18' 84 Sylvan rebuild

[REdington]

Got both of the side panels sewn today.
I used a stapler to staple the parts together.





Once sewn, I used double sided tape and taped the 2 edges down.




Here is what the seam look like after taping the edges.





And trial fit on the wood panel.

 

[REdington]

Inside beams prepped for paint.
Started with 240 sandpaper, next was 320, then 50/50 white vinegar/water with 3M scouring pad. Wiped down with wet water rag and then a wipe down with 50/50 mix of acetone/mineral sprites.

Masked off.



Primed with etching primer

 

[REdington]

6 light coats of paint waiting about 10 minutes between coats.

 

[REdington]

Pulled the masking off

 

[REdington]

Clamped the port console in.
Here is the seats we're using

 

[REdington]

One thing I hated was the steering wheel position. It sat too low and early on, I bought a tilt column, but only to find out my rack & pinion steering cable was the early style. So I bought another cable a few weeks ago. So today, I'm going to pull the engine and swap out the cables.

Early style





Tilt column that I bought

 

[REdington]

The gauges and switch panel was delivered, so I cut out the holes for them, along with the steering wheel mount. Covered with foam and ready for the vinyl. Maybe I'll get that done today.





Also cut some red oak that I had for the bow supports.
Need to go get some stainless bolts to bolt the supports in.





Cleaned all the glue off the bow top and it's ready to be riveted on.

 

[cyclops222]

Very nice workmanship.

 

[REdington]

Got the vinyl on the console and temporarily clamped in place.

 

[REdington]

Very nice workmanship.

Thanks

 

[REdington]

I installed the wood and decided to just use rivets instead of bolts.





Then I started riveting on the bow top starting with the front 2 rivets and working my way on the port side. Went to the starboard side and this is what I have. When I installed the new cross wood brace with the new vinyl, I pr drilled the holes from the old one and I thought I messed up as they weren't in the right location. Now I know they were and I needed to pull the that part of the bow together. So now to drill all of those rivets and shorten the brace.
You know 2 steps forward and 1 step backwards.

 

[REdington]

The bow is now all riveted together

 

[cyclops222]

Are you doing a wood veneer covering ?

 

[REdington]

No plans for using any wood veneer.

 

[REdington]

Glued down most of the carpet on the gunwale and started riveting down the inside trim. This need to be done before I can install the consoles. Also have the engine removed so I can switch out the steering cable.

The front "U" shaped trim piece has a crack on it, so I drilled a stop hole on it before installing it.















There is some corrosion on this trim caused by staples in the bumpers.
This is a photo from my other Sylvan. The staples holding the vinyl at the top is resting against the trim.

 

[REdington]

Ran out of aluminum mandrel rivets, so I'm going to finish the trim with steel mandrel ones. The factory used steel mandrel rivets, so it should be OK.







Need to finish the top pieces, but I think I'll wait till I install the new steering cable, re hang the engine and get the consoles installed. That will be easier to access to run throttle cable, shift cable, and do all the wiring.

 

[REdington]

Steering cable is switched out and the engine is back on the boat.
Consoles are mounted and have the port side windshield mounted.











The long brace that comes off the side of the windshield will get cut off and a plastic plug inserted into the hole. This is on my other Sylvan, so I sure it'll be OK. If I get too much movement, I'll just add another brace like the inside brace.

 

[REdington]

Here is what I got done this morning.

 

[airshot]

You have great patience and nice workmanship....nice !

 

[REdington]

Got the rest of the tilt steering and new steering wheel mounted.





I made a big booboo while mounting the helm seat. First hole was too close to the steering wheel and to the side of the boat. The seat rubbed and caused slight damage to the seat while I was testing for fit.









After a couple of days of thinking of how to fix my screw up, I had some 1/4" 6061 aluminum plate that I cut a 12" X 12" piece out of. Drilled and taped the holes for the base to mount to. Added the stainless T nuts from the underside and mounted the plate.