1990 Steiger Craft transom investigation

[jc55]

On to finish up the documentation!!! Here's the Bilge. I have a primary and a back up Rule 1500 wired to separate batteries. The back up is on an aluminum bracket I made and both pumps discharge through a "Y-valve".

I installed a remote station with bus bars at the stern fed by 4 gauge battery cables from the pilot house. (You get cheap fuse holders and automotive wiring on the most expensive jack plate you can buy)...but I digress. I can add a kicker here, jump start other boats, or attach my portable bilge pump.

My solar controller and the new seat cushions Woodonglass made for me!

Under the seat, The little bosch style relay energizes when the ignition is on to kick off the solar feed. That way, the panel and alternator aren't feeding batteries at the same time.

I deleted the scuppers and added pluggable deck drains down into the bilge until I know how the waterline is affected with the new motor. I can add scuppers next season if needed.

I had theses storage boxes repainted. The hatches were bad, so I let them soak in bleach and they're 10x better...

My custom alarm system(LED in top left corner) tells me whenever the door, hatches, or outboard alarms are open. New gauges, and "secret" toggle switch security functions. The Navsea sticker is from her commercial days as an ordinance recovery with side scan sonar...how cool a legacy is that!

I made a new thresh hold from marine ply, then several coats of Rustoleum white. I glued it in with 3M 5200. The less holes in the deck the better. The last one didn't rot but I destroyed it getting it out.

New hatch embedded in 5200. I bolted it in and it seems to be flat enough. Cleaned the excess with acetone and I'll run a final bead of Life Calk when it cures in 3 or 4 months Hopefully that sounds right?

Tying up loose ends and waiting for the weather to break!!!

 

[kcassells]

Man JC that is some mighty nice looking work! Everything looks great. Dig that solar too!

 

[Mark72233]

The Navsea thing is pretty cool. Its at the Navy base here in my hometown Panama City,Florida. Lots of cool stuff there. I work in law enforcement here and was on our SWAT team for 15 years and we trained on their base a few times and got to take some tours of the areas were they are developing some pretty neat stuff used by the different branches of our military special forces. You got a nice boat and looking great, I wish I was as far along as you.

 

[jc55]

Thank you KC and Mark!

You have a pretty interesting background, Mark. I did 8 1/2 years in the Navy but Jacksonville is about as far south as I've ever been in Florida. That's something about you having been SWAT. You just never know a person's background sometimes. Very cool.

 

[kcassells]

Yea that is cool about this site. Guys just tearing up boats and yappin.
And behind that is/are a lot of cool real people with sooo many various backgrounds and history
that just blows you away when you just get to read a snippet of who or what they do or did.
Like JC said Very Cool!

 

[johnnybgood]

New to forum. Have been following your progress and you have done a fantastic job. I was recently given a 1994 21' Steiger I/O Block Island which will need a similar rebuild as you did. This boat has been sitting up for 15 years with no cover no in board engine so the deck is soft in spots. Plan is to convert to 4 stroke outboard. So far my son and I have cut the transom down and found the outer 3/4 ply was rotted on the left side the inner ply looks good and is secure to the inner fiberglass. Looks like water leaked in from the top of the transom. Plan is to replace the rotted section and fill the out drive hole re-glass the outer skin. Will start floor remove this week if weather is good, have no idea what we will find. Gas tank still has 1/2 tank of gas so may luck out and have a good tank. Do you have an idea as to how much epoxy resin and glass you used in your rebuild? Found a company here in SC that sells it in 5 gallon buckets. Like you I would never be able to afford a Steiger

 

[jc55]

Sweet, thanks for posting! You're the reason I'm documenting...because Steiger crafts are cool and there aren't many builds. I'm by no means an expert, but may be able to weigh in on some Steiger specifics. Please do start a build thread with lots of pics. I am particularly interested in your I/O stringer layout.
Usually, Block Islands come in 23'. I found a 21' Block Island on ebay, somewhere in Tennessee. A very neat looking boat and I almost went down to buy it.

My transom rotted from the top down as well. The good news is that you should have all fiberglass stringers. That's where I'm curious to see if you have the wide stringers that meet the transom like mine did, or if they have wood for the motor mount's reinforcement.

I encapsulated each deck section, and transom top sides and bottom before installing. Including tabbing, fillets, and some gunwale repair, I used 12 gallons of polyester resin. I used maybe a quart of epoxy for over drilling and filling all deck and transom holes. I bought a 115lb role of 1708 did my whole 15' Sport Craft, the Steiger Craft and have some left over so I can't give you an exact. I also used about 12 yards of 1.5 CSM, 50" wide, and about 4 gallons of Cabosil.

Hope that helps!

 

[johnnybgood]

I never heard of Steiger Craft here in Charleston SC my sons girlfriends parents had this sitting in their yard with the plans of putting an engine in it and never did anything with it. They wanted it out of the yard so luck would have it I got it. I was very impressed with the lay out, lines and construction. My 84 year old uncle moved to this area 7 years ago and ran a charter fishing boat on Lake Erie for years and had nothing but praise for Steiger Craft. Over the course of my rebuild I hope you don't mind my picking your brain for advice. I will try and set up a thread with pictures as I go along. As I am retired this is my son and my project for the summer plus it will keep me out of the wife's hair.

 

[jigngrub]

Looking super sweet there jc!!! It's going to be hard to get you off the water this summer.

 

[jc55]

I would be honored to weigh in on your project JBG. Can't wait to see some pics. Aww Jig, you're too kind.

Had a little time so I decided to try non skidding after the hatch install. Having seen both options on Steigers, I was hoping that it'll look okay. Especially with a matching deck, then the boat is pretty much done.
Taped her off after a good acetone scrub, and I'm using Interlux gray non skid polyurethane...

Pulled the tape after a couple of hours...

And yes, the DNR LOVES my ran together registration numbers which are covered by my bow rail:mod:

 

[kcassells]

Nice color JC, nice work too!

 

[Mikeopsycho]

I really like your boat and all the improvements you're making to her! My licence numbers are on the sides right ahead of the stern of the boat, I guess that's where they were supposed to be back in 1979. I never bothered to replace them with new #s in the correct placement on the sides of the bow, and I've never been told to move them, so hopefully you'll be OK with your rail blocking them a bit.

 

[jc55]

Thank you guys. Interesting, stern numbers? I did the deck last night and am a little unsure about how it turned out. I'll put some pics up later for opinions.

 

[jc55]

Don't know if this was the best idea or not. I really didn't want it to look like a Japanese game show...

 

[ahmincha]

From the pictures I like it. Also very well done

 

[kcassells]

Got my Vote!

 

[nurseman]

Sweet! I like the look.

 

[jc55]

Thanks...nothing a little Ohio River mud can't "fix"

 

[Mikeopsycho]

Very nice! A little mud and a bit of fish blood will really make her 'pop'. :eagerness:

 

[jc55]

About ready to take her to the Suzuki dealer. Pulled her out into the sun for the first time to clean the shop and start gearing up for this summer's project and noticed that the Seastar hydraulic steering is leaking.:blue: Back into the shop, parts on order, and I'll be rebuilding that this week. Better now than losing steering in a critical situation.