I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Fourth of July weekend progress!

With the tree down and the work area cleared out and the boat in its new spot, I started building the gantry. The top of the transom is essentially six feet off the ground and with liberal measurements of the height of the motor, leveler and chain hoist, I figured the beam needed to be 12 feet off the ground to make absolutely sure this thing was gonna be tall enough. Well let's just say, I don't think clearing the transom will be an issue.

Here's a pair of 2X10's just before becoming the main beam. Gorilla Glue sez ya gotta soak one side in water, squirt out the glue, then let it sit for five to ten minutes. So I drank a beer and started taking pictures:

Here's the beam all glued up with TWENTY 5/16" X 3" lag screws. This should do:

After getting the first side assembled I stood it up to make sure it was tall enough. Holy crap. I think I might have overshot just a bit.

Here it is mostly assembled on its back. I figured this was the only safe way to get all the cross braces in place safely since I'm working on this alone.

It's all done and ready to go now, but its still on its back. The guys from work who were supposed to come stand it upright tonight no-showed on me.

 

[nowback]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

you planning on dropping that motor in from up there with a parachute

lol
matt

 

[CBGale2]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Think you have to have signal lights on that for low flying aircraft.

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Okay more progress....

Called some Russians to come over and stand up the gantry for me. Only cost me a bottle of Stoli.

I still haven't pulled the old motor yet, but the guy who loaned me the trailer (where the new motor was still sitting) wants his trailer back, so I figured I'd just set down the new motor on the floor of the boat in front of the old motor.

Here's the motor coming outta the trailer:

Here's the motor hanging:

Here's the motor going into the boat:

The new motor sitting in front of the old motor. Guess I can now say I have a twin-engine Islander!

Gonna go over tonight and start disconnecting stuff to pull the old motor out.

 

[Kainon]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

an Inline 12 !!!! NICE !!!! ..

Think about adding a oil drain hose kit to the pan.. lets you get all the oil out.. also double check the torque on the starter bolts. and look and compare the bushings on the flywheel cover, one of mine is starting to age.

 

[Kainon]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

ps.. I'm looking for another Carb Base Plate ( 2bbl to 4bbl adapter ) if your selling yours, specifically I need the diverter underneath.

-thanks -b

 

[jasoutside]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Awesome moves!

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Got the old motor pulled out and into a different trailer tonight. That feels good.

Found a new leak on the OD when I lowered it to pull it off. That doesn't feel so good.

Pictures to follow, but not tonight. Sleepy.

 

[Kainon]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

good time to get an upclose look at the bottom of the transom

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

good time to get an upclose look at the bottom of the transom

On that subject....

What's the best way to really check the condition of the transom wood? Core samples? How many core samples can I do before compromising the integrity of the wood?

 

[paparoof]

This is now a RESTORATION.

This is now a RESTORATION.

Went to see the boat yesterday and make some decisions about what I'm going to rebuild now and what is going to wait for later. Did some stabbing at the transom wood with a small flat blade screw driver and found a small rotten spot on the port side right where the floor wood meets and touches the transom wood. the floor wood is rotten back there too. It's really a very small area. The rest of the transom is solid, the floors where I peeled back the ugly blue vinyl covering actually looks really good. At this point I was still thinking I'd just get the new motor in and go for it.

I decided to do at least a little disassembly to get a closer look behind the scenes. I removed the port side panel and found half of the foam block behind the side panel had been chewed up and turned into squirrel nesting material. What a mess. Then I removed the cabin door to get a closer look at the condition of the cabin walls and found some rotting on the port wall. I ended up removing front seats and the box over the port side fuel tank and found basically the entire bottom 8" of that wall is mulch. Also found some rust stains on the floor under the port fuel tank. Don't know if that's just surface crap or if the tank is actually compromised.

I already knew I have to replace the structure of the helm, cause it's all expanded and mushy.

