1974 Grady White Restoration

[Derekxj]

Hey everyone!!
So, Im a newcomer, but not a newcomer to the boating world. At only 27,
Ive been around/ on boats my whole life. Always center consoles. A little more about me. I’ve got extensive knowledge of construction, and im currently an architect working in NYC. Ive also got a well rounded knowledge of building anything in general, specifically woodworking. I’ve got a fully outfitted woodshop and just about every tool known to man in that department. I’ve also got some skill when it comes to welding and fabricating. I get creative when I need to. I’ve also been working on cars and engines my whole life, restored a few as well.
About 2 years ago my girlfriend and I purchased this 74’ Grady White C-Atlantic weekender, with a running 90SPL and trailer for 500 dollars as a boat to keep up at her beach house on the north shore of long island on the Sound. ( I live on the south shore ). This past summer, I acquired a Johnson 140 (more adequate for the boat), and put it on and spent some time getting it running well etc. Recently I’ve dove into the electronics, completely rewiring the entire boat with new everything. Gauges, chartplotter, fuse block, mega fuse, dual batt. Setup etc.

Now for the condition of the boat. The boat has clearly been through a battery of A-Hole owners prior to me. The wiring was painful to look at. Someone had JAMMED a 50 gallon steel tank in the stern under the splashwell splitting the fiberglass up top. The floor has a couple soft spots on the port side. The rub rail on the bow of the boat obviously took a hard hit, and is siliconed like crazy by somebody prior to me.
It seems as if I push up under the rub rail, it almost looks like the fiberglass is broken behind it and the top half almost seems to separate from the hull a tiny bit. The transom has no signs of cracking or stressing of any sort, I assume this is a good thing. I’ve been reading here for a LONG time now and am anxious to rebuild this old girl. I have several concerns which I would like to ask for some help with before I even come close to starting.

Anybody have any thoughts, opinions, advice for a new guy on the block? Should I sell this boat while its still worth something and buy something in better shape? Should I bring it back to its former glory? The boat survived hurricane sandy. Right across the street, there were 6-10 footers in the meadowland where the boat was located at the time. The whole trailer lifted up enough for a telephone pole to get lodged underneath it. She's a tank!

See photo’s attached.












Seeing This almost brought tears to my eyes!!

 

[jigngrub]

I would consider every piece of wood rotten on the boat until proven otherwise, especially the pieces that are covered up like transom core and stringers.

Since you have the facilities and skill you should consider restoring the boat if you really like her, GWs are great boats.

 

[Woodonglass]

Soft spots in the deck and an outer transom that looks like that is a pretty good indication that you're going to be doing a full structural restoration on the boat. She's gunna be Full of Foam and on GW's Theres gunna be a LOT of it. It will probably be water logged and if so, It will ALL have to be removed and replaced. The replacement Flotation foam for this boat will run approx. $5-600 bucks. IMHO by the time you're done with a full restoration you'll have 200 man hours of work in her and $1,500 -$2,000 dollars. Maybe more. But a new one would be 10x that much. You sound like you have the skill set, tools and work area to get the job done so now it's just a matter of making the decision and then getting the job done. There's a lot of knowledge here on the forum so you won't have an issue on knowing how to get a task done. We'll be here for you.

 

[Derekxj]

I would consider every piece of wood rotten on the boat until proven otherwise, especially the pieces that are covered up like transom core and stringers.

Since you have the facilities and skill you should consider restoring the boat if you really like her, GWs are great boats.

