1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

[GWPSR]

Once upon a time, say 1981, a new 28 foot Bayliner Victoria was born. She was all shiny and bright, her teak shone and her engine purred.

Her captain and his family loved her, and spent many days and nights aboard her, preparing meals, sleeping, swimming and sightseeing. The captain took wonderful care of her, washing and polishing her frequently.

Eventually, he set his sights on a younger, faster mistress, and she was left to find another captain. Several played this role over the years, but many were clumsy or inexperienced lovers, and left scars that never healed.

Now, she has been taken in by a new caretaker, who wants to see her get the care she so desperately needs.

Her history is all speculation, but what happens going forward will be laid out on these pages for all to see.

She has no name. Never has. But she will.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

This is the boat on the day I got it. So far so good.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

After stripping helm of electronics and captains chair and cleaning galley:

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 27850 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 27850 - Restore or Bust

And more "before" pics:

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

We noticed that the sump seemed to keep getting more water in it even after we would pump it out. Since the boat is on dry land, that can only mean one thing. Well, two things, but none of the windows were open during a rainstorm.

Crap.

The PO had said that the hot water heater had had a failure and soaked the bay it was in, and I could see some rot there as well. The galley floor had a soft spot as well. Guess I'd better tear the laminate off the floor, and remove the rotted area in the berth where the water heater had been.

Hmmm, that plastic 'vapor barrier' under the floor looks a tad ... er, moist. Better take a look:

Uh oh. Well, That explains the wet sump. Looks like I'm going to gut the inside and remove sodden foam.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

Before long, I had a pile of innards:

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

What a miserable day to be mucking out rot and wet foam. Heat index of 105 here today. Had a box fan below deck with me, but it had almost no effect. Drank about two gallons while working today.

The rot is extensive, but the hull is sound under the foam. Gonna be a lot of demo work though.

Well, I wanted a project boat. Seems I have a project boat. I project that I'll be working on this for a couple of years. The good news is, the interior is a blank slate and I already have an idea for a redesigned salon area and galley.

Let the games begin!

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Looking forward to following this thread!!

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

This weekend it was time to deconstruct the salon bench, remove galley cabinets and appliances, and remove the walls for the fore cabin.

Then it was time to start digging the foam out of the floor to expose the stringers. For that, you need tools:

Pictures cannot do justice to the experience of being below deck, on a 95* day, breaking up nasty water-logged foam. The smell brought me back to my days in the Boy Scouts. I think it was a flashback to using a latrine.

The stringers in this tub are huge, about 3 1/2" or 4" thick, but there are only two of them. All the others are non structural and just support the floor.

CAUTION: Turn away before the next picture if you have a weak stomach. I cannot begin to describe the stench of the liquid that leaches out of that foam. My oldest mentioned during the job that it was odd, but "something about that reminds me of movie theater popcorn." Well my friends, I think the movie is about to begin :-|

Makes me gag a little just viewing the pic.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

Well after a week of gutting the aft cabin and head, and removing the firewall

and then moving the fuel cell, what was revealed was worse than I had expected. The saddle under the tank (plywood over a set of small stringers) was soaked and rotten, and the glass underneath looks pretty decomposed.

I'm starting to get the feeling like this hulk may be too far gone to save. I had figured on replacing stringers, but hadn't planned on having to rebuild major sections of the hull as well.

I'm now wondering if I can cut my losses by selling the outdrive and props, helm instruments, controls and steering, and deck fittings, and maybe the trailer.

Crap.

 

[Trooper82]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

oyyyy...that does look pretty icky...was the boat sitting under water for some time? Sure seems like an awfully lot of water...if the hull is sound you should be able to fix her though...just depends on how much ya wanna spend...that last pic, I see the glass pulling away...was that just tabbing to a wall? or is that where a stringer was?

 

[gwpjr]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

I was telling GWPSR that it certainly looks like the boat spent some time underwater. The other possibility was that a substantial amount of water leaked into the boat and never drained out. When we took the head out, we notice that there was a through-hull fitting with a ball-**** connected to the reservoir what should have been a portable toilet. The fitting was a little lower that the one for the sink and looked like it would have been pretty close to the water line. In less than calm conditions, I could see water coming in through that fitting.

The last pic was where a stringer used to be. The two outer-most aft stringers are basically gone, with nothing but a fiberglass shell remaining.

