1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

The upside is that the boat will always be there.

Mine has already been around for a while. I was in SOOOOO MUCH TROUBLE when I brought it home. I can still remember the look on the Captain's face, even with the ever so slight skull fracture and resulting concussion from the skillet incident. I won't go into that here, but I will say, I didn't even see it coming, and a lot of our stuff is light weight, but what scares me is that we have a lot of cast iron from years of scouting and years of camping. OUCH!

I wasn't expecting to be at mine for all this time. I expected a few weekends. Holy Crap! I just realized it's been almost two years since I bought it.

Tall, I've seen some really good work done on yours and even though it has taken you longer than anticipated, you have done everything correctly. I too, was wanting it to only take a few weekends.

LOL, I told the PO (and my boss) that I was gonna pull the engine on Friday one weekend and put it back in the following weekend. I think that would have worked had it only been floor and foam, but then stringers raised their ugly rotten heads, and then the transom thing (I had to duck another skillet with each of these). Only good thing was, the Captain was overseeing most of my work.

It seems that we who can't live with "it will be alright if I just glass over it" are in the same boat sort of speak. I have seen a lot of repairs turned major restorations, all resulting in "brand new" boats. A lot of really good friends, all doing really good work. I definitely fell in with the right bunch of folks! I'm afraid budget will be getting in the way of an early splash date.

I just get antsy when I'm not doing anything. I think it would be all together different if I was in the middle of it.

But I do finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Iiiieeee!!!!

My luck, there will be a train coming my way; I can see the oncoming headlight and hear the horn now!




I had wanted to basically get the structure done and the engine and sterndrive back in and muff it in the driveway, then run it up to the closest ramp for a leak test.

I had actually planned on doing a lot of the interior this fall, kinda spreading out the expense a little. Right now I'm at just over 400$ from putting the engine back in (that's just the transom, bilge, and the back 4ft of floor) and about 1200$ away from being ready for seats in it. But I'll probably hold out and do the entire floor at the same time.

I can see another 500-600$ after that for a couple of back to backs and a good cover (the cover I'm planning on getting before I do the floor in case I have to pull it out of the shop). so the complete upholstery is gonna have to wait. I do have a good friend that I can get to do the interior if I provide the materials. I had planned on making jump seats on either side of the engine cowl and the bow seats and cushions and being done, but the more I look at some others and how they have turned out, I'm really thinking about wrapped panels on the gunnels in matching vinyl.

Man I wish I could win the Lottery! If it was a lot, I'd share so we could all go boating quicker. I've got friends in Illinois, Ohio, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, Georgia, and a couple in Florida, I've got to go Boatin' and BBQ'n with.

 

[mr300z87]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

MP if it make you feel any better I had a wrench thrown into my project yesterday!! I have been ready to shell out the $$s for some expensive Mercruiser parts IE bravo shift cable, Gimbal Bearing, trim senders and a steering cable all which need to be installed prior to the engine. My wife decided she would have an auto accident yesterday in her 1 year old car :Cry:. She is OK, but the money will now need to pay the deductible for the car repairs as opposed to buying boat parts. Have a great day

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

I'm certainly glad to here she's OK!!! Life always intrudes on our Boat Projects, but we always seem to plod our way to the finish. Keep on Plodding!!!!

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

MP if it make you feel any better I had a wrench thrown into my project yesterday!! I have been ready to shell out the $$s for some expensive Mercruiser parts IE bravo shift cable, Gimbal Bearing, trim senders and a steering cable all which need to be installed prior to the engine. My wife decided she would have an auto accident yesterday in her 1 year old car :Cry:. She is OK, but the money will now need to pay the deductible for the car repairs as opposed to buying boat parts. Have a great day

So glad to hear that she is alright Mike! The deductible thing is a bite in the Stern, that is for sure; it actually sucks bilge water! :concern:

I'm certainly glad to here she's OK!!! Life always intrudes on our Boat Projects, but we always seem to plod our way to the finish. Keep on Plodding!!!!

Thank You Wood! We all appreciate hearing good words of encouragement from those that have done this for awhile; you all are the experts and have experienced a lot more than what we can even dream about.
Guess it is par for the course for us newbies.

