1986 Blue Fin restore

[bscappell]

well after years of reading and asking questions I finally took the plunge and i am restoring my boat. I actually started this winter gutting it. there will be a lot of photos in this first post as i have a lot to show to see how i got to this point. thanks to all that got me to this point and my girlfriend for allowing me to have the mistress....

here is what the boat looked like before.



bow



Stern



It was leaking pretty good and I knew the transom was shot. i had my buddy to a little fab work this past fall to get started. diamond plate on the bow and some aluminum supports on the rails where the downrigger board is. but this was just to save me from serious troubles for the fall. i swapped power heads on it spring 2012. it had a 90HP Evinrude that had the Oil Injection take a dive. I swapped it for a 110hp. this increase i am sure didnt help with the transom flex.

My plan: strip inside and outside. paint outside, Coat-it inside, replace transom, weld holes (more on that later), replace floor, new seating arrangement, new gas tank under floor for main and small tank in stern for kicker, new kicker bracket, new storage in stern area, more storage in bow.

my biggest problem is i too much stuff in my boat and not enough boat for my stuff. my goal is to be able to fish my girlfriend and a very comfortable and 4 people somewhat comfortable. right now i have the captains seat and a 150qt cooler with pads on it to sit on and a small bow spot up front that isn't nice on the butt at all.

90% salmon fishing and 80% of that is trolling so i run 4 electric downriggers off the back. 5% anchor fishing a 15% backbouncing.
here are the destruction pictures (bad resolution award goes to my buddy who doesn't do smart phones and was unemployed for the winter. he was willing to strip the boat down pretty good while i had my busy season at work during the winter):

Floor was not pretty. carpet hiding old Vinyl hiding wet wood:







NEXT----->

 

[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

foam wasnt too bad. came out pretty easy:













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[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Decided to just do this right and strip it down to the metal. yucky carpet on the rails and side of the gunwallsl:



I visited in Feb. and brought my buddy a gallon of acetone and some adhesive stripper. he had "fun"....











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[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

not to mention the 26 year of "gunk":



Getting somewhere:









Much Better:




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[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Finally in April I was able to get the boat back and a pile of stuff that came from the deconstruction.

Time to start on the Transom Deconstruction:

this was the piece that wrapped over the transom where the motor bolted in...it was broke:



the transom almost didn't come out in one piece but i got it!





the middle of it was NASTY...you could feel the hummidity coming off of it:



Wood left to degrade while sandwiched in between 2 pieces of aluminum does great thing chemically:





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[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

after removing what felt like was 10 tubes of Marine 5200 sealant i got this gem of a piece out. this is the "backer" piece so to speak that the transom wood bolts into. this will be replaced.

Lucky for me this piece is the exact cutout of the transom so my transom wood breaking isnt a big deal:



the flexing that the motor must have had to cause these cracks......scary:





Plenty of transducer and "other" holes to fill. also this picture show what my buddy did last fall. the supports towards the stern and the Diamond plate bow plate:



thank goodness i know a welder:





NEXT----->

 

[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Got it home from the first round of welding. at this pint i just wanted to do the welding need to paint. the gas tank can wait. also i dont have picture but the vertical piece that ties the transom to the bottom of the hule (stringer?) was stress fractured (not surprising) so we did some work there. more to come.

also had some fun stripping the decals off......BUT finally after exacto knifes, heat guns, chemical strippers and a earasser wheel we got it.





this is my first year running 4 electric downriggers so i had to see what the canvas might offer once done:





i like it!!!

So we flipped her over.....

here are 2 spots that will need to be addressed later:

from being beached and beaten by me and who knows how many others this spot is thin and rivets ground down:



This wasn't me and i have no idea what happened but it didn't look good. i will be putting a plate and lots of 5200 over this spot.......



i knew these would be issue areas well before i flipped it. the second picture is off colored because of welding on the inside. IDK how my buddy welded that thin stuff.

 

[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

now the real fun part. this last weekend i had a sanding party. washed her and acid washed as well. thanks to my Girlfriend and friends who helped:

Before:



After:



Before:



After:







this week i will etch and build up the bare spots in prep for priming and maybe a top coat this weekend. thanks for looking and any comments and advice is much appreciated.

 

[classiccat]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Solid Hull!

It's going to be a sahweeeet when you guys are done with her!!!

It's also cool that you're friends and girlfriend are pitching-in!

