1978 Chieftain

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

I dont have a lift so I need some input... I was thinking, unbolt the motor and....

Got a good sized tree & a come along?

A come along & a wooden gantry isn't too hard to put together...

More then 1 iboater has used a tow truck to lift an engine up & out, just make sure you know how high it needs to be lifted. Smaller rigs may not have the reach for the oil pan clear the transom. Might even get it all unhooked & prepped, and let the tow truck driver call you when he's close by on another call....

Many car parts & equipment rental places will rent an engine hoist cherry picker for a 1/2 day +/-. But you again need to know how much lift you need. Some have resorted to putting the hoist in the back of a pickup truck. BUT BE CAREFUL, the risk of tipping over is much greater and the truck will have the hoist 18-24+" higher off the ground....

 

[lakeerienewbie]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

Doh! I knew spegtoast sounded familiar! That's on the boat! That's cool you ended up keeping it, I can't imagine there's a ton if work to get it out there although from your posts it sounds like its big stuff. Good luck with it, I'll be watching...it's gonna be a cool old boat

 

[lakeerienewbie]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

This is true spegtoast, I think I have more pics of your boat posted than you do ::

Great lookin boat you got. I'm kinda at that point myself. I did a little big of rednecking to get that motor out of mine. This time I'm lookin to take the boat and motor over to a shop that has a gantry or even just build me up one out of timber at the shop or buy a good ibeam one on CL... I can see it being a super handy tool for alot of other things.....
I honestly think I'm gonna be just buying or having a welder fab me up a HD one and not look back.

BTW, the boat looks great dood...... fix a few things here and get it back on the water..... that way it's not such a daunting job.....

But... just for a little FYI..... WE LIKE PICS MISTER!!!!

HEHEHE

 

[elkhunter338]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

Watch out using a comealong to lift the engine out of the boat. Those things are ok but ??
I used one to lift my engine up just enough to move it forward but when I replaced the engine I used a regular chain hoist.
I like the large tree and pulley with the rope hooked to a vehicle, we used to use that set up for lifting beef up. Big limb, pulley and the old john deer tractor.

 

[spegtoast]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

Ok.. Stopped out at the barn sat. to take a bunch of pics for yall. And to launch resto. I started with the acesssory panel, pulled the steering wheel etc to remount the dash and maybe change out the switches, gauges, and maybe even all the wiring. Not sure if you can tell but she's leaning a little bit.

More pics soon but thought I would enter them as the conversations progresses....click on them for larger view.

Any concern on the rivets? Or can I just paint over them. It looks like the prior owner coverd them with something once before.



ATTACH=CONFIG]174670[/ATTACH Regarding pulling motor by tree, lift in truck...stc. I cant move the boat necessaraly because these barn doors are super hard to open. Takes two guys about 45min. Its alot of work and would like to avoid it till spring splash.

 

[Stevens520]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

This is true spegtoast, I think I have more pics of your boat posted than you do ::

I thought that name sounded familiar. Congrats on the new boat, and good to see it's getting restored.

 

[spegtoast]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

You guys have any links or ideas to getting the transom cap off?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

I'm not sure you need to lift the cap off the transom, can't it be pulled forward & out, if the motor & outdrive are removed.....

Willy's cap is still in the pix he posted earlier:

This is a pic of my new transom fitting. I assume your transom configuration is constructed the same way.

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

Yes I did remove the transom cap. Yes you see it in the pic above but it is only sitting on there loose. When I removed the old transom the top radius was rotted so bad that I couldn't get a good pattern off of the top of it. So when we placed the new transom in to test fit we began sanding the top of the transom board to conform more to the arch of the rear aluminum. After some sanding I placed the top cap in place and checked to make sure the rear rub rail holes aligned with the rear aluminum and new transom properly.

I obviously didn't go into detail on how I accomplished the removal in my post but it was necessary to remove the top plate. So I will try to explain. I drilled out the rivets that held the top plate in place, removed rear rub rail and to about 2 feet forward on the side rub rails, then took the top cap off. Once the cap was off there was still not enough room to pull out the transom due to the side rail aluminum that went all the way to the back. So I took the jig saw and cut out enough of that aluminum to allow me to lift the transom out. As I have access to an aluminum welder (mig with spoolgun) I will weld it back in after the new transom is permanently fitted.

