Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

[jasoutside]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

I'm up to the kittywampus page now

Like I said, intelligence of a carp. I warned ya!

Cheers man!

 

[WeldZilla]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

Well I look forward to watching this project come through to fruition. I just love metal!!

WZ

 

[LonLB]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

Any progress?

I felt the same way about the splash well in mine. Way to big. I made mine smaller, but I still don't have that area of the boat done.

I'm converting mine from dual walk thru consoles, to a tiller.

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

Not yet, still using it but that is about done. I will leave one of the boats out through deer hunting season in case we decide to take a Raystown trip for whitetails. I will probably have this boat in the garage and on the tear down stage in the next two weeks.

Loni, I have a VRO pump and a tank that I took off a 86 90hp Johnny to change it over to the 88 spl pump and quit mixing fuel. I would sell it to you cheap, but I would not put VRO back on somehting that was working without it. Mixing is just to easy and it can't break on you.

Funny you are taking dual consoles off and we were just discussing the fact that I have a 15 foot glasser with a walk thru windshield on a donor boat from a previous project. A couple of consoles and we could make the Nymph look like a Superfisherman.

Me holding a fish I didn't catch, in front of my old Starcraft.

 

[LonLB]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

It's a long drive for you, but I would trade the two consoles for the VRO equipment.

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

Loni, I'm gonna send you a PM when I get home from work tonight.

I love road trips, back in the day we picked a guy up thumbing in Medina, OH and took him to Detroit for 2 cases of beer and gas money.

 

[rirory]

Re: Aliminum v hull restoration, how-to's?

Re: Aliminum v hull restoration, how-to's?

Look at my 1966 polara rebuild--i turned my boat into a 20' side console fishing boat. it came out awesome. plenty of pic's in the thread posted---2 lighted livewells, fishbox, rod box, storage, cooler, etc. ---make sure to gluvit or steel flex the inside of the hull---also balance your weight ----good luck---ri rory

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

Course is set. I bought this Tracker console today.

Saw this Tracker today, my splashwell and rear deck will be much like this.

I liked the look of the Tracker with the vinyl on the deck and carpet on the casting platforms.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

I liked the look of the Tracker with the vinyl on the deck and carpet on the casting platforms.

Me too! http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w200/ezmobee/New Boat/IMG_0487.jpg

Nice console!

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

The Sea Nymph is in my garage, with the Johnny 70 on the stand and we started pulling the transom area and the splashwell out. Dang that splashwell is huge, and it is full of foam, gonna be a PITA to get off.

I've been almost a month without a good PC here so all my iboating has been on my phone. I'm gonna be a few days getting caught up.

I got some aluminum cable track from work the I am going to use for framing the fishing platform in the rear I think you'll all like it i will get a pic up soon.

Here's a couple of me and little bro getting her in the garage and starting the teardown, I'm behind the camera, that's brother Mike in the pics.

Brother Mike didn't realize he was clowning for such widespread media attention I'm sure.

Remember my goal is to look like the red tracker in the above pic when done. I'm even thinking of going with that Fire Engine Red paint.

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

!@#$%^& Cabela's discontinued their vinyl for the decks.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boat...ings-vinyl/_/N-1100628&WTz_l=SEO;cat104672880

That makes sense, the product gets 4.8 of 5 reviews so you quit selling it.

This may make a reasonable replacement.

http://www.allvinylfabrics.com/Mari...l-Flooring/Storm-Gray-72"-Wide-Vinyl/558.aspx

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

I spent a few hours on the boat this afternoon, and made some progress toward getting the huge splash pan assembly off. I learned a couple things about this area on my boat.

It is structurally important to the boat and it is full of foam that is providing not only flotation but more structural integrity.

First pic shows port side standing at the transom, with the aluminum removed.

Now we see the foam out and the top piece tied to the hull in 2 places. I intend to drop this support piece down about 12 inches or so and tie it back into the hull again.

Starboard side. I used my new sawzall and a handheld drywall saw to cut the big block of foam into smaller sized blocks that came out fairly easy. I used the back of the sawzall blade when I got close to anything I didn't want to cut and was very careful to stay away from the hull with the sawzall.

I only removed foam down to where I think I can pull the rest of the pan out and get the foam out in one big block. The area under where the saw is sitting is open and holds two 6 gallon gas cans now.

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

There is a lot of boat in this 22x28 garage.

