1989 Celebrity 181BR Restoration

[samer0214]

Sounds like a similar project to mine. My boat is a 18.5 ft runabout, I paid $600 for it. Engine ran, drive was good, but both needed maintenance. Structure and interior of the boat were toast. I replaced transom / stringers / deck, new upholstery, and new dash. Spruced up all the little stuff. I'm probably into it about $10k total. Just so you can compare yours to mine.

Figure on using 3-4 sheets of 3/4" and 3-4 sheets of 1/2" ACX plywood. About 35 yards of 1708, about 20 yards of 1.5oz CSM, 25-30 gallons of resin, a few gallons of gelcoat, a few gallons of foam, a bunch of fillers, and lots of consumables. It adds up quick.

Thanks Tod. I appreciate the detail and all the help. Gives me a pretty good idea of what I'm up against!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Plywood- $750 to $1000
Hardware $100-250
Fiberglass cloth/resin/fillers/foam - $1500
EPA charges if you ship - $50-$250
Gel coat - $250
Buckets/brushes/tyvek suits/respirator/sanding discs - $300-$500
Misc $100-300

 

[Scott Danforth]

And if you dont have the tools

Shop vac $100-$120
Multi tool $100
Sawzall $150
4.5" grinder $100
Circular saw $90
Drill motor $75
Air compressor $250
Drills/bits/blades/discs $100-$200

 

[samer0214]

I realized I've been asking about this boat, and hadn't posted actual pictures of the whole thing. so here goes.

 

[samer0214]

I also took pictures of the transom, but unless I'm missing something, it looks like the transom is made of fiberglass and not wood. Am I right in thinking that it's OK and that I don't have to worry about wood rot there?

 

[tpenfield]

Wood core . . . fiberglass coated. I think there have been some restorations of Celebrity boats in the past. So, you could search the restoration forum for some specific guidance and some pictures of what's ahead.

 

[Chris51280]

Here is a list of what it did cost me to get the boat in shape again. Just the rebuild of the floor, bulkhead, tarnsom not the modifications and other misc. things. Prices have changed from 3 years ago. with the current market, add easily 20%

2lbs Foam Kit 80lbs - $264
22yd 1708 biaxial 50” - $183.25
30yd 1-1/2oz mat 50” - $96
6x 435 Poly Resin 5gal - $759
1x ¼ chop strand 4lb - $11.85
13yd 6oz 60” cloth - $79
2x Cabosil 4gal – $45
1x 3M Glass Bubbles 5qt – $9.95
1x Surfacing Wax pint – $6.85
1x MEKP pint – $9.95
1x Halyard Pigment 4oz – $6.80
Non Skid Sand – $17.50
3x Gelcoat white 1gal - $135
50x 32ox Mixing Cups – $31.00
Detail Roller ½”x4” – $7.70
PVA 1Gal – $18.35

4x ¾” 4x8 ACX Plywood - $160
4x 5/8” 4x8 BCX Plywood - $120
4 large tubes of PL Glue - $35
Titebond glue - $20
3M Filter 100P - $10
2x 3M Filter 6009 - 20
3M Mask - $20
Disposable Suits - $20
Brushes - $30
Acetone - $30
Grinding Discs - $30

Total – Approx. $2150

 

[Chris51280]

The guy I bought my boat from said the same thing. "solid floors made out of fiberglass" well, either he didnt know or was just pulling my leg. what i have to say was, the floor was solid but 60-70% of the stringers were in various stages of going back to nature. The upper part of the transom was solid. the bottom not so much.
These boats are put together **** poor to get the most profit out of them. boat building is a tough business and many came and went out of business.
Its the same with cars. they dont build them to last 30 years. that would be business suicide. And there are definitely not enough buyers for boats as for cars

 

[samer0214]

Here is a list of what it did cost me to get the boat in shape again. Just the rebuild of the floor, bulkhead, tarnsom not the modifications and other misc. things. Prices have changed from 3 years ago. with the current market, add easily 20%

2lbs Foam Kit 80lbs - $264
22yd 1708 biaxial 50” - $183.25
30yd 1-1/2oz mat 50” - $96
6x 435 Poly Resin 5gal - $759
1x ¼ chop strand 4lb - $11.85
13yd 6oz 60” cloth - $79
2x Cabosil 4gal – $45
1x 3M Glass Bubbles 5qt – $9.95
1x Surfacing Wax pint – $6.85
1x MEKP pint – $9.95
1x Halyard Pigment 4oz – $6.80
Non Skid Sand – $17.50
3x Gelcoat white 1gal - $135
50x 32ox Mixing Cups – $31.00
Detail Roller ½”x4” – $7.70
PVA 1Gal – $18.35

4x ¾” 4x8 ACX Plywood - $160
4x 5/8” 4x8 BCX Plywood - $120
4 large tubes of PL Glue - $35
Titebond glue - $20
3M Filter 100P - $10
2x 3M Filter 6009 - 20
3M Mask - $20
Disposable Suits - $20
Brushes - $30
Acetone - $30
Grinding Discs - $30

Total – Approx. $2150

I just checked real quick on pricing at retail, and the total is now closer to $3,440, an increase of about 60%. Yikes!

 

[Chris1956]

Chris51280 states that he used 30 gal of resin, for $750. Not sure what he did with all that. He cited 65 yards of cloth and 8 sheets of plywood. That also seems excessive.

The other materials are harder to check. I doubt you will need the non-slip sand, however.

The goal is to bed the stringers into the hull with fiberglass putty, fill between them with foam, and screw a plywood deck to the stringers. Then you cover the deck with 2 layers of mat.

