The Waiting is the Hardest Part...

[sopwithcamel74]

Today was an excellent day weather wise; it's a shame that I had to work inside for most of it. But I did get out to the boat during my lunch break, and again after work.

Continuing demo on the rear seat boxes and the remaining foam. Seems pretty clear that someone has tried restoring this area, as some of what I'm seeing seems very unlikely to have been done that way from the factory. There's fiberglass mat, lots of marine/construction adhesive, and off layers of wood that were very poorly glassed over.

I wish I'd swapped out to a new cutoff wheel on the angle grinder ages ago; it's really helping clear out some of the thick layups in those rear seat boxes.

I've also started the process of removing and organizing the wires and cables run up to the helm, as I intend to pull the engine soon.

Only took a couple of pics that aren't worth posting, for the purpose of helping me keep some of the wire runs documented. I suspect that I'll be redoing everything but the harness; hoping that's still in good enough shape to use.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Little bit more progress today.

I feel like I'm taking this thing down to a bare hull one inch at a time. And I believe that I can smell my angle grinder's soul leaving it's body bit by bit.

I'm also constantly amazed by the volume of foam that I continue to dig out of various crevices. Floatation foam or not, the way that it's used seems more structural than not.

I don't know if it's how these boats were designed, but there was a piece of plywood glassed to the hull to serve as the base of the jump seat boxes, and a 2x4 glassed along the side corner. It's an absolute nightmare trying to get this crap out without going through the hull... Slow and steady is doing the job, but it's zero fun.

 

[kcassells]

I found most boat demo tools to be disposable. Factory construction depended on if it was payday and workers came back from the bar.
We have a "I sliced through the hull club" here on the forum. I belong to it lol.

 

[Chris51280]

I went through 3 grinders. I wrapped some filter mat material from work around the vents to keep the dust to a minimum. its the stuff they put on larger electric motors and electrical cabinets. it is not too restrictive. just dont buy expensive ones.

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

I found most boat demo tools to be disposable. Factory construction depended on if it was payday and workers came back from the bar.
We have a "I sliced through the hull club" here on the forum. I belong to it lol.

I'm a member too!

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

Little bit more progress today.

I feel like I'm taking this thing down to a bare hull one inch at a time. And I believe that I can smell my angle grinder's soul leaving it's body bit by bit.

I'm also constantly amazed by the volume of foam that I continue to dig out of various crevices. Floatation foam or not, the way that it's used seems more structural than not.

I don't know if it's how these boats were designed, but there was a piece of plywood glassed to the hull to serve as the base of the jump seat boxes, and a 2x4 glassed along the side corner. It's an absolute nightmare trying to get this crap out without going through the hull... Slow and steady is doing the job, but it's zero fun.

My seat boxes were just a box glassed to the floor with flotation foam of course but there was additional plywood attaching them to the hull under the side panels.
I used my multitool to cut them out flush to that additional plywood I mentioned which fortunately were in great shape.
I hated the fact I miscut the piece in the back but got reused elsewhere, I think I used 4 sheets of plywood.

 

[todhunter]

A multitool is king for demolition. I went with the Bauer one from Harbor Freight. Just buy the cheap blades - I found very little difference in the life of the blade when cutting fiberglass between a $20 blade and a $1.50 blade.

I used a Black & Decker grinder I got on Amazon for under $30 and it did great - never died. Keep your hands away from the flap discs though. I took a chunk out of my finger being careless.

 

[Chris51280]

I also used cutoff wheels going through just the fiberglass part. works good on areas where the wood is dirt.
Using an angle grinder has its challenges and is not without risk. So be careful and use ear protection, glasses and keep your fingers away.
I also have some reminders on me from being careless and clumsy. Just the nature of working with tools

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Same song, different verse.

Got about 1h 45m in this evening after work. I'm definitely in a rhythm, now that I've embraced the idea of chipping away at this bit by bit, and just trying to be consistent with regards to the opportunity that I have.

Felt like I had a breakthrough - I was able to remove quite a bit of those stubborn jump seat bases today. The glass work attaching those pieces to the hull and transom is something of a paradox: about a third of it is phenomenal - incredibly strong and still intact, hell to remove, dry as the desert, while the remaining two-thirds is soaking wet mulch and saturated foam.

Naturally, the rot and wet stuff is hidden behind and underneath the dry, hard-to-remove stuff. I mean, why not, right? Wouldn't want this to be easy, otherwise everyone would do it...

I think we have a couple more days of good weather before the rain is supposed to return. Not putting a timebox on my progress, but it would be nice to wrap up this leg of the journey before the sky opens up again.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Got about an hour and a half in this evening. Was able to get the last of the wood and foam out from under what remains of the jump seat bases.




