My OMG What did I get myself into project?

I have always liked the lines of the 80s Bayliner Capri. So I finally bought one. Looked for one for a while and finally found a local one sorta cheap. As I was well aware of the "soft floor" issue I decided to buy one that I knew needed it done. Did not want any gotchas. I have been working with fiberglass for years so taking it out and putting it in is no problem for me. And boy did I get what I was looking for. I have a bad habit of buying "junk" projects and I think I scored another ringer.

I wanted a boat that will last for many years to come so there for I wanted to restore one better then when it came off the line. I am hoping to have less then $3000 into it when finished. We live 8min from the largest local lake around. We usually go there a number of times on friends boats usually a 55' houseboat and a 07 Air Nautique. While both are nice and I have almost open use of them I wanted to get my own.


So with out anymore wait here is the OMG what did I get myself into project.

First is the sale photos. Next ones are after I started tearing it apart.

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

All the wood and foam is rotted. I will need to remove the cap? to get into the rotted backbone of this thing. Gut it down to the tub and start over. I do not plan on putting wood back into it anywhere. I have a bunch of marine PVC 4'x8' sheets. I was thinking of cutting them down and laminating them into the replacements of the stuff I will be ripping out for the stringers and such and use them for the floor. I do not want it to rot ever again. I plan on keeping this boat a very long time and will put a lot of great parts into redoing it. The gelcoat and a number of cracks and chips I will be fixing at the same time. Then I will paint her. I have a long way to go on this thing and I have a few other projects I am trying to finish up right now so it is on the side burner. Not sure if I will have it finished to use this season. Enjoy and tell me how crazy or stupid I am. lol

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

hey opossum......welcome to i boats.


you are among crazy friends here.....so ....join the crowd.

is that a force on the back of that boat?

just a couple of things......the stingers in that boat are fiberglassed over foam......they used the foam as a shape......then glassed over them cause glass is as strong a steel.

so there aint no wood in that boat except for the transom.
as far as how far do you go?.........you go as far as the foam is wet!
f that means gutting it to the hull.......yep thats what it means.....but i doubt it!.....
you will most likely get away with gutting it up to the walk thru......and not farther.
but the only thing to do is to get in there and start ripping till you find dry!

we are right there with you.....so post lots of pics and we can cry right along with you.....lol

cheers
oops

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

HI there Opossum, and Welcome !!!!!!!!

Yep like oops said your in the right spot , Were all petty nuts here , looking at a boat that most people would just take to the dump , and seeing what could bee !!!!


I also like the look of the capri, she will be sweet !! theres a lot of bayliners on here ,

So keep us posted on how its going and keep them pics comming !!!!! John

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

I have an 88 cuddy,Lucky for me all the wood was ripped up when I got he.Opps is right I had no wood in stringers.Dry foam.But it was the only dry foam on my boat.All wood in cuddy was replaced.All floors My transom was solid.This was going to be something fast to get in the water.Ha Ha.I love the look of it Have cussed my self for buying it And still cant wait to get it wet.Its a blast to work on and lets me de-stress from work.Get on her man I need to see more old liners floating.Not as bad as everyone makes them out to be.My pics are on here somewhere.

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

oops! said:

just a couple of things......the stingers in that boat are fiberglassed over foam......they used the foam as a shape......then glassed over them cause glass is as strong a steel.

Click to expand...

I'm feeling picky at the moment (or anal) so I'm going to qualify this a bit.

If you look at the tensile strength of materials (which is what gives fiberglass most of its strength properties) listed, you can see that S-glass (standard fiberglass) is weaker than E-glass, which is weaker than kevlar, which is weaker than graphite fibers. Steel of almost every alloy is below these all in tensile strength, but above them all in bulk strength.. obviously a solid steel hull is stronger than a fiberglass hull. But if you're also concerned about weight, like in a planing boat, then a composite hull with graphite fibers set in epoxy is as strong as you can get and still get on plane.

A fiberglass panel made with thin steel wire would be weaker than one made with S-glass, but the S-glass panel would be weaker in ultimate strength than a steel panel the same dimensions. Material properties differ, so it's apples to oranges a bit, but that's basically it.

Also, in some stringers with a foam core, it's correct that the foam is a form, but in others with less glass it may be otherwise.. the foam could be used the same way it is in a standard cored composite, where it's relied on to resist compression and shearing. The fiberglass is most of the strength, but the foam keeps the glass surfaces parallel to each other and resists them flexing, which would crack the resin and cause an ultimate failure.

Bottom line if there's a foam core in a stringer and you take it out, put something back for safety.

There, I'm done being anal, at least until I start cutting plywood tonight.

Erik

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

Hey! Welcome to iboats!

