1995 Grumman 1784 TC rebuild

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
I have been looking for a good aluminum hull split windshield boat to build for a while. Friend of mine had this boat for years and recently purchased a pontoon, and let me have this boat for a song. Good hull, Motor runs but has issues, great trailer, interior....shot! Everything had to go. My plan is to ditch the wood and carpet and go back with aluminum floors and vinyl. My son and I will be using this boat to fish Tournaments here on some of the big water lakes here in North Carolina. Dove into it head first when we got it home, took 3 days to completely gut the boat, plan on replacing everything. Throughout the entire boat the foam was soaked, all of it had to come out, total we removed 300lbs of nasty rotten wood, carpet and foam.













 

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Finally got finished with all the foam and wood. The hull seems to be sound, found a couple of broken stinger braces. Removed the fuel tank, still has 3/4 tank of fuel in it. had a cracked vent line hose which let fuel get into the hull. Tank appears to be in good shape, around 20 gallons maybe. we'll pressure test it before we decide to re-use it. Started cleaning the seams on the bow, plan to Gluvit all the seams and rivets, then apply a epoxy paint over the entire bottom. Going to get the motor off and clean and pressure wash the hull this weekend.





 

jbcurt00

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Oct 25, 2011
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Gluvit on the seams and rivets from the interior side, correct?

Check it for leaks BEFORE GluvIt
 

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Interior side correct. Woodonglass, my plan was after the gluvit was installed to coat the interior side floor with the epoxy paint to help fill in the imperfections that were left by the oxidation on the bottom were the fuel tank sits and on the top sides of the stringers, maybe over kill, but hopefully it will help make this boat last another 20 years. Got alot done this weekend, i'll get some more pics uploaded tomorrow.
 

classiccat

"Captain" + Starmada Splash Of The Year 2020
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Dec 20, 2010
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Interior side correct. Woodonglass, my plan was after the gluvit was installed to coat the interior side floor with the epoxy paint to help fill in the imperfections that were left by the oxidation on the bottom were the fuel tank sits and on the top sides of the stringers, maybe over kill, but hopefully it will help make this boat last another 20 years. Got alot done this weekend, i'll get some more pics uploaded tomorrow.

That plan seems good on paper however devil is in the details. If the epoxy paint has poor adhesion, it will delaminate, trap water and impede drainage causing more corrosion.

My SS's interior was coated with epoxy and caused alot of damage...it was a horror show.

One method a few of us have used is to work in sections(take your time), mechanically remove the corrosion, prep the aluminim for paint (acid clean and chromate conversion...there is a sticky on it) then fill the pits with marine tex.
 

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Just read through your SS thread Classiccat, wow, great Job! Yep, i think your right, I dont want to have to go through that, I'll do some reading on the chromate conversion process, Thanks for the info.
 

classiccat

"Captain" + Starmada Splash Of The Year 2020
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Dec 20, 2010
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3,405
Just read through your SS thread Classiccat, wow, great Job! Yep, i think your right, I dont want to have to go through that, I'll do some reading on the chromate conversion process, Thanks for the info.

Thank you! Alot of my hull's issues were due to chronic neglect combined with some well-intended but poorly-executed measures.

Here's the link to Steps to Prep Aluminum by Yacht Dr. I was fortunate enough to already have the West Systems Aluminum Etch Kit...which if you compare the MSDS's, is similar to Alumaprep & Alodine. I've observed that the Part-A (etch) makes the surface hydrophilic (wets easily) so that the Part-B (conversion) is more effective.

One difference might be in the chromate conversion itself; West Systems indicates a 2hr working window (which is one of the reasons I worked in sections) whereas I didn't see any time-window with the Alodine treatment. If I were to do it over again, I would've probably hit the pits with Zinc Chromate spray before filling.
 
