'86 Vip Resto

Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
My Father-in-Law gave me a boat this past year to restore. The original plan was to restore and sell the boat but my wife wants to keep it, so this past week I sold my old 4-wheeler to buy parts. I got outside today and started pulling the interior and pretty much checking a bunch of things out on it to see what needs done. The wiring is horrible! I pulled the fuse panel out and some of the wiring, I'm replacing the barrel fuse holder with ATC style fuse block. I also rewired and replaced the lights on the trailer. The parts I bought so far are Dual CD player with 4 speakers, 2 6-fuse fuse block, a lighted compass for the console, assortment of stainless screws, LED lights for the trailer, bow stop and miscellaneous parts for the bimini top. When I received the boat I noticed that one of the motor covers was missing so I took one off and I plan on taking and having a new one made. I've got to get a new windscreen made for the console cause when I covered the boat I didn't think to raise the center of it up so water pooled in the cover and broke it. There is a lot of small things to address but the main thing is wiring, good thing I like fooling with electrical things. Here is a pic of the boat I will be getting more soon though.

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oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: '86 Vip Resto

wow.....thats quite a different hull...

im looking forward to seeing your project...

welcome aboard !

cheers
oops
 

Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

Yeah it is different! I have tried Googleing images to find other pictures of this boat and found one other boat that looked like this and it was for sale. Now I can't find it...
 

Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

I carried the motor cover to the upholstery shop Tuesday and they called this morning and said the new one was ready. There are a few differences but not enough to complain about, I think they did a good job on it. I'll get some pics of the inside of the boat this weekend so y'all can see what it looks like.
 

Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

On top of working on the VIP I am building a 12' jon boat out of wood. It rained all day yesterday so I couldn't do anything to either boat. Fiberglass should be here tomorrow for the jon boat so I can hopefully finish it soon. I went today and picked the motor up for it and put it on to see what all kind of bracing I'm gonna have to do to it and any modification I need to do to the transom. I think I need to trim the middle of the transom down a few inches so the motor sits in the water more. The jon boat is gonna be used for fishing and duck hunting this next season. Let me know what y'all think about it.


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Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

I got the runners put on the bottom today and cut the middle of the transom down a few inches. I also framed up some seats for it. It's getting close, I can't wait to get it in the water!


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Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

Well I haven't gotten much done to either boat lately, but I did get a new vehicle to tow them with when they are done.

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Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

If building the wooden Jon boat doesn't work out as planned I will be looking at an aluminum boat. Don't know yet though.
 

Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

It seems like every time I wanted to work on either of the boats something came up. I'm hoping that it won't be raining on my daughters spring back so I can get some work done to them, that's next week. I would love to have the VIP on the water in a few weeks so I can enjoy the weekends on the water with the family.
 

Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

I bought a new steering wheel for the boat today. Hopefully it won't be raining this weekend and next week so I can pull the cover off it and do some work. Here's a pic of the wheel.

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Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

Last night when I got off work I pulled the cover off one side and installed the steering wheel. I also installed the 2 back speakers and wired them up. The weather is supposed to be nice around here this weekend so I can finally get some work done to her! :)
 

Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

I put the gauges back in place to take a pic of it.
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Here is the jumble of wires behind the gauges and switch panel.
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Here are a few pics of the engine and some of the interior removed. I'm getting more and more excited about finishing it!
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rickryder

Commander
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Messages
2,722
Re: '86 Vip Resto

Nice lookin VIP ya got there!

I like the jon boat your building too..... one thing if your gonna glass the jon better keep it dry or the glass won't bond well to the wood.
 

ricohman

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 30, 2011
Messages
1,631
Re: '86 Vip Resto

That is a neat looking hull. Do you have any more pics?
 

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
Joined
May 19, 2001
Messages
26,046
Re: '86 Vip Resto

Consider a knee brace on your small wooden boats transom ;)
 

Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

Consider a knee brace on your small wooden boats transom ;)

I put one on after I took those pics. I need to finish glassing the bottom of so I can stick it in the water and see if it's gonna do what I need it to do.
 

Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

Here are some more pics as promised.

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I think I like the way it looks without the windows a lot better than with.
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Bigboyitm

Seaman
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
67
Re: '86 Vip Resto

No pics but I did get to work on the boat today. I traced wires and removed wires that went to nothing. Tomorrow I'm planning on installing the new fuse block and installing the ground distribution block. Once I get that all straightened up I need to make sure that the risers on the exhaust manifolds don't leak. The reason I think it might leak is because it has a rust trail down the side of it, it could be old but I would rather find out before it goes in the water. I still have a few things to do to the trailer before we can take 'er down the road and to the water. One good thing is I live about 1/2 mile from the boat launch.
 
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