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Boat as shown in ad on Craigslist
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This is the picture that was used in the ad. Unfortunately my camera crashed and I lost many pix that I took.
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This picture is also from the ad. As you can see it was stored outdoors, the upholstery cracked and rotten.
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Another picture from ad
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Cracked vinyl
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This is one of the few original pictures that I did not lose. All the vinyl was cracked, weathered, and soaked.
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Fortunately the engine was in much better shape than the rest of the boat. Needed a new starter, alternator, timing belt, fuel pump and distributor. The distributor was broken in half. But the engine runs great now.
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Volvo 2.3 litre
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More rotten wood
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More rotten wood, this is by the engine compartment.
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This is the back of the boat, the battery compartment. If you look closely you can see a dandelion growing. Needless to say all the floatation foam was also saturated. Unfortunately I do not have pix of that.
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Dandelion growing
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Stringers
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This was the condition of the stringers, all rotten.
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Another picture of the rotten stringers. Both stringers were in the same condition for their entire length. All rotten!! Could not use the old stringers for a pattern, so I had to run a string and take measurements at 6 inch intervals and use these measurements to make the new one.
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Another shot of rotten stringer
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Rotten floor
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This is the floor in the bow area. All rotten. The previous owner actually put a 3/4 inch piece of plywood over the rotten floor. It too was saturated. When they installed the 3/4 inch ply, they put a few drywall screws right through the hull.
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The old engine mounts were better suited for potting soil than for holding an engine. Fortunately this boat never went on the water while I owned it. This would have been very unsafe.
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Rotten engine mounts
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Transom
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This is the condition of the transom before I started ripping it apart and with the engine out. Was not planning doing anything to the transom.
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Unfortunately part of the transom was also rotten. Was not goint to seperate the hull so I decided to join new solid wood to the solid old wood. The rott was on the bottom part. Will be injecting the old wood with Git Rot to make sure it does not rott.
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Partially rotten transom
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New transom is in
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The new transom is laminated to the hull. Will need to glass it in. Used two pieces of 3/4 inch plywood laminated together.
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Had no choice but to start grinding, get the old rotten stringers out and prepare to install the new. The grinding and cutting was the worst part of the whole project. Dust everywhere and itchy. Used 24 grit discs on an angle grinder. A few people including my wife and neighbours thought I was crazy. At times I thought they were right.......
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My favorite, grinding.....NOT
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New Stringers
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The new stringers are in, glassed with polyester resin. I used two pieces of 5/8 inch thick pressure treated ply, laminated them together. There are 3 pieces laminated where the engine will sit, for additional strength. Those who say pt ply won't work do not know what they are talking about. Just make sure it is DRY!!
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Here both bulkheads and stringers are installed. Getting ready for the floor.
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Bulkheads are in
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New type of engine mounts
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This shot shows three 7/16 SS bolts that go through the stringer and will fasten a 3/8 piece of aluminum angle which will be the engine mount. Did not like the old style. I think this is better, and no more lag bolts!!
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I welded or brazed the SS bolts onto a piece of 1/8 SS plate. This allows one to tighten or loosen the bolts without it turning. The back part will be covered by the floor. The holes were sealed with resin, and used lots of 4200 to seal them.
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Backside of mount
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Installed mount
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The new mount installed. Had to space it up with a piece of aluminum square bar. Seems to work great so far.
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Getting the floor ready. Used exterior grade Douglas Fir plywood, sealed it with resin. Reinforced the ski locker opening by adding another layer of ply around the opening. Screwed the floor to the stringers with SS deck screws and glued it down to the stringers with 5200. The floor was tabbed to the hull and then covered with a layer of matt. Afterwards I gave it another coat of resin and glued down a vinyl floor.
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Floor getting ready
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OOPS!!!
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Got a little too carried away with the skill saw, cut through the hull. It was easy to fix, not too big a problem.
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All the vinyl was cracked, and the wood at various stages of decay.
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Old panels
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New wood for seats and all the upholstery
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All the wood for the seats and upholstery was replaced. Sealed the wood with exterior stain before sending it to the upholsterer.
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This is the new structure being installed. Had to make a few jigs, and used lots of clamps to hold everything together while the resin kicks. All the wood was sealed on both sides with resin. Yes I did use floatation foam, $250 worth!!
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New structure
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Another picture of the new structure
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Unfortunately I lost my camera and could not it, so the rest of the pictures will show the finished product, many steps on getting there are skipped.
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The engine is installed. You can see the cage on the marine alternator. Replaced the Paris Rhone with a single wire Delco. Works great and was much cheaper. Also installed a water/fuel filter/seperator. There wasn't one originally. Did lots of maintenance work on the engine. Installed a Pertronix electronic ignition, threw out the points. The system works great!!!
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Engine installed
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Finished stern area
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A picture of the finished stern area.
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Cockpit picture
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Cockpit
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New seats
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I chose to get the seats redone as opposed to buying new ones. Had to replace the wood. I started this project November and this tends to be a slow time for boat upholsterers. So I took all the parts and asked him to do it when he has time. It took a few months but I was not in a hurry. As a result I got a GREAT deal. All the upholstery for the whole boat cost less than $1400. He did a great job also.
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99% finished. Still some small jobs to do this winter, but ready to go boating. The teal on the hull took about a day of polishing to get the color back.
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Ready to go!!
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Rear of boat
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It has a Volvo Penta outdrive. I have heard for many people that these drive are excellent. Hope they are right. Had it out a few times this year and everything works great. Very solid. My advice to anyone thinking of doing such a project is to fix it right or don't bother even starting. Very rewarding at the end, but can be a painful process getting there. Thanx to the guys at iboats.com and to Jim Slade at boatdesign.net for all their help and advise. Greatly appreciated, knew nothing when I started.
That's all folks. Have a great day,
Rob.
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