The knee brace on my Starcraft project was also cracked from a weak transom.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Good to see another blue fin. Looks like you are going after it. Similiar issues on mine, minus cracking. Though I got the pleasure of a port side backing up accident that PO never fixed. Will be watching as you progress and borrowing what-ever works. Any issues on rolling her over? Need for bracing? Good luck.

 

[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Solid Hull!

It's going to be a sahweeeet when you guys are done with her!!!

It's also cool that you're friends and girlfriend are pitching-in!

The knee brace on my Starcraft project was also cracked from a weak transom.

thanks man! the knee brace crack must be a common thing when transoms go soft. My buddy is convinced the boat will ride higher in the water with solid transom. i think moving the gas tank will be the biggest factor in this myself. more balance.

 

[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Good to see another blue fin. Looks like you are going after it. Similiar issues on mine, minus cracking. Though I got the pleasure of a port side backing up accident that PO never fixed. Will be watching as you progress and borrowing what-ever works. Any issues on rolling her over? Need for bracing? Good luck.

lucky for me the cracked pieces are totally replaceable. the roll over was "fun". it actually sits on the trailer upside down quite well. almost perfect between the wheel wells. not heavy just awkward. 2 guys and 2 girls did it. girls mostly moral support. rolled it off trailer so that it ended up flipped on the ground (fun to catch it coming down) and then lifted it back onto the trailer. the hard part will be flipping it back over as i will be worried about paint scratching. probably lift it and move it to the grass then flip it there and move it back onto trailer.

 

[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

ok so anyone with etching aluminum experience let me know if i did too much or not enough: the boat wasn't brought down to bare metal in all places so i didn't hit those areas as hard. i wiped it down with mineral spirits and then tack cloth before the etching. 3 thinish coats. i started wet sanding it (400 grit) but it sure seemed to remove a lot of the etching. maybe try 3m pad tomorrow as i wont be home till late tonight.






i didn't used a respirator so the boogers today are interesting......

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

The etching looks fine it isn't supposed lay on very thick just enough to cover the bare metal.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Looks good as long as there isn't any bare metal showing, no go with a couple coats of regular metal primer and then your top coats.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

To help you get more and better responses I think you should familiarize yourself with the rules and guidelines of the Forum. You have 3 Threads currently going on the same project. This makes it difficult for the members to keep track of everything you are doing and is contrary to forum rules and guidelines.

Rule #11 2nd part.
http://forums.iboats.com/forum-rules-guidelines/forum-rules-397820.html

 

[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

To help you get more and better responses I think you should familiarize yourself with the rules and guidelines of the Forum. You have 3 Threads currently going on the same project. This makes it difficult for the members to keep track of everything you are doing and is contrary to forum rules and guidelines.

Rule #11 2nd part.
http://forums.iboats.com/forum-rules-guidelines/forum-rules-397820.html

whoops sorry.

 

[bscappell]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Currently my boat has a 18 gallon stern tank mounted on the deck. well technically there is no tank in the boat but that was the design. to allow for more storage and maybe a little less weight in the stern i am going to have a belly tank made for my boat out of aluminum. the problem is i have a long, narrow and short space for it. i don't have the exact measurements but for a 19.5 gallon tank to fit the (est)5.25 height and (est)8.5 width it will need to be around 50 inches long.

here is my spot:



I am think of putting this in the top of the tank towards the bow with a plastic access panel.

http://s4d825548b500a.img.gostorego...6e5fb8d27136e95/o/i/oil_20cap_20bung_20sm.jpg

http://www.easternmarine.com/media/...78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/2/8/2849_st.jpg

there is little clearance between the tank and the floor with current design. any other ideas?

yes I will ground the tank and I will allow airflow under the tank and a vent tube coming out of the very top of thank tank with a hose that has a loop in it.

i originally thought i could have the filler neck come out the middle so that it can have a continuous incline to the side of boat and up to the top of rail to a cap. but thinking about filling a tank with fluid, i don't think that will work right?

constructive advise and lessons from passed experiences would be great.....

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

Below deck tanks aren't all they're cracked up to be, and it really doesn't look like you have enough room for one considering the latteral ribs and proper bilge drainage you'll need.

A lot of people don't understand that below deck tanks have to be contained in their own sealed compartment (casket) in case of a tank leak so the whole bilge won't fill with fuel. They should also be completely foamed in place with 2 part expanding foam to help keep them sealed in case of a leak.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1986 Blue Fin restore

If you decide to do it, (Personally I would'nt) this is how to do it...Fuel Tank Design & Installation