The Crawdad

[Monterey Dreams]

Hello Everybody,

I'm back, thanks to this little beauty here.

Not much of a boat but it is a boat,

I'm going to do some work to it that is why I'm posting in the restore section.

Take a look and tell me what you think. I got her for a very, very, very, good price.

I've missed you all and am happy to "have a boat and be back here again".
This one fits on my van, and fits in my garage, so everything is good storage wise. I've just had to downgrade my expectations.

Talk to you all soon.

Dave

 

[GT1000000]

Re: The Crawdad

Well hello and welcome back, Dave!
Been a long time, buddy...but I always knew...
Glad to see you back and sporting a fine fishing machine...
Can't wait to see what you have in mind!
Best regards and have Fun!
Gus

 

[oldboat1]

Re: The Crawdad

interesting hull, and great outboard.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: The Crawdad

Great to have you posting again! Looking forward to hearing your plans for that beauty. Would you think I am old and senile if I told you that when I was a pup, I learned to water ski behind a 7.5HP Johnson just like that one? Good luck!

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

Hello Bill, Gus, and to you Oldboat1

Thanks for checking in everybody. I took the "Crawdad" out for a trial yesterday and met a few some unfortunate results.

Firstly, the hull leaks. I found two small ?pin prick? holes in one of the ?keels?

They are very small but they did allow water to enter the boat.
In better light I have seen that he has repaired a few spots on this old hull. He used a soft silicone like substance, I peeled one out with a fingernail. Not a really good fix.

I am going to patch them and go from there

I was thinking of patching them with that Atwood putty that you squish and then it hardens up. I liked using that stuff on "Dreams"

Then coating the entire bottom with that Flex seal (spray rubber stuff). Whadya think? Or is there a Marine Equivalent?


Continued.

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

The little ?Big Twin? Ran problematic. Hard to start and keep running. I already changed the plugs for new Delco?s. (Would have got NGK but they were out of stock).

Motor did not like to run with the choke off. (Carb)

Tank had a little old gas in it? It still smelled like gas and had pressure when I opened cap. I could not dispose of so I dumped new gas on top and went from there. Maybe gas was going bad, he said it was not that old and to my sniff test I believed him.

I was surprised that when I disconnected the fuel/air hose from the tank, the motor ran smoother and it idled better while trying to use up the gas in the motor at the end of the day.

The one of the times we got the motor running without choke, it ran with much more power (obviously). My friend is a big man as well as I am. When I gave full power on the throttle, the boat nose dove (like a submarine) down.

A wall of water came over the bow and into the boat! My friend looked like he got off of Splash Mountain at Disneyland ?. Ha, Ha

Too much weight in front? Should we move the front seat backwards a little? When we did not use full throttle the boat floated great. Shouldn?t the nose come up under full throttle not down?

50 lb Minn Kota was the best part of the boat.

It is only a few months old and it moved the boat with us both in it fast enough to scoot out to the center of the lake easily.

I bought a big deep cycle marine from my friends auto parts store.

Continued.

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

Funny story to go with this; so since the boat was taking on water we decided to boat out to a little island in the little bay we were putting around (the lake being very low because of drought), and Less competition from the guys on the shore.

So we are fishing on this little Island and I go to cast my line and I kid you not, (my pole collapses and then splits in half at the handle for traveling in backpacks), and flies out into the water and rapidly sinks to the bottom of the lake. I am left holding a 6 inch tube of wood in my hand only.

Well since I was a little pi#$#d at this point (and a little in shock) I flung the other piece into the lake and said good riddance.

I grabbed an extra pole and continued from there.

I was using the extra pole that I do not like and not real comfortable with when I got a bite. It is huge, I start to reel it in and my pole bends almost in half? How big is this thing? After pulling it up for a few min, what did I catch, a bass, trout, monster catfish, nope you guessed it I caught my pole and brought it back up.

Darn, am I a good fisherman. (Not):facepalm:

Great, now I got my pole back but the handle has been carried off by the current to the other side of the lake. I guess next time I should not have a temper tantrum, so this was a learning experience.

When the sun started to go down we took the boat back and loaded it into the van and walked around the lakeside and found the other portion of my pole!

God, blessed me and taught me a lesson in one fell swoop!

Dave

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

Bill, I got you PM and we we will start on the motor soon
Dave

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

Hello,

Looking online, it seems the way to fix these boats is with a plastic welder. I have one and am fairly competent with it (but i don't know if I want to go melting onto my new boat). My question is do you think I should try that or plug with the Atwood stuff? I think I'd feel better with the atwood stuff but whatda think?

Dave

 

[fishrdan]

Re: The Crawdad

I used to have one of those and was going to caution you about wear-through in the ribs/keels, but it looks like you found out anyway...

I had to repair mine a couple of times and the kiss of death to the plastic keels are small rocks, sinkers and debris that gets in between the tubes and hull, creating a hard spot, and wears through at the hard spot. After finding out about this, I would roll the boat on it's side a couple times a year, to make sure nothing was trapped below the tubes. Oh yeah, don't drag it on the driveway (AKA 60 grit sandpaper)...

