tbarbs
Recruit
- Joined
- May 7, 2018
- Messages
- 3
Hey everyone! New to the forums and to restoring boats but here is my project! I'll keep this thread updated as I move through the process with pictures and videos (and probably a lot of questions). Here's all of the photos in a higher resolution in an Imgur album.
Here's the boat - it's an older Sangstercraft Toronto fiberglass boat. The year is unknown (I can't find serial number or anything, I'll keep looking) although the motor on the back of it is a 1982 Suzuki DT50 that looks to be in pretty good shape for the age. It looks as though the fuel was drained and such before the boat was put away and surprisingly, after all these years, all of the original stickers inside the engine are still in perfect condition.
The boat was found in one of the barns on a piece of property my family purchased about a year back and according to the previous owner, the boat has been sitting parked on it's trailer since 1991 when the previous owner's husband passed away. The boat hasn't really been stored 'inside' but it was at least was someone sheltered from the elements.
Getting the boat out of the barn proved to be quiet the challenge. Not only had the axle and what was left of the wheels and tires sunken into the ground, decades of old farm equipment had been pilled up around it leaving us with very little room to maneuver. The solution ended up removing an old tractor that was parked next to it and swinging the boat around with the winch on the front of our side-by-side. We also ratchet-strapped the boat to the trailer to ensure it was secure as there was previously no straps.
With the boat clear of any old machinery, we hooked up the side-by-side and started to tow it out. We got about 5 feet before we had to stop for a few hours while we attempted to drain the swamp that had formed in front of the barn doors.
With the majority of the swamp cleared we trekked on and carefully towed it out of the forest and back to the house on one wheel (we went back later to reclaim the lost tire). It's an awesome sight to finally see this old boat back in the sunlight.
Sitting in it's current resting spot waiting to be cleaned:
The next few things I plan to do on this project are replace the wheels and tires on the trailer so I can move it around if needed and start to clean the boat out. Over the years a few small creatures have lived in it and formed a nest under the passenger seat. I've already vacuumed up the large stuff and ripped out the old carpet.
In terms of boat condition, there are a few small chips along the bottom of the keel that would be nice to have patched up and the floor seems solid expect for a 2' x 2' patch where the passenger seat goes. What is the proper procedure here? Should I just leave it? Or should I replace just that section or the whole thing?. Unfortunately the plywood floor is encased in fiberglass so would be a big job to rip out.
As this is my first project boat, I'm not too sure how too tell if the transom is in good condition. I've read about trying to tilt and move the motor around by hand to check for any movement in the transom. Is there another method I should be using? Moving the motor around does show a bit of play in the transom (a few millimetres at most).
Hope you enjoyed the first post in the restoration project! I'll be back soon once I have more progress done!
Tyler
Here's the boat - it's an older Sangstercraft Toronto fiberglass boat. The year is unknown (I can't find serial number or anything, I'll keep looking) although the motor on the back of it is a 1982 Suzuki DT50 that looks to be in pretty good shape for the age. It looks as though the fuel was drained and such before the boat was put away and surprisingly, after all these years, all of the original stickers inside the engine are still in perfect condition.
The boat was found in one of the barns on a piece of property my family purchased about a year back and according to the previous owner, the boat has been sitting parked on it's trailer since 1991 when the previous owner's husband passed away. The boat hasn't really been stored 'inside' but it was at least was someone sheltered from the elements.
Getting the boat out of the barn proved to be quiet the challenge. Not only had the axle and what was left of the wheels and tires sunken into the ground, decades of old farm equipment had been pilled up around it leaving us with very little room to maneuver. The solution ended up removing an old tractor that was parked next to it and swinging the boat around with the winch on the front of our side-by-side. We also ratchet-strapped the boat to the trailer to ensure it was secure as there was previously no straps.
With the boat clear of any old machinery, we hooked up the side-by-side and started to tow it out. We got about 5 feet before we had to stop for a few hours while we attempted to drain the swamp that had formed in front of the barn doors.
With the majority of the swamp cleared we trekked on and carefully towed it out of the forest and back to the house on one wheel (we went back later to reclaim the lost tire). It's an awesome sight to finally see this old boat back in the sunlight.
Sitting in it's current resting spot waiting to be cleaned:
The next few things I plan to do on this project are replace the wheels and tires on the trailer so I can move it around if needed and start to clean the boat out. Over the years a few small creatures have lived in it and formed a nest under the passenger seat. I've already vacuumed up the large stuff and ripped out the old carpet.
In terms of boat condition, there are a few small chips along the bottom of the keel that would be nice to have patched up and the floor seems solid expect for a 2' x 2' patch where the passenger seat goes. What is the proper procedure here? Should I just leave it? Or should I replace just that section or the whole thing?. Unfortunately the plywood floor is encased in fiberglass so would be a big job to rip out.
As this is my first project boat, I'm not too sure how too tell if the transom is in good condition. I've read about trying to tilt and move the motor around by hand to check for any movement in the transom. Is there another method I should be using? Moving the motor around does show a bit of play in the transom (a few millimetres at most).
Hope you enjoyed the first post in the restoration project! I'll be back soon once I have more progress done!
Tyler
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