73 Crestliner Restoration

Hi guys, I'm new here. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience here, so I'd like to ask for some advice.

I'm helping to restore a 73 Crestliner Muskie 15 that a friend recently purchased. The boat has this hideous green outdoor carpet in it.



She wants to make this boat into a fishing machine, so what will be the best deck surface material to use that will be durable and clean up easiest? She plans of getting a lot of fish blood in this boat!

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

We will be installing these two box seats that will have swivel seats on them.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Welcome to iBoats!
Lot's of folks on here have used Durabak.
Durabak 18 | New Line Safety, LLC


What's the history on the boat? Have you checked the Floor(Deck) for soft spots? Have you bounced on the motor to see if the transom flexes? Boats of this vintage usually, but not always, have some "ROT" issues.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Trent4fish said:

what will be the best deck surface material to use that will be durable and clean up easiest? She plans of getting a lot of fish blood in this boat!

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The same stuff that's on the seat boxes, Nautolex or Marideck. Defender (dot) com has it. If it's a fiberglass boat, paint and sand is an option too.

That appears to be a fiberglass Crestliner, if so I would check for deck/stringer/transom rot and soaked foam before prettying up the boat. Same thing if it's aluminum, but you don't have to worry about wood stringers rotting. (If you see new plywood under the green carpet...... check for rot.)

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

I like the Nautolex marine vinyl:
http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...ir/97-tracker-pro-deep-v-facelift-509163.html

... dried fish blood doesn't even stain it.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

I guess we could take up the floor and look at the stringers but that seems like a lot of work...no soft spots yet.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

There's a thing about fiberglass boats that have been recently recarpeted and then sold, more than half the time it means new plywood has been thrown down on top of the rotten decking and stringers below to give it that "solid" feeling and then recarpeted... a very shady and popular trick that fools a lot of people.

You can check your decking when you remove the carpet, if the decking lookd new-ish or hasn't been "glassed" in with fiberglass cloth/mat and resin you should lift it to check what's underneath.

You should also check your transom for rot... your boat wouldn't happen to have a metal plate on the back of the transom, would it?

Edited to say: I'm not trying to scare you or in any way bad-mouth your boat... just a heads up on what may or may not be.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

I wouldn't pull up the deck to check the stringers, especially if the deck doesn't have any soft spots. But.... If there's new plywood laid down (over the top of rotted wood???) I would investigate. Checking for rot isn't too hard and you don't have to tear the boat apart to check. Post up some pics once you have the carpet torn up so everyone can see what you have to work with.

(whoops, same thing JnG said...........)

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

jigngrub said:

There's a thing about fiberglass boats that have been recently recarpeted and then sold, more than half the time it means new plywood has been thrown down on top of the rotten decking and stringers below to give it that "solid" feeling and then recarpeted... a very shady and popular trick that fools a lot of people.

You can check your decking when you remove the carpet, if the decking lookd new-ish or hasn't been "glassed" in with fiberglass cloth/mat and resin you should lift it to check what's underneath.

You should also check your transom for rot... your boat wouldn't happen to have a metal plate on the back of the transom, would it?

Edited to say: I'm not trying to scare you or in any way bad-mouth your boat... just a heads up on what may or may not be.

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That is what happened to the last boat so we tried to avoid that on this one. No plate on transom and I had someone else check that out as well. Knocking on the transom with a hammer.
The first boat is being fixed up by someone who had time. He has also posted on this website.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Hammer knocking doesn't always tell the truth, your wood could be wet and still sound solid. Wet wood is the first stage of rotten wood, and once wet... the wood in a fiberglass transom will never ever dry out.

Drill into your transom on the inside of the boat down low and examine the shavings, if they're light colored and dry your transom is good... if they're dark andor moist/wet, you've got a bad transom.

These things need to be checked on all recently purchased used boats, but unfortunately aren't by many. Then just as they're starting to use their boat regularly and having lots of fun... they start having problems and have to stop using the boat and work on it or sell it and try to find another one.

On another note... what have you done to the motor? Have you had it checked by a mechanic? Have you checked, drained, and refilled the lower unit lube? Have you installed a new impeller (water pump)? These are very important things to do to a new to you motor.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

jigngrub said:

Hammer knocking doesn't always tell the truth, your wood could be wet and still sound solid. Wet wood is the first stage of rotten wood, and once wet... the wood in a fiberglass transom will never ever dry out.

Drill into your transom on the inside of the boat down low and examine the shavings, if they're light colored and dry your transom is good... if they're dark andor moist/wet, you've got a bad transom.

These things need to be checked on all recently purchased used boats, but unfortunately aren't by many. Then just as they're starting to use their boat regularly and having lots of fun... they start having problems and have to stop using the boat and work on it or sell it and try to find another one.

