the cloth with your brush. Try to be neat since clean-up can be a pain. Make sure to work the resin into the cloth and to work bubbles out. Don't lay the resin on too thickly. There is not strength in thickened resin...the strength you need will come from well saturated cloth. For an ABS repair you will need to do quite a few layers since those decks are pretty thick. I'm not aware of any books to recommend. I learned by maintaining a fleet of heavily abused Old Town canoes...the repairs I did improved with practice. You might try to see what is available on youtube ,
