1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

Rmoore45

Seaman
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Messages
68
Before we get to the boat, a bit about me would be a good way to start.

Hi fellow forum members, my name is Clayton Moore but my nickname is "Ranger" (more on that here ) I live in a small town in the Houston TX area. I'm 18 years old, just graduated from high school and now going to a community college to get my basics out of the way before I transfer to A&M for mechanical engineering. Me and my dad restore cars as a hobby and I work on whatever I can get my hands on (minibikes, go carts, jeeps, boats etc.). Not wanting to toot my own horn but I do have a lot of experience for being as young as I am, I have grown up around cars, boats, and anything that moves so I know a thing or two.

Anyways the boat...

The story: The guy that been working on the interior for my dads '63 Impala had an old boat that my dad started looking at. The guy had bought it a few years ago and hadn't done anything with it. The boat sat for years under a tree gathering dirt, leaves, and just general trash. The hull is in good shape for being 34 years old, just the usual nicks, scratches, and minor gel coat cracking on the cap. The floor was rotted out and we didn't know how bad the damage (stringers, transom) was due to all the trash It has a 1978 Johnson 115 outboard on the back that we were told runs but won't idle. The trailer was in decent shape, the rollers and bunks were replaced, only thing it needs is a new winch on the front. He wanted $700 for the whole thing. After thinking about it me and my dad went to go buy the boat, we offered $450 for the whole thing and he said alright (pretty good deal if you ask me). He had the boat blocked in by about a thousand different thing, old van, other old cars, junk, and the tongue on the trailer was pointed towards a tree. After wrestling the boat out of the yard and out onto the road we had to make the small trip, about 3 miles back to our house. Got about a mile away, went over a bump and Pssssss, tire blew out. The tire was good but the rim had rusted so badly that it fell apart. Luckily I knew a friend that had a spare so we went and got it and made it home. Not a good way to start off IMHO.

Got the boat home and started tearing it apart, floor was definitely rotted out and had to be replaced, stringers were also shot, however the transom was good and solid (thank god). So far we have got the deck and stringers out, haven't started replacing parts yet.

The motor: I rigged up a fuel system for it, checked that it had spark, hooked up the muffs, turned on the water and tried to start it. Started after a while but like we were told it wouldn't idle, it would run about 2000 rpm and anything lower than that it would just sputter and die. After rebuilding the carbs and replacing one bad ignition coil it runs like a champ. While cleaning out the boat we found a for sale sign that said the motor had been rebuilt with new pistons, rings, and bearings, has less than 50 hrs running time. We could tell from looking at the bolts on the motor that it had been taken apart so I'm inclined to believe the rebuild story, it also has 135 psi on all cylinders.

Pics of the boat, motor, and trailer.

The day we got it
IMG_0179.jpg


a few days after cleaning, and ripping out deck
IMG_0188.jpg

IMG_0186.jpg


Stringers gone
IMG_0189.jpg


Shot of the motor and back of boat
IMG_0191.jpg


Motor running and me doing something
IMG_0184.jpg



Still got a ton of work to do on this boat. More restoration pics and general work on this boat to come as it gets done.
 

mrdjflores

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
1,169
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

nice starting point you have there....looks like an late 70's/early 80's Intruder ??
 

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,929
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

Did you core sample the transom? Is the foam dry? Have you core sampled the foam?
 

greenbush future

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
1,814
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

Great project, looks like a big solid boat, should be a fun project for you. Seeing the whale tail on the outboard might suggest the boat has trouble getting on plane, how is that foam looking? wet dry? usually if the stringers are shot, the foam is wet too, and that may add a bunch of weight to your boat. Either way looks like a solid project boat.
 

Rmoore45

Seaman
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Messages
68
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

I'm not sure what model Invader boat this is all that I know is that it's a 17' 1978 model Invader. The foam was wet but it quickly dried out, we cut the about 6 inches away from the stringers so that we can fiberglass the new ones in. The foam is dry and my dad wants to save it to save on cost. I would much rather get rid of all the old foam and pour in new foam later on but oh well.

Yesterday I pulled the motor off the transom and set it on its stand. Before I pulled the motor I ran it out of gas, sprayed fogging oil into the carbs, and also took out the spark plugs to spray fogging oil in there. So the motor is now set up for winter (is winter in south Texas really considered winter?). Built the motor stand from plans that I found here on the forum. The car next to the Lincoln is my '67 Mustang Coupe daily driver.

