1979 Century 190 Project

[lennymu]

I had a neighbor that is selling her house and needed the boat gone. She wanted $2k for before opening the cover up to look inside with me. Much to her surprise it was full of water. She never took the plug out when she parked it and she parked it because the steering cable broke and she just parked it about 4 years ago.. So I was looking for a cheapo project boat to work on to eventually go fishing on Lake Erie. I offered her $250 for the boat and trailer and she took it.

Now I've had some people tell me this boat is entry level and not worth much and some told me it was a good name brand and the boat is worth fixing for the money. I know the deck and deck supports are rotted, the motor mounts are wet, I have no idea about the transom yet, and the foam is dry. So I've been putting some short hours on it and finding all kinds of surprises and am here to ask everyone's advice about how to proceed.

 

[jbcurt00]

If the boat was full of water and the deck and stringers are rotten, the foam is not dry, except maybe to the touch on the surface.

You will likely spend more money fixing it then a 1979 boat in perfect original condition is worth .

But if you fix it w the help of the members here, and are fairly handy w basic tools, you'll have a boat in better shape then pretty much any boat you could buy w the same amount of money used on the rehab.

Flipping boats is usually not a money making endeavor, esp older fiberglass boats.

 

[lennymu]

I never thought about flipping the boat, only to have something that I could go out on the lake and catch fish. I needed a project and thought this would be something I could take some pride in. The foam is very lite when I started cutting it out, I didn't think it could be saved (would of been nice). I cut pockets out in the foam to see if water would leach out and it didn't however, it is coming out regardless.

 

[lennymu]

The boat

Some offending rot

More rot

Working my way to the transom

The bulk heads and, for lack of better terms, stringers are only glassed in with 1 layer of roven woven on one side and the stringer is 1/2" with a 2 x 2 stapled at the top.

Looking forward

 

[lennymu]

I was thinking about just getting the motor started and running well and selling the power train and trailer. I will listen to all advice that you guys would have for me.