Not quite as far along on the other side; I'm going to cut away the vent and fill hoses from the gas tank the next time out. With all of the fumes still wafting up from the bilge, I've been wary to do anything that might ignite them.



I got a bit further along than the pics indicate, but by the time I called it quits the sun had set.

Looks like the weather might accommodate some work this weekend after all; they've pushed the rain prediction out a couple days. I've got to take the Mrs. shopping Saturday morning, but I'm hoping to get back to it that afternoon, then as much as I can stand on Sunday.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Another day at the 'office'.



Another day of chipping away - an inch here, and inch there. Fighting wasps, filling garbage bags. Wash, rinse, repeat.

I haven't been at it since Thursday night. And tonight the rains are supposed to return.

I've decided that I'm not going to touch the stringers until I've pulled the engine. Still hoping to do that in the next week or so, but it will depend greatly on the weather. There's still plenty of little things to keep me busy in the meantime, so no worries.

Given the approaching spring, the list of non-boat projects is beginning to grow. Going to be a lot of challenging times ahead to fit it all in, while maintaining my momentum here.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

It's clear out, but also wet and chilly. Spent a little time this morning before things got too crazy at work taking measurements of the boat and my 2nd staging area so that I can begin building a wooden gantry soon - weather permitting.

My wheel/tire combo for the trailer came in yesterday; it's the first step in getting the trailer mobile again.



The ground is mushy to the point that I'm unsure if I can get anything done today, but I'm going to try.

I don't need to move it terribly far across our property to get where I need it; hopefully there are no catastrophic failures of any of the other trailer components during that effort. That sounds worse than it probably is, but I'll know more once I've been able to jack it up and take a closer look.

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

Just remember every little bit you get accomplished, no matter how big or small it is, a step closer to splashing her!

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Thursday the ground was still too wet and mushy to do anything, but Friday it had dried out enough that, with a board down, I could jack the trailer up.

The axles looked ok. The leaf springs look rough, but they're intact. It's something to be addressed a bit further down the road.

I was able to get the first set of rusty studs out without too much trouble. It wasn't easy, but I've dealt with worse; nothing a bit of WD-40 and some effort couldn't sort. Didn't even need to break out the impact wrench as I'd anticipated that I'd need to.



I'm far from an expert on hub assemblies and such; this particular set (the old four stud type) didn't have the expected lug + stud system, but employed a front-driven stud *only*. And as a bonus/surprise, there were 2 different sized heads on them (the things you don't take note of ahead of time, right?). They're gross - I'll wire wheel them until I decide the most logical way forward.

The hub cap/dust cap was also a bit different than I'd anticipated. The outer cap has a slight lip, and install from the rear of the rim, then the whole assembly is mounted onto the hub and an inner cap that actually covers the bearings. The bearing caps that fit onto the end of the assembly have grease spilling out of and from around them, so I'm not sure how well they're sealed.

The grease on the bearings was still pretty fresh, and the bearings themselves seemed well-packed. I didn't get to inspect this stuff as much as I'd have preferred at the time, but - as with the case of the leaf springs - this should be good enough to get me over to where the gantry will be constructed.

With the light failing and the sleet beginning to fall (yep - from the 70's and bright sunshine on Wed to sleet and snow Fri night), and determined to do at least something that pushed me forward before I had to quit for the day, I stuck one of the new wheels on to make sure the clearances were ok with the larger tires and these stock fenders:



Everything looked good from what I could tell; at least good enough for the moment.

I'm still of the mind to charge forward with replacing the whole hub assembly, as I'd been planning. What's there feels cobbled together and antiquated, and isn't something I want to trust when this thing hits the road again. I definitely want to move to a lug + stud system. Replacing the leaf springs is also pretty much a certainty, not to mention refurbishing the bunks, cleaning up/replacing some of the hardware that's rusted over, and replacing all of the shot hardware on the front of the trailer. I haven't ruled out a full axle replacement, new fenders, and a paint job, either.

All in all, more of the same, considering how it's been going inside the boat.

The ground is white now - we got about 3 inches of snow/ice by the time it finally stopped. Not sure what (if anything) I'll be able to do this weekend, outside of refining some plans for the gantry and my outboard stand. If the roads are good I might even grab some lumber and hardware, but I might just take a mental break and relax. We'll see.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Tons of more sensible things to spend the $ on at this point in my journey, but I couldn't help myself... Just snagged the missing pieces for what will ultimately be my stereo system Eventually. Hopefully.

