Hi all, newbie here sharing my fresh project

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

So I've recently received a free 1989 Sea Ray 180

The story goes: the boat was restored in 2014 from the stringers up and well as a fresh powerplant.

The gentleman that did the work used the boat for a little over a year and fell into health issues. Well it has sat ever since.

When I recieved it, it was in pretty rough shape and will need completely gone through again.

Luckily for me it also came with a few inches of paperwork from receipts, hand drawn engineer quality diagrams, and parts lists.

I have stripped the boat down to the deck and removed the engine. The hull is solid and the transom is as well.

I disassembled most of the engine save for the rotating assy. The thing is immaculate and will only require a few electrical parts to get running.

The outdrive will require a little bit of work and the carb is sirzed but I have it soaking in evapo-rust to free it up for disassembly and rebuild which is going smooth. Most of it is moving again already.

I have already found a great deal of information on here and look forward to the help this community can provide. I will attach a few pictures of what I've got going on at the moment.

I don't have much experience with wrenching and marine repair but I was an auto mechanic for a long time and now work as an aircraft mechanic restoring classic fighter planes. My fiberglass skills are almost nonexistent but I am a sponge when it comes to learning new things so I am looking forward to this project.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Welcome!

How confident are you re: the integrity of that transom? Might be worth double-checking, just to be sure.

Best of luck with the restore!

 

[racerone]

I think this free boat might cost a lot of money to be made safe to use.-----You need to verify the condition of transom and stringers.----Wrap the engine up for safe keeping and don't spend any beer tokens on it just yet.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I would be suspect of the painted wood everywhere. that was not a proper restoration.

 

[racerone]

Looks like lots of cheap / rotten plywood in those pictures.-----The term----" restored " -----Is often misleading.

 

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

Welcome!

How confident are you re: the integrity of that transom? Might be worth double-checking, just to be sure.

Best of luck with the restore!

I'm not 100% on it yet, I've tapped around and it's pretty solid as far as I can tell. I will be replaced all of the stringers anyway so if I need to I will. If you have any tips on completely verifying the shape of it besides tapping with a small hammer and listening to it please tell.

 

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

Looks like lots of cheap / rotten plywood in those pictures.-----The term----" restored " -----Is often misleading.

Well it came with a cd that has a lot of pictures as well as information of the guys build. He was very thorough other than sealing up the deck. I'm curious as to if gel coating the finished deck would be more beneficial for prolonging the state of it when I'm done. He also had within the paperwork all of his purchased material receipts and build sheets. I got it from another individual that picked it up from the guy that did the work and I know the transom was also replaced at that time.

 

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

I would be suspect of the painted wood everywhere. that was not a proper restoration.

I'm not sure

I think this free boat might cost a lot of money to be made safe to use.-----You need to verify the condition of transom and stringers.----Wrap the engine up for safe keeping and don't spend any beer tokens on it just yet.

The condition is all bad, I am going to be rebuilding it from the stringers up granted the transom checks out okay. From just tapping around it sounds like it is the most solid part of the boat.

The engine is in the garage torn down to block and heads as can be seen in the picture (the only one I have in it's current state as I sit on the toilet at work lol).

I wouldn't be so sold on the rebuild being that it's not a very valuable boat monetarily. But I have all the tools needed already as far as ppe and fiberglass tools and a bit of material. Also I have 4 brand new 3/4 sheets of marine grade plywood that I've gotten for free so that makes a huge difference when looking at cost but I also know that will not be enough.

The engine to get going I've priced at less than $500 and have a few friends with parts for the engine and outdrive they are willing to throw my way.

All in all as far as cost goes, I will spend more on upholstery to be done than anything else and that is, if I don't decide to just buy the vinyl myself and do it.

This is more of something for me to do while at home. My wife and son are interested in it as well. She was the one that tore the engine down and loved it so it will be fun imo.

I've been wanting a project to mess with and this thing just kindof fell into my lap with access to a bunch of free and reasonably priced parts/materials I've been fortunate to come across.

I do know it will cost a bit, but at bare minimum I'm looking at less than 2k and that's at a middle point in cost (which o think is fair for a boat that is used and I know for a fact is solid, I couldn't buy a good used boat for that much). But I do know that number can go up very easily. Ive put a lot of thought into it and before I go any further I've made sure that I will not be getting in way over my head. If I do I will just put the engine together and sell that to come out a bit on top with the benefit of becoming efficient with my fiberglass skills.

 

[racerone]

You might want to buy new bucket seats and do the upholstery yourself.-----You might be shocked at what the final invoice would be to get it done at a shop.------Yes, if you have free materials , tools and time , and some prayers you can do this.-----I have reason to believe the ARK was built that way.

 

[tpenfield]

Welcome,

Those free boat can be really expensive, but it looks like you are digging into it. As the others have stated, probably not the best restoration from 8 years ago, else the boat would be in better shape.

Engine and outdrive also looks like they will keep you busy.

Following along for your updates.