My concerns that I have relayed to him thus far:

• Portions of the hull bottom are VERY dark and the inner surface appears to have blistered. The glass just falls off when you poke at it. I suppose that the original laminate could have been resin-starved, but the rest of the hull looks better. I'm worried that hydrolysis may have weakened the hull to the point where these sections would need to be replaced.
• The aft stringers are completely shot, albeit missing entirely. I'm not opposed to helping GWPSR replace them, but there is very little support on the hull as it sits; just shifting your weight causes the hull to flex quite a bit. Laying in new stringers will be a bit challenging.
• If the rest of the wood in the boat is this rotten, then what of the transom? Again, I'm not opposed to the work, but it all adds up.
• What to do with the gas tank? It won't fit out through the engine bay or the door. Do we just move it around inside the boat while we work?

All-in-all most of this is up to him, but I can see this project costing a bit more than anticipated.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

oyyyy...that does look pretty icky...was the boat sitting under water for some time? Sure seems like an awfully lot of water...if the hull is sound you should be able to fix her though...just depends on how much ya wanna spend...that last pic, I see the glass pulling away...was that just tabbing to a wall? or is that where a stringer was?

That was where the aft port stringer was tabbed to the cradle where the tank was. There is some of what is left of the stringer visible to the right of it (charcoal colored mess...)

We pulled the plywood bottom of the tank cradle out easily as it was soggy toast. It's the glass under that which is the worst we've seen so far.

I will not rush to any rash decisions yet. It's harming nothing sitting in the driveway for the moment. Well, except for the bruise on my optimism that is

And yes, that's gwpjr in the pic above.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

My suggestion, clean it all out, down to the glass. Get everything loose out of there and determine where you are. See how the transom core looks with some drilling and then get the calculator out. Get a list and prices of the redo and see if it comes out where your happy paying the price. I did that with a 27'er and ended up parting it out.

 

[ricohman]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

I like to see the bigger boats getting a second chance but only you can make the choice if you want to do it.
The only boats out yesterday where the bigger boats as it was very windy. A boat like this would cut through that 4 foot chop like nothing.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

My suggestion, clean it all out, down to the glass. Get everything loose out of there and determine where you are. See how the transom core looks with some drilling and then get the calculator out. Get a list and prices of the redo and see if it comes out where your happy paying the price. I did that with a 27'er and ended up parting it out.

Yeah, that's exactly where I am right now. I've got the trailer tilted as high as it'll go, and the pressure washer is one of the next steps. I don't want to call it a loss til I get the bilge water grime and sludge out of there and see what I'm really dealing with.

I'd love to take the empty hull and go float it to make sure there are no hidden voids along the keel, but that's a lot of work too.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

So, between my last post and today, I've been bummed, given up, prepared to part it out, called up a scrapper to give me a price, etc.

Then, luckily, the scrapper was slow to answer my last email, and I gave it more thought and decided what the heck, why not just give it a try. So, freshly re-infected with resto fever, I've begun to start the long and arduous task of taking this thing down to the bones and building a new boat of the same shape.

Tonight, the outdrive came off:

I was pleased to find that despite the condition of the rest of the boat, the universals were in excellent condition and looked like they had just been replaced a short time ago. The shifter is smooth and positive in each direction. The oil was dark, but water-free, and there were no overt signs of metal in it. The top bearing is brite and seems not to have excessive play. Maybe there will be one part of this boat I can salvage

Maybe I'll get the engine pulled this weekend. My trailer has a 3,000 lb electric winch on it, which I'll bet would work dandy to raise an engine.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

I built a gantry today to winch the engine out of the boat:

Tomorrow I'll begin the process of disconnecting everything, and hopefully get it on the engine stand by the end of the day.

 

[emoney]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

This is gonna be cool (assuming there's no fatal surprises left to uncover) and though it will be a "process" that will take more time and energy than you can imagine, the thought of working with a son and the final outcome will make it all worthwhile. They say that a mother quickly forgets the pain of labor when she looks in her child's inquisitive eyes. Much will be the same on "splash day". Thanks for letting us come along for the ride.

 

[Trooper82]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Glad you had a change of heart...I think you will enjoy the resto....lots and lots of work...but should be worth it in the end...electric winch...nice...and the gantry looks awesome...gl tomorrow!