1977 Cruise Boats Restore

[archbuilder]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Really nice work! How did you prep the stainless for the paint?

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Really nice work! How did you prep the stainless for the paint?

Thanks Arch. I just scuffed the surface well with a fine grit 3M sanding pad, cleaned with acetone, primed with Rustoleum metel primer and then top coated with Rustoleum Professional Enamel (White). I thought about leaving it plain but then thought it would look a little better blended in with the rest of the hatch.

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Looking awesome Greg!

That motor looks better than factory fresh!

 

[drewpster]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Outstanding. Are you going to use rigging tubes in your splashwell for the controls and such? I kind of like the look but I am having no luck finding reasonable ones. Its still going to look clean even if you dont.

BTW- I will be getting to my engine paint this week. Thx for the help. I have been crazy busy the past couple of weeks.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Looking awesome Greg!

That motor looks better than factory fresh!

Thanks Bear. It turned out pretty good. It's not perfect but I was just trying to clean it up and make it look better.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Outstanding. Are you going to use rigging tubes in your splashwell for the controls and such? I kind of like the look but I am having no luck finding reasonable ones. Its still going to look clean even if you dont.

BTW- I will be getting to my engine paint this week. Thx for the help. I have been crazy busy the past couple of weeks.

Thanks Drew. I will use split loom to cover the wires and to improve the overall look where I can. I also have some wire wrap for the battery cables. Throttle cables will be loose but won't look bad. I plan on finishing up the remote control installation this weekend. When everything is done I will snap a few pics of the finsihed set-up for everyone.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Okay boys and girls, I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel. Next on the list of things to do is install the remote control and run the control cables and wiring. I kept the old mounting holes since they seemed to be in the proper location. I decided to run the cables and wiring through the gunwale rather than down and underneath it. I think this makes for a cleaner look. I used split loom cable covering to line the hole and finish it off.

I connected up the main wiring harness, the throttles cables and the tilt and trim wires. I then carefully bundled and mounted all the cables and wires up under the gunwale. Once that was complete, I covered all of the exposed wires with split loom to protect them and make a cleaner look. For the battery cables I used a cable wrapping to tidy them up.

I know that the throttle cables are a little short but they work just fine. That will be a future upgrade.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

The next project on the list was the seats. I picked up two new fiberglass seat boxes off e-bay and two nice rotomolded captain?s chairs w/pedestals from a guy on Craig's List. So the first order of business was to measure the required seat heights and cut down the pedestal mounts.

Mounts cut.

Then I clean and polished them up.

Next I located the seat boxes and mark the mounting holes.

I then attached/ through bolted the pedestals to the seat boxes with SS machine screws and lock nuts. Everything was fully sealed w/3M 4000 caulk.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

I will be using "Toggler" toggle bolts to attach the seat boxes to the deck. Each seat box has six monting holes. The three holes closest to the center of the boat will have the toggle bolts and the other three will have large SS screws into the wood deck. The reason I did it this way was because I wasn't sure how much room was under the deck out towards the sides of the boat and I didn't know if there was going to be enough room in those areas to get the toogle piece under it without hitting the hull bottom. (Come to find out I probably could have used the tooglers all around.)

Here is what the Toggler looks like for those that have never seen one.

Here is how they work. Drill a 1/2" hole. Insert the toogle bolt and while appling upward pressure slide down the retaining collar to the surface. It is sort of like a zip tie in that it keeps the toggle portion firmly in place under the deck.

Then you simply snap off the remaining piece leaving just the collar holding the toggle plate. Very neat and easy.

You can then fill these holes with sealant right before you insert the screws so that everything is protected from water.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Those seat boxes are SO COOL! I hadn't seen anything like that. Your boat must have a ton of freeboard. In my boat, I've got 8" pedestals right on the floor and that's the perfect height. I was going to comment on your throttle cables but then you mentioned it. They will be stressed to much at that length and could lead to premature failure. Need a bigger loop in the splashwell.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Those seat boxes are SO COOL! I hadn't seen anything like that. Your boat must have a ton of freeboard. In my boat, I've got 8" pedestals right on the floor and that's the perfect height. I was going to comment on your throttle cables but then you mentioned it. They will be stressed to much at that length and could lead to premature failure. Need a bigger loop in the splashwell.

