'71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

My name is Mike, and I bought a boat.

Here she is.
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0295.jpg

So heres the story. My fiance's family had a family tradition of going to up to Sioux Narrows, Ontario Canada each year to her grand fathers cabin. He owned this boat and they would take it out to their favorite fishing spot and fish for walleye for the week. Well, a few years ago he sold the cabin and gave the boat to Laura's (my fiance) uncle. Since then we have still be going to Sioux Narrows, but we have been renting House boats instead, along with a couple of small jon boats to fish in.

Last year Laura's uncle decided they needed some money and since they didn't have means to tow the boat up to Canada, they asked me to help them sell the boat on ebay. They were initally going to ask $4500 for it, but after some research on my part, i found a few others similar year and model, going for about $1500 in worse shape. So I talked them into selling it to me for $1500

So Laura's grand father bought the boat new and it has been in Canada pretty much its entire life, used only a few times a year. From what her uncle has told me, he was pretty meticulus about the boat. So I dont think i got too bad of a deal on it. Came with a bunch of spare parts, down riggers and torpedos, old set of skis, lots of stuff.

One thing I did notice though is that the floor has a slightly soft spot int it. So here is my project. Id like to replace the entire floor and possibly the stringers. Maybe later on going a bit further to restore/renew the helm if you will. But that can come later on. I just want to keep this in the family so they continue to enjoy it and our son can have the same expierence his mother has had all these years.

Im hoping this will just be an on going thread where i can post my progress and get get some help along the way. Im very new to all of this, but I've really got excited about this and I think its going to be a great expierence to restore this thing and put it back on the water for everyone.


A few more pictures of her.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0290.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0268.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0276.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0279.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0294.jpg

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

A few more pictures just because Im excited

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0296.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0262.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0263.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0270.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/The Boat/102_0266.jpg


If yer still reading, I have a few more pictures on photobucket
http://s860.photobucket.com/albums/ab167/taterandtot08/

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

That is great boat with a great story. I'm currently restoring a 1989 Chaparall. Good luck with the restore.

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

I like it, great story to. Good to hear you want to provide you're son with some life long experience of quality family time, and the outdoors. How do you steer that Johnson, and how well dos it do trolling on that boat?

Jeff

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

Nice boat.

Welcome to iboats!

Please, take a few minutes and read the top three threads on posting pictures here http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32

We like to keep the sizes at 640 x 480 to accommodate our dial up users.

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

wvmedic said:

I like it, great story to. Good to hear you want to provide you're son with some life long experience of quality family time, and the outdoors. How do you steer that Johnson, and how well dos it do trolling on that boat?

Jeff

Click to expand...

Not exactly sure how well it does trolling, but I guess its what he always used. It has been sitting in the morton building for years. Laura's uncle didnt even know if it ran, so he said I could have it if I wanted it.

Steering this thing is an art im told. Grandpa made up this seat to sit on the back corner of the boat. He would hang his leg off and rest his foot on the top of the Johnson(see the grip tape). Just using his foot to turn it either way. I found this what I believe to be makeshift throttle control in the side of the boat. Looks like an ore with the paddle cut off and a metal bracket bolted on instead.

The seat


The makeshift throttle control

We like to keep the sizes at 640 x 480 to accommodate our dial up users.

Click to expand...

Sorry boss, thought I was the last of those dial up users. Ill resize from now on, and see if I cant get those previous ones taken care of too.

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

Thanks for the update. Necessity is the mother of invention. I believe that is what he probably used for shifting, it looks like it is attached to the shift arm.

Jeff

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

So my excitement is getting the best of me and I just had to go out and spend a few minutes with it. I decided to investigate the soft spot I found in the center section.

I peeled up the vinyl flooring and found several cracks in the fiberglass. From what I can tell, its the strand fiberglass thats just blown in and not the matt that I see everyone on here using.



And about 5 minutes later with a flatblade screwdriver and my size 12




This is about the point where I pooped myself and truely wonder... What did I just get myself into?

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

Proceeded a bit further today. Removed both seats and peeled up a bit more of the vinyl. I can see where they replaced some of the deck... Unfortunately, they didnt fiberglass over it at all, Just put some caulk over the screws that secured it.



Unsure about this here. Being new to this, I dont know what size the stringers would be. Im pretty sure this is one of the stringers. It was encased in fiberglass that has delaminated itself. Amazingly, the wood itself is solid as can be. It looks like it could be a 2x12. Does this sound right?





One last thing for tonight. A small difference I've noticed on my boat compared to what others have. A valley thats maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch deep along the outside of the deck where it meets up to the hull. Im guessing its for a drainage path. Good idea to keep it like this when I rebuild, or just go flat all the way across?

