1990 Bumble Bee V160

[NetMatrix]

Well yesterday I got to add another boat to my collection. I have a bumble bee bass boat I think. I have no idea what this boat is sadly. There is no title or nothing for the boat or trailer. This boat is the hull, but the plus side is it does come with a steering wheel. So this will more less be a complete build. There is no motor, gauges, switches, fuel tank, battery (there isn?t even a battery tray), there is nothing at all. So I?m figuring the 140 hp off my Bayliner will be put on this boat. Now this boat is regulated for a 135hp but hopefully we are good with the 140. I?ll be bringing this boat home in one month and then I will start the interior work on the boat. The floor surprisingly is completely solid. I did a total of 30 3/8 test holes to check the floor for rot and there is none out of those 30 spots. I put epoxy over the holes to fill them in so water wouldn?t get into the hole. The first thing I?m going to do is to rip out all the carpet and replace that first. Then I?ll start on the gauges and go from there with it. I?ll get some pictures put on here later on of the boat. I have to resize them.

 

[Woodonglass]

Did you cite sample the transom??

 

[NetMatrix]

Did you cite sample the transom??

Not that far just yet, but it probably will need to be replaced. I just wanted to sample the floor when I looked at it.

 

[NetMatrix]

No Title

This actually wasn?t the boat I originally went to look at. The boat I was originally interested in you can see the very back part of it in one of he pictures, but saw this one and wanted it. Plus it will give a new home to the Johnson 140 like I said before. This one will give me something really fun to work on.

 

[NetMatrix]

Where is a good place to get marine plywood at for the transom?

 

[NetMatrix]

I?ve started ordering items for this boat and wondering what the best size trolling motor would be to put on here and the length of the shaft to go into the water.

 

[trailking82]

Depends really how many batteries you want on board. I have an 18' skeeter Starfire, 55lb trolling motor does well. 55lb is as high as a 1 battery, 12 volt setup will go. Beyond that you are looking at 2 batteries for a 24 volt setup. You shouldnt need anything in the 36 volt range. Lenght of the shaft is important, most trolling motor websites have a calculation on their website for this. You can never go wrong getting the longest shaft they have for that model.

 

[oldrem]

Menards carries marine plywood

 

[NetMatrix]

No Title

Depends really how many batteries you want on board. I have an 18' skeeter Starfire, 55lb trolling motor does well. 55lb is as high as a 1 battery, 12 volt setup will go. Beyond that you are looking at 2 batteries for a 24 volt setup. You shouldnt need anything in the 36 volt range. Lenght of the shaft is important, most trolling motor websites have a calculation on their website for this. You can never go wrong getting the longest shaft they have for that model.

Thank you I?ll have to check that out. I?ll have to go to Lenard?s and see what all they have for marine lumber. I took some more pictures of the boat, and I?m thinking maybe add additional storage areas in the boat. That sadly would involve more wood and fiberglass. So I don?t know about that just yet. I started to clean up the boat and so far it?s going pretty good. It?s definetly a mess right now, but I?m time it will be good to go.

 

[NetMatrix]

I know it?s a little early for this, but since it?s going to be a bit before I get the parts to put in the boat what is the best hill cleaner to use for grime and everything else that is caked on there badly? The seastar cleaner I?m using isn?t getting rid of the grime very well and I?ve already tried the pressure washer. Just looking for some good tips as far as the cleaning goes.

 

[trailking82]

I have heard toilet bowl cleaner does well, look for atleast 5% hydrocholic acid. I have never tried it, the "blue" super concentrated dawn dish soap does fine for me.

 

[NetMatrix]

I have heard toilet bowl cleaner does well, look for atleast 5% hydrocholic acid. I have never tried it, the "blue" super concentrated dawn dish soap does fine for me.

I?ll give that a try.

 

[NetMatrix]

For today?s task I?m just ripping out the carpet and then it will be put up for a couple weeks since I have to go back out on the road in the morning. I?ll post some pictures in a little bit on the progress with the boat and I?m also going to remove all the pumps wiring and whatever else I can remove from the boat. That way when I come home it?s a completely empty vessel and then I?ll start slowly ordering parts to go inside the boat. On the rear of the boat I will have to build one of the storage doors as it?s missing one but that will be done later on. Anyhow probably one of the first things I?ll do after everything is all cleaned out is I?ll run the gauges first and put new pumps in the boat. Then from there I?ll do the fuel tank and probably the last item to be done is the carpet. I?m thinking I?ll be able to put a 18 gallon tank in this boat, but I?m going to build a new shelf for the tank to sit on and go from there with it. This boat I?ll be working on every other week since I?m a truck driver and the Bayliner in my other post since it?s at the shop getting the motor worked on that one won?t be touched till warm weather after I find a smaller motor for it.

 

[NetMatrix]

No Title

Welp got all the carpet removed from the boat. There is just a little bit over by the steering wheel on the wall, but I?ll get to that when I get home in a couple weeks. I used the pressure washer to remove some of the adhesive but can?t remove all of it that way. This boat is going to be a slow process and here?s some updates pictures of the work.

 

[NetMatrix]

Where would I look to get the exact color gelcoat for my boat? I do have to do some fiberglass repairs to the hill on the rear of the boat, and I?m wanting to apply as close as possible to the current color gelcoat. Well with where the repair is the two colors. I looked on the parts part of the page but with gelcoat repair kits there isn?t anything for the bumble bee boats.

 

[NetMatrix]

No Title

Here?s the switch panel I ordered for the boat. I like the looks of it and it wasn?t that badly priced.

 

[NetMatrix]

If I were to repaint this boat would I have to strip all the gelcoat off to the glass or can it be rough sanded and a coat or two applied?

I tried doing a search on gelcoat but couldn?t find anything helpful.

 

[NetMatrix]

After more examining the boat a bit more did find a soft spot under the helm. This was an area I never tested and I wish I would have tested that area. I have decided that this winter I’m going to split the cap from the hull. Then I’m going to remove the floor, stringers, and any foam that is in the hull. I’m hoping that the stringers can be removed in as few pieces as possible so I have a template to use on the new boards. I already know the transom needs replaced so this boat has turned into a 100% restoration. The boat will be better just replacing everything.

Since I don’t have a garage I will not be able to do much work on the boat during the winter season. Over the hull I’m going to use old sub floor sheets of plywood that I took out of my bathroom to give a solid top so water won’t get into the hull. I will also put the cover back over the boat as well.

I know there was 2 other projects I started on, but this one I’m keeping and looking forward to the rebuild. I guess the plus side of this project is that since it’s just the body of the boat I can build the inside how I want it built. It will be a great project when finished, and hope to put it in the water during the summer of 2018. Till then of course follow this thread and follow the one for my Bayliner.

For this boat I will be purchasing items for it during the winter season and I?ll post pictures of the items I but for it. Also the boat will be removed from the trailer and the trailer will be getting a new paint job. The trailer will be painted just a straight metallic black. I?m repainting the trailer to match the paint job my pickup is going to get. The same will go with the other boats trailer.

 

[Dennischaves]

You mentioned you had no title
Will you be able to register it without a title?

 

[NetMatrix]

You mentioned you had no title
Will you be able to register it without a title?

Going through the process of getting the title right now. It was sold at an estate auction so that helps out quite a bit. I just had to send in the registration form check lost title and send a copy of the auction paperwork. Then Illinois will send me the address of the last known registered owner and I have to send a certified letter for the title to be surrendered. I had to go through this once before and it is a drawn out process.