Hi Micky, You did an amazing job on your boat! It took me 2 days to go through all 97 pages, but hey, got nothing better to do while sitting in an Anchorage hotel room when it is freezing-your-***-off cold outside.... It went from 37 to 3 degrees in a day, with quite a bit of wind. Too much for my skinny bones.
I bought the exact same boat last year, an 89 2159 hardtop. Previous owner died, wife had no interest any more. They had the engine (OMC Cobra 5.8) out for a rebuild, which was good... First thing I noticed were torn up air hoses, 4" one from the blower, a smaller 3" one that goes ???? Then I looked at the transom, hmm, bit dark on the bottom, test drilled, all mulch. Cut out the rotten center panel, the sides were good. BL did not waterproof the drain hole, the solid wood bottom piece got water logged, and the plywood above soaked it up. Tried to remove outdrive..... needed a bottle jack to push the drive shaft out of the gimbal bearing, that was completely seized in the housing. Removed gimbal housing and all mechanicals. Replaced the rotten transom piece with coosaboard. Besides some nice bilge paint it is finished.
I always had water in that "coffin" in the berth. The fishing rod tubes and potable water fill had a hard plastic seal that did not seal at all. Sealed them, on both sides of the boat. Water tank had leaked and I had to fix the floor under it. All the window studs were leaking. Lifted the top, new sealant under the window frames (including front) and now no more leaking. Leaks under the bow pulpit. Took that off. Weighed a ton, it had soaked up so much water from too little sealant around the rear edge, where the water pools from the angle the boat sits and water came in through the bolt holes and wire hole. The nav light wiring connector fell apart when I touched it. Replaced the plywood in the pulpit with coosaboard and installed the attwood led nav light. Sealed it all, mounted it, now it is dry. I still have water leaking into the area under the fridge, my batteries are mounted there. But there is no drain hole to the bilge... Sealing the window frames eliminated water dripping on all the electric wiring running there, and down in that hull area, it reduced the amount of water down there but I think what still leaks in there comes from the vent in the hull with the 2 vent hoses. I am going to make a vent with the louvers angled down, hopefully that will fix it.
I made new cushions for the v-berth. New foam, new fabric, all from Sailrite, and with the help from their videos it came out really nice, and I have never used a sewing machine before. It encouraged me to redo 2 vinyl pillows in the cabin, the bottom forward one and the top cover for the helm seat trying to match the others as close as possible. A rat decided it was good stuff for a nest...The 30 year old BL blues are not available anymore
. I have new window channels ready to replace the rotten old ones, they are the same as a 1960's Chevelle, found them at CRL in Kent, WA, part AS 146696. Must order through contractor license / glass shop.
Removed the rubrail as the original sealant had let go and water was being wicked inside the boat. Re-sealed the hull joint, now I am waiting for warmer dry weather to put it back on, with a layer of sealant along the top edge
My old gimbal housing when I took the bellows off was full of cottage cheese, with the bearing seized in it. The collar for the bellows was corroded away at the bottom, so I needed a new gimbal housing. Working on it now, it will go on the boat once it stops being cold or rainy (way too much rain lately in Seattle, and when it does not rain, it is freezing cold). Then, in a few month, engine time.
Few questions for you: my wife wants the bulkhead, would it be possible to send a bunch of pictures of how you made it, mounted it? A blueprint would be awesome if you have it. I can send you my email address.
Where did you get the headliner? Was it pre-made specifically for this boat?
Your tv / display, how did you do that? I want to use an android tablet / phone / other wifi and Lte capable device for the database of the navionics, be able to see it on a larger screen and be able to watch tv / netflix / youtube when anchored. I have a computer monitor laying around, would be perfect.
Where did you find the plastic molding strips for the front windshield? I also have the black gooey junk coming from the inside seals that are pulling out of the corners.
I was going to attach a few pictures, but the file size is too big. Gotta figure out how to make them small.