Yes this is what I was afraid of!! I have the tools, the facilities on the other hand..........I do most of my work on my back / outside in my driveway. There is a slim chance that i will have a garage to do any sort of this work in unless i get lucky and a friend lets me work on it in his garage. Time shall tell. I have a whole lot of confusion on certain things. Mainly, if i pull this deck up, and the stringers are a mess...........okay so now the stringers must come out. Can i take the stringers out without the boat twisting out of shape? No, my trailer is not setup perfectly. Where do i cut the boat? How much money could i expect to spend?
Most importantly...............can i USE the boat for a little while before i start to demolish it in any way? Im completely new to any type of structural boat work and am a bit overwhelmed by the thought of tearing into something like this without someone experienced doing the hands on with me

 

[Derekxj]

I would consider every piece of wood rotten on the boat until proven otherwise, especially the pieces that are covered up like transom core and stringers.

Since you have the facilities and skill you should consider restoring the boat if you really like her, GWs are great boats.

Yes this is what I was afraid of!! I have the tools, the facilities on the other hand..........I do most of my work on my back / outside in my driveway. There is a slim chance that i will have a garage to do any sort of this work in unless i get lucky and a friend lets me work on it in his garage. Time shall tell. I have a whole lot of confusion on certain things. Mainly, if i pull this deck up, and the stringers are a mess...........okay so now the stringers must come out. Can i take the stringers out without the boat twisting out of shape? No, my trailer is not setup perfectly. Where do i cut the boat? How much money could i expect to spend?
Most importantly...............can i USE the boat for a little while before i start to demolish it in any way? Im completely new to any type of structural boat work and am a bit overwhelmed by the thought of tearing into something like this without someone experienced doing the hands on with me

 

[Derekxj]

Soft spots in the deck and an outer transom that looks like that is a pretty good indication that you're going to be doing a full structural restoration on the boat. She's gunna be Full of Foam and on GW's Theres gunna be a LOT of it. It will probably be water logged and if so, It will ALL have to be removed and replaced. The replacement Flotation foam for this boat will run approx. $5-600 bucks. IMHO by the time you're done with a full restoration you'll have 200 man hours of work in her and $1,500 -$2,000 dollars. Maybe more. But a new one would be 10x that much. You sound like you have the skill set, tools and work area to get the job done so now it's just a matter of making the decision and then getting the job done. There's a lot of knowledge here on the forum so you won't have an issue on knowing how to get a task done. We'll be here for you.

Thanks for the info and push to bring it back to life. Im leaning more and more towards doing it, as im the type of person that refuses to be defeated by inanimate objects and will continue throwing my time and money at them until I come out on top. I do it with vehicles too, and about every other project ive ever gotten into big or small. I'll actually lose significant sleep until i know its gotten done my way, and the right way!
It seems to me that there is very little information here regarding grady whites around my year. Why is that that their seemingly uncommon? Even upon searching the model of my boat i get VERY little information across the board online all together.

 

[White90GT]

That is a cool looking old boat. It sounds like you have the skills and tools, aside from maybe the fiberglassing tools and knowledge, but that's what this site is for. I'd go for it if I were you. Could be a cool boat, and when you're done, you will know every part of that boat in and out and know that it is sound and done right. My boat is newer, a 97 Chris Craft Concept 170 that my parent's bought new. I've been the only one using it since new and I've done all the work on it myself aside from the actual transom replacement (done last year). I just replaced the lower unit and replaced the u-joints, gimble bearing, and bellows all this summer. So now I know it is a good boat for many more years to come.

 

[Woodonglass]

Have you tried here...www.greatgrady.com

 

[Derekxj]

Have you tried here...www.greatgrady.com

i have a membership on that site as well. While it seems there is good information there regarding Grady's as a whole, It seems difficult to find guys practically rebuilding boats from the ground up as i see here on the daily basis. This seems like more of a builders forum!

 

[Woodonglass]

Yeppir, this IS THE Boat Restorer's UNIVERSITY!!! You can't find a more knowledgeable place on the net for restoring your boat. PERIOD!!! I'll admit it's hard to find all makes and models but usually if you post up enough pics and what you wanna do, you'll find somebody that's "Been there and Done That" to help you get the job done. Bottom line though is it's always your boat and you'll be the one that has to make the final decision on how and why it's done a certain way. No one can make you do it otherwise.

