1995 Chaparral 2550 SX Refit and Restoration

[drewm3i]

Well, it is once again time to update this post. The end of last season went smoothly as the wife and I enjoyed the fruits of our labor for the until mid-November, when it was time to winterize the boat. We made lots of long day trips on the Chesapeake and one overnight to a town named Cambridge, about 45 miles away from our home port.

During the 2020 season, one issue we had was the smart tab retractor plates kept breaking due to their flimsy design. Nauticus sent us multiple sets, but they kept breaking so we decided to go with helm tabs for 2021.





I added chrome vents with drainage boxes to keep water out of the bilge.





I added all new stainless cup holders throughout the boat...a huge upgrade over the black plastic ones.





Upgraded helm with chartplotter, new vhf, and remote control:



I also took the original cockpit cover--which had a few small holes and tears--to a canvas shop to be repaired and reinforced and the result was excellent:



Our overnight trip to Cambridge, MD where the full canvas came in handy.





All upholstery, snap in carpet, and canvas are original OEM on this 26 year old boat!



Nasty Chesapeake water makes me miss my home state of Florida!



Cambridge is beautiful though:









Leaving Cambridge to head back to Edgewater.



Thomas Point Shoal on our last day out in November. It was 40 degrees F this day.







Winterization and a clean bilge for a few months winter's nap!

 

[drewm3i]

Beginning in March of 2021, I started to get the boat ready for this season by changing the gear lube, which was dark blue with brown streaks again. I believe this to be ground up copper shavings from the cone clutch caused by the idle being too high when we bought the boat. I do not think it is water because it does not separate from the oil when left in a jar and it seems metallic, but the drain plugs were spotless and there were no metal chunks, only a fine slurry.



After painting last year, the drive looked like this. Note the smart tabs were removed here and ready for Lectro Tabs also from Nauticus, who graciously credited me the amount I paid for the smart tabs because they failed on me a few times!



Drive removed for service.



All appeared good: no water and the u joints and gimbal looked new. The engine alignment seemed spot on with the tool.





Boat work can be rough on the hands...





Drive all painted for this season and tabs installed!





Wire holes were drilled here to not drill into the transom core material.





After everything was back together, it was time to wake her up and see if she still worked LOL!

After splashing, a bit of nagging (slight) vibration was noted. Because everything in the driveline seemed good, I am thinking it is likely the front prop.





This grease and bits of rubber bits though may indicate a coupler in need of replacement however. Note the brand new AGM batteries.



This was wiped down last year, but appears littered with debris now after two outings which included one soft grounding at idle speed. My plan is to start with reworking the front prop and go from there.

 

[drewm3i]

Hey guys, still here and kicking! I have continued to enjoy, use, and upgrade this boat.

1. The coupler ended up being fine. I think it was simply slinging extra grease around.

2. I replaced the gimbal bearing last year. The old one was mostly fine, but I figured why not do it as part of my yearly maintenance.

3. I removed the old ice box and put in a proper 12 volt fridge. With the AGM batteries I use, in addition to adding a dual-bank battery charger with shore power plug in, this set up works great and was very useful when we took the boat to the Florida Keys last year.

4. To take the boat to the Keys, I had to acquire a trailer, which I was able to do through my business.

5. For this season, I have purchased Infinity Luxury Woven Vinyl flooring, which I will install with snaps on the fiberglass floor. It will be nice to finally get rid of the original snap-in carpet, which is actually in remarkable condition considering the age.

6. I also replaced the power steering and engine oil cooler last year as I found some oil droplets in the exhaust.

Here are some pictures:

Thomas Point Shoal, near Annapolis, MD:





Back at the dock:



Upon removing the ice box, I was presented with a bit of a mess from a leaking sink drain. Since it's hidden and not structural, I see no need to fix it. I may inject some foam into the core at some point to add some stiffness and rigidity.



Fabricating trim for the fridge. For some reason I didn't get a picture of the finished battery charger or fridge install:



New foam-backed, faux teak woven flooring:



'New' trailer:





Pulling the boat out with the Durango for the first time:





Waterproofing the canvas:



I had the trailer bearings replaced and also installed 5 new tires. Only problem? It keeps throwing bearing buddies:



En route, got about 15 MPG for the trip on average so lots of fill ups along the ~1,150 mile trek. The truck and trailer did amazingly well.









Made it to the Keys!

