Newbie looking for advice

[Standsontoes]

Hello all!

So I've just been given an old boat. 18ft fibreglass bow rider outboard "cobra" with a evenrude 90.... approximately 1989 .

A family friend knew I've been wanting one and offered up his old boat.
The story of the craft is.... the interior was redone about 5 years ago (new seating covering, carpet and canvas weather cover) he bought it new and used it at his lakefront property up until 4years ago when he sold the property. The boat has now sat in his friends field collecting dust (and rain water).

So as far as the old owner knows the engine was mint last he used it, he had it serviced the same time he redid the interior. Blah blah blah...

As far as my inexperienced eyes could see when he offered the boat was the damage the boats recieved from sitting unused for the last four years.

Here's the list :

Obvisouly I need to service the engine, probably do a carb kit, replace seals etc... it still had gas in the fuel tanks and whole system
Lots of oxidation on the hull ... no dings or blisters as far as I can tell yet

The carpeted deck has a good crop of moss growing from mid bow to just past the drivers seat.

The drain plug hole was dripping a fair amount of water after I parked it in my driveway (this makes me think transom and stringer repair)



So here's my questions for the experienced crowd:

I'm sure I'll have to replace the deck if the moss garden goes deeper than the carpet .

How do I tell if fibreglass is hiding rot behind the paint?

Let's say I go full in on the restoration and I find I need to replace the transom and stringers, is a job like this doable in a 2 car garage ? (Basically how messy is dealing with fibreglass?, do fumes become a problem , it's and attached garage) , only asking cause I'd rather have the project close at home , then I'd be able to work on it more often, I do have shop space available, but it's an hour away on my farmland. Given the choice what would you rather, close by for more time to work on it or a space where you won't care about mess and has lots of room.?

Does a budget of 2-3000 cover a resto down to stringers and transom? Funds aren't an issue , but I think This particular size and style of boat isn't worth spending more on ... if the it could be in the 5K range I'd rather spend it restoring something bigger.

ive never owned a boat , but I've ridden in plenty , I fairly hands on as the next guy , I'd rather build it myself than pay someone else, but is a repair like this best left to pros?

Thanks for any and all advice guys

 

[tpenfield]

Welcome to iBoats . . .

:welcome:

It sounds like you are on target with many of your estimations in terms of having to gut the boat and re-build it from the hull , up. The costs are about right.

For the garage, if you put an exhaust fan in a garage window and keep it running all the time, then the fumes will not get into the house. fiberglassing is messy and you will go through about a million Nitrile gloves, but it is not rocket science by any means.

I'm not sure what the 'pros' would charge for a complete re-build ($7-10K :noidea: ) but the amateur restorer can be quite successful and actually do the job with more TLC than the pros would.

There are lots of threads here on iBoats with re-builds similar to yours. So, check those out if you have not done so already, and post up some pictures along the way . . . we like pictures as it helps with responses to questions, etc.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Does a budget of 2-3000 cover a resto down to stringers and transom? Funds aren't an issue , but I think This particular size and style of boat isn't worth spending more on ... if the it could be in the 5K range I'd rather spend it restoring something bigger.

depends..... im going to say close. most likely $3500-$4000

im betting you will be redoing the vinyl in addition to the floors, stringers, transom and deck

 

[Flukinicehole]

I do not know where you are located but if you happen to be close to a boat builder give them a call. Even if you have to drive a few hours they will save you hundreds in material. Most builders are more then happy to help you out. I did a 17cc and did it outside as in the garage would have been a real mess. Especially with the grinding. Unless you leave it on the trailer and pull it out when you want to work on in.