 

[jigngrub]

When you pull the deck up, boats of equal size are pretty generic no matter who made it for the most part.

Take plenty of pics as you take your boat apart so you can put it back together as it was or better than it was.

Read and study other ongoing boat restos on this forum to educate yourself before beginning on your boat, this way you'll know what to do before you have to do it.

We're always here for tech and moral support.

 

[Corjen1]

Thanks for the info and push to bring it back to life. Im leaning more and more towards doing it, as im the type of person that refuses to be defeated by inanimate objects and will continue throwing my time and money at them until I come out on top. I do it with vehicles too, and about every other project ive ever gotten into big or small. I'll actually lose significant sleep until i know its gotten done my way, and the right way!
It seems to me that there is very little information here regarding grady whites around my year. Why is that that their seemingly uncommon? Even upon searching the model of my boat i get VERY little information across the board online all together.

Yeppir, this IS THE Boat Restorer's UNIVERSITY!!! You can't find a more knowledgeable place on the net for restoring your boat. PERIOD!!! I'll admit it's hard to find all makes and models but usually if you post up enough pics and what you wanna do, you'll find somebody that's "Been there and Done That" to help you get the job done. Bottom line though is it's always your boat and you'll be the one that has to make the final decision on how and why it's done a certain way. No one can make you do it otherwise.

Derek, welcome to "possible" dry dock. As others have said, there is an enormous amount of knowledge here and everyone is more than happy to help!! We all get a certain amount of joy seeing one of our brothers/sisters splash their project!!!!! I can tell you that I have made a couple great friends through the course of my build and I could have not got this far with out them and this site. Im a experimental aircraft builder and tester by trade, and I learn something every day here. Sounds like you have the hand skills to get the job done, the question is the desire. I dont mean that wrong....just that it takes a level of commitment for the boat you are getting ready to see the bones of. What ever you estimate in time to completion, multiply by 2or 3, Life gets in the way. If you decide go down the rabbit hole, post lost of pix and take lots of measurements......its amazing what you will forget during the the down phase and the rebuild phase. We cant help if we cant see it....also no matter what you say you did, its not true unless there is a pix to prove it!!!

Good Luck!! Cool boat by the way.....

 

[Derekxj]

Yeppir, this IS THE Boat Restorer's UNIVERSITY!!! You can't find a more knowledgeable place on the net for restoring your boat. PERIOD!!! I'll admit it's hard to find all makes and models but usually if you post up enough pics and what you wanna do, you'll find somebody that's "Been there and Done That" to help you get the job done. Bottom line though is it's always your boat and you'll be the one that has to make the final decision on how and why it's done a certain way. No one can make you do it otherwise.

Thanks!! Im finding this to absolutely be the truth here. You guy's have some serious skill, skills that i cant wait to start gaining myself!

 

[Derekxj]

When you pull the deck up, boats of equal size are pretty generic no matter who made it for the most part.

Take plenty of pics as you take your boat apart so you can put it back together as it was or better than it was.

Read and study other ongoing boat restos on this forum to educate yourself before beginning on your boat, this way you'll know what to do before you have to do it.

We're always here for tech and moral support.

Im a psycho when it comes to the pictures..........It will be a well documented venture if and hopefully when it happens. I've been reading here and watching youtube videos for probably about a year now. I have a pretty good idea and im sure until i REALLY dig in.....im going to have those pre-demolition concerns. Thanks for the input.

 

[Derekxj]

Derek, welcome to "possible" dry dock. As others have said, there is an enormous amount of knowledge here and everyone is more than happy to help!! We all get a certain amount of joy seeing one of our brothers/sisters splash their project!!!!! I can tell you that I have made a couple great friends through the course of my build and I could have not got this far with out them and this site. Im a experimental aircraft builder and tester by trade, and I learn something every day here. Sounds like you have the hand skills to get the job done, the question is the desire. I dont mean that wrong....just that it takes a level of commitment for the boat you are getting ready to see the bones of. What ever you estimate in time to completion, multiply by 2or 3, Life gets in the way. If you decide go down the rabbit hole, post lost of pix and take lots of measurements......its amazing what you will forget during the the down phase and the rebuild phase. We cant help if we cant see it....also no matter what you say you did, its not true unless there is a pix to prove it!!!

