1978 Islander 22 I/O

[Gibbles]

I don't know if it's helpful, but my 1994 22ft islander with a 4.3LX came with a 52 or 53 gallon belly tank.

Right down the middle of the floor.
A big space between the engine compartment and the fuel tank compartment.

 

[66Holiday924]

I don't know if it's helpful, but my 1994 22ft islander with a 4.3LX came with a 52 or 53 gallon belly tank.

Right down the middle of the floor.
A big space between the engine compartment and the fuel tank compartment.

That is helpful. I'm considering about a 45-gallon tank. I would think that the weight of all that fuel would help make it ride better. Plus, the gas probably comes in handy too...

What kind of range do you get on your engine with that fuel tank?

 

[Gibbles]

That is helpful. I'm considering about a 45-gallon tank. I would think that the weight of all that fuel would help make it ride better. Plus, the gas probably comes in handy too...

What kind of range do you get on your engine with that fuel tank?

Not a clue yet, I haven't had my islander that long.
And I also have a cracked block that needs to be repaired/replaced.

So far, I have only had it out for a few hours to test everything before winter hits, and my fuel gauge didn't go down that much.

I have a 4-barrel carb on the 4.3l, so I'm curious how long it lasts.
I'm assuming I should have a pretty decent range.

 

[airshot]

For what it might be worth, my 1983 Islander had the 3.0 140 hp with a 24 gallon tank, my range was just over 100 miles at cruising speed.

 

[66Holiday924]

I got a small window of warm weather, enough for the Marine-Tex to properly cure, so I got the transom prepped and trawled it on today. I did the inside of the transom and a couple spots on the outside. First, I cleaned it up with abrasive nylon wheels. Then I wiped it clean with water to get the majority of the dust and gunk out of there. Then, immediately after the wet cloth pass, I towel dried it thoroughly, and wiped it clean with Acetone. The Marine Tex seemed to adhere very good.

I tried some nylon wheels to clean up the transom. They worked well, but the one was too small to get into some of the crevices, so I resorted back to the steel. I think technically nylon should be used. If you use steel, do a good job getting it cleaned up.

I like the Marine-Tex because it fills in the pits and I think it's a good layer to have in them, to protect from future corrosion. Also, they say it's structural, as strong as steel when it cures. I don't know that I believe that. It doesn't hurt anything if it is though. I have to say, it's not fully cured yet, and I have a screw hole that I accidentally plugged with it, and it is hard in that screw hole.

 

[BWR1953]

Bright, shiny aluminum is always a beautiful thing.

 

[Watermann]

Don't worry about using fine steel wire wheels on your Al clean up. Just think about all the steel that Al has come in contact with from being dug out as ore in a bucket to a yuke, rail car, smelter in an iron pot, poured into a steel mold, run through steel rollers, extruders, steel sheers to cut it, steel rivet sets and then we obsess over a wire wheel. LOL

 

[66Holiday924]

We had a beautiful fall day today, so I decided to take advantage and get some work done on the Islander. Today I worked on building the transom. The old transom was totally toast so the first thing I needed to do was make a template.

I made the template using a plastic corrugated sheet. First I clamped it to the back of the boat, then I traced the outline of the transom onto the sheet. This got me about 75% there. The transom on this boat doesn't go all the way down, it ends at the z-bars, so I had to get that in using my tape, angle finder and a little bit of the force if we're being honest. So, I slowly went back and forth using whatever means possible to get the plastic sheet template as close as I could, before I did it with wood.

Next, after I was about 90% satisfied with my plastic template, I traced it onto a piece of 1/2" marine-grade ply (Douglas Fir). I did what I could to improve the fit on the ply, cut it out and I was about 95% happy with how it turned out.

I traced what I ended up with from the 1/2" marine-grade ply to a piece pf 1.5" Coosa Board and I can't be happier with how it turned out. That Coosa Board isn't cheap! I am so thankful that the process I dreamed up for doing this resulted in what seems like perfection. I hope the rest of this transom build yields results equal to the quality I had today. Tomorrow I'm going to sand down the transom edges, dry fit and cut out the horse collar.

I used a carbide finish blade in my circular saw to cut the coosa board. It cut it like butter and the edges are nice.

 

[Gibbles]

I had to google that stuff to see what it was.
https://www.boatoutfitters.com/coosa-composites-board

I remember back when this stuff was just a pipe dream, a non-wood transom and flooring material.

 

[Moserkr]

Nice work on that coosa tansom! Definitely keeping that in mind for the future.

 

[shinytopgeezer]

We had a beautiful fall day today, so I decided to take advantage and get some work done on the Islander. Today I worked on building the transom. The old transom was totally toast so the first thing I needed to do was make a template.

