Hello to all,
I have been lurking, reading for the past month or so reading and trying to be the human sponge, but the amount of information available is overwhelming and way to much for this sponge to absorb.
After reading most of the rebuild post, hull extension (amazing job by the way), I decided it was time to get started on my project boat that picked up about 2 years ago. A 20ft 1967 Iola Molded Plastics with a 200 HP, 300 CID Buick (OMC) with an electric shift outdrive. Hold the gasps for just a bit, we will get to that one....
I removed the floor as it had a hole and soft spots. These boats had the floor a bit differently than most. There was plywood then a skin coat of glass about 1/2" total, then there was a pan that had plywood laminated to the pan about another 1/2" that was laid down on top the skin coat for the main sole i guess you would call it. Anyhow, of course the stingers are rotted, the bulkheads have disintegrated and there were no wings for support either. Not a good design for support of the sole in opinion.
As I started to cut out more heading towards the transom, not that far along yet, i decided to check the transom and of course it is shot. Expected that, no big surprise. Now this is where the everything above, the IBoats community thoughts, wisdom, suggestions and POSSIBLE repower comes in....
The transom dose not go all the way up to meet the cap. It is only about 30" tall and i am not sure how well it is tied into the sides of the hull. This question comes up because of the thought of switching over to a Merc or Volvo if the transom will be able to take the weight and abuse. If i have to redo the transom anyway the obvious thing would be to beef it up and take it higher as well except the transom curves towards the top from where the existing plywood transom ends to the cap so making that curve if i extended it higher would pose another learning opportunity.
After begining i stumbled on several posts about the electric shift OMC setup that i know most do not seem to like, but my original thoughts were to keep her as original as possible. The drive is in good shape as is the intermediate housing. The issue is that i wanted to rebuild the engine, housing and drive to ensure that all the work done on the boat itself that the power plant would not be the an issue. Only problem that i am running into is finding a headset and lower gasket set for the engine, more specifically the stainless head gaskets.
Sorry for the novel here folks but i really do want to make sure i have it all out there so i can get the best suggestions, advice, thoughts etc. My skin is tough and i will not take anything personaly, but i would like to hear what the IBoats community has to say.
I am not to far into it where i have to finish it in order to recover my losses and would rather not go down that road if there is really not a viable option for the power plant. I would love to put the old OMC in again but know that it may not be feasable as well.
So, what does the IBoats community have for input? Ditch it and find another? Do the transom, stringers and sole as i planned on and update the power plant or repair it all and run the OMC setup even though it may cost more for down the road?
It seems that i also have a lot in common with a large number of people here as i also have the "bug" have to have a project of some type going on and the multiple boat sydrome as well.
Now the pics:
Before the tear up
I have been lurking, reading for the past month or so reading and trying to be the human sponge, but the amount of information available is overwhelming and way to much for this sponge to absorb.
After reading most of the rebuild post, hull extension (amazing job by the way), I decided it was time to get started on my project boat that picked up about 2 years ago. A 20ft 1967 Iola Molded Plastics with a 200 HP, 300 CID Buick (OMC) with an electric shift outdrive. Hold the gasps for just a bit, we will get to that one....
I removed the floor as it had a hole and soft spots. These boats had the floor a bit differently than most. There was plywood then a skin coat of glass about 1/2" total, then there was a pan that had plywood laminated to the pan about another 1/2" that was laid down on top the skin coat for the main sole i guess you would call it. Anyhow, of course the stingers are rotted, the bulkheads have disintegrated and there were no wings for support either. Not a good design for support of the sole in opinion.
As I started to cut out more heading towards the transom, not that far along yet, i decided to check the transom and of course it is shot. Expected that, no big surprise. Now this is where the everything above, the IBoats community thoughts, wisdom, suggestions and POSSIBLE repower comes in....
The transom dose not go all the way up to meet the cap. It is only about 30" tall and i am not sure how well it is tied into the sides of the hull. This question comes up because of the thought of switching over to a Merc or Volvo if the transom will be able to take the weight and abuse. If i have to redo the transom anyway the obvious thing would be to beef it up and take it higher as well except the transom curves towards the top from where the existing plywood transom ends to the cap so making that curve if i extended it higher would pose another learning opportunity.
After begining i stumbled on several posts about the electric shift OMC setup that i know most do not seem to like, but my original thoughts were to keep her as original as possible. The drive is in good shape as is the intermediate housing. The issue is that i wanted to rebuild the engine, housing and drive to ensure that all the work done on the boat itself that the power plant would not be the an issue. Only problem that i am running into is finding a headset and lower gasket set for the engine, more specifically the stainless head gaskets.
Sorry for the novel here folks but i really do want to make sure i have it all out there so i can get the best suggestions, advice, thoughts etc. My skin is tough and i will not take anything personaly, but i would like to hear what the IBoats community has to say.
I am not to far into it where i have to finish it in order to recover my losses and would rather not go down that road if there is really not a viable option for the power plant. I would love to put the old OMC in again but know that it may not be feasable as well.
So, what does the IBoats community have for input? Ditch it and find another? Do the transom, stringers and sole as i planned on and update the power plant or repair it all and run the OMC setup even though it may cost more for down the road?
It seems that i also have a lot in common with a large number of people here as i also have the "bug" have to have a project of some type going on and the multiple boat sydrome as well.
Now the pics:
Before the tear up