MerQ; Just heard from the wife, that ours may be rented and the good thing is they are willing to fix the minor things so I don't have to travel an hour each way just to work a couple hours in the evenings, plus side, it's our niece and nephew (who just had their third child recently) who wanted out of the city and are up for contract renewal at the end of this month with a landlord that won't let them paint.

I don't care whether they paint or not; the way I look at it, even if it is not to my taste, it a least shows they are interested in maintaining the house and it beats just setting empty for the occasional showing, with no promise. Really tire of making a rent payment and a mortgage payment at the same time. :happy:

May good fortune come your way on your house, and good fortune to all my iboating family as well! :tea:

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Hi Y'all!

BEAU-TI-FUL here today, but had to work this morning. I had to install a break buzzer at work and program it. Thought it would only take a couple of hours, but I did get home by 1430hrs.

Tore into the 4.3 and pulled the WP out. Got lucky with the busted stud on it. I was going to just drill and use an extractor since it was broken off below flush, but I couldn't find a 7/64" drill at home that would drill warm butter and I really didn't want to drive back to the shop for 5 minutes of work. I ended up using a small center finding bit which pilot was about the same size and low and behold, as I was drilling it burred the bottom of the hole, caught, and spun out the back. Didn't even get to fumble around with an easy-out. #YEAHME!

Did have to run into town to get new gaskets, but the pump is back on and no leaks (so far). I did find out that it is not the exhaust doughnut that I thought; got to run it long enough to warm up and idle (I still have to time it with a light; ears aren't as keen as they once were) and I stuck a knee into the mud and looked under to find that the whole front half of the stock muffler had blown out and was hanging limp.

Guess I'll have to make an appointment at the muffler shop on Monday. With all the hinting around of nice weather, I may get to work on the boat some soon!

Hope you all are doing well!

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Low and Behold; Guess what I woke to this morning (actually, I've been up since 500hrs or so, just looked out the kitchen window when I rinsed out my coffee cup)?



It has been so long since we have had the white stuff!
:violin: Not cool enough to stick to the pavement, but it is really starting to stick to the grass and it is really coming down!


Back in Episode IV, "The Return of the Farmi", :laser: we used to call this "Phenomena Weather" for all animals hoofed or non-hoofed.


Guess I will live vicariously through the photos of those in a more temperate zone.

So guys, hows the weather in Florida? Well I know the weather has been wet in Texas and Oklahoma as that is where all of our weather comes from.

I'm not sure about this :spider:, but I wanted to use it somehow.

I did make another boneheaded newbie comment on a tin can post about a "hooked" boat. Thought it was a literal breach damage and not and "Out of Contour" hull condition. :facepalm:

When will I learn to keep my mouth shut? :tape2:

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

meh, don't worry about the hooked hull.

Until spending time here, I would have guessed a hooked hull was what will likely happen the 1st time I take the Admiral fishing from a boat

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

I would have guessed a hooked hull was what will likely happen the 1st time I take the Admiral fishing from a boat

Whoa JB!, that cracked me up!ound: I know that that was extremely :evil: of me to laugh at the Admiral's expense.

I can see where the "Out of Contour" would have/ could have caused problems. The hull is a Hydrodynamic Surface just as a wing is an Aerodynamic Surface; doesn't matter if it is water or air, spoil it and there are all kinds of turbulence created resulting in undue stress and handling issues.

They just released a report on what brought down one of the aircraft types we work on and is was similar circumstances; an incomplete/ unorganized flight manual along with incorrect actions which caused it to break apart in air.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

I can see where the "Out of Contour" would have/ could have caused problems. The hull is a Hydrodynamic Surface just as a wing is an Aerodynamic Surface; doesn't matter if it is water or air, spoil it and there are all kinds of turbulence created resulting in undue stress and handling issues

For the boat we're talking about, I seriously doubt there is a hook in the hull that is solely (or primarily) at fault for the performance problems the owner described. That boat, w/ the 35hp hanging off a 25hp rated transom, is probably unstable for many reasons, and unsafe, IMO. I doubt that 90% of boaters, regardless of experience, would even notice the effects of a slight hook in the hull of that boat, at WOT or any planing speed.....

Laughter is good. That's how I got the Admiral to stick around this long

 

[theoldwizard1]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Low and Behold; Guess what I woke to this morning ...

In SE MI, I still can not see 99% of the grass in my back yard. Very unusual for this late in March. We had 2 sunny days in the 40s, now followed by 2 sunny days below freezing. Broke a record low temp over night a couple of days ago. Neighbor still have 3-4' of snow piled on the side of his driveway.

