93 Crownline 196 deck and more

[Barramundi NQ]

Hello atjohnson

I've been reading a few repairs on the forum and yours is the first current one that looks like what I have to deal with soon. Since reading and watching I'm learning so much on what to expect when I pull up the floor on my boat. I'm based in North Queensland, Australia, the great barrier reef is 25 km (15 miles) away. I'm taking note of the temperatures being spoken about. Our winter daytime temp here is 75 F (24 C) every day. So I'll need to keep up to date with our summer temps.

Looking forward to the progress

Excellent work, keep it up

K

 

[atjohnson]

Welcome Barramundi. Rick from the post above also has practically the same project as mine. There are some other variations, you mainly just have to pull some of the information you need from each one. I'd be happy to help with anything I can and you also have all of the help from the veterans on here. Their advice alone is worth the time to post any and all questions.

I did not get anything major done today. I decided to wait on the gimbal housing until I had the sending units on hand. I did get the steering wheel assembly in, but I left the cable and rack and pinion out of the way for a moment. I also wrapped up the radio and wiring under the dash. Perhaps the most exciting thing today was the test fit on the front cap. I have a little less than a quarter inch all the way around so in my opinion, I believe it should fit like it did at one time. I did find a little repair that needed to be done on it from a previous hack job but no shouldn't be a big issue. I plan to work again tomorrow so maybe more interesting things will happen.

 

[atjohnson]

Well I've been pretty quiet on here this week but I have been working. I have made a push to finish the engine mounts since I have pushed them to the back every chance I have gotten. So far I'm half way done with one layer of 1708 on the port side and 3 layers on the starboard side. These things are definitely a pain in the butt any way you look at them. After the current layer dries on the starboard side, me and the grinder are going to have to clean up some ugly spots where I did not leave enough overhang to make the turn, but nothing a little patch work can't hide.

Over the weekend, I will have to tag team the mounts and finishing up the gimbal housing. Shouldn't be an issue if you factor in drying time. Hopefully both of them will be done by the end of the weekend, but nothing seems to be going as planned here recently.

 

[Rickmerrill]

Well, at least you've had a few days of cooler temps! I've almost got my engine mounts in. They're both tacked in place with PB and one is mostly PB'd in. You're right, they are some weird shaped things to try to glass in.

 

[atjohnson]

Well this week has been quite busy, but rather productive too. Over the weekend I managed to finish the engine mounts and get the majority of the gimbal housing done. I did have a small issue with the u-joint bellow. It seems the kit I ordered was for the earlier alpha one. Luckily this was the only piece that does not match the kit I actually needed. This was completely my fault so I went down to the local shop and bought the correct below on the second trip after they sold me the wrong one on the first trip. The young boy at the counter obviously can't read the parts book. Anyhow, the gimbal housing is finished and mounted.


I also managed to clean up the mounts and floor and get the rear gelcoat in. I still need to do a final coat, but I'm trying to work around it for now and finish some small things. Tonight I wrapped up the dash install by installing the steering system since the gimbal housing was in place and the steering arm had plenty of clearance.

Just a little insight on the gimbal housing rebuild: It honestly was not as bad a I expected(5/10 maybe). I did the work with the unit uninstalled, so I was able to maneuver it around however I needed. Most of everyone is familiar with the gimbal bearing install, so I won't dwell on it. This was my first time for the bellows job so I went in blind with the service manual of course. The breakdown was pretty self explanatory. It did take some persuading and a razor blade to cut the old pieces off, but not a big deal. I started back step by step in the manual with the shift cable and shift below, exhaust bellow, u-joint bellow, etc. The lack of room and then mounting the bell housing back on is where the fun starts. A good swivel and a long 1/4" extension was my solution. The only time I used the screwdriver was for the forward exhaust bellow clamp that is only accessible through the access hole in the gimbal housing. Having the bellows expander and the retainer driver is definitely priceless. I'm glad that I bought the tools and didn't pay the shop to do any of this work. Now if the engine alignment will go just as smooth, I'll be doing well.

 

[atjohnson]

Well I spent some time tonight working on small things. I put the last layer of gelcoat in the engine compartment and on the pedestals. I did wax this last layer to get a good finish. I plan to pull it out in the sun tomorrow since I'm off and let it bake for a few hours. Since the majority of the floor was wet, I had to stay out of the boat so I spent some time wet sanding the areas that I plan to fix chips and dings and our course cleaning the resin off of random areas that I had put my hands on while in the boat glassing. I also went ahead and took my carpet template that I made a week or so ago and cut my carpet out to prepare for install.

I hope to get this in tomorrow, because I leave Saturday morning for another trip so I'm trying to finish as much as possible tomorrow. It would be great if I could get it installed and put the cap in so it could dry while I am gone, but I'm not convinced that I will make it that far.

 

[Rickmerrill]

Looks like you've been working late again. I see you cut the little feet for the side panel cleats in the floor, good idea. Is that little piece of carpet laying on top of the folded over section the same stuff or a piece of the original. It looks a little darker, it looks just like mine. Good luck tomorrow!

 

[atjohnson]

Rick, yes I did work pretty late for the majority of the week trying to get things done. The folded over piece is the same stuff. I guess the fold is just playing a trick on the eyes. I did get the carpet installed yesterday afternoon. I'm in the air and don't have my pictures uploaded so I will get to that later. I have not trimmed and glued around the edges of the tank cover and ski locker. I just completely ran out of time, but I'm sure it will be there when I get back. I did go ahead and throw the trim pump and battery trays in just for the heck of it. I was sure wanting to get the cap in before I left but it wasn't possible. Maybe with some luck I can get this done at the end of next week and make a push to get the engine in soon.