I would make the stringers out of dimensional solid lumber. I would use dry pressure treated lumber, if I could get it. 1/2 plywood is fine for the deck, as you are only spanning a foot or so, and it is reinforced by the fiberglass mat.

Still not sure what he did with the 30 gal of resin.

 

[todhunter]

Still not sure what he did with the 30 gal of resin.

I went through 30 gallons of resin on my restoration too. I'm sure quite a bit of that was waste, as I was 100% a newbie with fiberglass when I started this project, and I made quite a few hockey pucks. I also made a LOT of PB and made big fillets, and PB takes a lot of resin. I'm guessing for someone who knows what they are doing could cut that down to 20-25 gallons.

 

[Scott Danforth]

here in FL, my garbage can was full of trophies (smoldering bucket of resin that kicks with a brush stuck in it)

two of them got so hot they melted the plastic bucket

 

[samer0214]

Looking for expertise on how to get the engine to turn manually.

The registration sticker on the boat is from 2017, so we can safely assume that the boat hasn't ran since then, at least. The head is completely off, so no compression at all, the prop spins freely in a clockwise direction (looking at it from the stern), but will not spin counter-clockwise. There is no provision to put a socket and breaker bar on the balancer, and everything seems to be stuck solid. Goes without saying that I tried to turn the balancer by hand, and that I've soaked the cylinders and pistons in plenty of WD-40 a few times for a few days.

Short of pulling the engine out and breaking it down, which I don't want to do yet, what is the recommendation? Any ideas on how I can get the engine to turn?

 

[Chris1956]

Put a Stillson (strap) wrench on the balancer. if she won't turn over, with the heads off, you have serious bottom end issues. What does the oil look like?

 

[Chris51280]

Chris51280 states that he used 30 gal of resin, for $750. Not sure what he did with all that. He cited 65 yards of cloth and 8 sheets of plywood. That also seems excessive.

The other materials are harder to check. I doubt you will need the non-slip sand, however.

The goal is to bed the stringers into the hull with fiberglass putty, fill between them with foam, and screw a plywood deck to the stringers. Then you cover the deck with 2 layers of mat.

I would make the stringers out of dimensional solid lumber. I would use dry pressure treated lumber, if I could get it. 1/2 plywood is fine for the deck, as you are only spanning a foot or so, and it is reinforced by the fiberglass mat.

Still not sure what he did with the 30 gal of resin.

I did all my fillets with it. I had just enough. I also did a lot of small batches and ended up with some left overs. I could have been more efficient but it seems we are all doing it once and not as hobby every year. the 30gal are not very excessive. Chevymaher used 5 buckets on a 17ft for example. It all depends on your method and how you wrap your stringers. Some use just csm for capping. some use 1708. There are many ways to use the resin and probably over build. But each their own. Sure you can use less and build it like the manufacturer did.
I do have leftover cloth. I got more just in case and didn't want to run out. That's like saying you used all the carpet but had lots of glue left over. Cloth doesn't go bad.
I used 5/8 for the deck because I had spans more than one foot.
If you use dimensional lumber, don't use the green chemical treated stuff. I would say that 90% on here use plywood because you can make bulkheads and stringers more cost effective and out of one piece instead of buying different sizes of linear lumber.

 

[tpenfield]

Start with what you think you may need for materials (Resin, cloth, etc.) . . . you can always buy more as needed. Also, be aware that your resin application methods can save on resin, $$$, and weight, if that is desirable.

I'd try with 20 gallons of resin, even if you end up needing 30 gallons.

 

[todhunter]

Start with what you think you may need for materials (Resin, cloth, etc.) . . . you can always buy more as needed. Also, be aware that your resin application methods can save on resin, $$$, and weight, if that is desirable.

I'd try with 20 gallons of resin, even if you end up needing 30 gallons.

Agree. One other thing to consider is the relatively short life-span of resins. You wouldn't want to buy 30 gallons all at once then drag your project on for 2+ years. I get nervous using resin that is older than 12 months. US Composites puts labels on their resins saying they are only good for 3 months...though I had no problems pushing this out closer to 12 months. How you store your resins also plays a role in their lifespan.

You'll have to balance how quickly you think you'll use the resin with how much you're willing to pay in shipping. I started out with 10 gallons of resin, 50 yards of 1.5oz CSM, and 50 yards of 1708. I ended up buying 10 more gallons of resin 2 additional times (I used 30 gallons total). I was able to locally sell the leftover cloth I had and recover a decent portion of the value.

 

[samer0214]

Put a Stillson (strap) wrench on the balancer. if she won't turn over, with the heads off, you have serious bottom end issues. What does the oil look like?

I pulled the dipstick and the oil looks fine, black in color, still viscous, no hint of any moisture.

I put a Stillson strap wrench on the balancer in both directions, and she still won't turn. Pistons 1 to 3 look to be free, but the culprit is #4 which I believe is rusted shut to the cylinder, as I clearly see a ring of rust at its perimeter where it meets the cylinder wall.

Not sure what happened there but my guess is that water sat in this cylinder with the head off, with the result being what it is. I noticed that when I was filling the cylinder with rust dissolver, and upon checking on it the next day, the level would not go down, meaning that it wouldn't seep past the piston top/wall into the piston rings. On the other hand, the level at piston #1 would diminish. BTW, #2 is close to TDC, and #4 is at BDC.

I have to free up that piston without cracking that engine open yet. What to do? How to I break that "rust seal"?

 

[samer0214]

One week later and 3 different rust removers including ATF, and the engine still won't spin at all! Frustrating as heck. The next thing on my list is remove the outdrive, and see if that frees it up, if not, it will be time to remove the engine and start a rebuild on it.

 

[samer0214]

On a separate note, can someone tell me what this is. It's on the trailer, and pictures are with and without some sort of a gasket.