'76 Magnum Tri-Hull

[tlovelandka]

Alright Boys,

I'm new to posting but I've spent the last month trying to shake the ignorance of boating from my brain... Ha!

Here's my Tri-Hull that has become one heck of an undertaking... It's got an interesting story behind it. This boat still belongs to my grandparents. They bought it in the late 70's sometime, and used it until 1984 (The last year they registered the boat). From '84-'94 it sat, covered, in their back yard. In '94 they moved it to their barn, and it's been there till this past 4th of July. I had no idea it even existed until my grandma mentioned that it was, "such a shame that boat is sitting there". Well this sparked my interest and I started asking questions. The 4th rolled around and the whole family was out at their place so we dug out the boat. My whole family thinks it'd be fun to get it back out and use it, and I've been charged with restoring it back to it's full Disco-loving prime.

Here's some picks of just what it looked like when I got to it. The rats had gotten into it and no lie, there was a solid inch of rat carp covering the whole deck. Good thing there was brown carpet in there to suck up every bit of that smell !!! Man it was gross...

The bow compartment full of rat nest...

Passenger's console

Driver's Console

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

So, I spent my 4th of July cleaning out this boat... We filled up two truck beds full of crud to take to the dump. Anyway, I gutted it as best I could. Thankfully I was smart enough to keep everything for making patterns, as I had yet to find this site to help walk me through my build.

I gotta tell you boys, I would literally be lost w/out you guys.

Oh yeah, here she is... (as you can see I just tossed the seats and everything up on the bow at first)

This is the bilge after I had scooped most of the rat poop mud out. I almost filled up a plastic shopping bag up with the grossness...

So in the process of gutting the boat I noticed that the deck was pretty squishy. Little did I know at the time what that meant... HA (insert evil laugh)
I'm in the middle of ripping the last bit of carpet off the live-well, and to my surprise my foot went straight through the deck. One can only imagine the stream of words that flowed forth shortly after that... At the time I was one of those that thought just laying down new plywood over the top of the old deck would "fix" the problem. Silly me... I was going to be one of "those guys".

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

So here's as far as I've gotten thus far... She's gutted, and I'm ready to rip out the old deck but I figured it'd be a good idea to take it to the motor guy (because I have no idea how to work on the 115hp Evinrude OB on the back), and have him look at it. If the motor is junk then it takes my budget way over what I'm capable of putting into it. He's had it for two weeks and this whole time I've been scavenging these forums soaking up as much as a noob can. I'll definitely keep posting and asking questions when I run into them. The goal is to have it on the water by next season, so wish me luck... here we go!

I have a gut feeling that the transom in rotted too, but my first question is do ya'll think it'll be possible for me to replace the bottom of the transom (at least) without pulling the cap?

Also the plywood deck stops just under the consoles. Will that present a problem of some kind later on? Or will it actually make it easier?

Hope ya'll enjoy watching this journey as much as I have working on it so far. It's funny, even the gutting of the all the grossness was kind of fun. I'm really looking forward to jumping into this thing full force one I get it back from the shop... Till next time

-TLove

 

[88BLiner]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Hello tlovelandka,Good luck witabout the same. My only adviseh your project. I am sure that if you need help you can count on everyone here to help you out. I do not know anything about your boat but most of them are built about the sane way. This site has plenty of info to help you with your restoration. Just read a lot and ask a lot of questions!

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

This site has plenty of info to help you with your restoration. Just read a lot and ask a lot of questions!

Thanks! I've started reading through Oops' resto thread. Word on the street is that one has just about everything you need to know in it. I've only made it about 20 pages into the 100+ there. There's so much to learn!

 

[singinout]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Hey dude! Just wanted to swing by and say hi! Welcome to iboats and bestest luck on your boat! Looks like it could have some potential if someone is willing to put some wrk into it - and it sounds like you're willing! Thats a great start! lol!

Feel free to check out my resto thread!

 

[NoKlu]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Taking the cap off will make the job easier as you will be replacing the stringers all the way back to the transom and it gets awkward back there unless it's off. It will also let you get everything in the front as well.

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Taking the cap off will make the job easier as you will be replacing the stringers all the way back to the transom and it gets awkward back there unless it's off. It will also let you get everything in the front as well.

I knew, deep down, that I was going to have to pull the cap. I pulled the rubrail already and it's just screwed on (and sealed), but it could be worse. When I get it back this week the tear down begins!!!

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

I plan on using poly resin, csm, and cloth . How does one go about making Peanut Butter? Are there different ways to make it?

