1978 River Ox Restoration Project

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

GT,
Thanks for the prayers. Seems as though we dodged a bullet here in Panama City, don't even think we got an inch of rain here. I hope you fared well.
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Alright... well with the day off due to the "horrible" weather from Hurricane Isaac, I was able to get a lot of work done, (never even a drop of rain). Had a neighbor of mine come over to help me get the motor off of the transom. That job turned out to be something quite more "involved" than I had anticipated. However, I have some pics and will post them after this. The biggest problem was with the tilt cylinders blocking the bolts from coming out of the transom. We ended up disassembling the entire tilt system and taking the bolts off, only to discover we had to pull the motor back to remove it... something about hind sight and 20/20...
Now that the motor is off, I feel the anxiety sink in. Worried about doing the work to the powerhead I was planning on. Never done anything this in-depth, but I am a skilled DIY'er. I am also worried about starting the demo on the boat itself. I can tell you that the wiring on this boat is ridiculous. Nothing but wads of wires and zip ties. I know that the majority of the electronics will be rewired. This gave me an idea... is it possible to have a permanent spot for the battery and run wiring somewhere closer to the console to power the electronics rather than running individual wiring for each piece?
Alright... well that is enough rambling for now. Look at the next post for pics.
 

jbcurt00

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Staff member
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Messages
25,113
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Bus bars & a fuse box can mount up under the console & feed each accessory from a fused panel:
5026.jpg

From BlueSea

Similar are available @iboats
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

JBCurt00,
Thanks man! That is an awesome find! Will definitely help with the mass wiring under the deck.
 

jbcurt00

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Staff member
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Messages
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Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Just passing it along. Look around you might find some 6 circuit panels that will suit you better. I regret passing on 6 circuit boards 2 weeks ago when I spotted them on sale, almost clearance priced. I'm not to that point yet & thought I'd wait.

Now their 4hrs away.. :facepalm: dag nab it! :mad:
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Alright, another very productive weekend. Was able to get the powerhead close to the point of removal. Only thing remaining is the flywheel. Hit a few speedbumps while taking the bolts off of the head gasket. 5 of them twisted off, but there is enough sticking out to grab with vise grips and try to twist them out. I have soaked them multiple times this evening with liquid wrench, or "panther ****" as my dad still calls it. When I took it apart, I could tell that there was sand sucked up through the pump, as there were shells within the casing where the water ran through.
So I tried something different than just taping, tagging, and writing down in a notebook. For each of the wires and cables I removed, I labeled it and then took a picture of it so later on I can see exactly how it was attached. I have posted a few pics for you to look at. So the disassembling has been quite a breeze thus far... but I fear the horizon when I get the powerhead off and start tearing it apart. Never performed a job like that and look forward to learning ALOT along the way. I am looking to get a good list of what types of parts I need to order for a rebuild... I know the basics, but I want to make sure I don't forget anything. Only performing a "patch" job would kind of defeat the purpose of what I am doing right now. So any help and info would be appreciated. I'll be posting the pics in a few. Thanks for all of the help and motivation throughout this whole process!

Lonnie
 

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,929
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

GF, is there a reason you're not using the IMG code from Photobucket? It really makes viewing your pics a lot easier for the iBoats gang.
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

WoG,
Sorry!!! Never even thought about that. Will definitely post the pics now with the IMG code...
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

100_2867.jpg

100_2864.jpg

100_2845.jpg

100_2837.jpg
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

100_2840.jpg

100_2835.jpg

100_2866.jpg
 

GT1000000

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
4,916
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Wow...uh...stop! What are your plans for the Tower of Power?...if its just to replace the water jacket gasket, fine, no problem...but if you are contemplating going too much further...stop!

Post up what you plan to do in the Mercury engine section and let the gurus there give you some advice...