It's tough because none of these things would necessarily stop me from going across the water, but these are the kind of things that will gnaw at my conscience and annoy my wife and wreck the rest of the boating experience. There's a distinct fuel smell inside the cabin that just isn't fading with all the airing out I'm doing, so I'm worried there's fuel in the foam or floor wood. There's no way in H*** my wife is going to sleep in that cabin if it has any kind of stink, much less fuel stink, so I have to investigate and get it cleaned up no matter what the cause.

So without further ado, I am here to announce:

This is now a full-on restoration thread.

I'm gonna pull the new motor back out, tear out everything down to the aluminum, replace all the wood and foam in the entire boat, etc.

I've already been calling lumber shops in the area to price marine ply - Menards can order 1/2" for $50 a sheet, but when I asked if it was douglas fir or what kind of wood, he said "I dunno". I'm gonna keep calling around.

I'm gonna get a siphon hose today and every time I go past the boat, I'll siphon out a couple gallons of fuel into my car and burn it out rather than try to figure out how to safely and legally dispose of it. There's about $100 of gas in those tanks, I may as well get some value out of it. When the tanks are empty, I'm gonna take 'em somewhere to get 'em pressure tested so I can decide if I'll reinstall them or not. Sure hope I can reuse 'em - I looked at new fuel tank prices last night - dang!

It feels good having made (and now committed to) this decision. Of course it'll take a lot longer to get to the maiden voyage, but I know I'm gonna relax and enjoy it that much more because I know everything's in good shape. The wife will be so much more excited because everything will be clean and new and not stinky. And we all know.... happy wife = happy Paparoof.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: This is now a RESTORATION.

Re: This is now a RESTORATION.

If the engine had been running when you dragged it home you probably could have gotten some cruising in. However now, you may as well bite the bullet. Tim Fives, Rockoholic, and jasoutside have some good Islander restore threads going on.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

I think you have made a super decision my friend. You have her half apart already, you may as well do it right, right from the start.

Well, the both of us are in for a long road. Not sure what your time line is but I am shooting for next summer to have my tub in the water ready for action.

Have fun bro!

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

No time lines. It takes as long as it takes.

Bought a radio yesterday:

 

[barato]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

good attitude. when you love something no one builds any more, like an alum cruiser or a VW Westy, it's not unreasonable to throw out conventional cost/bft analyses. as Bill Graham said about someone or another: "It's not that they're the best at what they do, they're the only ones who do what they do." there are tons of affordable small cruisers out there....most of em you can't afford to feed, or the payments on the dedicated diesel-dooly tow vehicle....

"Starmada.....we're on a mission from Poseidon"

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

oh great, now I wanna get a VW Westy to tow my Islander....

*smacks forehead*

 

[barato]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

think i'd buy one with a Subaru or Chev V6 conversion for THAT duty....after hauling my mini-Islander home through the canyons of central NM with the Taco, i assume they were towing on some pretty flat surfaces to tow it with a Westy!

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Yeah I know, My V6 Highlander is a *little* under powered for this boat so I can just imagine what it would be like with the little VW 4-banger. I spent a lot of time working on a 72 Beetle back in the day and so far, this project reminds me a lot of that project (motor replacement and all).

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

just ordered 2 sheets of 3/4" (for the transom) and 4 sheets of 1/2" (floors and etc). All marine doug fir. Not cheap, but I don't wanna do this again. and since I'm assuming six sheets of plywood would collapse my roof rack, I might use this as an excuse to go get a cheap 4x8 trailer. My wife is a gardener so she could really use a trailer too.

gonna go over tonight and start removing stuff from the transom to prepare to pull it out. gotta go re-read all the transom-pulling sections of previous threads for helpful hints. Feel free to post up some links here the posts I need to see are all buried in million-page threads.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

You could check my method starting at post #186. You've got the set up for it with the engine hoist you built, or a beefy tree does just fine too

Have fun!