Restoring a 1987 Glasstream 172 Cutlass

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AlabamaNewbie

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For a long time I've wanted a neat little play around boat for the family, but didn't have the money to go buy a nice one. My son and I decided to buy a cheap boat that needs a lot of work, and do a father/son project. he is an aircraft mechanic in the air guard and an engineering student, I am an old shadetree mechanic that likes a decent challenge. So - here we go. I figure I will have questions as we get in to this.

What I know so far from our inspection before we bought it (we are picking it up later today):

1. It doesn't run. The guy "said" it ran last year, but this year he hasn't really had time to fool with it, and that the ignition coil needs replacing. It does turn over, the oil is not contaminated, good compression on all cylinders, and its getting fuel to the cylinders, so it does sound electrical. No power out of the coil, so that's definitely a possibility. On order, should be here later this week.

2. The trim doesn't work. I can hear the solenoid clicking, but no power getting to the pump motor. The battery had a good charge, so I will have to dig in to this deeper. It might be that the voltage regulator/rectifier needs replacing, which may make the ignition problem make more sense too.

3. The prop needs replacing. Not a big deal. I'd do that anyway even if it didn't need it.

4. The horn DOES work! lol

5. Its missing one of the rear seats.

6. 70% of the upholstery is crap, but as a child my mother taught me how to sew with a machine, and I have one that will sew upholstery, so I think we are good with doing that ourselves. We may want to change up the interior color anyway.

7. Floor has a bad spot right in front of the engine. Could be patched in no time, but we are going to re-deck the whole thing.

8. The hull is in great shape, as is the transom! So its not totally junk....

9. The venting for the blower motor needs replacing.

10. Redeeming factor - the trailer is worth what we paid for the whole thing, so thats something.


The most expensive things seem to be the decking and the prop. Everything else seems to just be $40-$50 here or there. I think it's a neat looking boat (well the ones I have seen online that have been restored are...)

What am I forgetting to think about?

Wish us luck!
 

MTboatguy

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"What am I forgeting"? Around here you forgot the pictures!

:facepalm:
 

AlabamaNewbie

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I will have some pics soon. Like I said, we aren't picking it up until this evening. This is just the preliminary stuff we noted during our inspection before agreeing to buy.

Its in pretty rough shape. It is definitely a restoration and not a "clean up" . lol
 

Woodonglass

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If the Deck is bad, I'm afraid you'll have a LOT more issues to deal with below the deck. Probably the Transom too. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best!!
 

AlabamaNewbie

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Here are a few pictures as promised. I know its in rough shape, but the price was worth it. We want to do as much of the work as we can ourselves and so far I haven't found anything that we can't do. All of the interior has to be replaced, but I am actually looking forward to doing that myself. I guess i should have mentioned - I love restoring stuff, this is just my first boat. I like bringing lost causes back from the dead... :cool:

Yesterday we worked on getting the engine to start. No luck. We knew that we'd have a few things wrong and finding the one thing would take trial and error. The engine has good compression on each cylinder, nothing scary about the oil (its relatively clean, not gold like new oil, not black like old or abused, but about what you'd expect from a motor that has ran some), and fuel is getting to the cylinders. What's NOT getting through - is spark. No spark on any of the 4 wires. The coil has good voltage in, the spark wire from the coil to distributor cap has good voltage, so something is causing it to not spark to the posts. The cap did look worn some, and who knows the status of the capacitor, so we've ordered a new distributor tune up kit (will be here Thursday) I also know that it could be a faulty tachometer, but I realized that after we put it to bed for the night. So I will remove the gray wire from the (-) post of the ignition coil tonight and just try that to rule it out.
 

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AlabamaNewbie

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Talk about lucky! I pulled up a section of the deck between the consoles and the engine, and the stringers are in perfect condition!!!


No, just kidding. It's all rot. So here we go with replacing everything. I've been reading and watching tons of videos, but I still have a few questions.

1. Because this repair is going to be more costly than what by bank account will allow, I am going to have to buy materials a little at a time and after I have it all (or most), then start on the actual repairs. So - is there a shelf life for resin? Based on what I am reading, I could need anywhere from 15 to 30 gallons of the stuff. I can probably only afford to buy about 5 gallons a month. I know, you'll say put that money back and save it until you have it all at once. I wish that would actually work, and it may be what I do. But just in case I want to make sure if I buy some resin and it sits for 6 months or so, it will still be good.

