Rinkerbuilt Project

[RB78]

In a couple of weeks I will be bringing home a 17' Rinkerbuilt runabout. I think it's a 1978. The boat model number is 17 V 08 ... haven't found any other ID info as of yet.

The boat/trailer has been sitting exposed to the weather for a year to a year and a half, and is a mess.

Trailer needs some work (in another thread), and this boat is going to be a fun project for me. My intent at this point is to remove what's left inside. There isn't much. Wiring, some fuel lines, cables.

It has an internal fuel tank, which was not being used by its previous owner. Not certain why. Will investigate when I get it home.

Floor seems to be in good shape, where I've been able to walk. Right now the boat is full of some guy's junk.

Hull appears to be in good shape. No stress cracks I can see. Just some dings in the fiberglass & a half-baked attempt to repair them. No seats except in the bow, and they are trashed. Some patching of some sort on the outer transom - a real mess. No idea what was going on there. Not yet, at least.

The outboard is a Mercury 115 hp. Probably original to the boat, and was running before the boat was parked in my friend's yard. Have a local friend who's brother is a marine mechanic. He will check out the motor for me. Fix what needs fixing.

My plan is to gut the interior and go minimal. The existing carpeting is ratty & will be replaced by non-slip vinyl. New seats, of course. Not certain which type, as of yet. Bow seats will be re-upholstered to match whatever I go with. Fiberglass In and out repaired & repainted. New gauges, et al.

I don't expect I will have the boat ready for the water this year, but definitely next season.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

A few more photos of the boat:

 

[83vert]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

It should be a fun little boat when complete. Looks like it will be tons of work though. Good luck

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Yes, I'm expecting it to take a while. I'm approaching this project with an 'expect the worst, hope for the better' mindset, but I'm certain there will be some rude surprises. That fuel tank, especially. Haven't been able to obtain a reason why it wasn't being used. Well, a couple of weeks and I will know ...

 

[83vert]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Old aluminum tanks tend to get small pin holes in them and start leaking from sitting in water or from condesation inside the tank, I would plan on replacing it with a plastic tank.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Welcome to iboats! My uncle had pretty much this exact boat when I was growing up and I went out on it most every weekend. Nice hull. You'll surely have to do a complete tear down and refit of all the wooden components on this one but it will be a sharp boat when you're done. Good luck and I'll be watching this one with particular interest.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Old aluminum tanks tend to get small pin holes in them and start leaking from sitting in water or from condesation inside the tank, I would plan on replacing it with a plastic tank.

That's pretty much what I'm expecting to find. I do want to keep an internal tank, so I think replacing the existing tank is the way I will go, regardless.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Welcome to iboats! My uncle had pretty much this exact boat when I was growing up and I went out on it most every weekend. Nice hull. You'll surely have to do a complete tear down and refit of all the wooden components on this one but it will be a sharp boat when you're done. Good luck and I'll be watching this one with particular interest.

You made my day. I was hoping to come across someone having some history with these boats.

Wood I can do. Fiberglass I need to learn. I've ordered a book from Amazon I saw recommended on this site. Runabout Renovation - and another on Fiberglass repair.

Any idea why someone would glob whatever that is on the engine's transom mount? Doesn't look like it was applied with any finess or particular skill ... it's only on the outside of the transom.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

I'm off to get this tomorrow. Hope to have the trailer fixed up & home by dark. Might be Saturday morning before I get it back here.

 

[emilime75]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Any idea why someone would glob whatever that is on the engine's transom mount? Doesn't look like it was applied with any finess or particular skill ... it's only on the outside of the transom.

My guess is it was a feeble attempt at sealing the bolts/holes drilled through the transom. From looking at the photos, you're looking at the usual suspects...floor, transom and probably stringers as well.

On the up side, it looks like a neat boat and will be fun to own when fixed. You should go ahead with it if you have the means.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

My guess is it was a feeble attempt at sealing the bolts/holes drilled through the transom. From looking at the photos, you're looking at the usual suspects...floor, transom and probably stringers as well.

On the up side, it looks like a neat boat and will be fun to own when fixed. You should go ahead with it if you have the means.

Absolutely intend to go ahead with this project. Don't know what it is, but this boat 'speaks' to me. Not unlike the feeling any guitar player has when they pick up 'the one' ...

Got it home about 20 minutes ago. Very long hot day rebuilding the trailer (which is not entirely complete) - more tomorrow when I can focus.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

The boat is home & in the driveway. Still had some bees in the stern (see the Trailer thread) and a couple of hornets looking for a home. Had Raid, but it was for flies and skeeters. No big deal. Saturated the bees and hornets with the Raid. They either died or dried off and left for greener pastures.

The boat was blown out last night before hitting the road - and it still took me nearly 2 hours to vac out what was left. Rain chased me into the house before I completely finished, but 99% of the stuff is gone.

Some interesting surprises - this being the first:

That glop on the transom I asked about in an earlier thread is sealing iron bars which pass through the transom to a piece of angle iron, which runs the width of the boat:

I've never see anything like that before. Have any of you?

