Rlg999
New member
Hey all, just acquired a 1976 Checkmate V Mate 1 a couple weeks ago, and am in the process of cleaning it up. I removed all the carpet and remnants of the floor and pedestals and such. I've been reading alot of the restoration posts and some of you guys have some really awesome skills. I don't have the patience for a 2-3 year rebuild, so I'm thinking of just putting a bench across the front to mount a couple fold down seats to and then maybe a bench across the back. I was wondering if it would be ok to leave out the floor stringer and floor, and just leave the floor with the v shape to it? It seems that it would be much easier to keep water drained out of the hull. Is the stringer there for any structural support for the hull? My core looks ok, no dark spots or soft spots. I was just thinking about putting some resin and maybe a thin layer of fiberglass down to cover up where I ground the pedestals, rear bench frames, and battery boxes out. The transom will need doing in a year or so, if I keep it that long. Right now I just want to get it ready to get out on the water. It only has a 50 Merc inline 4 on it now, but I think the motor is gonna be ok. I've always wanted one of the old checkmates, and this one came up and was cheap, so here's to a new project. I'm located in North Carolina, near Shelby, about an hour west of Charlotte if there are any other members nearby. Here's a few pics to show what I've got done so far.
">

">

