'67 Holiday 18' - Make it Usable

[Berdink]

Primered it yesterday.
Painted it today.
I mixed Rustoleum Oil-Based Marine Blue with Green. - I'm off on the color quite a bit, but it's just a fishing boat.
Majic says 8oz to 128oz (1:16)
That's 1oz to 16oz.
I used 1oz of hardener to 12oz.
It gave me one thin coat. Hopefully it'll be hard enough by Thursday to go fishing. I'll dig back into it around the end of June

 

[Berdink]

Don't know about too small.........but a 23 yro Chinese tire is a ticking time bomb

So after doing research, I'm on to what you are talking about. I went out and measured and the biggest wheel that will fit under the fender is 12". It appears to get out of a Chinese brand tire, you need to get up to a 14". 14" won't even barely fit under the fender.

 

[Berdink]

Took her out this weekend. 6 hours and not a drop came out of the drain hole when I pulled the plug.

Paint on the floor hardened up good.
I bought a heavy duty large carpet outdoor floor mat - around 60 inches wide by 78 inches long. Perfect width and covers most the floor front to back. This way I can keep doing portions of floor repair at a time and it isn't such a huge project. The gelcoat floor is failing, but the plywood is still really nice.
.
The goal as I mentioned at the outset is to keep the boat usable. Kind of what they call in the classic car forums, a rolling restoration.
.

 

[Berdink]

Just like with my classic truck project, I have multiple ideas all going at the same time for my boat.
I've been trying to figure out how to go to larger wheels and more available not Chinese tire. I've looked at drop axles but I see I have a lot of space between the frame and the axle to where if I went to a 26" tall tire from a 20" tall tire, I'd only raise the frame 3". I think I can easily move the the springs to the outside or inside of the frame and drop the frame back down that 3".

 

[Moserkr]

I was in the same dilemma when I was putting new tires on my boat trailer. I ended up cutting off the old metal fender wells and leaving the suspension alone. New metal fenders were not that expensive and I can fully box the tire in now so it doesnt get dirt/debris on my boat as I drive. Still just need to get them welded on... Is that an option for you?

 

[Berdink]

I was in the same dilemma when I was putting new tires on my boat trailer. I ended up cutting off the old metal fender wells and leaving the suspension alone. New metal fenders were not that expensive and I can fully box the tire in now so it doesnt get dirt/debris on my boat as I drive. Still just need to get them welded on... Is that an option for you?

You know what?! I think I'll try that first and see how the 3" higher feels. I like how low things are now for the boat ramp, but maybe 3" higher won't be that big a difference.
Thanks

 

[Sharpie223]

I'd recommend looking into Carlisle tires. I don't THINK they're chinese, but regardless they're usually reviewed well. They make some radials and are one of the few companies I've seen to rate small tires for freeway speeds.

That said, I would try to fit as big a tire as you can in this case. Bigger tires = lower rpm for the same speed = easier on the wheel bearings. It looks like you have room to raise the fender, don't know how easy that is on your trailer.

 

[matt167]

I'd recommend looking into Carlisle tires. I don't THINK they're chinese, but regardless they're usually reviewed well. They make some radials and are one of the few companies I've seen to rate small tires for freeway speeds.

That said, I would try to fit as big a tire as you can in this case. Bigger tires = lower rpm for the same speed = easier on the wheel bearings. It looks like you have room to raise the fender, don't know how easy that is on your trailer.

Carlisle tires have been owned by Carlstar group for some time now and are no longer a USA tire brand. They had a few lines of USA made tires remaining but not anymore.

Handful of companies make the small floater type trailer tires. Kenda and Maxis are the ones to buy unless a USA trail is still available

 

[Berdink]

Carlisle tires have been owned by Carlstar group for some time now and are no longer a USA tire brand. They had a few lines of USA made tires remaining but not anymore.

Handful of companies make the small floater type trailer tires. Kenda and Maxis are the ones to buy unless a USA trail is still available

Thanks again for this post.
I researched Kenda and things appear good about them.
I ordered a set and they look really nice. And I can't find anything on them about China like on my current carlisle sport trail tires.

 

[Berdink]

Zooming in on another area I think the blue/green is just a previous paint job.

I'm now back at the bottom again.
I'm using heavy nylon abrasive brushes that go in a drill. I didn't want to use any kind of metal brush.
I'm getting it down to shiny aluminum.
Can I leave it as bare aluminum if I don't plan on going in salt-water?

 

[FLATHEAD]

I'm now back at the bottom again.
I'm using heavy nylon abrasive brushes that go in a drill. I didn't want to use any kind of metal brush.
I'm getting it down to shiny aluminum.
Can I leave it as bare aluminum if I don't plan on going in salt-water?

Yes

 

[Berdink]

Thanks for the 'Yes'. And thanks for the 'thumbs-up', Moserkr.

 

[Moserkr]

Thanks for the 'Yes'. And thanks for the 'thumbs-up', Moserkr.

Haha well flathead answered your question, Im just along for moral support. I used those same nylon brushes all over my hull, especially to get the old glue off. Worked great.

 

[Berdink]

I'm doing this underside work with it most the way off the trailer.
The title of this thread is to keep it usable.
I don't want to have my boat unusable for any significant time.

 

[Berdink]

Since I have it most the way off the trailer, I see now that rollers are missing and/or broken.
I'm going to replace them with a bunk.

 

[Sharpie223]

The title of this thread is to keep it usable.
I don't want to have my boat unusable for any significant time.

Good plan!
I'm over two years of my boat parked in the driveway, only run a couple times for testing, my kids are starting to think we'll never use it...

 

[Berdink]

Good plan!
I'm over two years of my boat parked in the driveway, only run a couple times for testing, my kids are starting to think we'll never use it...

Yeah, I've seen it too many times. Especially with classic cars.
'There is that 65 nova still sitting in a field that's going to be a cool hotrod someday.'

 

[MNhunter1]

Good plan!
I'm over two years of my boat parked in the driveway, only run a couple times for testing, my kids are starting to think we'll never use it...

All my boats have sat much longer than I had planned as they await the various steps of the rebuild. I use to get all stressed on the progress and completion, but I now just view it as a hobby. Life gets busy and I see these days with my kids/family as time I'll never get back. Just keep making small steps here and there and it still keeps moving forward.

 

[Berdink]

The classic car hobby people call it a 'driving restoration.'

 

[Berdink]

After sanding those areas down to shiny aluminum and leaving them bare, I took her with some friends and fished all day.
Not a drop of water after pulling the plug.
I'm going to leave the aluminum bare so I can keep an eye on those spots to see if they develop corrosion again.
Thinking back, the first I took the boat after buying it, there was some sort of stingy electric shock I'd get when touching any metal part of the boat. I rewired it soon after. I'm wondering now if that was part of the issue.