On another note... what have you done to the motor? Have you had it checked by a mechanic? Have you checked, drained, and refilled the lower unit lube? Have you installed a new impeller (water pump)? These are very important things to do to a new to you motor.

Click to expand...

Boat was in a garage for over a year and it looked it. Dust. I do not believe the the transom is wet.

Motor started but not run. Drained lower end. No to new impeller.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

This is what happens to rotten/weak transoms:




... and it's not a fun day when it happens.

Checking now would be a lot easier than finding out the hard way later.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Thanks for the great advice guys. I will drill a small test hole on the inside of the transom as you suggested and check the color of the wood, and I will pull the carpet and post pictures of the floor.

Wannafish actually has two motors for the boat. She still has the 73 Evinrude 65 hp motor off the Silveline she bought, plus she has this 1988 Mariner 75 hp motor. We checked the compression of the Mariner and all 3 cylinders read 105 psi when the motor was cold. We didn't fog the cylinders when we did the compression check. I drained the lower unit of the Mariner and found about a 1/4 cup of water in it before the oil started coming out. I will be removing the lower unit, replacing the impeller and inspecting the gears. If the gears aren't pitted, I will add lower unit drain plug gaskets, (there were none) and refill the lower unit with gear oil. I'll run the motor in the lake for a few minutes, then I'll check the oil to make sure there's no seals leaking. If the oil is clean, I'll refill the lower unit with Lucas 75w-90 M8 Marine Gear Oil. How does that sound for a plan?

The trim motor is not working on the Mariner, so Wannafish has ordered a new one. We will be installing it shortly after it arrives and will need advice on the best way to do it... should we pull the engine off the transom or remove one of the brackets?

The 73 Evinrude runs great. I need to check it's lower unit and replace it's impeller, but we're hoping the Mariner will work out since it's newer technology and it's already set up on the boat. I'll let you know what I find...

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Drill 3 1/4" diameter holes in the transom down low as you can.

1 hole port side, 1 hole starboard side, and the other hole in the center... drill the holes 1" deep.

If the wood is good fill/seal the holes with 3M 5200 or Loc-tite marine epoxy... both are available at Home Depot in the adhesives section of the paint dept.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Got the putting green out of the boat and got a closer look at what was under it. It's all original fiberglass flooring and appears to be in great shape. There is one soft spot in the back, under where the gas tank used to sit. It looks like we will have to cut that corner out and at least redo that section of the floor. Hopefully the stringers are good underneath... Everything else is as solid as a rock! Tup:











I may drill one quarter inch hole, one inch deep, in the transom from low and on the inside of the transom to check the color of the wood. If the sample is dry and light-colored I'll simply fill the hole with 3M 5200, and it's time to get that Mariner running!

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Drill that hole in the center of the transom under the engine mounting bolt holes, that's where they're most likely to leak (through the bolt penetration).

That decking does look good and you really lucked out on that!

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Wannafish SCORED! Her 88 Mariner looks like it's a winner! I changed the lower unit oil and it fires right up and shifts really smooth. Took the boat for a quick spin around the lake and it flat hauls!!!


We cut the back corner out where the soft spot was and this is what we found...





It appears that the fiberglass flooring cracked allowing water to seep into the plywood floor and the crossmember, which rotted the back couple feet of the two stringer.

We drilled a few test holes on the inside of the transom and found that the wood inside was solid, light colored, and dry.



Next steps: replace that portion of those stringers, that corner of the floor, refinish the entire floor, and repair the Mariner trim.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Do you see anything missing in the 2nd and 3rd pics Trent?

... like floatation foam! There's supposed to be a lot of floatation foam under that deck to keep the boat afloat in case it gets swamped or the hull is breached, as it is now... that boat will go to the bottom of the lake/river/bay if an accident ever happens.

Floatation foam is a very important safety feature you don't want to be without. Just imagine if this boat didn't have any floatation foam:
Lund Boat Floatation Video - YouTube
As you can see in that vid floatation foam is worth it's weight in gold when you need it.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Lol!!! I removed all of the foam and cleaned out the area to let it dry… some of the foam was saturated.

Re: 73 Crestliner Restoration

Trent, Boats of this vintage did NOT usually have foam under the deck. I have a 61' Lonestar Flamingo that does not have foam and I am not going to put in any. Several others here on the forum have found the same thing. Having said that, It IS a good thing to have floatation foam, and since you have a portion of the deck already open you might want to consider adding it. Have you drilled core samples in the stringer you exposed? If they are dry like the transom then all you'll need to do is fix the support brace and you could sister in that stringer once all the rotted wood is cut away. Use cleats attached to the under side of the deck to put the new piece back in. Make sure to glass the bottom of the wood as well as the top. Lot's of examples on how to do it here on the forum.