 

[Kauaiboy206]

No Title

I was in a similar situation as you a few months ago after getting my first boat. Never had any experience on boat restoration but being a carpenter by trade made it someone a little easier. I started with the most important part which was the motor & outdrive and did a lot of reading here on iboats & watching videos online to properly perform any repairs & servicing. Once that was completed, I started to do a complete tear down; I knew I may have had water intrusion into the deck so the way I Tested it was drilling a small hole on a few areas of thr deck and sticking a piece of 1/2 pvc pipe and taking a sample of the foam, I got lucky and it was only a surface moisture so I moved on to exterior/interior fiberglass repairs. Again videos and forums was my friend when it came to fiberglass repairs and applying my first coat of paint. Like someone here mentioned, fiberglass work is not rocket science but can get messy if your not taking your time; or anything else for thr matter if it's your first Time doing it. Another major part that people suggested is to check the transom by using a hammer and check various areas and hearing the different sound the hammer makes, or by drilling a small hole to check. As you can tell I also had moss growth so 30 seconds or bleach with simple green is a great solution to spray all over. After all fiberglass repairs and sanding any filler to cover dings & gouges, I resorted to the paint section here for detailed instructions from type of paints, how to apply the paint and cure time between coats etc. In my experience, Time is what I had with a very limited budget on money spent. Rushing to get things done will most likely result in things not getting correctly or worse. Read & watch videos, infos are all over the place and you'll have great people here on iboats willing to help you out through your restoration. For some, doing the actual work themselves have more meaning and reward when you see the final product. Again it's not hard but don't expect it to be a breeze either; good luck with your build.

 

[Standsontoes]

Thanks for the advice so far guys.

It's nice to know I was in the ball park for costs, and that i might have had a good idea on what might be required for work.
Honestly when I saw the moss I thought , sweet I'll just pull up the carpet and scrub her down, maybe throw on some paint and new vinyl. I then googled " fibreglass boat deck repair" and pretty much every project I saw had to be taken down to the hull due to rot in the stringers and transom....
I don't have any rose coloured glasses, I've yet to take a closer look other than pull the weather covers off and look. (Busy weekend and now it's back to work).
But next week when I have the time I'll pull up the carpet and get to work on checking if I have a large repair or a "superficial" fix.

I've taken your advice already and have been browsing the forums getting an idea of the work involved, I'll continue to browse this forum all week until I get a chance to dive into the boat.


Getting back to some questions.

Drilling pilot holes to check for rotting foam? Is there a less instrusive option? Is the hammer and listen approach actually reliable in telling you if there's rot?

I'll mention that I'm in the great Canadian North (central alberta) and this will be a winter project... Therefor is my heated garage a better option than my unheated tractor barn?
How bad does the dust get from grinding really? ( I already have a respirator, not worried about PPE, just the mess haha)

Thanks for the tip on sourcing materials from a boat builder. I live in a lake town, there's a few dealerships for boats so in assuming they would also do repairs, I know of one builder in town but they do aluminum, not fibreglass .

Can paint be applied via brush and roller? Or is spray gun the best option?

Lastly to help me decide if I'll go ahead with this project...

Is it possible to install a fuel cell under the deck of I do end up tearing it out , currently the fuel cells sit under the rear seats (the red removable types you see in the small aluminum fishing boats) is a modification like that change what would be needed for structure in the hull? Or is it s drop in type of situation?

I'll post some pics as soon as I can.
Thanks again for your thoughts gents.

 

[Standsontoes]

I guess you need more than three posts to put up pictures so...... Here's a post haha

 

[Standsontoes]

Okay still can't figure out how to put up pictures but here's some links to 3 pics of the boat

https://ibb.co/mRT3Q5
https://ibb.co/fbyRdQ
https://ibb.co/hwd3Q5

The view of the deck is from the bow looking towards the stern, the moss is only there and doesn't go past the drivers seat( probably because the sun only shone through the windows to that area.

The bow weather cover, has a few snaps missing so I'm assuming that's where rain water entered the boat.

 

[Kauaiboy206]

I did all my restoration outside of my garage and live in seattle so the weather here wasn't really forgiving. My boat was much more worse in condition than yours when I started. Judging by your picture, it might just need a good buffing to get it back to life as far as paint goes, I did mines with a foam roller which is the best and easier method without a sprayer, comes out very good and can be buffed out for an even betyer finish. As far as testing for rot, the pipe method is the least intrusive to check the foam if it's soaking wet then yes it's likely expected to have rot or will eventually rot. The hammer method works on transom but it's not the best way.