I have the same powerhead and just had it rebuilt by one of those gurus...I can tell you that if you are doing much more than just some peripheral maintenance, like rebuilding the carbs or fuel pump or such...if you are planning on getting to the internals...you will need some specialized tools...and specialized knowledge.

Although, from the pics, that engine looks like it is in really great shape...

Unless of course you already have a working knowledge rebuilding these engines, then go for it...:)
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

GT,
Thanks for the support! HA! Well, I am not looking in to anything drastically internal after last night. I started looking into kits for rebuilds and had to pick my jaw up off of the floor.... they will end up costing me way more than this thing is worth!!! Anyhow, I have just gotten to the point where I am going to change out the gasket for the water jacket and the head cover... I know I was getting really low compression in the 2 bottom cylinders (>20lbs) and hope it can be improved with just the gasket replacement.
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Along with a carb rebuild and new plugs/plug wires/typical maintenance routines.
 

GT1000000

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
4,916
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

GT,
Thanks for the support! HA! Well, I am not looking in to anything drastically internal after last night. I started looking into kits for rebuilds and had to pick my jaw up off of the floor.... they will end up costing me way more than this thing is worth!!! Anyhow, I have just gotten to the point where I am going to change out the gasket for the water jacket and the head cover... I know I was getting really low compression in the 2 bottom cylinders (>20lbs) and hope it can be improved with just the gasket replacement.

Unfortunately that gasket really only seals the water jacket...there shouldn't be any compression leakage from that area...unless there is a crack in the block...more than likely, the rings are locked into the grooves from lack of running...check in the Merc engine section...or do a search for conducting a "De-Carb"...that's where you get the engine running, warm it up, spray something into the carbs, in the meantime, you could squirt into the offending cylinders, some good penetrating oil and turn over the engine to spread it around...hopefully that will loosen up the rings and bring back your compression...

Good Luck.
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

GT,
Well I have decided that I am just going to give it all a good once-over and put it back together. Going to get some good treatment and run it through, rebuild the carbs, etc... I'm hoping it is just carbon build up and the stuck rings on the piston and nothing else too serious. Anyways, I'm hanging out around the resto forums for now, as I have put off the motor rebuild for a bit.
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Well,
I dug into the hull today. Started the cutting and demo on the old deck and stringers. I cannot explain to you how bad it looks. I cannot even believe this boat was floating on the ocean this season, and I bang my head on the table with how unsafe it was being out there. I have a few pics to show on the progress.
This is right when I started cutting. The wood ripped under my hand, and was SOAKED! I also caught eye to how the wiring and cabling ran through to the stern of the boat from the console. There was a large PVC pipe which ran the length of the boat to the stern and came up on the starboard side. I would not believe that this was factory... but I'm no boat builder.

i00466.jpg


Here is a picture of the PVC pipe. Look at how the stringer was removed/rotted. That is why I don't believe it was factory.

i00470.jpg


When I started removing the floor forward of where the console was, I noticed that the wood was nearly non-existent and that there was either gelcoat/fiberglass applied and it was very thick... burnt three saw blades going through it. Anyways, here is a picture of the difference between two different sections of the deck.

i00468.jpg
 

gatorfan6908

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
149
Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

I was able to take the foam out of the accessible areas quite easily with a pry bar and small sledge hammer. It seems as though resin was poured over the foam also, as inside of the foam it was dry and when removed was solid as a rock.

i00489.jpg

i00487.jpg

i00485.jpg

i00480.jpg


Now I have the majority of the deck cut out, I just have to start work on the edges. Going to be tight, and not much room up towards the bow between the deck and the hull itself. Not ready to drive that saw through and make a hole. Here are a few pics taken from the stern. I really wish I didn't have to remove the cap, but after looking in to it I am going to have to just to replace the transom.

i00482.jpg

i00481.jpg
 

jbcurt00

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Messages
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Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

Re: Staring at this vessel in my yard... Is she worth fixing?

A multitool cuts the last little bit along the edges really well:
Multitool.jpg
 
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