New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

[chrislewis01]

Hery guys, Im Chris, New here, And loving it so far.

I just picked up an old 17.5 foot Sea Ray Runabout, and 2 Evinrude outboards (65 and 75hp) for 100.00 The boat is real rough, but no leaks. motors are older than dirt but In great shape.

I plan to completely restore and modify this boat into a fishing machine. I saw the site for SkankyBeast, and found it very helpful. Does anyone know of any similar projects that have been documented online?

I pretty much already have my whole idea figured out. I just figure if I can learn from someone else, I can avoid the mistakes on my own.

If anyone has any info, input, ideas, suggestions I definitely want to hear them!!

Thanks a lot in advance guys,
look forward to hearing from you!

Chris.

 

[allpoints360]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

What are your plans first? Are the motors running?

Sounds like a restore!

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hi Chris, and welcome !!!

Have you checked out the completed projects forum ?? thats a must read !! I am work on my finished thread for it also !!

Sound like your going to get itchy !! lol soinds like fun !! yea we are petty sick here !! lol the guys teally do like pics if you can get them up !! so I'll be looking foward to hearing more !! John

 

[chrislewis01]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Well Right now the boat is gutted right down to hull. So what Im thinking next is, Im going to remove the windshield, and start cutting out the bow (its a closed bow..) and a middle section of the dash where the walk-through window opens. get the boat all opened up the way I want it and then see where I go from there. I have a ton of body work to do, just little spider cracks around the railing mounts and whatnot, so Ill probably get that done and out of the way right off the hop too!

And yeah both motors run great. Couldnt really believe it myself.. Just hooked up a fuel tank and battery, rigged a ignition and they both fired right up.. the 65hp was a little tight at first, but it didnt take too much to get her turnin.

Thanks for the interest guys, Ill be sure to post lots of pictures and keep you posted.

Chris.

 

[sschefer]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Sounds like you're projects off to a great start. You might be able to get some ideas from my thread. It's a fishing machine.

 

[chrislewis01]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hey again guys, I have some pictures of the mess so far.. just tare down, and what lies beneath the floor.. haha. Not pretty. But, that was expected long before I actually saw it.

And now I have another addition to the project. I scooped a out light-duty tandem trailer that Im going to re-size for this boat.. It had some old rotten bunks on it that i ripped off before towing home. Im somehow going to need to lower it a little bit, its sitting pretty high right now and Im also thinking about replacing the center rollers with polyurethane ones, and 2x6 bunks, with addition 2x4 guide on side bunks. Any thoughs or suggestions...... again, thanks for the input on everything, its greatly appreciated.

anyways, until next time, here are some pictures.

Chris.

 

[chrislewis01]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hello again, I'm having a hard time uploading pictures, so I'm going to put them all on photobucket, and i'll post the link.

take care.

 

[Hunlock]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Please do!!!!

 

[allpoints360]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Or you can resize them on Photobucket and then post. Either or.

 

[chrislewis01]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hey guys, I got the pictures up on photo bucket, http://s890.photobucket.com/albums/ac108/clewis_01/

theres lots more to come, got a lot more tare down taken care of today. Next to come is all my fiberglass repair on the outside, (all the little spider cracks and whatnot) Possibly a transom rebuild. Have to remove some old glass and see how she looks.
Hopefully not bad, but I'm pretty sure it'll need to be replaced. anyone have any experience or tips on that job?

thanks.

Chris.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Cool project. I really like the lines of that old hull. I'd plan on popping the cap and replacing the transom and the stringers. Done right it will outlive you.

 

[allpoints360]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

I'd plan on popping the cap and replacing the transom and the stringers.

I agree with ezombee.

Take it one step at a time and be patient. When you have specific questions, there are many experts here to help.

Good luck!

 

[chrislewis01]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hey guys, sometime this weekend im going to start ripping the transom out of the sea ray. I've never done this before. any tips?

what im really wondering is what do you recommend for wood? and should i be supporting the boat from side to side while the transom is out? (tie it together with a strap or something?) just to hold the shape, or is this not a concern? thanks!

