1987 Sea Ray Seville II to be resurrected!

[Mountain Bear]

Hi All. New to the forums and to boat ownership and boat restoration. Just got started on restoration on an 87 Seville with 170 Mercruiser I/O. Freshwater use only. I have a few questions

1. Is there a place to buy aftermarket direct drive starters? I spent hours today removing the old one, which may not be rebuildable. IT would be great to find an aftermarket direct drive replacement, (so much easier) but I have scoured the interwebs without much luck. I assume this has to be how I am searching, not due to lack of availability... or I hope anyway!
2. I plan on completely gutting and starting over, from the hull up, from the cuddy back to the stern. Is OK to do this on an EZ load trailer? If not, suggestions please.
3. Best Places to buy Stainless Hardware?


I am sure I will have many more questions. I have read through many of the threads on the forums here and found tons a great info. Any constructive comments/advice would be most welcomed! I will post some pics once I get a photosetup sorted out.

 

[Mountain Bear]

Today was a demo day. Pulled old wire. old seats, old upholstery. Began rebuild of the starter. Starter solenoid has a big hole in plastic cap. Tomorrow will bring repair and seal of solenoid. Very corroded all the way around.

Will post pics and more details once I am able to do so. (a few posts away from being able to post pics)

Need to pull the woodwork, doors on the cuddy etc.. Going to replace all the exterior wood with Ipe (brazilian hardwood) because I have access to them. The wife is going to fire up the old school sewing machine from many generations ago to get going on the upholstery. My plan is to document the entire process with photos/descriptions so that all of my mistake are out there for the world to see!

 

[Mountain Bear]

One of the great things about this project is the need to buy new tools! Any time the wife says "go to home depot and get some new power tools" is a good day! Pics to follow very soon.

 

[Mountain Bear]

No Title

A few photos from the beginning

 

[Mountain Bear]

Does anyone have a picture of the blower setup in one of these (or similar)? I have a few loos hoses back there that look like they should be in a "tee" formation and out to cowels on the side of the boat. Any sketches/photos would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mjf55]

MB, check out this iBoats link on how to route the blower and associated hoses.
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/gene...outing-for-blower-motor?p=4344683#post4344683
Hope this helps.

 

[Mountain Bear]

Thanks for that MJF!

 

[Mountain Bear]

No Title

Starting motor rebuild underway. I'm beginning to think there was some dodgy wiring stuff done. Have a look at the original wiring on the starter:

 

[Mountain Bear]

As is typical of most projects, this one is becoming more involved than originally thought. Looking like I will end up pulling the motor, and redoing ALL of it. Getting ready to head to the project now to continue demo work. More pictures to follow.

 

[Mountain Bear]

New starter installed. Had to go with a new one, as the old one had a hole in it. Not good. Pulled a few new wire, such as battery cable, and she turns over with the key!!

It will turn, which means it will start. eventually.

Have begun the demo of existing seats/boxes/etc. Need to build a new doghouse, and am thinking about new gauges for a fresher/more modern look. I've found about half good wood, and half rotten. Am thinking of taking it all out and redoing with coosa board. any one have any thoughts on foam core stringers? It seems unnecessary to use wood when foam wrapped in fiberglass would be just as strong, and float, and not rot. Has anyone tried this?

Demo pics coming soon.

 

[Mountain Bear]

No Title

A few pics of the demo work. Notice the high quality doghouse...






As I have started to tear things apart, I have noticed few things.
-all of the hoses on the engine are brand new. New hose clamps,fuel lines, new sealant around the heat exchanger.
-the floor was cut out for the fuel tank, which means that the floor remaining is only 2 stringers and 2 strips of floor about 28" wide.
-there is a lot of rot, which I expected, but the transom is solid. I don't think it's the original, although it could be. Test cores are all clean and dry wood.



-there are places on the seat pedestals that have over 1/2" of glass, that looks to be factory applied (Based on where it is in relation to the foam.)
-all of the wood forward of the cuddy doors is nice and dry and solid. Will make tie-in a little interesting. I hate scarf joints.




I'm thinking my order of restoration is going to change slightly, as there is less the tear out than originally thought. I think I am going to raise the floor about 4" as right now it actually sits lower than the chine. I'n raising it, I will add a few storage hatches aft of the main seats for things like tow ropes and small tools. Thinking about going with 2-4# pour in foam once the grid system is rebuilt. Most of the flotation foam that has been pulled out thus far has been pretty dry, but starting to get into the wet stuff as I dig deeper. So far almost none of the foam has been adhered to the hull, it has just popped right off.

Thus far, I have about $50 into the project, most which was spent on Tyvek suits, saw blades and a new box of gloves.

 

[mickyryan]

fun stuff! ill follow along , nice boat will be awesome when ya finished

 

[harleyman1975]

Just a thought on the foam core stringers. yes they will be strong enough but you will not be able to fasten anything to them. Fiberglass does not hold screws well at all.

 

[Pusher]

HM - That's how my '71 Bellboy's floor was screwed down. Was that wrong or are our boat's stringers totally different animals?

 

[mjf55]

.... Is OK to do this on an EZ load trailer?

MB, is it a roller trailer ( are all ezloaders roller?)? If so, and i ASSUME that it is, then i reas that a bunk should be made to support the hull when stringers are removed

 

[Mountain Bear]

MB, is it a roller trailer ( are all ezloaders roller?)? If so, and i ASSUME that it is, then i reas that a bunk should be made to support the hull when stringers are removed

Yeah, It is a roller, with at least 40 rollers on it.... Was thinking that more support is needed. Thanks for the thoughts on that. Have to lift up the stern to get the outdrive all the way down anyhow, which going to have to happen for service before she's splashed. Might as well bunk the whole thing up and only do it once.

 

[Mountain Bear]

Has anyone ever seen an engine stand that can roll on a gravel driveway? Or an engine hoist for that matter? Gotta get the motor out to replace floors etc. Unfortunately, my driveway is gravel. Thoughts or ideas?

 

[mickyryan]

do as I did 3/4 plywood to roll the engine lift around on

 

[52FordF2]

I lifted my engine out on grass, then rolled the boat away. Dropped the engine into back of truck later.

 

[Mountain Bear]

Great call on the plywood and truck options. Thanks for that!


I ordered some samples from General Plastic. Structural foam. The marine sample box arrived yesterday. Pound for pound, stronger than plywood, waterproof, rot proof, machinable.... recommended uses are everything from transoms to stringers to floors to steering wheel mounts... seems pretty universal. It's also designed to take standard wood fasteners...

Anyone ever actually used it?


Demo continues:










The port side. The a decking only starts where the end of the vacuum hose is. Kinda odd... the hump to left of the hose is actual hull.


Some of the old hardware is pain to remove. There are a few screws holding the shift assembly to the old side panel that are proving the be almost impossible to remove. May have to drill them out. A few of the stainless fasteners in the cuddy area have stripped out. Trying to save all of the pieces to use as templates for the new build. May be more difficult, but would rather have the templates and take longer with the demo than rip it all out and wish I hadn't rushed it later on.

Was originally not going to gut the cuddy, as all of seems dry and solid. Now I'm thinking that the word "seems" and boat restoration shouldn't be used together. Need to get into the demo more to really assess the condition of stuff up there.