 

[singinout]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Hey I thot this might be of interest to you....seen it on ebay. Its a little different than yours I think, but its very close.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1968-Trihull-bo...trkparms=65:12|66:2|39:1|72:1205|293:1|294:50

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Hey I thot this might be of interest to you....seen it on ebay. Its a little different than yours I think, but its very close.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1968-Trihull-bo...trkparms=65:12|66:2|39:1|72:1205|293:1|294:50

Right on, The original layout was a fish & ski but I'm wanting to reconfigure it into a more comfortable layout. There's some ideas in that boat I can use... Thanks Sing

-TLove

 

[redfury]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

That ebay boat is scary!

But then again...rat poop an inch thick? You are a braver man than I my friend! I hope you washed your hands like a surgeon!

Popping the cap isn't the worst thing in the world...it's getting it back on that's the chore! I've popped and refit my cap more times than I probably should have had to!

Biggest piece of advice I can give you is this...when removing the fiberglass from areas you are going to fiberglass back over, take the time to make the new mating surface as flat as possible...don't leave excess glass chunks or bumps. All it will do is cause you to have air pockets you can't get rid of and will have to grind out again.

Get a bigger Tyvek suit than you think you need ( they seem to be short in the arms and legs ) with a hood, a good respirator and keep an air gun available to blow out the grinder to keep from burning it up. Flapper discs make short work of fiberglass, but try to cut out as much as you can ( be careful not to cut through the hull! it's easier than you think! ).

If you don't know...ask! Active projects get followed, and answers are quick when it stays in the first page or two on the forums.

I'm trying to be more specific about information when I post my progress as to how much resin I'm using, etc.

Keep a log on www.shareaproject.com or your favorite place to host pictures.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

That boat will be real sharp once you have it fixed up and you already have pretty much the ideal motor for it. Good luck with your project.

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Hey Red, Thanks for the advice friend...

I'm thinking the dirtiest part of this job is behind me. Believe me I scrubbed myself down after being covered in all the nastiness from cleaning it out. The mechanic is supposed to call me back in the next few days and let me know the damage. I'm hoping it's nothing more than the usual from having an engine sit for so long.

As soon as I get it back I'll pull the motor, and probably the cap. After that I'll grab my respirator, tyvek suit (bigger than I think I need ), and my grinder and go to work... I'm really getting excited about this job

-TLove

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Great looking tri hull you got there tlove. Nothing more satifiying than a boat done from scratch. The work will be worth it. Nice job so far.

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Update time!

I got the boat back from the shop yesterday. I took it in to have the Mech's look over the engine and ensure that it was capable of being brought back to life. He had to replace the cylinoid (sp?) just to get it to turn over, but after that he said the compression was good. Only porblem is that only 2 cylinder's were firing... So basically Getting the engine back up and running will end up costing me $900-$1,000 after it gets a new power pack, water pump, rebuilt carb, yadda yadda...

Point being, I decided to continue with my build and take care of the engine/wiring afterwards so I can just have them hook it all up for me.

Also, I've got a sweet pic to show you guys. It rained a few times while the boat was uncovered at the shop, and now I've got my own lake under the deck of my boat! Sweet!!!

-TLove

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

I call this "Lake Magnum"

So I broke out the shop vac and went to work. Don't remember exactly how many times I had to dump all that water out, but it was a lot. Even if that foam wasn't soaked before, it sure is now... Oh well, the plan is for that deck to come out this weekend. Anybody want to guess just how much all that foam is going to weigh when I get it out? HA!

 

[redfury]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

Update time!

I got the boat back from the shop yesterday. I took it in to have the Mech's look over the engine and ensure that it was capable of being brought back to life. He had to replace the cylinoid (sp?) just to get it to turn over, but after that he said the compression was good. Only porblem is that only 2 cylinder's were firing... So basically Getting the engine back up and running will end up costing me $900-$1,000 after it gets a new power pack, water pump, rebuilt carb, yadda yadda...

Point being, I decided to continue with my build and take care of the engine/wiring afterwards so I can just have them hook it all up for me.

Also, I've got a sweet pic to show you guys. It rained a few times while the boat was uncovered at the shop, and now I've got my own lake under the deck of my boat! Sweet!!!

-TLove

I don't know about mercs, so this is a long shot, but my buddy had an evinrude with points ignition, one set per 2 cylinders..one set had loosened up. Resetting the points brought the engine back....something to look into.

 

[thrillhouse700]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

I have kind of the same project about to start here. On a 1975 omega tri-hull. I will most likely decide to follow your thread. That is of course my two partners in crime don't want to just ditch the boat.

 

[tlovelandka]

Re: '76 Magnum Tri-Hull

I don't know about mercs, so this is a long shot, but my buddy had an evinrude with points ignition, one set per 2 cylinders..one set had loosened up. Resetting the points brought the engine back....something to look into.

Thanks Fury, I'll look into that. I've got an evinrude 115 OB on it so your sollution could have some merit. Sorry if I confused you, I said "Mech's" meaning mechanics. My bad... but yeah, the point ingnition on those cylinders could do the trick

-TLove