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Laughter is good. That's how I got the Admiral to stick around this long

I heard that, but I have always had to duck from time to time. My humor gets the best of the Captain from time to time and the gets frustrated and resorts to skillet throwing (not really, but she's in the galley fixing something for supper :hungry:, and I can use artistic licensing and my imagination to make my reply a little more interesting for all to enjoy).

I have always said, well at least the last 30 years, that I needed to come up with a legacy to leave behind. She thinks I have, as all of our children (and even our grandchildren) have the same dry, warped since of humor that I have attained.

I have been in practice for several decades now and have done my best to watch all the Groucho Marx, Laugh-in, SCTV, Fridays, M.A.S.H., and Monty Python I could to prepare myself for this brief moment in history. I have to include the Three Stooges as well, however I have never felt like poking anyone in the eyes, slapping them, pulling their hair out, hitting them on top of their scull, or running a saw across their forehead ( except for that one time, and I can't get into that right now as it is still in litigation).

In SE MI, I still can not see 99% of the grass in my back yard. Very unusual for this late in March. We had 2 sunny days in the 40s, now followed by 2 sunny days below freezing. Broke a record low temp over night a couple of days ago. Neighbor still have 3-4' of snow piled on the side of his driveway.

Welcome Aboard The! I know. The weather this year is far closer to the winters we use to have when I was a kid, but that was a long, long time ago, and the polar ice cap did retreat for all of those years you know.



As you know, I have left the Boat Restoration business temporarily, as it has been colder than a well digger's ASCOT. I should be buying up materials in preparation, nay, anticipation of my return from Hiatus, but things have been so out of whack at work :juggle:, I need a nap :sleeping: and a drink :very_drunk: after work. Sometimes the later gets in the way of the former, sometimes the former gets in the way of the later, either way it's a win-win!


I did find that I can buy a muffler for 59.99$ and buy clamps as well or I can have one installed for 60 bucks tax and labor...

kinda think that "that's a no brainier"!:decision:

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Well, that was interesting!

One of the company owners got pulled over in a company pickup pulling a flatbed trailer and wasn't allowed to move. We had to make a mad dash over to Tulsa so I could drive the rig back home; a 7hr round trip.

First time I've used my CDL in almost 10 years.

Plus I have to be at work at 700hrs to ship a GV engine cowl in the morning and I've got a Prime Source Inspection on a military cowl tomorrow afternoon.

Hope everyone had a better Hump Day than that! I'm off to bed. Night all!

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Funny thing ! Same thing happened to me . A few years ago my boss asked me to take the trailer for our backhoe and dump truck from his dads back to the office . The trailer was empty . About 3 miles from the office I got pulled over for a random check . I don't have a CDL . He said I would have been fine with just the dump truck but with the trailer I was not legal . Had to call a wrecker to tow me to the office for just 3 miles . :lol:

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Funny thing ! Same thing happened to me . A few years ago my boss asked me to take the trailer for our backhoe and dump truck from his dads back to the office . The trailer was empty . About 3 miles from the office I got pulled over for a random check . I don't have a CDL . He said I would have been fine with just the dump truck but with the trailer I was not legal . Had to call a wrecker to tow me to the office for just 3 miles . :lol:

Years ago when our oldest daughter was just a baby, the Captain's brother had us looking for a couple of culverts for his driveways. I found a couple of overruns from a job site next to one I was working when I wasn't able to doing any farming.

He came over on one Saturday morning and hook up to a trailer of mine and pulled it home. On Sunday afternoon, we drove over into the edge of Kansas to visit with them and watch the race. When the race ended and we were through with our visit, I hooked up to my trailer, which was now empty, and proceeded to pull it back home.

On the edge of Pittsburgh, on the bypass, there were a couple of Hypo's pulling everyone they could and we were one of them. I had 18,000BL tags on, and our trailer was a tandem axle gooseneck. They ended up giving me a couple of Driving Awards before they were finished with me.

Before I could leave Kansas, I had to by fuel and present it to an official to get out of one ticket. Seems that if it had only been 1 axle, they would have let me go on my way without any.

It cost me 78 bucks 35 years ago (which was a lot of money back then) because I didn't have "Not For Hire" on the side of my truck.