Wow, that boat is.... well, its looking rather..... ummmm.... Hey! Its got cup holders!

Time to get on with it!

BWT, I see the swim step is missing the the ladder. But not to fear, as AZLAKES has the one your missing. Check out his 2nd post with pic of said ladder in this post:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=292524

Send him a PM if you need it.

The PVC sheets sound like a good idea, those have been discussed lately in another post in this forum. Just not sure it would make a rigid deck all by itself, and I don't think anyone has used it for stringers or transom work yet either.

Keep posting and include lots of pics as you go along. It will be a great boat when your done. Also, go to shareaproject.com and do a search on "long haul" thats a neat Bayliner resto with complete floor replacement. Makes for good reading, and give you a good idea what you are up against.

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

oops! said:

is that a force on the back of that boat?

Click to expand...

Yes it is an 85 horse 3cyl 2 stroke. PO said it ran last year when he thought about fixing it ad ripped out the center of the floor. He doesn't live far from me and said he will come help me with it if I can not get it running.

Mark42 said:

BWT, I see the swim step is missing the the ladder. But not to fear, as AZLAKES has the one your missing. Check out his 2nd post with pic of said ladder in this post:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=292524

Click to expand...

I am not sure if it is just missing the ladder as it looked broken when I glanced at it but I will try to look closer at it next time.

Mark42 said:

The PVC sheets sound like a good idea, those have been discussed lately in another post in this forum. Just not sure it would make a rigid deck all by itself, and I don't think anyone has used it for stringers or transom work yet either.

Click to expand...

The ones I have are much stronger then plywood and would hold up just as well if not better then wood in almost all areas. Just not sure how much heat they can take but that will not be an issue in my case.


Thanks everyone. My plan for this is just to have a nice boat to run around it and have some fun. I plan on putting a tower on it as I like to kneeboard ad might try wakeboarding again (first few attempts were ummmm not so good). The 4yo loves going to the lake and we have another one due in alittle over a month so with getting the nursery finished up and all my other crazy projects going on I am pretty busy.

Oh can I get what your guys data tag on your Capris say? Person and weight wise and what size your boat is. Mine is a 17' model but it claims it is rated for 5 passangers or 6xxlbs. Which I find hard to fathom as it has enough seats for 8-9 adults in stock form. Or did mine just get the wrong tag? I do not plan on having 9 people in this boat at once but I see no real reason why it couldn't do it. Tell me what I am missing here or is it just a CYOA item Bayliner did?

I do not think I am going to keep the stock seating pattern. Here is a really quick crappy MS Paint rendering of what I am thinking about. The biggest drawback to this boat to me is lack of storage. So the blue areas are the seats. I plan on making the bowrider area a sundeck with lots of storage under it. I plan on putting a bench down the left side with storage under and ditching the stock seat set up. And going to a nice single captains chair with space behind it ( not sure if I will leave it floor or add something). This is my idea shoot it around and let me know what ya think about it or why I am an idiot.

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

Hi Opossum,

Looks like you have your hands full with all that is going on! I am happy to see that someone else is silly enough to take an old 17' and start a love/hate relationship! I did mine last year as a first ever boat and fiberglass project and it was fun (and frustrating once in a while!)

I am looking forward to seeing your progress and best of luck!

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

Don't worry your in the same boat as a bunch of us.. your in good hands lol

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

Would anyone happen to know where you can buy the sheets of marine pvc?

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

you mean marine plywood?

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

I was talking about the 4X8 sheets of marine pvc mentioned in the second post. If there is such a thing it sure would simplify my life.

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

balls the size of the Edmund Fitzgerald's bell.
Good luck with your project...
I think I'll take a newbie liberty and speak for a collective bunch who might like to see your progress....
start a thread as a log to your progress. I think that would be interesting

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

Welcome to Iboats. That Bayliner is hard to look at and makes me wonder how anything can be neglected that badly. I love the look of the 80's Bays and you have a lot of time to go to get that up to speed. We have an 84 Capri 1600 amongst our boats and still love it after 25 years of owning it. I learned how to maintain a boat properly watching my dad baby that thing my whole upbrining. I used to think he was crazy watching the extent he took care of it but it is the only new vehicle he ever bought and it has really stood the test of time. Good luck on your project and keep us informed and I am sure you will bring it back to its original condition.

Re: My OMG What did I get myself into project?

opposum;

No, I'm not gonna make any bad bayliner references, 'cause i think they're pretty sharp. as it was explained to me, as long as it's safe, do what you can afford. when you're done, you'll own the nicest boat on the water (as far as you're concerned...and we all get it)

just remember...it's a project. it won't be in the water this weekend. approach it as it's gonna take some time.

keep us posted, and search the forums...they are 10x better than a seloc manual!