I have returned... with a Starcraft this time!

[BWR1953]

Welllll... That thing this morning turned out ugly. A confrontation happened. I'll skip the details.

I did learn from more research that I can't overpower any boat under 20' here in Florida. So I'm concentrating on finding a 50hp motor but nothing larger.

A 48spl showed up this afternoon but no TNT.

 

[BWR1953]

No Title

Finally got some pix taken this afternoon. Mind you, this isn't just my storage area, it's the only work area that I have! I don't have a workshop or garage or anything. Looks like the boat had front and rear bench seats tied to the sides which have now been replaced by the fishing seats. Should I consider installing a couple of aluminum tubes to add some structural integrity or just float it as is and see how it goes?

 

[BWR1953]

SO I SORTA SANK IT...

Filled the boat with water this evening and did the ol' leak test. Up forward there was some very, very minor seepage in a couple of spots. As in maybe 1 drop a minute. Back at the starboard stern, there were a couple more and at the transom intersection there is one that leaks maybe 10-20 drops a minute. Totalling everything, maybe 100 drops a minute dripping. Pretty slow. Would take a very long time to put any meaningful water in the boat. As in 15 hours to have a single gallon seep inside.

That being said, I guess I'll pull the deck plates and have a look. I seem to recall that Gluvit is the preferred sticky stuff for sealing, right? What about that new stuff that I see on TV? The one where they shoot cannonballs through a tinny then patch it and the boat is dry as a bone afterwards? Any other new technology that might be even better than our old standby?

 

[BWR1953]

No Title

Overall, I'm very happy with this little boat! It looks pretty good even though it hasn't even been cleaned yet! :embarassed:

​But, I'll put the pressure washer to work on it pretty soon. My wife likes clean and pretty and says she wants to work on that tomorrow... even though it's Mother's Day. Haha.

Some pix of the great flood. :joyous:

 

[GA_Boater]

Gluvit or Coat-it are the sealers to use. They go on thin and wick into the seams and under rivet heads, The stuff on TV only looks good on TV. It lays on top of everything and can flake. After you get the floor up, check for missing heads on rivets and loose ones.

PS - Even Gluvit or Coat-it has trouble with cannonball holes. LOL

 

[BWR1953]

Gluvit or Coat-it are the sealers to use. They go on thin and wick into the seams and under rivet heads, The stuff on TV only looks good on TV. It lays on top of everything and can flake. After you get the floor up, check for missing heads on rivets and loose ones.

PS - Even Gluvit or Coat-it has trouble with cannonball holes. LOL

Ha ha! Yeahhh... I bet cannonball holes need a bucket o' Bondo or something! :lol:

Roger that on checking for loose and missing rivets!

 

[Watermann]

Be sure to mark with a sharpie everywhere you found the leaks. The keel plate is a given and is almost always going to be a source of leaks on these tinnys, it seems they take the brunt of everything bad that comes along.

 

[BWR1953]

Be sure to mark with a sharpie everywhere you found the leaks. The keel plate is a given and is almost always going to be a source of leaks on these tinnys, it seems they take the brunt of everything bad that comes along.

We didn't have a sharpie so we used a black crayon. :lol:

 

[GA_Boater]

We didn't have a sharpie so we used a black crayon. :lol:

They ask, we answer and they never follow our advice. Shoulda known when the cannonball entered the discussion. :facepalm: LOL

 

[BWR1953]

They ask, we answer and they never follow our advice. Shoulda known when the cannonball entered the discussion. :facepalm: LOL

Haha! Yeahhh... ain't it always so? At least the crayon is waterproof? LOL! (I'll go buy a sharpie.) Heh heh.

Haven't worked on the boat today, it being Mother''s Day and all. But I may have a chance to get out there later if we decide NOT to go fishing... from the shore yet again.

Question about the Gluvit... should I just apply it to the entire inside of the hull below water level or should I try to pick and choose spots?

 

[jbcurt00]

Gluvit the seams and rivets, the flat areas of tin arent likely to leak, just seal the stuff that will leak.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Gluvit the seams and rivets, the flat areas of tin arent likely to leak, just seal the stuff that will leak.