 

[racerone]

If you do this correctly with quality wood or composite material , then you may end up with a hull that is perhaps stronger and better built that some of the new boats.----Shopping for a new boat might give you " sticker shock "

 

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

Welcome,

Those free boat can be really expensive, but it looks like you are digging into it. As the others have stated, probably not the best restoration from 8 years ago, else the boat would be in better shape.

Engine and outdrive also looks like they will keep you busy.

Following along for your updates.

I agree but with all the free material and whatnot I've priced everything at "mid-range" expense and was very surprised. Engine is in amazing shape save for a few accessory components. The most expensive part for me to find is the thermostat housing. Everyone acts like they are golden.

 

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

You might want to buy new bucket seats and do the upholstery yourself.-----You might be shocked at what the final invoice would be to get it done at a shop.------Yes, if you have free materials , tools and time , and some prayers you can do this.-----I have reason to believe the ARK was built that way.

That was another thing, the captains seats were the best part of the entire boat. After just a small amount of work they're almost brand new. Just a few little spots here and there but I'll take it.

The rest of the upholstery is pretty straight forward and most likely my wife an I will be doing that as well.

 

[todhunter]

From just tapping around it sounds like it is the most solid part of the boat.

That's not going to tell you anything. Drill some 1/4" holes at the bottom of the transom near the drain hole. Drill through the inner layer of fiberglass into the wood core - do not drill all the way through the outer fiberglass skin. Evaluate what comes out - you want light colored, dry, fresh smelling wood shavings. Water, black muck, dark wood, wet wood, stinky wood, etc. are all indicators of rot, and if you find that you'll need to replace your transom. If you do get good wood shavings out of the hole, plug the hole with 3M 5200 and move on to the rest of the restoration.

FYI, I think you'll be looking at $3K - $4K for an upholstery shop to do the rest of the upholstery in the boat besides the captains chairs.

 

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

That's not going to tell you anything. Drill some 1/4" holes at the bottom of the transom near the drain hole. Drill through the inner layer of fiberglass into the wood core - do not drill all the way through the outer fiberglass skin. Evaluate what comes out - you want light colored, dry, fresh smelling wood shavings. Water, black muck, dark wood, wet wood, stinky wood, etc. are all indicators of rot, and if you find that you'll need to replace your transom. If you do get good wood shavings out of the hole, plug the hole with 3M 5200 and move on to the rest of the restoration.

FYI, I think you'll be looking at $3K - $4K for an upholstery shop to do the rest of the upholstery in the boat besides the captains chairs.

This is what I was looking for, I had seen someone mention a "drill test" but wasn't sure what exactly that entailed. I just got home so I will be going out to do this in a few. Thank you for the advice.

I figured I would be up there for the upholstery, but luckily that part isn't that intimidating to me. I figure I'd cross that bridge when I get there. There's a lot to do in the meantime.

 

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

So I brought hope a respirator and tyvek suit from work today.

I decided I'd start cutting a little bit with little sunlight I had left to get a taste.
I will say this is going to be fun.

I'm hoping to get out this weekend to really dig into it but the weather does not look promising.

I most likely will be documenting my progress of this entire project here. My intentions are to get as far as I can with what I have at the moment and go from there.

The engine has been torn down as far as it needs to be to determine what is needed to get that back in perfect shape (less than a few hundred $)

I was going to do the drill test on the transom that todhinter recommended but decided not to until I grab some 5200 from work to fill my holes so it's not able to allow water in, in the case that it is good.

I'm sure I'll forget some thing I should be including so I will probably be updating this. The fatherly duties have taken over lol.

 

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

Sorry for the ignorance but im not sure if and how to edit my original post but I meant to say I don't have experience in marine repair. Wrenching and fabrication is where im strongest.

 

[archbuilder]

I used to have a 1989 185 searay, fun boat. I think you have a lot of work ahead of you on the hull, looks a bit rough, but you never know. Looking forward to seeing your progress. The hardest thing about boat restoring is the grinding and demo....once you get past that everything else is fun!

 

[buxmj]

There are plenty of build threads here done by people with little or no fiberglass experience, myself included. I agree that with your background and willingness to learn you will pick it up quick. The worst part is the grinding of the old glass to get it ready for new glass, if the previous job was done poorly it will be much easier to rip out then you can get right to the grinding. The rewarding part is putting new glass in, I liken it to paper mache, with volatile chemicals. It is great you have that free plywood, you already have saved a lot. Good luck and keep the posts and pics coming!

 

[Dysfunctional_Vet12]

There are plenty of build threads here done by people with little or no fiberglass experience, myself included. I agree that with your background and willingness to learn you will pick it up quick. The worst part is the grinding of the old glass to get it ready for new glass, if the previous job was done poorly it will be much easier to rip out then you can get right to the grinding. The rewarding part is putting new glass in, I liken it to paper mache, with volatile chemicals. It is great you have that free plywood, you already have saved a lot. Good luck and keep the posts and pics coming!

Thanks a lot I've already found some good info on here and am very confident at this point.

I've been pretty methodical with measurements and verifying everything before I started cutting it up. I've also got a bunch of pictures on my laptop to reference if I get into a pickle.

Hopefully I get some time with it throughout this week. I want get it torn down fairly quickly but reasonably since that will be the worst part.