I'd acquired a head unit & four 6.5" 2-way speakers shortly after I got the boat (2018). These were deals too good to pass up on the gear that I wanted. Now, that haul in and of itself would have been sufficient to cover my basic audio needs, but all along I've kept an eye out for a component-matched sub and amps to compliment the core system - just in case.

The right deal on a sub came up a recently, and tonight the same thing happened with regards to a 5-channel amp.

Maybe it's some subconscious attempt to make myself feel better about not being able to spend as much time with the teardown/rebuild; tomorrow I'll have a window to get a little bit done, but there's rain in the forecast for a few more days after that. Having said that, there's is something nice about having a set direction with regards to the various bells and whistles on my wish list.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Here's to more daylight!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take full advantage; longer-than-expected day at work + errands to run before a few stores closed.

I took the trailer wheel that I'd put on back off and did a more thorough inspection of the hub, springs, and axle. The port side hub was, as I'd mentioned a few days ago, better than expected. Bearings were well-packed, and there wasn't an overabundance of rust. The leaf springs really do look rough, as does the hardware tying them to the axle and frame. It'll ride for a bit, but an overhaul of this trailer is going to happen down the road for sure.





For some reason the starboard side was in a lot worse shape, top to bottom and all the way around.



After cleaning it up a bit:



Happy with the way the trailer and boat sit with the new wheels. I took a but of extra time clearing away some of the thick-stemmed saplings that were pretty much anchoring the old tires and wheels in place.

All in all, she's ready to make the move over to where the gantry will be. I've run into a bit of a roadblock on that project, but hoping to get closer to making that happen this week, weather permitting.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

We had nice weather today, so I spent some time organizing and rearranging things ahead of the planned moving of the boat in order to pull the outboard.

However, some of the specifics of that plan have changed, and pretty substantially.

For years now - ever since I've owned the boat, and first determined the scope of this restoration - I'd planned on building both a wooden gantry and an outboard stand. I've done a lot of woodworking over the years; both are what I'd consider easy projects... Fun, even. But at some point over the last few days, and after talking it over with the wife and hearing her thoughts on the subject, my mind began to turn towards purchasing one of those foldable engine hoists instead of going the DIY route.

The main benefit is, quite simply, storage. Yes, I could disassemble the gantry, store the parts, and re-assemble it as needed, but that's really not the most practical solution. The more she and I talked about it, and the more I took into account how limited the space is in my current workspaces actually are, the more the folding shop hoist made sense.

So earlier today I pulled the trigger and purchased one online. And, on a whim, I purchased an outboard stand alongside it. We'll see how it goes - if I hate it, there's an ample return policy. But at least right now it doesn't feel like a mistake... We'll see if the clarity of a new day makes me feel any different.

They're giving rain tomorrow, then we'll supposedly see a few sunny days afterwards. We'll see how long these things take to deliver and for me to get set up. If all goes well, maybe in another week the boat and engine will be separated, and I can start ripping out those stringers.

 

[todhunter]

My cherry picker has been indispensable over the 15+ years I've owned it. I've definitely gotten my money's worth. I was even able to use it to install the (I/O) engine into my boat. I did have to take the wheels off the trailer to get it as low as possible and I still had to re-rig halfway through the lowering process, but it worked. Should be even easier for an outboard. As you stated, storing a cherry picker and using it again in the future will be much easier than trying to reassemble some wooden contraption (not knocking your carpentry abilities - just speaking from experience).

 

[sopwithcamel74]

My cherry picker has been indispensable over the 15+ years I've owned it. I've definitely gotten my money's worth. I was even able to use it to install the (I/O) engine into my boat. I did have to take the wheels off the trailer to get it as low as possible and I still had to re-rig halfway through the lowering process, but it worked. Should be even easier for an outboard. As you stated, storing a cherry picker and using it again in the future will be much easier than trying to reassemble some wooden contraption (not knocking your carpentry abilities - just speaking from experience).

I can admit that part of my hesitation stems from my upbringing. I can very clearly recall my dad and uncles pulling many an engine with chains over a stout tree limb. I honestly didn't know there was another way to do it until he took me to visit an actual shop years later (I was still only around 4 or 5).

I've got at least one other case use already lined after I get the boat on the water. I'm hoping that I, like you, will look back on this as being a sound and worthwhile purchase.

At the very least, it'll free up the time I'd have spent building those apparatuses, and instead devote that to something else that'll move the project forward.

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

The weather is definitely improving, and the extended daylight is extremely helpful!
Bring on the sun and warmth!
I was going to build a gantry so to speak but ended up with a 1/4 ton come-a-long and some 4x4's in the garage which I barely had enough height to do what I had to do.
I only wish I had had an engine hoist!