When it gets light out I will go out and take a couple pics and put up so you can actually see what I did.

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

Ok, here are a couple pics showing the transom removal.

This pic you will notice the rub rail was unscrewed from the side or the rivets drilled out. Once this was pulled out of the way I was able to drill out the rivets for the top plate and remove it.

To get the transom wood out I used the jig saw to cut a section of the side rail out, enough to get the transom up and out. This is the area inside the red box. I will weld it back in once the transom is installed.

Hope this helps.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

I'm thinking that once you had that side rubrail channel free the stern alum skin should have been able to flex enough to slide the transom out - in turn being able to avoid that cut/re weld eh?

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

Jas, unfortunately there was not enough flex on the sides to pull the transom. The section I cut out completely covered the top of the transom. Thus the easiest for me was to cut it out, and figure 10 minutes with the welder when done will quite possibly save me extra work.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

Since we are talking about the same job on two different projects, ha!:lol:



On the way out:

And getting ready to go back in:

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

Yes we are talking about the same type job. I do believe your transom area is constructed differently on the Islander than on my Cheif. I put up a couple more pics in My Cheiftan Project that may better show what I was talking about as far as having to cut the piece out.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

I'm not sure you need to lift the cap off the transom, can't it be pulled forward & out, if the motor & outdrive are removed.....Willy's cap is still in the pix he posted earlier

1) Oops I/O glasser transom details in no way resemble tin I/O details

:brick: Knock earned, taken & duly noted... I apologize all the same....

2) Looks like my less then helpful post did kick start some info that sounds helpful....

Hope it goes smoothly now...

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

JB all is good. Your question drew out some great results. Jas and I had some interesting postings on the differences between his Islander and my Chieftan not only on this thread but also in my Chief thread. Although both boats are similar in appearance there is a difference in the construction around the transom area. So now there is info on both removal for an Islander and for Chieftans. A benefit to all.

 

[ShowMeGuy]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

Yes we are talking about the same type job. I do believe your transom area is constructed differently on the Islander than on my Cheif. I put up a couple more pics in My Cheiftan Project that may better show what I was talking about as far as having to cut the piece out.

My Chieftains transom are was pretty much the same as Weep'n Willys. I didn't it pretty much exactly like he did but I was able to bend it up and out fo the way letting me pull it out... BAM!

 

[Stevens520]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

JB all is good. Your question drew out some great results. Jas and I had some interesting postings on the differences between his Islander and my Chieftan not only on this thread but also in my Chief thread. Although both boats are similar in appearance there is a difference in the construction around the transom area. So now there is info on both removal for an Islander and for Chieftans. A benefit to all.

I'm starting to think doing transoms in Islanders, older Cheiftains and newer Cheiftains (Mark IV: 22',25') are 3 separate animals entirely.
From the looks of Willy's Cheif, above the transom looks fairly flat. The Mark IV's are made more difficult with the compound curve thrown into the mix:

My main reservation about bending it up when I do mine, is that their are already stress cracks developing in the corners that may become worse if it is bent up;and also concerned if it will be straight again after bending.

 

[InMotion]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

If the stress cracks get worse, you can always JB Weld them and sand and feather to get it to smooth out for painting.

Jim

 

[spegtoast]

Re: 1978 Chieftain

I'm starting to think doing transoms in Islanders, older Cheiftains and newer Cheiftains (Mark IV: 22',25') are 3 separate animals entirely.
From the looks of Willy's Cheif, above the transom looks fairly flat. The Mark IV's are made more difficult with the compound curve thrown into the mix:

My main reservation about bending it up when I do mine, is that their are already stress cracks developing in the corners that may become worse if it is bent up;and also concerned if it will be straight again after bending.

I'm with ya Stevens. I went out to the boat yesterday (my work area is about an hour from the house) and I have the compound curves.. I took some pics of what I accomplished and will post tomorrow. I think though that after reoving the rub rails I may still be able to follow the direction from Jason. It looks like the top plate goes all the way to the side of the boat so I dont think I will have to cut like Willy did. By the way, the post's, pic's, and decriptions on this thread are great! I hope that I can someday contribute just a portion of the knowlege you guys have on these old tin cans.