IMG_0221.jpg


Once we got the motor off, we started looking at the boat and that got us to thinking that it might fit in the garage. After a few measurements and taking off the PVC boat guide pipes we pushed it into the garage. Also once the motor was off I was able to stick a screwdriver in the bolt holes in the transom, nice solid wood. I knocked around on the transom and heard no bad sounds so the transom is in good shape.
IMG_0203.jpg


Yes that is a car lift in our workshop, actually we call that part of the workshop the "High Bay"
IMG_0210.jpg


Today while I was at school my dad decided to take the boat off the trailer and put it on the ground. Used the car lift to pick it up, roll out the trailer, and set it down on supports.
IMG_0217.jpg

IMG_0218.jpg


The trailer. The tongue is a little short it needs to be about a foot longer, when hooked up the truck the boat is only about 18 inches from the tailgate. We're going to weld on an extension to the tongue. I have an idea about a removable tongue, make an extension for the tongue but make it where it can bolt on so that when we want to put the boat in the garage we can and still be able to close the door. Any thoughts?
IMG_0223.jpg
 

a1964rn

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
287
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

Nice boat. Looks like you've got it all under control. You may can do one of those swing-away tongues. I've seen them on boat trailers around here. It pivots on a bolt on one side. It has a pin you pull on the other side. When you want to put it in the garage, you just pull the pin and swing the tongue around to the other side. Here are some pics:
swing away trailer tongue - Bing Images
 

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,929
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

Usually, saturated foam will not dry out. The only way to know for sure is to core sample it.
 

Rmoore45

Seaman
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Messages
68
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

Usually, saturated foam will not dry out. The only way to know for sure is to core sample it.

In this picture on the port side of the boat underneath the console we cut out a piece of foam and it was dry.
IMG_0189.jpg


Also, where the stringers used to be we cut abouit 6 inches of foam out so that we can tab in the new stringers properly. When we took that foam out it was dry so I'm going to say that the foam is alright. Like I said, I would much rather replace it but I'm not the one in control of the projects budget.
 

Rmoore45

Seaman
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Messages
68
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

My dad has been steadily working on the boat. Yesterday he measured the length for the stingers which is just over 8ft, so he cut some pieces and glued them together. Not sure how old this trick is but he learned it from the guy who taught him everything about carpentry, he spliced them together by 2 Vs in the wood and then put wood glue on it and clamped it together. The wood we are using is yellow pine used for shelves, its about 7/8" thick, I'm undecided if I want to plane it down to 3/4". Any thoughts on that guys?

IMG_0226.jpg

IMG_0225.jpg


Today he spent about 3 hrs grinding the old fiberglass out of the boat, its not done but I'm going to have to finish it up when I get time. Tomorrow he's going to start cutting stringers and fitting them to the hull.
IMG_0229.jpg

IMG_0230.jpg
 

jbcurt00

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
Messages
25,088
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

Since 7/8" pine won't be as strong as 3/4" plywood that many use, I wouldn't plane the pine thinner...

Are your stringers nearly as tall as those pine shelves are wide?

And WOG is correct, even foam that is dry to the touch on the surface may not be where the foam meets the hull. The core sampling he suggested is more then just a good idea, as is core sampling the transom. Thick fiberglass hulls hide quite a bit, even the knock test isn't a guaranteed test.

Look for Railcar's resto: First attempt at boat repair, he thought he'd been diligent inspecting his boat prior to starting his resto. It didn't prove to be in as good a shape as he'd hoped.

Same with the iboater who bought this boat, overpaid regardless of condition & his Admiral was standing next to the boat as he backed it down the sand boat ramp/launch:
attachment.jpg

At purchase, the owner & the buyer 'thoroughly inspected' the hull and did the transom knock test......

Best of luck w/ your resto and getting the Invader back in the water.

Boat safely
 

mrdjflores

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
1,169
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

agree with the above post about using pine and/or dimensional lumber for stringers...they just can't take the vertical stresses that plywood can. even fully embedded to the hull and glassed in, the dimensional lumber will tend to bow over time.

Also, since you are this far into the restoration, take a few moments to take a 3/8" drill bit and drill some holes near the bottom of the transom from the inside, don't drill all the way through. inspect the wood shavings for moisture or rot.

safety is #1 around here
 

Rmoore45

Seaman
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Messages
68
Re: 1978 Invader 17' Restoration log

Made some serious progress on the boat since my last update. The stringers are now in and glued to the hull. My dad spent a few days working on getting the stringers to fit the hull as best he could, but this is a boat, and my dad put it best when he said "Just throw out the level". Once everything was fitted to the hull the stringers were removed and I put 1 coat of just resin on them. It was my first time using this particular "general purpose resin" so I mixed it at 1 1/2 % to be sure it setup. I guess it was a little cold, about 68 degrees, and the resin took about an hour to start setting up. In the morning the resin had set up good. Next thing I had to do was climb in the boat with an angle grinder and a 36 grit flap wheel and grind/sand away all the old resin and glass to get down to nice clean fiberglass. What a freaking mess that made!:eek::mad: I think there's going to be dust in the shop for months. Now the stringers were ready to go in the boat, we raised them up above the hull about a 1/4" (more in some places, less in others) and then used PL adhesive to glue them to the hull.

Overall view
IMG_0233.jpg

IMG_0237.jpg


Transom area
IMG_0235.jpg


Everything went well, now to wait on the PL glue to completely harden, then fiberglass them to the hull. Meanwhile I'm going to go to Lowes/Homedepot and buy some plywood for the deck of the boat.
 
Top