1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

This nice thing about gutting it so completely is I can take it wherever I want to now and don't have to worry about putting any of Bayliner's ideas back together again. We found a lot of WTF's while taking it apart anyway, and plenty of ideas for doing it better. Some of the WTF's were courtesy of one or more of the PO's. but others, like the sump area and draining the sink and shower in the head into it were just nuts.

 

[gwpjr]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

This is gonna be cool (assuming there's no fatal surprises left to uncover)...

If there are any MORE fatal surprises left to uncover...We pretty much determined that anything made of wood, at least in the lower half of the boat, is completely shot. We suspect the motor is seized (it won't turn over). So far the only things we suspect to be good are: the hull, out drive and probably the gas tank. Yet, we proceed. GWPSR mentioned that one of the main reasons that he decided to forge on was that is was probably the best shot he ever had at having a brand new 28' boat. If this project makes it, that will be exactly what he ends up with.

 

[ricohman]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Glad to see this project is going ahead

 

[Jimmy H.]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Very cool boat... Or should I say ship? Looking forward to seeing your progress. Gives me momentum on my own project. Sorry to hear about the motor. Good luck and keep at it.
James

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Just remember, while you're suffering through removing rotten wood and foam when it's 105f, deep within a derelict Bayliner, someone somewhere else has it worse...

Most everything in here is wood, and most all of that is rotten

Just remember, in the end, it will still be worth it, regardless of spending $5k on labor paying yourself a dollar an hour

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

Today's excitement was getting the engine out of the boat. Good thing I built the hoist gantry 12 feet tall. I needed every inch to clear the stern rail. I wish I had taken pictures of the process, but as I was doing it by myself, I had my hands full. (Jr. was out on the lake in his tinny, teasing fish, or vice versa)

Afterward, I removed the intake manifold and both heads. Cylinder #7 was full of water, and the others look like they spent some time damp as well. The intake manifold was rusty on the inside. I haven't studied the right head in detail yet, but I'm wondering if there might not be a crack near #7.

I haven't taken any pics of the cylinders yet, but I will. They are beyond belief.

F14: Nice boat. I love that bridge design. Good luck on your resto.

 

[Trooper82]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Alright you got the motor out!

Hate that you found issues though...but they can be fixed...

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

This is the block, with all its crunchy goodness

Note cylinder #7 on the right above. Yes, it had a few ounces of water in it.

And the head that was over the side with #7

 

[gwpjr]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

While I am somewhat sad that I missed the engine coming out, I was having too much fun, catching these:

 

[Trooper82]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

That does look like more fun!

 

[captmello]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Yuck, that engine is toast! But if you can salvage all the volvo bolt ons, you might be able to get away with just buying a long block.

Good luck with the project! I'll be watching. If you have any questions about the engine and outdrive, make sure to ask over in the Volvo I/O forum. There's lots of help there.

 

[ricohman]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

While I am somewhat sad that I missed the engine coming out, I was having too much fun, catching these:

Fishing is way more fun. Is that a little Jackfish? Kinda looks like a jack.

 

[Luhrs28]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

I've seen worse engines than that saved by boring .030" over, but it comes down to $$$. You can probably get a reman long block for less than the cost to rebuild that one.

Good luck with the project!

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

I can get a long block for about $1,500 from what I've seen. (Or $2,400 for brand new).

I'll be on the lookout for a donor boat with a suitable engine however, and also study up on repower options. I'd love to put something a tad more modern in this, like fuel-injected.

 

[gwpjr]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Fishing is way more fun. Is that a little Jackfish? Kinda looks like a jack.

Chain pickerel actually. I was surprised because it isn't all that common to catch them while trolling for trout and salmon. The rest of the day's catch was all trout and one small mouth bass.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

That's a bit rough internally but I think a repower shouldn't be too bad. I have only ever had carbed engines and like the simplicity!

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2781 - Restore or Bust

So, over on the Bayliner Owner's Club boards, I've been trying to get some clarity on the apparent non-existent model 2781. One poster suggested that I ask Bayliner.

So I wrote to them and asked. They wrote back to me and said:

Thank you for your email, and I hope you are having a wonderful day. I have been trying to look up any information I could possibly find for you, and I am afraid I have been unsuccessful. We do not have any records of the 2781. I have a couple of owners manuals from 1981, but I am afraid neither of those reference this boat, and they do not have drawings or specs on it either. I do wish I could have been of more assistance to you sir.

