1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

[Me1stBoat]

Ezmobee, you know what your having?? Congratulations!!

 

[zopperman]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Thnx guys, really appreciate it!!

Got all the old carpet torn out in between visitors today to see the new addition! Miss Aubrie Claire is eating up the attention!!

In the process of tearing out the carpet, looks like it was laid in the factory prior to the cap being put on. It extends past the windshield up under the seat boxes in the bow.

I'm going to continue on and not pop the cap until I absolutely have to. Don't know why it scares me so much but it does. Just really, really don't want to pop it unless I have to!!

Anyway, hope to have the old deck mostly cut out today. Will post pics later this evening!!

Congrats on the boat!!! oh and that other thing too
Pulling the cap isn't a huge deal. It'll take you a few hours, but could save you a lot of time in the long run... Also, if you need to do the transom you MUST pull the cap, or cut it.

 

[Me1stBoat]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

LOL, zopperman, umm thnx!! I have to get the boat finished now, the wife bought her a life jacket. Guess it's official that i have to finish the boat before next spring!

Anyway, guess it's a good sunday when i can no longer grasp the handle of the claw i'm using to tear out foam. "Say Hello To My Little Friend" LOL



Managed to get most all of the old deck cut out with the help of my circular saw. Got it torn out and piled in the garage to get hauled away. Came to the conclusion today that i'm going to have to pop the cap, no way around it as they layed the carpet in the factory and it goes up under the bow seating!



So with that being said, spent half the afternoon pulling the rub rail and drilling a sheetload of reevits!! Wouldn't you know it that i'm moving across the stern of the boat, had like 10 reevits left and the battery died in the drill. Trip 2 to Lowes today to buy more dewalt batteries as mine have grown legs and i only have 1 left!!

Found some oddities under the deck, like what looks like some sort of synthetic epoxy or something towards the front of where the seats would screw down. I'll try to get some pics to explain what i'm talking about!!

Anyway, done for today, now where did i leave the bottle of Excedrin Back & Body Pills??

Leave ya with a few more pics!!

 

[zopperman]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Glad to hear you're pulling the cap. Probably the right call.
I found a shovel very helpful for the foam.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Anyway, done for today, now where did i leave the bottle of Excedrin Back & Body Pills??

]

that my friend....is what happens when you restore a boat....

even tho i mover furniture all day long......when i ripped apart my ray......i was sore....i mean sore

 

[Me1stBoat]

Hey GT1M, wanted to let you know appreciated your post of u telling me what u used for demo!! Used it as a shopping list today @ Lowes. Lol

If nothing else, doing a project like this gives me an excuse to buy new tools!!

Firm believer in the right tool for the job makes it much easier!

 

[Me1stBoat]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Hey guys, almost ready to pop the cap, have the rub rail off, drilled all the reevits, cut the silicone attaching the cap and it is loose. I can pick up the rear of it across the stern.

Anyway, here comes the question, i run into a problem. Was trying to get everything disconnected the runs between the bottom hull and the cap. Got everything unhooked except the steering system. Boat has rack n pinion steering, pulled the steering wheel, took some other bolts out but don't know what to do from here. Need to get the dash out or i can't take the cap off.

Theres a bar that runs across the back of the dash plate and a spindle that comes out through the dash plate. What am i missing?? I have pics cause i know how fond you all are of pictures!!

View attachment 123037View attachment 123038
The backside of the dash plate.

View attachment 123039View attachment 123040
The front of the dash plate after i took the steering wheel and another cover plate off.

There are lock rings on the front and back of the spindle that takes those little pliers the expand the lock ring so it can come off.

Please help!! Hopefully this makes some sense!!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Hi Me1st,
I'm not sure what happened, but the pics on posts Number 24, and 47 didn't come through...at least on my computer???

Try again and we'll get that steering situation taken care of.

In the meantime, the way I did mine was to disconnect it from the engine, I imagine you already did this... then back at the dash, where the spindle comes through, there might be a cover that is hiding some bolts/nuts through the dash, holding the spindle in place, or up under the dash, where the spindle connects to the rack, again, some nuts and bolts...remove those and you should be able to pull the entire steering cable out...with a little help and persuasion, of course...hope this helps, but when we get a look at the pics, we'll know for sure.

Regards,
GT1M

 

[Me1stBoat]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

OK, lets give those pics another shot. Here ya go!!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

OK that's better...

You have a snap ring holding the front retainer on...bit of a pain to get off, but with a liitle patience and some cuss words you should manage...use some small screwdrivers or something like a dental pick to get one end of it lifted out of the groove its in, hold and work your way around till it pops out...
If you have external type snap ring pliers, it would be a bit easier...
Then the bolts holding the gear to the rack, kinda gold colored in the pics, 4 total, behind the dash, hold one side with a wrench and undo them...
The steering spindle will now come free and the rack along with the cable going back to the engine can now be snaked out of the hull...

Any problems or hang ups, holler back

GT1M

 

[Me1stBoat]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Was a good saturday once i got started!! Thnx for the advice GT1M, worked like a champ. got the dash and all gauges taken all the way out. Cap is ready to come off, got 5 or so buddies stopping over tomorrow to help me get her off.

Been thinking about all the comments about building a rack or something so once i take the cap off, i'll know the boat didn't flex. Don't have the extra cash right now for a building project so i came up with a solution.



