77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project--- Help

[ThomasHill]

Hi All, another newbie to this forum but have used it to research what I'm going to attempt. Just picked up a 77 Hurricane thats pretty banged up. My 1st consideration is the dents, dings, gouges and hairline cracks in the hull. My plan is to gut the boat, remove hardware and rub rail, then use a grinder and dremel tool to clean and prepare. I'm thinking of Marine Tex below the rub rail and Bondo Glass above it. After that and getting it all sanded smooth, Interlux YPA200 primer followed by 3 coats of Interlux V127. Does that sound like the right materials to use? The V127 I plan on using topside as well so it all matches.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

Those old Hurricanes were neat boats. Good luck on your project. I don't have any useful info for you as I have little experience with glass other than I used Bondo-glass to fill in a bunch of holes in my engine hood that were left from removing old trim and it was a joy to work with. Plenty of working time, cures fast and sands down easily.

 

[ThomasHill]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

I settled on the Bondo-Glass after reading about it. I have several areas where I'm going to have to mold and shape it to restore the boat lines. One of the front corners looks like it was run into something and got crumpled. Inset about an inch.

 

[ThomasHill]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

So much for a lipstick restoration. Climbed inside for the 1st time since I got it. The front motor mounts looked to be shimmed up with scrap 2 by lumber. The front floor appears to have 2 layers of plywood. So, here goes, going to pop the top, remove the engine, gut it and build a boat. In doing so, depending on what advice I get from you all about fiberglass work, I'll change the interior layout. Remove the jumpseat glass on each side of the engine and put in a full width bench seat with a sunning deck over the engine.
I'll post pic showing the condition as soon as the wife lets me know where the usb cable for the camera is.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

Well bummer about the rot but not exactly a surprise with an old glass boat. Now you can set it up however you want. Good luck and looking forward to the pics. It will be cool to see someone redo one of these old Hurricanes.

 

[redfury]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

I always thought they were ugly, but then I discovered that they may not have the greatest lines in the boating world, but their functionality is right up there. Faster than a 'toon, but with the same real estate up top.

Good luck on it, I'd definitely be curious to see how they layed out the stringers on that.

 

[ThomasHill]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project

Finally found that dang camera cord. Wife uses it for ebay and she was out of town. Yep, without her to find my stuff I'd be lost. Anyway, here's pictures of what I'm starting out with. I only have a couple days a week that I can try to squeeze working on it in but we're going to give it a shot.
The plan is to remove the cap and gut the inside. Flip the hull and repair and paint it. Flip it back and go after the interior. New seating and after reading opps's restore thread, I think I'm going to try and design a console and glass it. Reinstall the engine and drive, repair the cap and away I go.

 

[ThomasHill]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project Pics 4-10-09

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project Pics 4-10-09

A good day today. I got a ton of the deconstruction done. The top cap is loose and ready to be removed. Some of the challenges were the screws holding the cap on. About a 3rd of them could not be removed. I had to physically break the rub rail from around the screw then use vice grips to remove it. Very rusted. Doesn't look like Stainless Steel was used. After that there were about 10 screws I had to drill the heads of.
I'm surprised at how good the engine looks. I could use some advise here. I need to remove the stern drive and engine. OMC 140Hp. Anyone have any experiance. Another problem I see is how to disconnect the steering. I see no easy way. Help would be appreciated. Here's the latest pics.

 

[ThomasHill]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project Pics 4-11-09

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project Pics 4-11-09

Typical of boats theres good news and bad news. The good news is that the stringers are fiberglass no dodged a bullet there. The bad news is after removing the strerndrive it's obvious that the transom is rotted. around the opening in the hull. Has anyone tried the epoxy penatrating filler? If it works as advertized I'll be ok. The fiberglass where the motor mounts has steel plates and the intermediate housing is bolted to steel plates on back of the transom. The only repair I'll need to do in that area is replace the rotted floor that was under the fuel tank.

 

[ThomasHill]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project Question

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project Question

Well, I need some advice. I started removing the floor and discovered someone had replaced it once before. The glass job they did was terrible. I was able to pull the glass up by hand. It wasn't wet all the way through. I've attached a couple pics showing the rot and that leads to the question. On the outside hull the floor was just sitting on top of what looks like a glob of resin. How can I remove that? Also, figuring I'll need to add wood there, what glue do I use to attach it to the hull.
Thanks

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project Question

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project Question

PL Premium to attach the wood. No clue on the glob.

 

[ThomasHill]

Re: 77 Hurricane Deck Boat Project--- Help

You have to have the right tools. After reading the pitfalls about OMC in the engine thread I decided to look around. I found a Volvo Penta 4Cyl that I picked up on a trade. So the OMC is going to be history. Best part is I sold the core to an engine rebuilder and the sterndrives to an outdrive rebuilder. But I needed a way to pull the engine. Constructed a hoist for less then $100. Four 10 ft 4x4's and two 2x8's. Some bracing metal from a salvage yard and some bolts and Voila. I can use it to flip the hull when I start on the bottom.