There is practically nothing that will stick to that plastic, and stay stuck. If you think something will work, stick it to the plastic, let it cure and see if you can peel it off... Most everything I tried peeled right off, except for bitumen roofing membrane, (b1tchathane). That stuff stays stuck and won't let go! You have to scrape it off, then dissolve the remnants with paint thinner. The only down is the edges can make black marks on anything that rubs against it, so use it sparingly and down below the tubes. I used 2-3 layers and worked it in.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: The Crawdad

Not sure on the plastic welding, it wasn't popular when I had the boat, though I have one now. It's worth a shot, but I wouldn't expect miracles as many plastic boats don't weld very well.

I'd try it on a piece of a bulkhead, and see if it works, maybe snip off a thin strip of a bulkhead (IE: make welding rod out of the parent material), and try to weld that to the bulkhead. See if it sticks and won't crack off when the bulkhead is flexed.

I think I tried something like this with a torch, and it was an utter failure :facepalm:

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: The Crawdad

Uhmm, try this and see what you think.. Get some ABS Plastic from another source. Legos are made from ABS...and break em up into small pieces. Put those pieces into an empty metal container and pour enuf Acetone in the can to cover the ABS plastic pieces an then Let it set for a while. They'll start to melt an make a paste if it's too runny add some more Lego's. Sand the area to be patched an then wipe it down with Acetone an then spread the Paste over the area. It will bond to the plastic just like PB does to fiberglass. Give it a try!!!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: The Crawdad

We run into some problem plastics when repairing bumper fascias on cars and have used a 2 part plastic repair along with fibeglass dry wall tape to make some of these repairs with varying degrees of success...
The best suggestion I can give you is to look through this link and maybe contact their tech department for some additional advice via email...Adhesives - Adhesives, Fasteners & Sealants - Shop3M

 

[fishrdan]

Re: The Crawdad

I noticed... Someone ripped out the flotation in the back of the boat :faint2: There should be 2 foam block on either side of the outboard, under the bulkhead that is no longer there.



I'm guessing they did this to try an beef up the transom for that outboard. Those boats were rated for 5HP, and isn't that a 7.5 HP on it? As I remember, the capacity plate was on the missing rear bulkhead.

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

Hello Gus,
Thank yous az uzual for yous help my friend. U really is da man!

Fishrdan;

Thank you for your firsthand knowledge on these little boats, I am grateful beyond words that you stopped by.

Woody (i.e. Woodonglass);
Thank you also as usual for your help and advice.


Gentleman, I am going to take all three of your suggestions and try them all, Gus yours involves a phone call to professionals. That is never a bad idea so I will do it first.
Fishrdan, I have that “deck” piece that used to be in front where the guy put his hokey smoke “casting deck”. I will snip a piece off that and try to weld one of the holes with the parent material.

Woodonglass: I am going to try your suggestion on the other hole. I absolutely love the idea of melting and smelting Legos. That kind of carp is right up my alley! In fact that as such a cool idea.

I wonder what the Lego to Acetone ratio should be…..LOL:laugh:

Dave.

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

Fishrdan;

After looking at your supplied photo I have that decking from the rear. I thought that thing went on the front. I do not have any foam.

Yes he really beefed up the transom. A junky job, not Marine plywood, not sealed,just spray-painted but it is thick on both sides of original transom and bolted to each other. It is really stiff and I think it holds the motor fine under full power, no caving in of the boat. That is one project I already sslated for this thing.

Come to think of it I did not see a capacity plate either.

Please keep your suggestions coming in sir. I am appreciative of them.

Dave

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

I need to go to sleep but I will photograph with my camera soon. These photos were taken from the Cl listing.

Dave

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

I tried Fishrdan's suggestion first. I chopped a small piece off and tried to use it as a filler material. It melted fine but would not stick to the hull. In fact the heat melted the hull a little and now my hole is a little bigger! Definitely not going into the water now My slow leak will be a fast one now.

Next trial is Woodonglass's Lego ABS Peanut butter.

Dave:blue:

 

[Monterey Dreams]

Re: The Crawdad

I got a tube of the Attwood Epoxy patch, it said it was made for plastic boats. It seemed to adhere very nicely to the hull. I patched any places that looked weak, I then began spraying the hull with a rubberized sealant. (As seen on TV):facepalm: That stuff seems to adhere very well also so maybe I'll be in luck. It did fill in all the gouges and scuffs when I began spraying on.
I used 2 cans in that one little area so it looks like probably 6 to 8 more. That stuff is supposed to be flexible but we will see what happens.

I don't think I could buy the old seahorse and the Minn kota for what I paid for the whole set. So if this hull is not ok, I will not lose too much sleep over it.
Dave

I'll post tomorrow photos.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: The Crawdad

No go on lego's?