Chris.

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hi Chris...
wow you have your work cut out for ya... one thing at a time...and she'll be done in no time!
cool score on the motors!!!! make sure the water impellers are working or you'll overheat those old engines on your first trip and that would be a bummer... . I'm sure the water pump impellers are ancient judging by the condition of the boat by the Prev owner.

How bad are the stringers? are they "mulch" or pretty solid?

I would have to agree, your top half of the boat shell has to come off, to access the transom, unless you have a transom cover that unbolts or is removable (I have seen that on an old Glaspar from the 60s)

 

[chrislewis01]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hey guys,

Just an update..

Got the windshield, rub rail, and motor off the Sea Ray today. Also started removing stringers. The top cap is down to the rivets now, but i've yet to decide on a transom rebuild or not. I guess that will depend on the condition.. If its anything like the rest of the boat, she'll be getting a new one.. I have high hopes though. lol.

Looks like a whole different boat without that windshield.

I'm thinking now i might cut the entire dash out of the boat along with the bow, and build a single console in place. Just to open things up as much as possible. Not really sure though. I like the idea, although i like the option of the canvas cabin top for if its raining.. any ideas/suggestions?

I just put a bunch more pics up on Photobucket. The link again is.

http://photobucket.com/ProjectSeaRay

Many more pics and updates to come.

Take care guys!

 

[chrislewis01]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hey again guys,

I had a pretty productive day today. The SeaRay looks like a whole different boat. not so much a new boat, but a different boat none the less.

Got all the wiring removed today, scraped a ton of it, but saved what was necessary. (Throttle controls, Charging system regulators, steering cable, motor wiring)

The fiberglass was flyin' today, did a lot of cutting. Removed the splash well, The entire dash is gone, trimmed the sides down a little bit, cut the entire bow out. Got one stringer cut out so far, and the stringer ends that run into the bilge.

Once again, added a bunch more pictures on photo bucket.

Need some opinions though. I'm kind of torn between a single console on the driver side, or a center console. A center console would look cool, but I think the single drivers side console would leave me with more space. Any opinions and/or suggestions?

Thanks a lot.

Chris.

 

[chrislewis01]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hey guys.

Took the day off work today, and went to pick up the steel for the trailer. Almost ready to strat welding the new tongue on.

I need to build some brackets for the bunks.. I'm going to use 2x6's for the bunks. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? maybe some pictures.. I know I can come up with something on my own, but a idea for a starting point would be great! thanks!

 

[sschefer]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hey guys.

Took the day off work today, and went to pick up the steel for the trailer. Almost ready to strat welding the new tongue on.

I need to build some brackets for the bunks.. I'm going to use 2x6's for the bunks. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? maybe some pictures.. I know I can come up with something on my own, but a idea for a starting point would be great! thanks!

Keep the bunks as short as possible. Too much bunk up front will make the boat hard to load and unload. If you can, use a keel roller set so that when the boat is all hooked and sinched down, the roller has about 1/8" space between it and the keel. The roller should be placed forward about 2/3 the distance from the transom. Mines a lot further forward than that because of trailer design but it still works.

I fought mine all this year and finally figured out that this is what I needed to do. Now that I've done it, I can't believe how easy loading and unloading is.

 

[chrislewis01]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Hey guys,

Yesterday I started Stretching my trailer out to fit the SeaRay. I removed the old beat up tongue, and put a new longer tongue in place. Theres lots of pictures of the whole process on Photobucket. The overall length of the trailer now is 27 feet, but will be cut down to about 23 feet. Thats todays project.. Along with the bow stop/winch mount, and possibly get started on the bunk and roller brackets. See how ambitious I get..

Take care.
Chris.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: New Project on The go. Let me know what you think!

Great looking boat. Nice job so far. Take your time and follow everyones advice, especially for the transom and stringers. Good luck.