The boxes along the side of the boat aren't coming out. You see them in the picture above! I'm going to sink screws into them every 1' or so. Run strings across the hull from starboard to port starting at the stern moving towards the bow. I'll number the strings and then pull them. Then before i measure and cut the floor, i'll drop them back in to make sure the hull hasn't flexed out since the cap was removed!! Hopefully this works as good as it looked in my mind!! LOL

Got half the foam removed from the boat, gonna start on the other half tomorrow. I now understand what you were talking about Oops that some of it is for flotation and some of it is structure. I have one section, on either side of the bilge box that the foam provides the structure behing the fiberglass! It's the pic below with the red outline! There was no wood, it's a thick piece of fiberglass supported by the foam!



This last pic is the dash as it is now. Gonna try my hand at fabrication while i have the cap off. Gonna completely redo the gauges and the storage space to incorporate some of the electronics i want on board. All new white faced gauges! Gonna be sweet when i get her done!!



Also, looks like my resto list is growing, thnx to the wife. Looks like the boat is gonna get a new paint job on the outside this winter! How do i set about fixing all the knicks and gouges prior to spraying the new gellcoat? She wants the boat all white with navy blue accents towards the stern. Gonna have to get me some photoshop magic to see how it might look all white.

 

[Me1stBoat]

Another weekend down!! Photos to follow one I get them transferred to the MBP from my iPhone.

Anyway, all the wet nasty foam is gone!!

Cap is gone as well, block and tackle pulleys and a couple buddies and off it came.

Bad news, got into the fiberglass on the transom while pulling foam. Wood came out in pieces!! Looks like its a full resto now!!

Questions.

1. Foam is now gone. Best way to cut stringers out or do I leave them till I get the motor out?

2. What measurements do I need to take on the strings prior to cutting or do I use the old ones as templates?

3. Gas tank is still in the boat. Do I need to remove it as well?

4. Lots of snaps on the hull from old custom cover I don't have anymore. Best way to get rid of them and plug the holes prior to painting boat??

Thnx for the kind responses and hope all your projects r going great!!

P.S. Think I need to buy stock in back & body pills!! Lol

 

[Me1stBoat]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Here's the pics from last weekend. Quick question. I **** someone off or am i doing something wrong as i've had some questions posted for 4 days and got no responses. Just curious.

Anyway, update pics, hope to pull the motor and outdrive this weekend!!

 

[zopperman]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

I'm still here FWIW! and will be continuing to follow your build

I'd cut out the stringers with a grinder or oscillating multi tool.
You can use the old stringers as templates, but my guess is that they're mush. I would record their height, thickness, length, where they start to curve, etc.
Get the tank out! Clean it up and pressure test it. Snaps should screw out like screws. I left mine there, probably better than filling and fairing a million little holes and ya might want a cover in teh future.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Hi M1B,

Sorry I hadn't popped in the last few days, but I can see you got a ton of stuff taken care of...

First of all, take lots of pictures, notes and measurements.

South Texan came up with a great way of recording the deck measurements, check out Post #67... http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=487463

Since you are going for the full resto, I would suggest removing the Tank and the Engine.

Make sure the hull is properly supported, or it will flex and distort when you remove the guts...here's a couple of pics of my thrown together support structure...

And finally, removing the snaps can be accomplished with a screwdriver, a grinder, or a drill...whatever works, I guess... here's a sketch of what I do to fill holes...

Hope this helps

Later,
GT1M

 

[Me1stBoat]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Thnx for the responses Zopperman & GT1M.

Z, for some reason, the PO of this boat put in 2 sets of snaps. There's a set on the cap and another set lower down on the hull below the rub rail. Gonna get rid of the set below the rub rail and leave the upper set. Gonna use the upper set and have the local Amish that run a tarp & tent company make me a custom cover and a custom bimini that uses the braces but in the front comes down and attaches to the windshield snaps.

GT1M, Thnx for the pics and the tip on the other thread. Had something similiar to that in mind. Once i get the engine and and gas tank out of the way. Before i cut the stringers, gonna layup foam sheets next to them and build an entire model of my stringer design from foam before i cut them out. Thnx for the info on the snaps as well. Gonna get rid of the lower set as i've got a quote from a friend that does body work professionally, said if i help him, he would paint the boat for me for $800. I'm thinking of going all white, we'll see!!

The weekend is upon us, bought time to do some more demo work!!

 

[Me1stBoat]

Re: 1985 Sea Sprite 185XL Rotten Deck Replacement

Alrighty ladies and gents, finally got a chance to work on the boat this weekend. Good thing too, need to work off these extra pounds i gained over the holidays!! LOL

Anywho, know that you all like pics so they'll be attached in this post.

Making good progress, borrowed an engine hoist and took the motor out, wasn't to awful bad. It ran when i took it out, hopefully it still runs when i put it back!! ;-)



Also got the outdrive, transom plate and gimbal housing all off the boat. Started to deskin the transom and boy am i glad i did, it's mush about half way up the wood. When you touch it, it just falls apart!!



Well, next steps is to measure all the stringers and start cutting them out of the boat. This is the next step right??

Was gonna use the sawzall to cut them out. Any better suggestions?? Also, measured the transom after i took the transom plate out, including gel coat it's 2" thick. Though that was damn thick, can i put it back in thinner or should i stay at 2"??

Till next weekend!!

Thanx for reading!!