1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

Percykwong

Cadet
Joined
Feb 8, 2013
Messages
6
1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

Hi All,

I thought I'd share a my story of how I got into my current project; a 1996 Bayliner 1950CL restore / resurrection.

About 6 months ago, my little girl and I were driving by Marina One in Boca and they had a boat on a stand out front. She says to me, "Daddy! Daddy! I want to go there!!! Boat!" So being the ever-loving daddy that can't say no, I turned in. We walk into the showroom and the first thing she does is run up to a 400K Center console (I wanna say it was 30+ feet.. I don't remember now), up the stairs and into the boat. Vehemently says, "Daddy. This is MY BOAT. Daddy, I want to buy this for ME."

I think the biggest issue for me was not just the price, but getting into something of such high value that I had very little experience with (actually driving a boat). While many new boaters have more money than brains, I've been fixing my friend's boats, cars, houses, etc. for years, (requisite skills for actually owning a boat IMO), but very little experience actually driving one.

So, I told her I would look for a boat for her. She says to me with those serious eyes and face that I can't say no to, "Daddy, I want a flower boat." Well, I rented a boat that weekend (at some ridiculous cost that I'm not even going to get into) and took her out on the ICW for the afternoon. She loved it! (Looking for a "Princess" Life Vest for a 3 year old is a near impossible thing to do btw).. So it was off to the races with my quest to look for a boat.

I ended up picking up a 96 Capri (amongst other things) for a steal that really just needed some work. Basically, the lower unit was leaking (due to neglect) and it had about an inch and a half of barnacles on the hull and outdrive. The previous owner had no idea as to how to get the title issue fixed and just wanted the boat off his property.

or so I thought.. and thus the saga begins...

First two weeks.. Barnacle Removal. Started with a scraper, that lasted about 10 min, then moved to a wire wheel, that lasted about 10 min, finally pulled out a multi-tool w/ a scraper bit. Got it done, but after much pain.

Sand, Seal, prime, and 3 coats of Ablative paint. Immediately, the boat starts looking quite awesome. People in the yard can't believe the before / after..

Next, I figure just remove the lower unit, but a friend (who shall remain nameless) drops the lower and basically breaks one of the edges off the (fin)? Rather than get upset, I just bring it to the welding shop, have them reweld the piece back on. $100.00 later, I figure it's time to repaint the lower unit since a repair was done.

Total Removal of the paint, Sand down, Prep, etc.. For some odd reason, I got distracted and it took 4 months before I came back to working on the boat. (I bought an old Mako 17 that was too good to pass up). Well, getting back to the Capri, prior to repainting, I figured it would be a good time to redo the lower unit. Total tear-down and rebuild took 2 days (about 3 hours).

3 days later, the lower is painted, I redid the impeller, checked the upper, all looks good. Then another friend accidently drops the lower and the paint (not fully dry) chips off in one place.. **sigh* Back to repainting.

Finally got the paint done, Aluminum Phosphate prep (decided against Alodine), but it works fine when done properly (I know a bit about chemistry) [2 coats], 3 coats of enamel, 3 coats of clear. Lower unit looking pretty good.

Initial planning of remounting the upper unit and lower, take it out to the yard and spend 2 hours getting it in (with a mechanic buddy of mine), upper is mated. Lower unit gets put on, power trim cylinders back in and I'm feeling pretty good.

Now, for the simple test.. I hit the trim, nothing.. Looking at the gimbal, the trim sender (bah.. not the sender, the other one [on the right side] I forgot what it's called) had a corroded wire. So I just disassembled it, put in new wires, reassembled and popped it on. Trims down, but not up.. **sigh** A manual test of the motor with a jumper wire shows that the pump is fine and outdrive trims up and down. Bah. Back to tracing down the issue. Trace the wires back to the throttle control assembly and wires show continuity. So not a bad wire.. Now looking at disassembling the switch with the thoughts that it might be a bad trim switch.

On another note, I decided to fix a small soft-patch on the floor, 45 min. later, I've got the whole floor from the captain's chair forward out of the boat. Wood Rot.

Get some ply, recut the sections on the floor, added some support bolsters because I didn't like the existing structural design, epoxy the ply (6 coats), 3 layers of fiberglass over top and bottom of the ply. Rewrap / stretch the carpet. Floor sections look amazing!

To Do:

New Bilge Pump (1000 gph Rule for $30.00)
Trace down the Trim issue (shouldn't be hard.. if I get frustrated, I'll just bypass the trim sensor and hardwire).
Rebuild the Motor Cover.. (Looks like complete crap now, but will reform with Fiberglass)
Check the Lights (simple wiring)
New Horn ($20.00 online)
Remove the Old Name on the boat (Who the heck names their boat "Grocery Money" anyways???)
Install new depth finder / fishfinder
Install New VHF
Possibly replace the gauge(s) [fuel gauge frozen I think]
Replace backing on cushions (interior along the sides)

and I'm ready to wet test. Ugh.. What started out as a simple project has turned into a full rebuild / restore, but anything for my daughter.. and yes.. it will be named, "Lilikoi's Flower Boat". I'm a proud Daddy!

Anyone else go through this much grief for a boat for their child? Just wondering if I'm just a sucker.. lol.
 
Last edited:

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,924
Re: 1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

Re: 1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

What boat? Anybody see a boat? I don't see no boat? Must have been a bad Dream? Without pics it Never Happened!!!!!:D:laugh:
 

Percykwong

Cadet
Joined
Feb 8, 2013
Messages
6
Re: 1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

Re: 1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

haha.. ok. ok.. Here are some pics off the phone. Need to get around to actually taking some updated pics.

270313_1109-1.jpg
270313_1109.jpg
260313_2012.jpg
100413_2026.jpg
280613_1527.jpg
 

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,924
Re: 1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

Re: 1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

Ohhhhh, THAT Boat!!!!!! WOW!!! That Outdrive has seen Better Days!!!! Did you core sample the Stringers and motor mounts when you had the deck up? Did you core sample the Transom?
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,429
Re: 1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

Re: 1996 Capri 1950 CL Restore / Rebuild project aka my little girl's "Flower Boat"

Don't know if your superstitious or not but if you rename your boat there are a few steps you should follow to insure good luck ..:)http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm
 
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