After which I responded:

Thanks for your reply.

Does the HIN suggest a different model number, or perhaps a related family line? I?ve been told that this boat looks like a 2750 Sunbridge. It?s quite possible that someone applied these ?2781? decals long after the boat was new. It has seen apparently many owners, and I see signs that it may have been drydocked and reworked at least once previously. There are many coats of paint from the rubrail down, so the decals and Bayliner graphics may have been reapplied at least once.

And they responded:

You are very welcome sir. We do have a 2750 in 1981, but I am afraid I have no way of verifying that for you sir.

So, I guess I can call it anything I want at this point The quest continues. If any Bayliner owner has things I can compare to an actual 2750, I can look. I'm curious about some things I found whether they are part of the original design too, such as the shower pan extending under the cabinet in the head (or the electrical wires that run through that cabinet and (gasp) through the pan...

In other news, I added more temporary support bunks between strakes at several places along the length of the boat. Seems solid inside now.

The innards are nearly completely stripped clean. I'm actually looking forward to taking the pressure washer to the interior of the hull. Yes, it's just as sad as it sounds. I'm incredibly easy to entertain.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

Since the last update, the interior has been totally gutted, engine, sterndrive and transom shield removed.

Yes, that's the 125 gallon fuel tank strapped up to the starboard cabin wall. It's too big to remove without taking the cap off, and I would need a marina crane to do that safely. So, it'll stay up there, out of my way til the tank cradle has been rebuilt and it's time to put it back in its final location.

I've pressure washed the inside once, but didn't have the bow high enough for the drainage required. Since then, I've put the rear of the trailer on stands, and raised the tongue about 4 feet off the ground. I'll pressure wash it one more time before I begin to grind.

I decided to try to find out what paint/gelcoat was original on this boat. Started working at the port side of the stern. This picture doesn't do the color justice:

It's quite a bit darker than it looks here. I easily scraped two layers of paint off and got down to a very thin layer of primer over the original gel/paint (can't tell which it is). GWPJr spent a few minutes wet sanding the area below the rubrail with 4 grades of paper, then took an orbital to it to get a shine raised. I'm sure the paint is covering something somewhere on the hull, but I want to get it down to this layer before repainting.

And, regarding the graphics that erroneously referred to this boat as a Victoria 2781:

Well, not anymore:

The color above the white paint is the original color of the gelcoat with the oxidation removed. Kind of an almond or ivory. I like it. I think I'm going to try to remove all the paint above the rubrail. Are there any safe chemical softeners or removers that can be used on a poly gelcoat surface?

I also tore the entire engine down. The pistons are toast. at least three cylinders were seized solid, and all of them were bound up badly. The cam appears reasonable (visually), and I've saved all of the marinized parts off the block just in case I decide to put another SBC 350 in it. Even the block is probably worth something to somebody. The lower half looked better than I was afraid it would. Just the cylinders are rough.

 

[GWPSR]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

The paint below the rubrail and above the waterline appears to be a single coat of a nice hard enamel of some sort, over a very light coat of primer. The great thing is, if you work at it with a tool like a painter's tool, you can get it to chip off the gelcoat without a tremendous amount of effort. The trick is to find the optimum angle for the tool where it really start to go, then run with it and do a foot or two at a time.

Tonight's progress, while the steaks cooked themselves on the grill nearby:

I don't know what the paint is below the water line, but it's rough, and doesn't come off like the enamel. It does sand well though. Very dusty.

The paint above the rubrail looks like Rustoleum without hardner. Kind of elastic. Doesn't want to scrape easily, and it clogs the sandpaper quickly.

 

[cedarlattice]

Re: 1981 Bayliner Victoria 2750 - Restore or Bust

Wow!!! I thought I was biting off a chunk. This is going to be very interesting. I have always liked the looks of Bayliners. I am glad you are bringing her back. I had a 21' 1987 Capri. I loved that boat. It never let me down. I got caught out in 12' seas up in the North Channel once when I owned it. It took me 6 hours to travel 15 miles. My choice was to put it up on the rocks or see how long the ride would last.