When I did leak test, I had three spots that werent rivets or seams that I had to drill out and through in a goobered 5200 pop rivets to seal. If your lea test didnt reveal anything strange then do the rivets and seams only.

 

[jbcurt00]

Perhaps I should have said undamaged flat areas of the hull.... If yours leaked thru in a flat area, it likely had corrosion damage......

Unlike seams and rivets, which even if I'd rebucked or replaced loose/leaking rivets, I'd still GluvIt them, and I'd coat all the seams, even the ones that don't leak.

 

[BWR1953]

Okay, I'll seal all the rivets and seams.

Just got home from the store. Got food, returned an item, bought some earphones, couple other things.

BUT NO SHARPIE!!! :facepalm: :rofl: Senioritis... sigh. :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

No Title

Major progress today... :lol:

 

[GA_Boater]

Now I'm going to re-title this thread to "i Have Returned With A Sharpie This Time" :laugh:

Any progress with leak fixin' or are you waiting for Gluvit?

 

[Watermann]

Major progress today... :lol:

:lol: :laugh:

 

[BWR1953]

Now I'm going to re-title this thread to "i Have Returned With A Sharpie This Time" :laugh:

Any progress with leak fixin' or are you waiting for Gluvit?

Nope, no leak fixin' started yet. Haven't even ordered the Gluvit, but when I do it'll get here in two days.

Was cutting the grass this morning and one of the pulleys on my rider locked up and tried to set the mower on fire. Smoke everywhere. That was fun. :laugh:

So I've been looking into getting the mower working again instead of spending quality time with da boat. Sigh.

 

[BWR1953]

No physical boat work getting done around here lately. Been dealing with the mower problem and finally got that fixed and the grass cut this morning. Whereupon I severely bent a brand new blade which will now have to be replaced. Sigh. And I have to work outdoors and it is HOT! (See pic.) Also been running the roads dealing with health/medical stuff. Ugh.

On the Starcraft Kingfisher side, I've been mulling things over and have decided to just do a rehab on the boat and not a full restore. Our long term plan is to just keep this boat for 2-3 years max, then buy a bigger, much newer one. Something around 18' and only 2 or 3 years old. So doing a full restore just doesn't make financial sense.

What I HAVE been doing is selling some of the extra bits and bobs that came with the boat package in order to recoup some cash. That old Evinrude is sold. As was the transom mount trolling motor and a couple other things. And at this point I only have $600 in the hull, trailer, 2 fish finders, 6 PFDs, fire extinguisher, oars and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember. Not too bad.

Been keeping a very close eye on craigslist for motors and have missed several excellent deals anyway. Good running motors for low prices... over 100 miles away and just no way to get to them in time. Am hoping that I can find a decent running 50hp motor with power trim/tilt and all cables, etc. so that I don't have yearnings for more/bigger/better in the future. Been there, done that, in the past. Learned my lesson to get what I want up front. MAY do a smaller (like 15hp) motor as a temp measure while waiting for the ideal motor setup to pop up online.

Meanwhile, I'll get started on the rehab and pull the deck and acquire materials for the new transom, etc. in the next week or so. Will remove the interior, pressure wash, clean, inspect prepare and Gluvit the rivets and seams and so on.

QUESTION: What weight and type of fiberglass should I get to encapsulate the transom? I'll be using epoxy resin since I'm familiar with that already.

I'm pretty sure that I can get 3/4" marine grade plywood at the local big box store.

 

[BWR1953]

So I got started this morning.

Didn't take long at all to remove the seats, bench and other stuff from the boat. Once I started trying to remove the decking screws I ran into the situation where they'd been painted over. Some came out, some just stripped. Am thinking I need to go buy a cold chisel and pop the heads off the stubborn ones. And some screws along the longitudinal axis seem to be self tapping machine screws. They didn't offer much resistance so I wonder if they're actually tapping into the main stringer or not. :suspicious:

It looks like the PO had glued much of the decking down with expandable foam. Some is visible along the edges, etc. and that could be holding the stripped screws in place.

BTW - most of the screws that did come out appear to be drywall screws. Are they acceptable in this application?

Any recommendations?