Sea Nymph transoms are really thick. It's hard to read but that is about 2 1/16 thick. It looks pretty soild but is soaking wet. It is suprisingly sloppy in the fit with 1/2 inch gaps at the outer edges between the hull and the edge of the transom. I'll cut the new one to a pattern of the old one and put it back in just like it has been for almost 30 years. I think I will put a couple of knee braces on to take up for the missing support from 2X2X3 foot blocks of foam.

Here's what is on the underside of the rear gunwale from the factory for bolting stuff too. It is soaking wet and held on by two 1/4-20 bolts and the foam.

All of the port side foam was dry, most of the starboard side foam was wet.

I am confident that I can get this rear area to look something like the Tracker above and still maintain tha structural integrity of the boat. There are 2 very big flotation areas that are going to go away and not come back. I'll just have to make sure she doesn't fill with water. I intend to put gas tanks, the starting battery and a livewell in the areas that the foam is in now. I may raise the floor up a couple of inches and try to get some extra foam in under the deck. Does anyone have a newer model boat like this to see what they are putting in them today? I know my 1996 Starcraft Superfisherman didn't have these huge areas of foam and it was a big water boat, touted as "unsinkable".

 

[LonLB]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

Ya, my boat had the same 2" transom. Kind of an oddball size for the DIY'er. I replaced it with 1.5". It works for the Starcraft guys, it should work for us.

The start of my boat's transom area/splashwell reconstruction/rear deck looks like this.
From here I'm going to add angle aluminum on the transom, and this will be what the decking sits on. Then attach that angle to the vertical pieces that are towards the middle. This will brace it to the transom itself. Then an angle brace from that, down to the floor.



This was the plan. My fine paint skills on display and all. LOL

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

lookin' good. very clean.

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

It looks good Loni, thanks for sharing. I see what you mean as far as the angles for transom support, that's a good idea, simpler that fabbing knee braces. I also like the vertical support tieing the gunwale to the deck. If you ever decide you want that VRO stuff it is still here.

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

Rivet by rivet and one panel at a time this assembly comes out, each piece supporting another. When that top piece came out and was no longer tieing the gunwales together the sides of this boat got really wobbly. I will have to put that piece back in and get it back to supporting the hull side to side, even if it is a little lower and further forward as the forward edge of the casting deck.

Down to just the pan, it was spot welded and riveted and I had to drill everything out to get it apart. It looks like crap out, I hope I can clean it up to use it again.

Note to prospective tinnie fixer uppers: Drill the rivets all the way out, if you don't they are still hanging on.

Finally it's all out. The vertical pieces are riveted down through the hull and will not come out if I can avoid it.

There was a knee brace in there after all. I think the splash pan will lose about 1/2 of it's length and go back in a lot like it came out, only smaller. Instead of extending the 18 or 20 inches in front of the transom that it was, I picture it at about 8 or 10 inches. The vertical pieces, the old pan, and the supports you can see on the vertical pieces will all be used in the new casting deck.

Little hints that the transom might be wet.

I found something more gross than old wet foam. It is old fuel soaked foam. Sorry no pics but the further I got into it the rottener it got, so I just wanted to get it all out and gone.

Two tools worth their weight in gold on this project. Craftsman 19.2 volt impact driver, and Craftsman 5hp shop vac. I dumped the shop vac today, this far into the project and it was 3/4 full.

I hope to have a helper tomorrow, and I hope to have the transom out and maybe the CC too.

This boat is going to the car wash for a major flushing out when all the stuff is out of it.

 

[LonLB]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

Did you run this boat before tearing it apart? How did it run with the 70HP on it? (I may have asked this already-if so sorry.)

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

It runs about 33 mph with the 70, with a power prop. I used it from early August until about mid November.

The 70 is the same motor as your 65, a three cylinder with the same displacement. I think the power difference is from carburation, intake porting and exhaust differences.

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Aluminum v hull restoration, how-to's? Lmuss53's 171CC Sea Nymph Striper

The transom is out, thanks to my trusty Harbor Freight 12V winch. The transom is about as rotten as it could be and still stay in one piece. I have what I really need left over though, a good pattern for the new one.

I unhooked the controls, helm, wiring harness, live well and ignition harness from the console, gave it a good wiggle and it broke loose from the deck. It is ready to come out.

I'm about out of room in this garage. I may call the landlord and ask if I can put some stuff in the downstairs portion of the garage, which I know is empty. If not I'll have to start stacking pieces to the roof.