Cord hulls

[futuretrader]

Im not a luhrs owner yet, but i plan on being one very very soon. Im currently looking at a 1989 32 convert.. I was told by someone that he thought that the hulls from 1988-1990 were cord hulls. Is this true? and if it is should i still look at it or should i just go with the 1993 im looking at? Im torn lol
Thank You very much

[logadmin]

A quote from boatus.com:

From its introduction in 1988 through the 1990 model year, 320 Convertibles were built using end-grain balsa wood composite construction both above and below the waterline.

After 1990, only the hull sides and decks were cored and the bottom was solid fiberglass which significantly reduces the potential for core related problems. In either case, used models must be thoroughly inspected for signs of elevated moisture, cracks or delamination of the composite. Although this type of damage is not typical, once it becomes apparent to the eye, it may be too late to avoid a costly repair. Repair costs depend on the extent of damage but even a small area, of two or four sq. ft, could cost several thousand dollars to fix. Luhrs used isopthalic gelcoat surface finishes to help prevent osmotic blistering and, to date, 320 Convertibles have not been know to have significant blister problems.

Hope this helps.

[futuretrader]

Thank You very much for the info. I will definitly look into it more before i purchase that model
Thank You again

[T380fisher]

I have a 1990 38 convertible. Does anyone know if it is cored as well? I know it was built at Hunter back when Luhrs was moving from NJ to FL.

[logadmin]

I had a hard time finding official documentation, but the sides of the boat (12” above the chine) should have ½” balsa core.

Hope that helps...

[T380fisher]

Nothing about below the water line?

[Maximillion]

It was solid fiberglass below the waterline as far as the hull goes. The stringers were wood but it was a marine grade and totally incapulated in fiberglass as well.

Hope this helps.

[mongo75]

The '68 flybridge I'm restoring is solid glass, no core. The glass job on the stringers is kind of shoddy, and all they did was run 12" roving draped over the stringers, often with poor if any overlap. Anyways- would I benefit from adding some type of coring?

[Maximillion]

I do not suggest coring below the water line or the stringers. I would skuff up the fiberglass around the stringers and beef up the layers with some roven woven.

[mongo75]

I'm actually replacing the stringers as they are thoroughly oil soaked in the area where the engine was (I'm restoring a bare hull) Between the company that owned Luhrs in the past not glassing around the limber holes, and the dummy that cut into the stringers w/o reglassing them for an old engine install, they are pretty saturated.... I'm actually going to laminate two 8' long pieces of 3/4" ply together and glass them with a two layers of roving and then tab them into the hull with either roving and/or 1708

[T380fisher]

It was solid fiberglass below the waterline as far as the hull goes. The stringers were wood but it was a marine grade and totally incapulated in fiberglass as well.

Hope this helps.

Maximillion...are you a part of Luhr's???

This past weekend, I drilled a hole in my hull to install a new Airmar B-258 Transducer to go along with some new electronics....GUESS WHAT???....My Hull is CORED.

Lay-up appears to be: 1/4" glass-3/4" Endgrain Balsa-1/4" glass.

It made the install a little harder than it should have been as I needed to reseal the hole, coat with resin and re-drill. Plus I 5200'ed the hell out of it.

I can send anyone at Luhrs the 1 1/4" thick plug that came from the holesaw if they want to see it. How concerned should I be about my boat now?