1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

[eggs712]

A few weeks ago, I purchased an '83 Procraft 1750V Fish/Ski Boat. The trailer was good with new tires with no cracking, despite having been kept outdoors for six months. I checked over the boat real good; the transom was solid, I couldn't find any soft spots in the floor, the motor checked out on compression (I brought my own battery and gauge to check it), and the guy selling it said that it had fired right up for him when he traded for the boat. For $500 asking price (the guy needed quick money for hernia surgery), I thought that I was getting an easy steal. All that I could find wrong with the boat was that the seats and carpet needed replacing along with a good wipe down and vacuum. I offered $300 and the guy accepted. I drove off with the boat and took a few pics the next day prior to working on it at all.


I soon hauled the boat into a barn for clean storage and to begin cleaning it up. I vacuumed all of the leaves, cleaned up the trash inside all of the various compartments, and cleaned off all of the caked on dirt in various places. The bench seats up front need new wood, and the vinyl is also shot.

 

[eggs712]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

I began looking for some casting seats for the front and back; the boat came with the pole stands for casting seats. Because I couldn't find a match for the original colors, I decided to match the two folding navy seats near the back live well. I went with two gray & navy Marine Raider Platinum High-Back Boats from Academy.

The drivers and passengers seats were also trash, so I proceeded to remove them. This is where the bad news begins. It turns out that they only soft spot in the floor was underneath the passenger jump seat where I couldn't check the floor. I decided to check out the damage, so I ripped out the carpet and I was able to push my foot through the floor with not much force.

I've continued ripping up the rotten deck, and most of the stringers are bad as well. Because I love the boat so much and because I got it so cheap, I've decided to restore it to its former glory! Right now I'm still in the process of ripping up the deck. Interestingly, there has been absolutely NO water-logged foam.

Here are sequential pics of ripping up the deck/stringers:

 

[eggs712]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

More tear-down pics:






I REALLY don't wanna take off the cap for this restore, but I guess I will if I have to. The rot seems like it ends by the walk-through windshield, but it continues on back towards the stern where it's harder to dig out. I can somewhat crawl under there, but I maybe will have better access by the bilge area, which has two compartment openings.

By the way, this is my first restore. I rebuilt a transom on another boat last summer, but that's as close as I've done to something like this. I have previous posts for reference, but all comments, suggestions, and help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Teamster]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Tagging along,.............

 

[Watermann]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Looking good so far it is a cute little glass boat. I would suggest removing everything from the boat before going further. Steeling, consoles, wells, motor and controls. It makes things much easier to tear down to the bare bones.

 

[eggs712]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Glad to have ya along!

Quick update, I currently lack the funds to move much further with this project, but in the meantime I can continue to cut and grind away to the hull. Check out my YouTube channel for boat updates as well: eggs712 - YouTube

I've also been doing a lot of research on doing stringer/floor repair from previous threads from mostly this site. My goal is to make a boat that will last as long as possible. This means using as little wood as possible, while also trying to be economical.

For resin, I'll be using 435 polyester resin from US Composites. I thought briefly about using vinylester, but the cost is too much for me.

For stringers, I'm going to basically be using a hollow stringer design. To save the effort of premaking a mold, I'm going to use the pink insulation foam from Lowe's cut to the specs of each stringer, cover it with wax paper to protect it from the resin, and then glass it in. I'm also going to give plenty of drainage to every part of the stringer system to allow moisture to escape and help prevent deck rot.

For flotation, I will certainly not be using pour foam. In the end, all it will do is hold moisture and cause a quicker demise of the new deck, prevent adequate drainage, and weigh down the boat as it gets increasingly waterlogged with time. Instead of pour foam, I will likely use sealed soda bottles, but I'm still up for grabs on that. The boat previously had some type of foam boards for flotation. While they are now crumbly from age, they still were intact and had not a single drop of water in them. I've had no luck finding any foam like it from my research, but does anyone here know if this type of foam is still available and for what price? I show the foam in my most recent Youtube video for reference.

For the deck, I'll use 1/2" ply glassed on both sides. Instead of carpet, I'm going to make the deck gel coat with a non-skid finish, maybe using sand.

Any thoughts and/or opinions on my restoration plans?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

I'd reconsider the soda bottle flotation plan..............

