1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

[Bendie]

I bought this old boat (cheap) because the engine looked like it would be OK. I was able to get the engine running pretty easy. The guys on the Mercruiser forum were fairly encouraging about the old 470. After kicking the idea around for a few weeks, I decided to replace the rotten floor. Here she is, looks OK from about 80 feet. Very rough on the inside. I like the basic setup of the interior.

The old rotten floor was covered be a rubber mat, pulled that up. Wood was way past rotten. Had it out in about 10 minutes, nasty.

Removed the engine. Much too easy, some PO had most of the hardware in incorrectly, wrong size, no nut on the main mount bolts. Glad it did not rip off when I had the back end in the water and in fwd gear, testing the engine.

Went right at the cap. Pulled it in one long afternoon. Kind of scary lifting it way up to get the bow seating step over the hull. No major injuries or damage.

So far the ripping and tearing has been straight forward. Started on the grinding. Looking at the stringers, very bad. Will post up more soon.

 

[badkins50]

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Off to a good start. My first boat (a year ago) is a 1984 Galaxy 210 open bow with a 470. Don't let some people discourage you about the 470, if well maintained it can be a great strong motor. We had some standard maintenance to do in the beginning and then over this past winter tore the deck out as well (some pictures in my album). Now that everything is said and done, we love it. At times it can be a little small for Lake Erie but she gets the job done. So far I've only seen you, one other guy and myself with Galaxys. They sure are hard to find any info on. Good luck.

 

[proshine43]

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Galaxie owner here. I notice you guys spell yours with a y. Mines spelled with ie. Is their a difference? I've got the deck, stringers, and motor out now and im tearing out the transom.

 

[badkins50]

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Re: 1980 Galaxy

proshine43 - I have been following your rebuild as well. I believe they are different (Galaxie versus Galaxy) manufactures. I want to say Galaxie is in Texas and Galaxy was in South Carolina. I know they are hard to find any info on. Good Luck to both of you.

 

[proshine43]

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Thanks. I need all the luck i can get as this is my first restore. With all of your help im confident i can do it. Thanks

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Nice to hear from the few and the brave, Galaxy (ie) owners. Mine is also a 19', forgot to mention on previous post. Had my hands full getting the pictures up correctly.

More fearless destruction tonight, had a couple of hours. Have one view of the interior, without too much junk in there.

PO had done all the deck cutting for the previous repair. The piece surrounding the sump came out next. I do like the FH multi tool, seems pretty safe. Note the nice plywood gunk.

There was a bit of real wood under the other side.

Cut in inner transom skin off. Of course, the wood was real bad. Seems to be stuck to the outer skin. Did not investigate, time to clean up and eat.

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Re: 1980 Galaxy

Had to repair previously posted pictures, incorrect links. Thanks to the MRS.
Started serious grinding on Sunday. A large part of the transom plywood was still glued to the fiberglass skin. Hammer and chisel, carefully, got most off. Time to grind. Nothing very fun about this part of the game.
Perfect weather for this kind of work. Trying to keep the project outside through this stage. Plan to bring it into the one car bay in the basement (currently occupied by my 14' Jon boat, 18 hp old 'rude) when this very filthy stuff is done.
Threw out this polyester suit and got a TYVEK suit. Far superior.
The stool in the boat is a good back saver.
]

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

More grinding on transom reinforcement layup fiber glass, boo.
Work 30 min., vacuum 15 min.... closing in on being done, with this part.

 

[mattyc1283]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

I currently have two 19' Galaxy Bowriders. One is an 82' other is a 79'. They are both in need of transoms and the 82' needs a floor. I have been putting this off for some time because it looks overwhelming. Is it really that bad? I am mechanically inclined and have plenty of tools to do the job. I will be following your thread and cant wait for the next batch of pics.

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

Had time to do a little more dis-assembly on the old boat. Got most of all 3 stringers cut out today. Took about 1 hour apiece, plus 30 minutes to suit up and tool up; 30 more to clean up and shower up. Also have about 4 hours into grinding around the removed inside transom skin, yesterday. This part is moving along pretty quick, but it's strenuous crawling around.
Got a metal cutting blade for my 4 1/2 " grinder. Slices fiberglass very fast, also seems pretty dangerous. Multi tool was not going to do it on these big cuts. Was keenly aware that it is easy to cut a new hole in the hull doing this, so I coached myself to be cautious, no new holes!
I am not sure the old stringers are going to be too much help as templates, wood inside is ready to go in the garden. Will keep them and see though.