Good Luck!! Cool boat by the way.....

This would be awesome. I've always made friends when doing this sort of stuff however, Id really love to find someone around my area thats been through all of this before that i can ( if i come into trouble ), specifically ask questions or maybe even get a helping hand!. I do have the desire to get it done mainly because its something i want to learn how to do. I do have a bit of attachement to the boat because i love the design. I wish it had a bit more fishing room, and i wish it had other things like a below deck battery box, fish box, live well, etc. Perhaps these are things i can add in when i re-do this old gal. Ive learned since i was basically in diapers to measure 3x and cut once. this will most ikely be autoCAD documented as well, being as its what i do day in and day out, if time is on my side anyhow. Pictures pictures pictures. there will be ALOT of them in this thread. Some useless, some useful.....for all of you to decide.

 

[Derekxj]

Okay gentlemen. Here are some updated photos of my boat. While i understand she needs alot of work, im not going to be able to muster the time or money or willpower to do this project unless i can enjoy this thing a little bit first. Im currently gearing up for a short ( and hopefully successful) blackfish season up on the long island sound. The main reason i have a boat and always have.......is to fish. Sure i'll go out for pleasure at times but mainly i love to fish. I would ideally use the boat a little bit before the winter hits, and then get her in a garage and start the tear down. This way i can form a little bit more of a bond with this thing before i get into it.

For the past month or so i™ve been setting it up for wiring so that It doesn™t go up in flames. As ive mentioned ive got new everything all around.
Additionally, ive been working on the faded, chalky gel coat that has probably been un-maintained by the past few previous owners. Its taken about 4 hours roughly ( on one side ), to get it To this point and I think its coming along nicely. I started with a 3M restorer / cleaner wax on my orbital buffer. ( I did this twice ). I then hit the whole side with a caranauba wax twice.

When I didn™t see the results I was after I went over it again ( twice ), with the buffer and Colonite wax. This got me to where I am.


Here you can see the unfinished side. The chalkiness is actually 5x worse than it looks


Old vs. New












This last shot shows how nicely the bow rail is starting to clean up. Too bad all of the mounts are split on the sides ( and pitted badly), and the front was busted out due to a moron PO putting the anchor line above, not below!!! Ugh.

 

[Derekxj]

Hey guys so a question for you experienced re-builders.

As i mentioned, im going to be using the boat for a little while, prior to dry docking it and gutting / rebuilding the whole boat.
Im currently working on sizing my main cables going to my new 12 circuit fuse block. there are no heavy duty electronics or gear.
Just your basic radios, lights, chart plotter, etc.

A friend of mine who has alot of 12V electrical skill told me that i should me more than O.K. using 18G for everything.
Does this sound about right? It seems a bit thin to me but again, no windless, no blowers.....the most draw i'll probably ever see is from the bilge which will ( hopefully!! ) rarely be on.

 

[mrdjflores]

Thst is a cool looking boat. You've definitely got the best of the best helping you out on here

 

[Derekxj]

Thst is a cool looking boat. You've definitely got the best of the best helping you out on here

Thanks man!!!

im going to finish up the rewire and loading her up with good electronics. Slap some bottom paint on it and fish the hell out of her while I gather courage knowledge and materials to take on the rebuild this winter.

 

[jigngrub]

Knowledge is courage in the boat resto game. Keep reading in the forum and watching other folks tear their boats apart and put them back together... after a while you won't be able to stand it any longer and you'll tear into yours whether it needs it or not.