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

FYI to Make Foam Cored Stringers you will need a Minimum of 4 Alternating Layers of 1.5oz CSM and 1708 Biaxial Fabric/Cloth in order to have the Bulk in the walls of the stringer to provide adequate strength. This is my personal opionion and others may come along to agree or disagree. MFG use the wood as for form for the stringers as well as to provide strength due to the fact that they don't want to use more layers of glass and resin to provide the needed strength. They let the Wood do that. By the time you do this extra Glass work, I think you'll find your budget is a lot more than you want it to be. You should consider using the wood. If you do the glass work correctly and then maintain the boat correctly, it will last 30-40 years and I seriously doubt you'll own it that long. Save yourself the time and money and use the wood. the Pink or Blue Slab Foam at Lowe's or HD can be cut and used for your flotation too!!!

 

[eggs712]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Those are good points about stringer design. I think for this project, I'll do traditional wood stringers. I'll save my hollow ideas for my next project!

As for flotation, I agree that the bottles aren't the greatest idea; they would create some unwanted noise below deck I think. The pink foam will do perfectly fine I'm sure.

Thanks for the advice, guys! It's an amazing to have this forum as an invaluable resource with expert opinions.

As for my timeline, I'll get a little grinding and more tearing down done this weekend, and I should have some starting supplies by the end of February.

I'm glad January is gone already; one more month out of the way before summer

 

[eggs712]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

I didn't get to do much this weekend, but I did finish cutting the rest of the deck out, and I also did some grinding. The rot ends underneath the driver/passenger consoles, but I cut back as far as I could underneath them just to be safe.

Thankfully, the rot towards the stern ends right where the back seats start. I say thankfully because the cap on this boat would be a HUGE pain to get off, especially since much of the cap is actually glassed into rest of the boat. This also makes the area that I have to restore relatively small.

So, it looks like improper installation of the passenger and driver seats to the deck allow rot to start and spread over thirty years. There were also other poor structural design features on this boat; the underside of the deck was bare wood and the stringers were only glassed in at their base. It appears that the lack of pour foam and decent sub-floor drainage allowed this boat to last as long as it has.

Anyway, here are some pics of where I'm at now:








I also have a question: do I need to grind the old stringer glass completely to the hull or should I leave a tiny bit of it left as outline when installing new stringers?

 

[Watermann]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Hey any work done is forward progress. Have you been able to sample and or examine the transom yet?

I don't know much about glassing but what I've seen is you should grind back to fresh glass before laying in new.

 

[eggs712]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Not yet, but I sure need to!

And that was my thought too on the grinding. I'll just look back at pictures for reference.

Another question: Should I go ahead and replace the tall stringers holding up the ski locker? The wood is strangely good there, but I'm unsure if I should just go ahead and replace it or not while I'm redoing everything else.

 

[Watermann]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Piece of mind, if you decide to leave them, check the lower section of the stringer for rot.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

If the wood is good no need to replace. Sand it down and put a fresh layer of resin and CSM over it and it's good to go. Grind the hull down flat to good glass is my recommendation.

 

[eggs712]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

I'll be sure to check out the stringers out good, especially the bottom, but if they're good then I'll just keep them like recommended and glass them in good.

I at least have to grind around them good, as the old fiberglass is starting to delaminate from them.

The last of the grinding is coming up, and then on to the fun stuff!

I flipped a couple of boats to raise money for this project, and as soon as one sells I can order most of my supplies. If only the winter boating market wasn't so slow

 

[eggs712]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Got a photobucket set up for the restore.



Today, I went to Lowe's and bought some supplies to get me through the grinding and beginning of glassing. In the sack is a $30 3M respirator, a few paint brushes, and some scrapers to help form peanut butter. The PL glue will be for gluing the stringers to the hull. I watched FriscoBoater's videos and liked how he used PL to glue down the stringers and PB for the fillets, so I will do the same with mine.

I'll be able to purchase the glass and first 5 gal of resin as soon as I sell the motor I refurbished. I have a very probable buyer, but ironically he's waiting to get paid for something he's selling as well.

I hope everyone's getting through the last parts of winter without missing the water too much. I'm excited to take a long, relaxing camping trip to the lake during spring break here really soon.

 

[pckeen]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Enjoying the ride....

 

[Watermann]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Stocking up little by little over winter is the way to do it and by the time your ready you have a pile of goodies waiting to become a boat.

 

[jfas]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Subscribed! I'm working on a similar project, so hoping to be able to piggy back on any thoughts you might have.

JFas

 

[eggs712]

Re: 1983 Procraft 1750V Boat Restoration

Watermann- Does 20 yards of CSM and 10 yards of 1708 sound like enough glass for the entire project? Also, does it matter if I order the glass as a roll or folded? It's a little cheaper to order it folded, but I don't want it to make the glass harder to work with by creating creases.

jfas- Do you have the 1750V also? I've had no luck finding anyone other boats exactly like my model after a few searches of the Internet.