 

[JASinIL2006]

If you get into a full restoration, you will really want to try to do the grinding outdoors or else do a really good job tenting the boat indoors; that fiberglass dust gets EVERYWHERE.

As for checking the transom, I put no stock in the hammer method. My rotten transom sounded just great when hit with a hammer, but when I opened it up, I could pull out handfuls of rotted transom wood. You need to drill some holes from the inside (not deep enough to penetrate the hull, of course) to find out if you have rot.

 

[Standsontoes]

So I had some time the other day and got to work having a better look at this project ...

First off I went ahead and removed the seats, than pulled out the mossy carpet... Easy peasy.

First thing I noticed was that the bilge was still completely full of water..... But the drain is unplugged??? So I rammed an screw driver up the drain and the boat proceeded to drain water for the next 5 minutes.... YIKES... So I think it's safe to assume water has sat in the bilge and under the deck for the 4 years this thing sat dry docked.... Awesome.

Next I noticed a crack in the deck at the seam between two prices of the plywood decking... I decided to cut a smaller 6"x6" inspection port to check out the expected rot... And bingo the deck plywood is basically black soil... And the foam in the vicinity is completely water logged.

I crawled under the stern top cap and took a look in the bilge .
Sure enough the transom is rotted out aswell.

Soo it looks like a hull off restoration is in my future if I decide to go ahead with this boat.

It's back to work for the next couple of weeks, next stop is to check out the motor. If she turns out to be in decent shape I think I'll go ahead with the rebuild .

Ill start a new thread if I make the choice to go ahead with the project and I'll be sure to post lots of pics of the build, I'm sure I'll be spending lots of time on this forum, talk to you gents in the future.

 

[Woodonglass]

No need to start a new thread this one is just fine you can ask the mods to change the title

 

[Standsontoes]

So it's getting more and more likely I'll be going ahead with this project, mainly due to the fact that while I've been away at work for the past week I've spent all my down time reading posts on this forum..

Couple of questions that I haven't quite been able to find while searching the forum.

Question 1 Paint.. I'm going to be repainting her. I'd like to do a metal flake.

From my research a metal flake job goes like this : primer, base color, clear coat with the flake, then clear coat so you can sand smooth.
If I go the gel cost route I haven't found a manufacturer that doesn't have a clear that goes on clear.. Most say it will be more of a yellow
I've seen woodonglass take on using tractor paint , but again colors are limited and no options of a clear.
Can anyone point me to a post or give any info on paint options and choices .
I'm not half bad at using my sprayer.
The boat will be a trailer queen so I just need a paint that'll last while boating, this boat won't sit in a marina.

Question two:
I just want a fishing boat, but part of the admirals conditions for going ahead with the project is that this boat can be used for water skiing/tubing etc....
So I'm thinking I'll install a wake tower much to the detriment of my fishing trips, but so goes the cost of marriage.

Getting back to the question, how do these normally attach to the boat?
Is it backing applied to the top cap and simply bolted down? If so awesome.
Or is it more of a pipe that goes through the top cap and is then attached to the hull?
Every boat I've been in it looks like they are just bolted to the top cap?

Question three: when doing a hull off resto like this I've read that the hull tends to bow out and sag making the reinstall of the cap near impossible... How do I avoid sag? 2inch ratchet strap around the top of the hull? Formed braced that the boat will rest on?


Thanks again guys

 

[ezmobee]

I would recommend against metal flake and clear coat. Boats get beat around and you'll be making touch ups much more difficult if you go that route. That's a sharp looking boat as is and gel coat is really thick and tough stuff. You can likely wet sand and buff it back to looking like new.

 

[briangcc]

Get a tow harness and avoid the tower. They do work fine - used one for a few years on my Bayliner before I sold it:

http://www.iboats.com/Tow-Harness-Seachoice/dm/view_id.1477312&s=sol

It hooks to your transom eyes so make sure your transom is solid...going of your notes so far it appears you're in for a transom replacement so this will be a non-issue once completed.


As for flake - you may want to look into BC/CC automotive finishes. Going to cost you big $$$ though as last qt of paint I bought, silver FORD, was around $100 and that was back in the '90's.