Ended up getting 24,000 farm tags (which I had wanted to begin with) which were only 12 bucks instead of 31. Seems the local License Bureau was all about Super Sizing your order and sell you what you didn't need or want even back then.

"Do you want fries with that?" and "would you like to try our Hot Apple Beyond Local Tags today?"

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

So, about the boat rebuild thing:

I have again been snowed under at work. Been working an Engineered Repair on an Engine Inlet that has taken just a little over three weeks while still trying to maintain normal job functions as well. I have looked up so many dash numbers to find out what they are made of and looked at so many drawings, I am more than ready for some Rocky - Intruder bonding time (not ready for glass bonding just yet, just need some boat time).

What I have gotten done today was very little (so far). I went to work on the boat and the battery was dead in the Blazer so it is on the charger and I started to pick up some in the garage. I lost interest in that real quick. I'm headed out to see where the battery is at and hopefully can hook up the boat and move it onto the driveway. If not I may have to move some stuff in the garage anyway and pull out the sterndrive so I can start tearing that down.

If I do that, I'll post some photos.

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Hi everyone!

Not a lot to report on the boat. Did work on the fuel tanks a little Sunday afternoon. Someone had made repairs to one of the bow seat fiberglass supports and had dripped resin all over the top of it. What a mess.

I was worried about the condition of the tanks. Worried that there might be scaly rust and dirt in the tanks. I have one of the sending units which is busted; no wire connection any more and the clear blister is missing. I took the other sending unit out of that tank and looked down into the tank. From what I seen, it looks to be fairly clean with only minor surface rust. I can take care of that easy enough by using a mild acid to clean it up.

I'll use a borescope before they go back in to check what I couldn't see to be for certain. I'm not sure what ever happened to the camera for it. If I new where it was, I'd post some photos of the inside. Not sure if I can use one of the cameras I have or not.

I was prepared for finding really nasty tanks internally. I remember years ago in VoAg, I had an old farm tractor that had sat for years, long enough for the gas cap to rust through. That tank I took to a Steam Jenny and the superheated water and steam under pressure knocked all of that junk loose, plus, with the tank uber hot, when turned upside down and the water ran out carrying all of the crud out with it, any remaining moisture evaporated rather quickly.

I was going to add an epoxy tank kit to each had I had to go that route, glassing in anything that the steam didn't get, but I think I'm gonna get off lucky I think.

Below is the steam cleaner we have at work:


Would have worked like a champ, but I'm glad they are so clean.

I also took and removed all the paint on the prop. It had a lot of small pits in the surface of the topcoat. once I get it prepped, I'll Alodine it, use a MIL Spec or BMS corrosion inhibitive primer and topcoat. The prop was worked over by a prop guru down in Hot Springs and it was suppose to enhance its performance.

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

I'll bet you could clean your bathroom tile grout with that thing really good !

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

You bet SP!

Years ago, when I first started doing construction, we were slow, and to keep from being sent home, I asked my boss if there was anything I could do. He told me to run to one of the duplexes that he had just evicted the renters out of and clean the grout. I didn't even know what grout was or where it was located. The next revelation I had was when one of our tile guys was telling me how to make grout more mildew resistant and harder by adding milk!

Boy, sometimes I'm just far too literal!

 

[Mud Puppy]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

With the cool and rainy weather we have had this week it has put a real dampener on what I had planned outside, so I have been working on trying to figure out the rat's nest (wiring) under the helm.

When I get to that phase, I'll have a day of work under there for sure. I'm planning on installing circuit breakers, Hot Buss, and Neg. Buss terminal strips to help clean up the clutter:












I have sharpened the drafting pencils my mouse uses and gotten out my virtual drafting board and I am plotting to take over the world; actually just the wiring and I'm not ready to go to the plotter yet, since my mouse's drawing isn't complete yet.

Hopefully this week I'll be able to fix the miss in the Blazer, get another ER sent of to our Prime, and maybe get the boat back to the shop.

The Captain has informed me our oldest Ensign has planned family pictures so this weekend is preplanned. Hope all the little cadets are there! Sometimes living so far from home is a real hard thing to deal with, not like being 10 minutes away.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: 1971 17' Invader Tri-Hull Restoration, The Madness Begins

Wiring improvements look good . . . just noticed the hornet's nest in one of the pics. I wonder if the former residents will come back :noidea: