Re: Boat restoration tips
First thing you do is plan, plan, plan, and then figure your budget and time, then increase those by a third. I am doing nothing short of a complete rebuild, and I am converting the boat from a runabout to a center console. Not a small undertaking, but it has gone well due to planning and throwing my theories on this message board to confirm or deny that I have in fact lost my mind. You said you are redecking it, you may find out, as I did, that you may need new stringers and transom, that you may have to seperate, as I did, the upper deck from the hull. You may find out that the foam is saturated and has to be removed. Don't bother trying to dry it, the $200 spent on the new closed cell stuff is more than worth it. I have calculated that I will spend between $1200 to $1500 for my restoration/conversion, which includes new floor/structure/transom/foam, center console and seat fabrication, paint, and other miscellaneous stuff. If I spend more, oh well. If I spend less, yay. This doesn't even include the trailer, which needs new lights, rollers, tires, winch, hitch, and paint. I consider it a seperate project from the boat. I have pics of my progress here, just look for posts with my name or refering to "Project Skanky Beast".