One stringer removed.

New cutting tool, ready for war.

All 3 cut out.

Wood that fell out of the stringers, soggy mush.

 

[Obvious0ne]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

You're well on your way - good work!

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

Grinding. Cleaning out where the stringers attach to the hull. Going to remove one side of the previous attach fiberglass, to prepare for the new wood. Set a piece of new wood in to gauge the width. Going to be tough by the area around the engine. I am leaving in part of the "sump" area that has the forward engine mount attach point. Trying to make engine re-install simpler. First picture shows how the cleanup is going in most of the boat.

Second picture shows the mount laying on the area it is going to be attached to, and the piece of wood it was sitting on when I got the boat. One sheet metal screw attached it to the fiberglass mount. 2 lag screws attached the mount to the wood. It came out with the engine, not on purpose. This old boat has seen some not so great maintenance.

Only worked about 1 1/2 hours today, my back said it was time to quit.

Previously modified engine mount. Rework required.

 

[bcddd214]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

They have all kinds of polyfoam and honeycomb cores you can use that cost almost the same as hardwood and will make installation a snap and lighten the boat up some too!

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

Went out to the boat a few days ago, for another grinding out the old fiberglass session. While I was getting things ready I heard a woodpecker. Sounded funny, so I thought he was on my brick and alum. siding house. No, sounded like where the boat was. Saw this on the ground.

He was working on the foam under the cap for my boat. Had made a couple holes like this. Has not been back.

It's always something.

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

Finally done with the major grinding out of the old fiberglass. Hard to make an interesting post on that subject. This is inside the hull, ready for new floor.

There were a lot of air gaps under the fiberglass, lead to more and more grinding to get to a solid layer.

Cut out the new transom, used the cardboard template method. This is lots more fun!!

Working out a way to measure the center stringer. Old one came out in very bad shape.

New piece of 3/4 plywood cut, fits nice! Very encouraging.

I have coated the transom with one coat of resin. Need to get it attached to to boat soon. Will bring the hull into the shop when this is done. Still reading how other guys have done this, trying to get a plan going.

This is a low dollar boat and a low dollar rebuild. Ext. grade plywood, polyester resin, CSM mat 100%, it is what the whole boat was built with. This is my first rebuild, so I am checking the forums every step of the way, getting 4 different opinions on how to do everything. Very helpful, really!

I have a plan to attach the transom, resin and mat to glue it to the hull skin, have 4 big clamps and 4 smaller clamps for the outdrive area. Any free advise for this step is welcome.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

Nice Work so far! I like your attention to details. You might want to consider making some of my transom clamps. Take a look at this thread to see how they are made. Less than $5 bucks each to make em and they work great.


http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=441929&page=6


I'm just sayin...

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

Wood,
I have made some cabinets and will use my pipe clamps to make clamps very similar to what you have in your pictures. I had seen those funny looking clamps before and thought they would work well with what I have in my shop. Thanks for the help.

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

New transom is glued in. Glued the 2 sheets together using PL adhesive. Coated each side with resin, seemed pretty well sealed with one coat. Used micro balloon thickened resin only, to glue it in place. Here it is all clamped up.

Got very luck with the weather, warmed up enough to get it glued, and no rain. Removed the clamps and used the wood (yes, I am that cheap) to build the cradle to off load the hull from the trailer. Putting it on 2 furniture moving skids, per oop's post. Was able to wrestle it off, with my sons help. We pushed up into my basement, have about 1 foot of clearance, but it is inside, yippee!

The trailer is going to need some new bunks, and the all the rest.

Getting ready for the wonderful aroma of resin throughout the house. Ready to get these stringers installed. Really want that new floor installed!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

You're off to a great start on this project. Hull looks good and that trailer should clean up nicely. Done correctly, I think you'll end up with a rig that's more solid than anything used you'd buy for up to $5k or so, so it's definitely worth doing if you have the time.

 

[Bendie]

Re: 1980 Galaxy, 19' open bow, hull-up rebuild w/ pics

I am trying to keep the costs reasonably low on this job. At least I did not back into this project, like some poor guys do, when they get to checking on their older boats. I could see exactly what I way buying, a project.
Got to get this floor in!