New boat project

[Travis71]

I have just acquired my first boat, a 1991 22' Galaxie deck boat that has been sitting in a yard for several years collecting leaves and dirt. It is a major project for sure and I have just started cleaning it up. Time will tell if this was a wise decision or not. I only gave $600 for it and I am having fun getting into it and seeing how it all goes together.

 

[Travis71]

Here's a couple of pictures before and after pressure washing, and after removing carpet.

 

[Ciera2450]

Does it have an engine?

 

[Travis71]

Does it have an engine?

Yes. 4.3L OMC Cobra. I haven't gotten into the motor yet. Just starting with trying to clean up all the debris that had collected over the years of sitting.

 

[Travis71]

Spongy fiberglass deck and rotten stringers

As I was cleaning out the debris from my new boat project (22' galaxie deckboat) I noticed the floor felt spongy and then I realized the wood underneath the fiberglass was wet and rotten around the central storage bin (forward hole in deck in picture below). I opened up the gas tank area and the stringers on either side of the well that it sits in are wet and soft (rear hole in pic below).

I'm not sure where to start in order to assess the extent of the damage. Suggestions and guidance needed and welcomed.

 

[sphelps]

The gell coat seems to be cleaning up nicely!
Now the search begins for rot under the deck and transom ..
Good luck with the restoration and welcome aboard !
:welcome:

 

[chevymaher]

Take a deep breath we all been through it. Drill low on the stringers. If it is wet or black your done. If it is dry seal it with 4200 move on. But you know it i wet.

Read a few threads on replacing everything.

Then you decide if you are going on the extended vacation on denial in Egypt. Or just start restoring it and fix it.

I took that vacation the scenery wasn't that great and I still had to do it when I got back.

 

[Travis71]

I foolishly started a new thread for specific questions about deck and stringer issues, but I am going to keep it all in one place going forward. I have pasted the other thread post here...

I noticed the floor felt spongy and then I realized the wood underneath the fiberglass was wet and rotten around the central storage bin (forward hole in deck in picture above). I opened up the gas tank area and the stringers on either side of the well that it sits in are wet and soft (rear hole in pic above).

I have started going through Friscoboaters thread on his rebuild and I am a little intimidated right now to say the least. I am hoping my transom and motor mounts are still good because they look solid from the outside, but so did his!

So do I just start cutting a little bit at a time to remove the fiberglass floor first and then work my way down to the stringers?

Should I assess the condition of the motor before digging into the hull to make sure it is worth it?

 

[jbcurt00]

I merged the new topic into this 1

Its not likely to be "worth" it, even if the motor and starts and it and the outdrive both run good.

BUT, you already own this boat. Many (most? All?) boats older then 4 or 5 years, and below $5K are highly likely to have the same problems. Some just more well hidden then others. Some owners sell thrashed boats w/out full disclosure or after doing cosmetic work to hide possible problems. Deck-overs and new carpet/interiors are prime examples of sneaky sellers.

Maybe you'll like rebuilding a fiberglass boat, probably better then done at the factory. Making it your own. Many dont, it can be hot, itchy, nasty work.

Dig in and see what its like working on a fiberglass boat and see if you can get the motor to fire (dont forget to run water thru the outdrive (w muffs). Then decide if this is the boat you WANT and that you WANT to rehab.

Maybe the motor runs and you can transplabt it into a better condition boat w a blown motor, then junk this Galaxie. Maybe the motor is shot, but yiu like this style boat, find a junk boat w a good motor to swap into your Galaxie. Countless members have done either option.

At this point you own it, and knowing its got rot, transom to probably, you wont be able to sell it for more then you paid, unless the motor runs great and the trailer is in exceptional condition.

Worth it? Sure in pride and being able to say you've touched ecery inch of it and redone it better then factory. Plus you can spread the costs out, as you need materials, you buy them. Unlike paying 5K upfront for a different, also unknown condition boat or agreeeing to 5-15yrs of boat payments.