I made the template using a plastic corrugated sheet. First I clamped it to the back of the boat, then I traced the outline of the transom onto the sheet. This got me about 75% there. The transom on this boat doesn't go all the way down, it ends at the z-bars, so I had to get that in using my tape, angle finder and a little bit of the force if we're being honest. So, I slowly went back and forth using whatever means possible to get the plastic sheet template as close as I could, before I did it with wood.

Next, after I was about 90% satisfied with my plastic template, I traced it onto a piece of 1/2" marine-grade ply (Douglas Fir). I did what I could to improve the fit on the ply, cut it out and I was about 95% happy with how it turned out.

I traced what I ended up with from the 1/2" marine-grade ply to a piece pf 1.5" Coosa Board and I can't be happier with how it turned out. That Coosa Board isn't cheap! I am so thankful that the process I dreamed up for doing this resulted in what seems like perfection. I hope the rest of this transom build yields results equal to the quality I had today. Tomorrow I'm going to sand down the transom edges, dry fit and cut out the horse collar.

I used a carbide finish blade in my circular saw to cut the coosa board. It cut it like butter and the edges are nice.

I do enjoy your builds!! The Coosa is spendy, but it's permanent!!! How thick was the original transom? (If there was enough left to measure!!!) Also, what are you going to use to build out the horse collar for final thickness (2" -2.25" I think)? Are you going to use Coosa for the cockpit sole too? Thanks for letting me tag along.

 

[66Holiday924]

Today was all about getting the new coosa transom 100% seated so I could trace the keyhole onto it. So I spent the afternoon sanding the coosa transom and the Marine-Tex on the transom skin that I did a couple weeks ago. When I was finished sanding and the transom skin was smooth I popped the coosa in, used a white grease marker to mark the keyhole and z-bars.

While the transom was seated, I notice I will have to go back and take a little off the top, which was actually the plan. I wish I had a little more to take off than I do. It would make trimming it down easier... It is, what it is.

I am happy with the Marine-Tex. That stuff is tough and it adhered well! It seems to be stronger than wood, as far as sanding it goes.

 

[66Holiday924]

I do enjoy your builds!! The Coosa is spendy, but it's permanent!!! How thick was the original transom? (If there was enough left to measure!!!) Also, what are you going to use to build out the horse collar for final thickness (2" -2.25" I think)? Are you going to use Coosa for the cockpit sole too? Thanks for letting me tag along.

Thank you! You don't have to thank me! I get encouragement from having people to share it with. I just hope I don't screw it up...

I couldn't get an accurate measurement off of the old transom... It was toast, but this is for a Gen 2, so you want 2-2.25 inches.

I decided to go with coosa-board for this boat because there's a pretty decent chance that it is going to spend quite a few summers in a slip, for the entire season. And, I believe, no matter how hard we try and regardless of the measures taken, every boat will eventually leak. I'm a firm believer in the saying that there are two types of boats in this world, those that leak and those that are going to leak. No big deal. The means exist for it to be managed. I foresee a back-up bilge pump for this boat, and I'm doing a coosa-transom that won't rot, and as of right now, I'm thinking a coosa-floor. I don't think coosa will be necessary for the cabin bulkhead.

 

[Gibbles]

When you get to drilling holes for the sides, I did it freehand via a handheld drill.
I found it was easier to drill half way through from the outside, and then drill from the inside to ensure the holes lined up.
then a little finishing work via a round file to get the bolt holes to line up.

I also say that because I'm not sure how straight those holes will be from starcraft.
I'm guessing they did a straight drill through from the outside when they assembled the boat.
So that hole could be / vs a straight ---

On my 60's boats I found some "building a boat not a piano" logic happening.

Like my hull on my chief was actually a little off, and to make the flooring work they just modified the floor support to match the correct height.

 

[Gibbles]

Bye bye boat. Thank you for the engine and all the good times and smiles you put on people's faces!

Don't forget the smile it put on the guy driving that tractor at the dump!

When I dumped a boat, I saw a big smile form on the driver of their crusher machine.
U-turn and he speed up to slam into it.

Smile from ear to ear on that guy.

 

[66Holiday924]

I wasn't feeling the greatest the other day but I managed to power wash the exterior of the Islander, something I've been aching to do since I brought it home. I used my electric sunjoe machine which is a great little machine but only goes up to about 2200 psi, enough for a preliminary cleaning to get the years of crud off her.

 

[jdvasher]

Today was all about getting the new coosa transom 100% seated so I could trace the keyhole onto it. So I spent the afternoon sanding the coosa transom and the Marine-Tex on the transom skin that I did a couple weeks ago. When I was finished sanding and the transom skin was smooth I popped the coosa in, used a white grease marker to mark the keyhole and z-bars.

While the transom was seated, I notice I will have to go back and take a little off the top, which was actually the plan. I wish I had a little more to take off than I do. It would make trimming it down easier... It is, what it is.

I am happy with the Marine-Tex. That stuff is tough and it adhered well! It seems to be stronger than wood, as far as sanding it goes.

I love Coosa, such a great product. I did my floor with the stuff.