Yeah the boxes are really nice. The guy that makes them sells them on e-bay. I actually got these from a guy who bought them and never used them. So I got them at a great price compared to the new ones. These are 19"Wx19"Dx10"H. They also make a smaller box in the 11"x11" range. I really like having the extra storage in these boxes.

I have around 20"-24" freeboard on this boat. Not a tremendous amount but just high enough. When I first bought this boat and took it out, I thought it rode a little low in the water. Hopefully now it will be better. As far as the throttle cables go, when I bought the boat, the cables were like this. Everything worked fine and the throttle control works very smoothly. So I am going to let it go for this season and then maybe change the cables next winter.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

The next step in the seat install was to position and attach the boxes to the floor.

Once screwed in place, I then sealed them to the floor with some 3M 4000 culking. All screw penetrations into the deck were also well sealed.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

And finally the seats themselves. I picked up these two roto-molded seats from a guy on CL. They are a little old but the seats themselves are still in good nick. The seat spyders are not. Both spyders had frozen tensoners, so I replaced one of them with an older sliding spyder bracket that a friend of mine gave me. Only problem was the release lever for the slide had snapped off. No problem. After disassembly to see what was what, I fashoned one out of an old SS bolt. Put it back together and it works just fine.

I ordered a new sliding base for the other one. As soon as it comes in, I will swap it out with a the old one. Here is the final product. It turned out well.

 

[sasto]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

NICE Greg.... You do some great work, on your boat, and your posts with photos.

Do me a favor....warn me before you pull her out of the shop. I will have to remove my sunglasses and put on the welding lenses ......a thousand miles away!!!

Good Luck! She will be one happy boat....and may she never let you down.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

NICE Greg.... You do some great work, on your boat, and your posts with photos.

Do me a favor....warn me before you pull her out of the shop. I will have to remove my sunglasses and put on the welding lenses ......a thousand miles away!!!

Good Luck! She will be one happy boat....and may she never let you down.

Thanks for the compliments Sasto. It been just about a year now since I started this and I am almost ready to claim victory. I am really happy with how it turned out.

I have been following your thread on the Constellation. Looks like tons of fun there.

 

[drewpster]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Man those togglers are the beez neez. I already have a couple of places I could use them. I know I have seen them before, just never seen them used. (another neat idea I wish I invented)

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Man those togglers are the beez neez. I already have a couple of places I could use them. I know I have seen them before, just never seen them used. (another neat idea I wish I invented)

Drew,

Good to hear from you man. They make those togglers out of stainless steel specifically for this purpose (marine stores sell them) but they are OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive (like two for $16.00). I used regular steel ones and bought them at Home Desperate (six for $8.00). I figure I will get years out of them and if they rust, so what. I'll wrench out the screw and punch them through. Load in a new one.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Well I am getting near the end now. The next thing on the agenda was to install a tachometer in the dash. I first removed the sterring wheel and located the tach on the dash in a position where I had enough clearance behind it to fully seat it in. I then cut out a 3" hole for the the tach. I also purchased a prefabricated wiring harness for the tach. It plugs into the Johnson remote control so super easy to install. I ran the wires behind the dash and connected everything up. Slipped in the tach and secured it in place. Turned out nice.

This is the harness pig tail for the tach.

The hole with wires connected.

And the finished product.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

Next thing I did was install stainless steel rods holders. I used existing holes from previous rods holders that were installed. I just had to elongate the holes a little.

Notice that I caulked the top of the rub rail with some 3M 4000 (UV) sealant.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1977 Cruise Boats Restore

And finally I installed a new bimini top. I purchased this top off e-bay. It is fairly well made but the fabric is light. Plenty to keep the sun off you though. The poles are double walled 1" diameter aluminum and are very solid. This kit came with a storage boot and support poles as well. It went on fairly easily but you do need an exttra set of hands to help you.

Here it is closed up with the boot on.

I replaced the cheaper nylon mounts that came with the kit with these stainless steel ones. These will hold up much better especially when the bimini is off of the boat.