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

Little more work done this weekend... Pulled the galley out, then pulled both gas tanks.

Port side - No problem



Starboard side - Problem




Can this be cleaned or coated or anything? Or do I put a fuel tank on the shopping list?

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

It can be cleaned out... if there's enough uncorroded metal there it could still work, or you could patch any small holes.

Or you can replace it. Gas tanks go bad, and replacements are available. Worst case you'd have to get a custom tank made to fit the space.

For now I'd drain out any gas/liquid, then try a "fuel tank cleaner" or find someone local who will steam clean the tank. Be careful of any fuel fumes.. a tank of fumes is dangerous.

Nice looking boat... looks long for its beam, should be a good restore project, and you know its history....

Erik

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

Oh, and keep the drain gutter... it's probably one reason you're not rotten everywhere. The deck near it where you pulled the carpet up in the pic looks nice and new... perfect shape.

The engine looks clean and well maintained, too, and the helm, while old style, looks ok.

Excellent candidate for some floor and hull work, the rest of the boat isn't a question, like some of us folks here

Erik

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

erikgreen said:

Oh, and keep the drain gutter... it's probably one reason you're not rotten everywhere. The deck near it where you pulled the carpet up in the pic looks nice and new... perfect shape.

The engine looks clean and well maintained, too, and the helm, while old style, looks ok.

Excellent candidate for some floor and hull work, the rest of the boat isn't a question, like some of us folks here

Erik

Click to expand...

Snuck into the garage late last night. found some more fiberglass delaminating itself from the floor... Hammer pushed right through the wood, and I was able to stomp out about a 2ft by 1ft hole. This let me look under at the part of the stringer that wasnt replaced.. HOLY ROTTEN WOOD BATMAN! Just a couple whacks with the claw end of the hammer and I was lookin at the foam on the OTHER SIDE of the stringer.

Now Im starting to worry that the engine supports might be rotten. I have no clue as to how i would get the engine out to replace those!

Pictures comming soon!

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

TaterandTot08,
Look at the bright side, once I got the deck off I took several feet of the main stringers out without the use of any tools at all. I even found what looked like red worms in the mush that used to be stringers. You at least got to use a tool.
Just remember it all can be fixed.
As for getting the engine out, well, Many solutions. One guy, payed a wrecker $50 to pull it, another built a 4X4 gantry and others rent an engine hoist.
Good luck and keep the pic's coming.
Bob

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

Bob,

Thatll have to wait till its a bit warmer outside. As you can see, Im slightly limited on space.





I have about 1ft of space total after removing the lower unit and the hitch off the front of the trailer. 6 inches total getting it in the garage door. And at 6'4, Im about a foot shy of standing up comfortably in the boat. I've already lost count of how many times I've cracked my head on the garage door open.

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

TaterandTot08,
Yeah, I can see where that could be a problem. Thats what I call a lot of boat.
Great looking boat too.
Bob

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

Hetic couple of weeks, but finally got to tinker a bit on the boat this afternoon. Peeled up the rest of the vinyl from the helm back, along with all of the panels.

I managed to ease my mind on the wiring a little bit. I dont think its as bad as it initally looked. Turns out all the gauges are bundled into a single plug on the engine. So I got most of that rolled up nicely. Just a few stragglers that need to be labled and cut. Ill probably end up running new wires when it goes back together.

Anyone give me an idea on how I go about disconnecting the steering and throttle cables?

Re: '71 Reinell, What have I got myself into?

Wow, exactly a month since I last posted. But, each weekend Ive been hacking away at it. Picked up a 4 1/2in grinder last week from sears online. Still on sale if anyone is looking, Dewalt 10 amp w/case for $80 after tax and free shipping. Part number is D28402K. Got a segmented diamond blade and 36 grit flapper disk with it. Making quick work of everything!

Anyways! Ive got about 80% of the deck and foam out of it now. You guys are right about it getting saturated. You cant tell it from the top poking into it unless its completely soaked. The center area was still holding about 2 gallons of water not counting what the foam had already soaked up.



The foam on the outsides of the stringers was dry for the most part. A little bit of water, but not much.





Maybe someone can answer a curiousity question for me. Along the outside edges of the bottom, there are strips of about 2x2in squares bout 3/8in thick, 2 wide by however many long that are somehow attached (resin, glue, etc) to a burlap looking material under the foam. There is also some of the same kind of deal right above the keel. Its got me baffled. Heres a pic of it.




One last pic I stole from Mick, Hope mine turns out half as good as yours has man.