Sombrero Reef Light:







Manatees at the dock in the Keys:







Wild Bird Rehab Center in Tavernier...saw my first American Crocodile here!



Matheson (coral rock + local hardwood hammock) House on Lignumvitae Key:



Lazy Days in Islamorada:





Some Keys sunsets:





Bahia Honda:



Made it down to Key West (by car):



At Marathon Marina:



A small nurse shark at La Jolla. Can you spot it?




Attached Images

 

[drewm3i]

Keys Continued:

Sombrero Reef Light Con't.:



Acropora Palmata aka Elkhorn Coral (my favorite coral...always a thrill to see it in the wild these days):



Bermuda Chub:



Lots of Moon Jellies:









Alligator Reef:













Cheeca Rocks:













































Avoiding storms and heading in!





Key West:

 

[drewm3i]

Finally got to go see the boat this weekend and took some pictures of the projects I alluded to above ^.

First up: new swim ladder as our rubber steps were missing for some reason. As you cannot buy steps seemingly anywhere, I simply replaced the ladder for the Keys trip and the new one was very sturdy.



Here is the cheap, $20 120V AC plug I installed. I purchased the plug from Amazon. It has a pigtail and one plug goes to the battery charger, while the other goes to the cabin where I am going to install some GFCI outlets.





20 Amp, dual-bank battery charger by ProMariner. I like these units and have always found them to work well.



I replaced all of the original incandescent courtesy lights (3x) with LEDs:





Here is the new fridge with the trim I fabricated and installed. It's not perfect, but all things considered and with the time crunch I was on, it came out as a 9/10 IMO. Also of note: I put a rug over the original carpet in the cabin and it's also a nice upgrade.



I had to cut/add a vent for the fridge pictured here for it to work efficiently.


The fridge opens both ways AND FORWARD.





I had previously also replaced all of the cabin lights with LEDS, which are very bright. Two of them also have USB chargers built in.

 

[drewm3i]

Well guys, do I ever have some unfortunate news!!!

Saturday night, I was uncovering the boat to do some minor fiberglass repairs. Upon uncolling the cover, I was caught by the windshield being frosted over. On closer inspection, it was shattered into a million tiny pieces!

We have no idea what caused this...hail? A rock being thrown? Freeze damage? The boat was in a lot not near other boats so it wasn't a tree. I found no lingering evidence of any particular theory.

 

[04fxdwgi25]

Nice pics

Too bad about that windshield. Will be "spensive" to replace, IF you can find a replacement.

 

[tpenfield]

Bummer . . .

Not sure Taylor Industries would have something from that era, but you could certainly start there. Great Lakes Skipper as well. Then there are salvage yards.

I have seen some boat glass replacement companies on the Internet, but mostly flat glass. Stuff like this will come up . . .

https://flexafab.com/products/chaparral-curved-glass-boat-windshield-repair
https://www.greatlakesskipper.com/chaparral-boat-3-piece-windshield-51-00181-green-tint-glass-95-3-4

Also search 'custom curved tempered glass' . . . . Do some research and see what you can find.

 

[drewm3i]

Actually picked up another (1994) 2550 SX today and am heading back to MD now. Soul Rebel might actually get totalled by insurance as a custom curved windshield made of tempered or laminated glass by Ocean Dynamics, the company Taylor Made directed me and the adjuster to, is around 11K shipped and installed.

Either way, the broken windshield is getting fixed with UV stable cast acrylic for $580 plus shipping from this company that has been incredibly responsive and helpful :

The Plastics Guy

Sacramento's Premier Plastics Fabrication Shop. CNC routing, Heat Forming, Custom Fabrication, Acrylic Sheets, & Cut-To-Size

theplasticsguy.com

 

[04fxdwgi25]

OK, now you have 3 of them. I am starting to think you are a hoarder, there Drew.

Where in NC did you find that one? I an in the NE of N, 90 min for the outer banks, on the Chowan River.

 

[drewm3i]

OK, now you have 3 of them. I am starting to think you are a hoarder, there Drew.

Where in NC did you find that one? I an in the NE of N, 90 min for the outer banks, on the Chowan River.

Haha, only two! This is the one I was telling you about. I found it on Lake Norman so it's also a freshwater boat.

 

[drewm3i]

Also finally got around to replacing the generic and old yellow key float that came with the boat with this custom, two-sided one from Boat US...over 3 years later . Why is there always something to improve/fix? At least it's part of the fun!