 

[atjohnson]

 

[Rickmerrill]

When I saw you had posted this afternoon I wondered why you weren't traveling but you are. I'm starting to wonder if you're a secret agent working for the CIA or something. It's really starting to look like a boat! Like that color carpet, I will be ordering the same. I didn't realize you were going to use a separate piece of carpet for the fuel tank. Just insurance in case you ever need to remove it? Have a safe trip. Back to work cutting glass for my rear stringers for me.

 

[atjohnson]

Well I was completely dead when I got back so I just started back tonight. No major work, just cosmetic. I finished trimming up the edges of the carpet and rolling it around the edge of the deck and finally got the ski locker door carpeted and in. This thing was a pain in the butt.

I also got the cap set in place. When I found it, it had a 1/2 or 3/4" spacer under it because the deck was slid below the existing tabs left on the hull. I am going to have right under 1/4" gap that I need to fill with PB. I was a little concerned at first, but I don't think it is going to affect anything. To get everything to line up, I cut some small blocks of scrap plywood and screwed the two pieces together. My clamps just weren't deep enough to work here.

I'll have to PB between the plywood and then when it dries, fill in the other areas. I really wanted to get half the PB done tonight, but I ran out of gas. You can also see the hack job that someone before me did. This is why I had to replace the skin on the bottom. I really hope to get most of the cap and and maybe the tank access door. It is sad that I don't have a plan for tomorrow, I guess I'll take it one step at a time.

 

[atjohnson]

I almost forgot until I looked at the picture, but I shaded the carpet on the ski locker door wrong, but after fighting it for so long, I wasn't about to take it out to fix it. That is one of those things that I'll just have to live with.

 

[Rickmerrill]

Wow, just what I needed another pain in the butt to look forward too (ski locker door). Think I'll steal your idea about the clamping for the cap. I was planning on glassing the cap back in, do you think PB will hold it? Currently fighting with glassing the engine supports, almost done but what a pain!

 

[atjohnson]

A little word of advice on the door. Assemble the hinge to the frame prior to install if possible. My carpeting method wouldn't let me do it. For the cap I plan on doing 4" strip of csm and maybe following with a larger strip of csm or 1708. Gotta see how much material I have left. The only reason for that is to keep it from buckling. I dont think it will be a problem but better safe than sorry.

 

[Rickmerrill]

Thanks for the advice on the door. I misunderstood about the PB on the cap.

 

[atjohnson]

Cap is done and I hope I'm right by saying this, but that should be the last glassing that I have to do. If it wouldn't have been Sunday night, I would have probably thrown a party.


I did end up going with a 3 to 4" strip of csm followed by a 6 to 8" piece of 1708. This should be more than enough. I went ahead and trimmed my carpet for the cap as well. I kinda wanted to leave the gel coat exposed but it would have taken alot of time to finish it out from remnants of old carpet glue. Also, since I messed up the shading on the ski locker door, I decided to reverse the shade on the cap and tank access door so it might look intentional. We can just call it "accent" pieces. hahaha. I think tomorrow I will finish the interior on the front of the boat so everything up to the tank will be complete. Everything is definitely coming together so maybe in a week or two I can actually take her out and catch the end of summer.

 

[atjohnson]

I also did some test on repairing my chips in my gelcoat and it was a bust. I was using a small art brush and I made a complete mess. I have since borrowed an airbrush to attempt to get an even coat and I plan to blend it into the hull instead of having small repair areas. On a brighter note, I have gotten a great match on the moonstone color in my opinion. I had to take the halyard that I got from US Composites and lighten it way more than I thought. I went ahead and mixed up about 4 to 6 ounces so I wouldn't have to do the color match again. I have not attempted the teal yet. If the moonstone was that bad, I can't imagine mixing the teal. It might have to wait until winter if that is all that is holding me up.

 

[atjohnson]

Ok guys, more visual progress. I meant to update last night or today, but didn't make it so I'll start from yesterday. Monday night I managed to finish off the bow area. Cap had dried and set up really well, so I finished the carpet in the cap and installed the upholstery.


I found some areas on the under dash panels that I saw as potential rot so I am going to replace those soon and had to stop moving towards the rear.
Tonight I only had an hour or so nothing drastic. I wrapped the top portion of the tank cover yesterday and finished wrapping the edges and installed it tonight.


The cover fit like a glove, so I couldn't be happier about that. After some consideration, I'm not liking the reversed shading on the bow and ski locker door, but after the trouble I had with the door, I will probably be only replacing the bow area if anything. Something else that I have spent some time thinking about is the transition down from the cap to the floor. My idea thus far is to use a piece of 1/4 round molding to give a full rolled edge. I should have glassed it end while I was skinning the bottom, but too late now.
Prior to the tank cover I did get the fuel lines, fill line, vent line, and sending unit connections in prior to the access going down. For the small amount of time I have tomorrow, I really need to get my wiring tied up and routed as well as a few of the smaller connections made. Plans are still to possible attempt the engine install this weekend, but I still have several things to do.

 

[tpenfield]

Looking good, hopefully you will be floating soon :thumb:

 

[atjohnson]

Thanks tpenfield. I would like to be on the water within two weeks, but something always seems to come up so I'm trying not to count my chickens before they hatch.