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dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Got the motor removed this weekend, good news, the transom wood is solid, but found some issues with the hull I will have to address before I can apply anything on the seams. I can see replacing quite a few rivets before I can seal the hull. We Got the boat flipped to check out the bottom, I have pan head screws where I should have rivets, and enough JB weld to build a battleship. Going to try and get the bottom cleaned up and sand the outside of the hull this week to see if any more surprises appear.





 

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Worked on getting the old stickers and lettering off plus started sanding the sides and bottom. Boy am I glad it only has 1 layer of paint on it. Its coming off pretty easy, found a few dents and scratch's in the bottom. Put some JB in some of them to test if its going to stick there. My main concern is with the amount of JB and other forms of leak prevention that was used by the PO. I found a lot of rivets, and pan head screws that were covered in "something". Just proved my hunch that I'm going to be replacing a lot of rivets.













 

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Found a few carbon screws in the back of the hull that expanded the hole beyond 1/4", not by much. I still think I can get a 1/4" solid rivet smothered in 5200 in it and drive it home and it will seal. I do have one concern, the nose cap and keel cap, it is in 2 separate pieces. I'm thinking of removing all the rivets in each section one at a time, cleaning and sanding under each then applying 5200 and reinstalling each section replacing all the rivets in these areas. My earlier leak test confirmed a lot of the leaks are in these areas. I honestly believe this is what needs to be done to insure a leak proof hull. Any thoughts?











 

Frey0357

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
313
Dearl: Nice boat ya got there! You are certainly doing what needs to be done to keep the water out and the good times in! I would agree with your approach for removing the screws, sanding/cleaning the area, and resealing with 5200 with new rivets.

Keep up the good work, I'll tag along if that's ok?

Frey
 

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Got some work done during the past couple of days. One side is completely sanded, just a few dents and scratch's to repair on this side. Got some of the bottom lightly sanded also. Started on the other side, this side has seen the most abuse, from the looks of it, from loading on the trailer with no side bunk covering. This side is going to take the most attention. Ordered 500 rivets to get started, we probably have twice that in it when I'm done.







 

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Finally got done sanding the Starboard side, started working on the bottom, A lot of JB on this thing. Worked on the trailer some today, installed a new tongue, raised it 3" , also cut off the ole round tail lights and added 3x3 angle to anchor the new 8" rectangular LED's too. Through bolted the trailer jack, plan to install a new one after the paint job. Hope to get the boat back on the trailer today, got some rivets and 5200 coming this week.















 

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Spent some time on the boat last week, got the gunwale cap removed, also removed the fuel tank coffin/floor support assemble to get to the broken stringers. I also removed the transom wood and splash well. I started at the transom and removed the last 2 stringers, this needed to be done due to a really bad hook in the hull just before the transom. With the help of a 4 lb. sledge, a 2x6 and a little heat, she's straight as an arrow now. Going to re-install these 2 stringers with new rivets and 5200 then move to the next 2 and do the same till there all back in, then start on the transom rebuild.









 

Frey0357

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
313
Wow, really cleaning up nice! Keep up the good work! Got any pitting in that transom skin, or "extra holes" from a PO? I assume that you are covering the floor with Gluv-It or some product, right?

Nice!

Frey
 

dearl

Seaman
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
54
Wow, really cleaning up nice! Keep up the good work! Got any pitting in that transom skin, or "extra holes" from a PO? I assume that you are covering the floor with Gluv-It or some product, right?

Nice!

Frey

Frey, I do have some serious pitting In the transom skin, plan on addressing that with my wire wheel, some diluted muriatic acid, JB to fill in the voids then a good coat of ZC before I reinstall the transom wood. PO drilled a lot of extra holes for accessories that I will be welding up and faring out.
 

Frey0357

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
313
Excellent plan. I also used the JB trick and was amazed at how it turned out! WOG suggested it and a simple drill attachment made real quick work of the sanding part! I was literally done with the sanding in a few short minutes!!!!:D

Something like this:
DrillDisc-Intro.jpg


Frey
 
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