 

[drewm3i]

Time for an update:

Soul Rebel is both fixed and almost ready for the season! I have changed the gear oil, oil, oil filter, fuel filter, cap and rotor, and ignition sensor.

The windshield has also been fixed with the good section from the donor boat! It wasn't an exact fit, but was able to be fitted with some drilling of new holes in the frame. I also had to use the support from the old windshield (ands drill new holes) in order to lessen angle of rake, but all in all, I'm very happy with the result!





I also had the key floats remade as I did not like the black ones. I think the new ones came out even better! If anyone is interested, these are about $20 a pop from Boat US. This "New Eras Bold" is almost an exact match for the vintage Chaparral font!

 

[tpenfield]

Sounds good, but we need to see the new key floats.

 

[drewm3i]

Sounds good, but we need to see the new key floats.

Check now haha!

 

[drewm3i]

Alrighty, time for an update!

Many, many projects have been completed, while some others have begun.

Not sure if I had mentioned it or not, but one project I have been planning for a while is an anchor locker revamp. In 1992, Chaparral introduced a new top cap into the hull form of the whole SX line and with it, the 2350/2550/2750 SX all got an integral anchor locker and walk-through windshield. The problem was that these boats came (to my knowledge) with very heavy, galvanized steel anchors and chain that tend to bounce around in heavy seas and as a result, gouge the gelcoat and foremost encapsulated bulkhead. The first step of this repair was to fill in the gouges with epoxy.







After that process was done, I ordered this FX-7 anchor holder and acquired an equivalent Lewmar anchor, 8' of 1/4" stainless steel chain, and 100' of 1/2" nylon rode: https://www.boatoutfitters.com/danf...rpuR_YGYj9gHBQUTBGIh7JBoCLRUQAvD_BwE#215=4741



Unfortunately, the new alloy fluke anchor was too large to fit in the holder as-is, so I had to cut about an inch or so off of the bottom of the anchor and drill a new hole for the shackle. This alloy is so strong it was almost as hard to cut/drill as steel, yet weighs only 4 lbs.!!! I also heat shrinked the corners to prevent further dinging the locker.





Holding has been excellent. and just as good as the other anchor/chain setup that I also never had a problem with, but handling is now much easier and storage a breeze.

We actually took a trip to visit family on did some extensive boating on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Anchor holding in sand, mud, and even rocks was exceptional and even when we were in 3-5', with an occasional 6-7' following sea crossing Green Bay, the anchor did not bounce around one bit as expected!

 

[drewm3i]

The first stop on the aforementioned trip was Pictured Rocks on the Southern Shore of Lake Superior. We stayed and boated out of Munising Municipal Marina and it was spectacular. The water was incredible and rivaled home (Southeast Florida) in terms of clarity. A bit cold though: the transducer measured about 67 degrees for most of the trip at Lake Superior.

On Day 1 we did a nice little cruise after launching along the coast and that stopped over in Miner's Bay for a snack:

Miner's Castle:

Snack time! Gotta love that fridge I installed last year LOL:

 

[drewm3i]

On Day 2, the soon-to-be in-laws stopped over and we took them to a secluded beach accessible via Trout Bay in the center of Grand Island. Afterwards, we did dinner onshore and socialized with some very nice, fellow cruisers back at the marina until midnight. You meet a lot of great folks from all over spending time cruising and staying at marinas! It is one of the best parts IMO.

Anchored at Grand Island:

Kayaking tourist boats were everywhere.

The admiral...it was surprisingly chilly this day!

Hopped over to Miner's Castle on the way back again for the in-laws.

 

[drewm3i]

Day 3 was the day we finally got to cruise the length of the Pictured Rocks, taking in some of the waterfalls along the way and anchoring at Spray Falls for a freezing swim (forgot my wetsuit, ahh) and a nice, relaxing hour or so. Throughout the trip, I was blown away by the water quality of the Great Lakes. It is just a wonderful place to boat in the summer.

 

[drewm3i]

After a nice afternoon, we hauled out and headed back towards Rapid River, MI, where we were staying. As with anything boating, the bliss cannot last forever and a brake locked up on the way home (only 1 hour) and we had a bearing failure. I fixed it with a new hub and prevented it from happening again by removing the brake plunger for the rest of the trip and trip home.

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I probably spent more time working on this trip than boating, but that's okay. Since I do this for a living, vacation is often the only time available to work on my own personal boat--part of why I'm transitioning into being a marine surveyor!