Worth it to get all your money back when you sell it? Maybe, maybe not, and either way you're likely to have provided 100% of the labor for free... thats why ya gotta really really WANT THIS boat..

good luck.

dig in and read thru some restos. Most give a pretty good description if effort and time to do it

 

[Travis71]

Well said jbcurt00! I enjoy doing all my own work for the very reasons you mentioned here. My wife and I have remodeled three houses now and we enjoy knowing every inch of the place from the ground up, literally. That's the main reason why I decided to buy this boat especially since it had a low entry cost and lots of potential upside.

 

[Travis71]

So I am trying to learn more about my motor and stern drive set up. I would like to get a new oil filter and fuel filter, spark plugs, plus anything else (suggestions welcomed at this point) I need to try to crank up this motor. I took some pictures of the filters that are on the motor now and also found the model numbers for the motor and drive (I think). I am a bit confused though, because I looked up the model number for the motor at marineengine.com and it specs a different oil filter than what is currently on my motor. My oil filter is easily accessible at the front of the motor on what I think is referred to as a remote mount.

Motor model no. is 434APRPWS
Stern drive model no. is 986032

Both those numbers were on a sticker on the side of one of the valve covers.

There was another sticker on top of the air filter cover that had model no. 986028 printed on it. I posted pictures of all this below as well as pics of the existing oil and fuel filters. I just want to make sure I get the right parts the first time.

 

[Travis71]

I cut into the deck this afternoon just to see how bad it was, and it was as bad as I thought. There appear to be three stringers on each side of the boat. One of them is right next to the side of the boat under the lip of fiberglass. The stringer next to the ski locker and gas tank is resting on what looks like a 2x4 or 2x6 that has been glassed into the bottom of the hull. There is another similar looking structure running right down the middle as you can see in the pictures. They feel very solid to walk on and I am praying they are not rotted out in there.





I am assuming that I can't do any more damage by leaving it open at this point. If nothing else it will have chance to dry out a little bit.

Another question I have concerns the front seating area of the boat. The fiberglass floor is one piece with the driver/passenger consoles and the entire cap of the boat. Am I looking at having to remove the entire cap in order to replace these stringers and the deck?

 

[kcassells]

Yup...…...rotted. total rehab. You can learn all the mechanical while in the time of the rehab.

 

[chevymaher]

I did mine with out taking the cap off. it is a hard PIA that way. If you got the place to get it off I would. I didn't have that choice. I only got so much yard back there.

Getting it out is the hard part. Putting it together was easy peasy with the cap on.

 

[Ciera2450]

The OMC..,.if you’re gonna redo the whole boat, consider new drive and engine. OMC parts are hard to find and expensive. You may be able to find a donor boat and snatch the engine/drive combo.

 

[Chris51280]

I cut my bow section out. It was sagging and after I put a new floor in I will raise it up so my windshield works properly again. I will blend in the sides with tje floor and make it one piece

 

[Travis71]

I cut my bow section out. It was sagging and after I put a new floor in I will raise it up so my windshield works properly again. I will blend in the sides with tje floor and make it one piece

I was wondering if I could just cut that section of fiberglass floor out and patch back in later. I remember reading on here somewhere that anything you cut can be fixed with fiberglass.

 

[Ciera2450]

Chris, thhe bow section was sagging AFTER you put a new deck in?

 

[chevymaher]

I was wondering if I could just cut that section of fiberglass floor out and patch back in later. I remember reading on here somewhere that anything you cut can be fixed with fiberglass.

Be no different that cutting the rear cap by the transom and patching it back in.

 

[Travis71]

Be no different that cutting the rear cap by the transom and patching it back in.

Being a newbie it still sounds weird to say "I am just going to cut through this fiberglass and patch it back in later". By the end of this project I will hopefully be able to say that with more confidence in how it is going to turn out.

Where would you suggest I make the cuts in order to:
1) give me the best access to repair stringers and decking in the front of the boat, and
2) make patching and blending it back in structurally sound, and
3) make it look good