2. It seems that the consoles are all one piece with the seat bottoms in the bow, and it all seems to be one piece with the gunwale. I haven't removed the rub rail yet, but I suspect when I do I will see how to separate them. Am I seeing/guessing this right? Its been raining so much I haven't had time to really start the breakdown, just trying to get a head start on what to expect.

3. The rubber on the rub rail is in good shape actually, but it's 30 year old rubber. Once I pull it of, is there something I can do to it to revitalize it? I've heard of a few techniques that involve various oils (wintergreen oil for one), then a dip in xylene of toluene, but curious what you guys here do. Not even sure its necessary, the rubber is actually pretty pliable still, but it may be an option to revitalize and soften a little for ease when I put it back on.


Thanks!
 

Mad Props

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Cool looking boat... mind if I tag along?

I can only really comment on item 1. Resin most definitely has a shelf life... typically about 1 year is the rule of thumb, so if you buy from a distributor you should be safe with that rule... however if you buy off the shelf at a marina or something like that, you don't know if it sat on the shelf for 6 months or more already...

honestly, you shouldn't be buying resin and supplies until your ready to use them... once you're done deconstruction, you will have a much better idea of what you will need anyways.
 

AlabamaNewbie

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Cool looking boat... mind if I tag along?

honestly, you shouldn't be buying resin and supplies until your ready to use them... once you're done deconstruction, you will have a much better idea of what you will need anyways.

I need - all of it. LOL. I only opened a "test area", but here is what it looked like ( I am not the best photographer).
 

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Timr71

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This looks like fun...I'll tag along too. Where in Alabama are you located? What's your home lake (going to be)?
 

AlabamaNewbie

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This looks like fun...I'll tag along too. Where in Alabama are you located? What's your home lake (going to be)?

I am near Birmingham, so either Smith or Guntersville. Went to Guntersville a few weeks ago and rented a pontoon for the day, and the water was really nasty looking. I've been there a ton, but this time it was bad with floating debris. So probably will be on Smith Lake more.
 

AlabamaNewbie

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Looks like standard fare for a boat that age. Lots of fun coming your way! LOL

You know, it's not so much the work that I dread. The cost makes me a little sea sick, but ok it is what it is.

Its doing the work outside, in the summer, in the south, in tyvek. That is going to stink! (both figuratively and literally).
 

Timr71

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Ah, I'm in Birmingham too. We live in the Meadowbrook area. Let me know when you need an extra set of hands and eyes...I'm happy to drop by and assist.
 

AlabamaNewbie

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I know I shouldn't do it. And I am not saying I am going to do it. I am just asking the question...

Is it possible to replace the stringers and deck with the engine in place?

I know that I should replace the transom while I am at it, it just makes sense to. My problem is that I have no way to get the engine out, and no where to put it. Right now its protected under the boat cover. So my thought was that I replace the transom first and just move the motor forward in the boat far enough to give me the room to work. Then once transom is done, put the motor back and then do the stringers and deck. Is that possible?
 

AlabamaNewbie

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Lessons learned this weekend:

1. A variable speed Oscillating multi-tool is awesome for cutting out the fiberglass.

2. When you get yourself a variable speed oscillating multi-tool and tell yourself “i’m just going to try it for a minute to see how it does”... don’t believe yourself. Go ahead and cover up.

3. 3 hours later when you realize you’ve been cutting glass in nothing but shorts and a respirator, life starts to suck.

4. When your job at night requires wearing a polyester uniform, life sucks even more.

Yes I know to cover up. But honestly, i was only going to try it on a 1 inch section just to see. Thats my story and I am stickin’ to it!
 

Mad Props

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Don't even try replacing the transom with the motor in... you're going to need to remove it to do the stringers anyway. Pulling a sterndrive motor is a 30 minute job. Check out my gantry in my thread.. you can make one for pretty cheap and tear it down when you're done..

it's just not worth the headache to work around stuff.
 

AlabamaNewbie

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I've seen the gantry you built, and is probably what I will end up doing. I'm just toying with ideas to reduce cost where I can because I'm getting further and further away from my budget.
 

AlabamaNewbie

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Question - over the weekend, I pulled the rubber off the rub rail, and was expecting to see the metal riveted based on what I had read. Instead, it was all screws. That makes it easier, but is that right? Has someone else monkeyed with this and didn't put back with rivets, or did some manu's use screws?
 

Woodonglass

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Yeah screws or rivets are all good. No issues.
Make sure and Powder your TOTAL self with baby powder from now on!!!
 
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