1964 Renken

[nineteensixtycaddy]

howdy, new to the forum, thought it could help.

I've got a 64 renken fiberglass, bout 15 footer, ski style, wrap around front windshield, closed bow, and top half of a 50hp evinrude.

Floors are gone, seats are gone, wiring is half gone, but here's the good...

It floats and other than that...I dunno if there is any.

I am working on the body, ( I do know woodwork, so patching is nothing hard to me, and I have done some fiberglass work), replaced the front bolt w/ stronger one, and a nice used licence plate for strength. I've ripped out some of the floor, and the rest is coming out slowly, but stringers look pretty much gone. Somebody also put a few screws to hold "sistered" stringers, straight through the hull. So.. gotta patch those too.

Oh.. other "goods". The power tilt works, as does the bilge pump, and the steering works too. Guess it'll come along with time.

that and... I just found two outboards for 75 bux.. that run. A 35 evinrude, and a 60 somethin or other.... The evinrude supposedly runs great, and the other one they tell me has the lower unit locked in forward drive...

any tips on unlocking it?

This is my first "boat" to own, I've driven several others, even worked on a couple, but this one's gonna be mine.

am I nuts? prolly. But I like the look of it, and I just wanna lil ski boat to tool around in and fish. It should handle that I hope

 

[oops!]

Re: 1964 Renken

hey caddy ...


welcome to i boats.

there is quite a few questions in that thread......

first unlocking the lower drive, post that question in the ob motor section.
just about all of us peek our heads up here from the tech sections,..... but our i boats motor guru's will have that thing hummin.

as far as the rest of the boat....post in the restoration forum and well have you fishin and skiling by the weekend.

hows the transom?

cheers
oops

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1964 Renken

I've got a 64 renken fiberglass, bout 15 footer, ski style, wrap around front windshield, closed bow, and top half of a 50hp evinrude.

am I nuts? prolly. But I like the look of it, and I just wanna lil ski boat to tool around in and fish. It should handle that I hope

Are you nuts? Not at all. It sounds like you've got a great project. I love these old boats.

 

[nineteensixtycaddy]

Re: 1964 Renken

Wow, quite a few responses...

will post about the outboard in that section, thanks

transom is fairly solid, actually the strongest part of the boat. I'll be reinforcing it by replacing any dried out boards, and then lining it inside and out with truck bed liner, or similar stuff.

I've started workin pretty hard on the ole girl, stripping all the interior out, down to the stringers, which need some serious sistering, and working on the upper body, with lots of "mud" to get her smooth, then comes primer and paint for the top half. The ole evinrude top half is locked solid, so it's off, and I plan to shim the mounts for the old evinrude to get them to fit the "new" evinrude lark 35. The lark is an OLD model, not quite sure the year, but it's a beauty, electric and pull start, simple wiring, and it almost fired with a lil fuel from a wet rag. Hook it up right, and it should fire just fine.

Also.. took a trip to the local wal mart... got lifejackets, gas tank, battery box, new lights, new tie downs (not sure what these are really called), new fire extinquisher, new stainless bolts and nuts to attach all this stuff, new rubber for the stopper on the trailer, new trailer winch, new roller jack for the trailer tongue, and MAN this free boat is gettin expensive!!!

It's a labor of love though, I'm this far in, and I ain't givin up yet

by the way.. anybody know of a boat dock around Leland/Wilmington, NC that has access to electrical outlets? It's hard to build up a flat trailer into a boat trailer, with a boat on TOP of it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1964 Renken

moving to restoration.
http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,346,00.html

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=245351

 

[nineteensixtycaddy]

Re: 1964 Renken

Haven't posted on this thread in a while either.

As to the old evinrude 50 top half that came with the boat. It's for sale, 50 bucks or best offer. It's no longer locked up, as a little soaking with marvel mystery oil freed it in a day. It even has decent compression / around 115. and I left the power trim on it.

As for the 60hp I got, it's a mariner, and the steering joints were pretty much frozen solid. It didn't want to turn at all off the boat, and was very hard to turn when I mounted it on the transom temporarily. The cover for it was ugly, dented, and patched, and the wiring looked pretty complex, with a box inside the cover and a 7 or so wire connector that went to who knows where. But it had a nice mount, with solid bolts, and no power tilt to worry about, so I decided to hack that off. The lower unit is still locked in forward, if it runs it moves, and it's not attached that well to the upper half, as the bolt holes were "fixed" by the prior owner with some JB weld. The mariner, or what's left of it, is also for sale for 50 bucks, or best offer.

I've decided to run the evinrude 35 lark. I love the looks of it, and the simple wiring, and that it's pull start and electric start. I fried the coils by hooking up the "simple" wiring incorrectly, but have learned enough to know what I did wrong, from another post. I am awaiting coils and a proper starter solenoid, and it should run fine. I did check the compression, around 115 for the top cylinder, and 110 for the bottom. I think that's fairly good for something this old, and within 5psi is pretty close, so I'm hoping it'll run smooth. I've had V8's run smooth with compression varying from 110 to 160. I removed the mount from this evinrude, as it was rusted and busted, and used the mount from the mariner. I shimmed it with several large stainless washers, and put in a new bolt with two nuts to lock it fairly tight, but allow for tilt. The lower lock to hold down the outboard, doesn't match up with the hold down bolts from the mariner mount, but I have a few diamond tipped drill bits, so I think I can drill the mount in a few places, to allow for adjustment of the trim after mounting it.

I'm working out wiring diagrams in my head, for a dual battery system, one deep cycle for the radio's/lights/and horn, and one typical car style starting battery, for the starter. I plan to charge them externally, when in the garage, with a slow overnight style trickle charger.

Other than that, am looking for better sources for good boat fiberglass and resin, and a cheaper source for marine tex, as that stuff is pretty darn expensive!!! The best I've found is around 220 a gallon. I'm also looking to dry out some cabinet grade plywood, in 3/4 inch, to use for stringers and transom, and floor. I dried out a lot of marine grade wood, and may still use it for stringers, but it's all 2 by 4's, and 2 by 6's, so based on weight, it may be better for me to use the plywood. Plus I like plywood, it cuts easy.

I've been reading a lot on this site about the use of marine tex white for fixing scratches, and even gouges and holes. I think that using it along with fiberglass patch, I should be able to replace the patches that were done, the "right" way. and have it look fairly good, as appose to the current mess.

I've also read a lot about using "peanut butter" to bed stringers, and heard that there is a marine grade epoxy in a tube, that can be used to glue stringers down, and glue wood floors to fiberglass, and even seal transom's to fiberglass? What are opinions on that idea? and are they talking about the black stuff that comes with a 4 digit number, 3303 or something like that? (I'm sure I have the numbers wrong). Which works better? Should I try to make peanut butter out of fiberglass chop and resin and sawdust, or should I use the black stuff in a tube? I like the idea of using something similar to caulk from a tube, as it sounds easy, but I want something that will last, and bond well, and yes, even do the job "right".

Any and all suggestions are always appreciated. So.. thanks, and what input do you have?

 

[oops!]

Re: 1964 Renken

oh oh....this is gonna get confusing as youve got two threads on this one.

see the other one

 

[oops!]

Re: 1964 Renken

actually id suggest you pm td and ask him to lock this one....that way you keep the other alive and we can all giude you instead of confusing the heck outta you

 

[nineteensixtycaddy]

Re: 1964 Renken

Please see thread "fast, cheap, and easy" for the continued saga of my boat

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1964 Renken

closed at OP's request.