Another surprise ... sort of. The floor was soft as I moved about vacuming. Pretty much decided the floor was coming out. Then I noticed all these screws ... some mope in days past screwed the carpeting down, instead of gluing it. A bit later (still using the vac) I saw there was plywood under the carpeting. And the plywood is soft.

So ... maybe no fiberglass floor? Find out when it stops raining.

This is a shot of the bilge, by the transom:

This is a shot of the port side at the stern:

The wiring is a mess throughout:

I had intended to connect a battery to lower the outboard, but there are 2 positive cable, both hacked up, and a rusted negative. I'll pass on them for now.

The transom is solid as a rock. Might be because of those rods. Can't yet tell.

Here it is cleaned out. I have grass, weeds, and a tree growing in that carpet.

Be back later with some more pictures.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Some more pictures with it cleaned out as bit.

There is obvious wood rot where the stern seats had been mounted.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

OK, fun day. Went out this morning to pull out the carpeting. Should have been easy, right? Ha! At some point in time the original carpeting was replaced with new, and it was screwed in. Yup. About 100 screws through the carpeting, the 1/2" plywood underneath, and the fiberglass under the plywood. Here are the screws I saved:

The plywood was glued and screwed to the fiberglass sub-floor, and a bugger to get out. Couldn't find my pry bars, but an old wood clamp volunteered to help. Probably not going to use that one for any wood projects in the near future:

Lots of rot along the hullI can see some foam behind the rotted wood:

Thought I was going to get lucky. The fiberglass sub-floor feels very solid back by the stern area. Then I moved up near the bow and found this:

Looks like I'm going to be cutting out some fiberglass flooring. Almost all of it, I think.

I did find this in the floor ... thought it looked odd, and it was. It's a cork. Like 'put a cork in the bottle ...' cork. There are five of them throughout the flooring.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Yesterday I felt the transom was solid. Now I'm not so certain.

Feels OK when poked. Looks awful, though.

Then there is this section of wood above the bilge, which is rotten:

That piece of wood runs all the way back to the transom, blocking access to the bilge pump. You can see it in all of these pictures.

My inclination is to cut it out and leave it out. Come up with something else. I can't, at this point, see what purpose that piece of wood serves. Can any of you?

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Oh, yeah. Forgot to tell you this! I was curious about the internal fuel tank and this is what I found -

In the upper left corner of the photo you can see the gas nozzle port:

Pour in some gas and it flows through this hose

... to nowhere ...

You think that maybe there was a tank in that vacant space I thought served no purpose ... ?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

The tank in my uncle's was right under the splashwell. I think it was pretty well above-deck. You're going to need to get all the wood and steel out of that boat and replace with new.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

The tank in my uncle's was right under the splashwell. I think it was pretty well above-deck. You're going to need to get all the wood and steel out of that boat and replace with new.

Did your Uncle's boat have those steel rods though the transom to the angle iron, or is this something added after the fact?

That last photo with the fuel hose is immediately below the splash well, and directly above the bilge. There was a L shaped vinyl covered wooden piece covering the area in that photo, which I removed:

That rotted wood floor panel would be where the gas tank sat in your Uncle's boat?

 

[75TowerOfPower]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Well your trim is jacked up for sure. It looks as if one of the cylinders gave out, or thats what the PO thought, and he clamped off the line. So your trim is half working. It will be really hard to trim out at WOT. My boat has very similiar contruction. The floor right after the window will get the most water traffic if sitting out. Everything infront drains to there and if the boat is sitting bow low the it will pool there. When replacing my floor I had to jack up that area and I built a structure underneath out of 2X4's treated.

I personally don't like built in tanks but thats me. I have two 6 gallon tanks that I can move around and they be taking out for cleaning.

Those two large bolts are providing extra support to the transom and thats why the back end is all hacked up. So transom, floor, and interior build up is in your future. So you might as well remove the cap now to get everything out easier.

 

[RB78]

Re: Rinkerbuilt Project

Well your trim is jacked up for sure. It looks as if one of the cylinders gave out, or thats what the PO thought, and he clamped off the line. So your trim is half working. It will be really hard to trim out at WOT. My boat has very similiar contruction. The floor right after the window will get the most water traffic if sitting out. Everything infront drains to there and if the boat is sitting bow low the it will pool there. When replacing my floor I had to jack up that area and I built a structure underneath out of 2X4's treated.

I personally don't like built in tanks but thats me. I have two 6 gallon tanks that I can move around and they be taking out for cleaning.

Those two large bolts are providing extra support to the transom and thats why the back end is all hacked up. So transom, floor, and interior build up is in your future. So you might as well remove the cap now to get everything out easier.

OK, so the bolts are not original to the boat? They were added later? I've been thinking of using Sea Cast for the transom - which seems a bit small for that sized engine ... I would like to get away from those bolts, though.

I was about to order an engine hoist, which isn't tall enough to lift the cap. Have to re-think this through.