1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

[NetMatrix]

Well I picked this 1984 Ebbtide Riviera up this past Sunday August 30, 2009. I picked this boat up for $75.00 which is a pretty nice cheap price. That's what got me into wanting to do this project. It's got a whole lot of mess inside of it. The pictures that I will be adding towards the end of this post is after I have already somewhat cleaned it up on the inside. Now I will be keeping everyone updated on the progress of this project, but sadly I have no idea how long it will take me due to being layed off from the job for a while so money does have to go else where for living purposes. Now with each of the pictures I put on here I will try to explain what I'm wanting to do in certain areas of the boat, and please if you have any advice to share with me I'm open to all advice. This is my very first boat project, and I hope it all works out for the best in the end. Also with the cold season right around the corner through out the winter season it will be mostly sitting since I have to work on this boat outside I don't have a garage. lol Anyhow here it goes with the pictures.

Before we get started with the pictures I will include pictures of items that I'm wanting to install in the boat as well and their location. Please let me know if ya'll think they will work or not. Also if you think a better product will work even better than something I picked out.

Here is a couple pictures of the outside of the boat. I took these the day I bought it, and it was starting to get dark outside so the pictures may be a little dark in certain areas.

The next few pictures are taken the next day on the 31st, and the following day on the 1st. To kind of get an idea on what I'm having to deal with as far as the rebuilding process goes.

Here is a side view of the motor. It's a MercCruiser 470 170HP. It's going to need a rebuild done to it sadly.

Here is the tilt motor, blower, and some of the wiring as well. It is all going to have to be replaced. The plug that plugs on the reset circuit is corroded and will have to be replaced as well.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Here are some more pictures of the boat on the interior.

The stringers are completely shot. The glass was cracked all over the place, and stringers, plywood, and any kind of wood has rotted over the years of this boat sitting still and not being covered or worked on.

This once again is the stringers, but what I'm wanting to do in front of the throttle lever, and before the dash is put the switch panel in there. Removing the switches from above the steering wheel.

This is just a look at the dash. Now I'm thinkiing about taking some maple wood staining it, and having a wood grain dash on my boat. It would look pretty nice, and be something new for this style boat. I've never seen that type of dash on the Riviera before. Just something unique and new.

Here is the other side of the motor. The glassed wood that the motor is mounted to in the front is completely rotted so I will have to build a new dog house for the motor. Now where the battery is sitting is going to be the battery center for this boat. I will be setting it up for 2 batteries, and will have a inboard mounted charger for when it is sitting at home.

I will get some more pictures up here as I take them and as the work progresses. Once again thank you all for your help with this restoration.

 

[crispins]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

whew...sure looks like alot of work

good luck

 

[jonesg]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Heres what I'd do.

Pull the engine and outdrive, set them aside for winter projects.

Take photos of the interior subdeck layout, some measurements and gut it, gut it all out and be done wiith it, save any stringers you can for templates later on.

Gut the transom, re-do everything, its so much easier to do it now.
For $75 theres no way that transom is still good.

With an inboard you should not need to remove the top cap,
but if you have to... just do it and be done with it.

So much time is lost hemmin and hawin whether to do something, you could have this mostly done before the snow.

I built a frame over my boat and bought a cheap tarp, kept working on it right through the winter, theres many days that are nice and sunny that will be quite warm under a tarp. Just you and the spiders.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

It's going to be a couple of weeks before the motor gets pulled out of it. I got someone that has rebuilt inboard boat motors going to see what all he can do to this motor. Once I get the inboard and upper drive assembly out of the boat then I will be able to do a crap load of work to it all at once. I'm going to go ahead and remove the top cap from the boat. I just have to figure out how to get the dock rails off the side of the boat so I can access the way to remove the top cap. It is going to be on heck of a project, but I can see that it has a potential future for it.

I'll have some more pictures up on here later for the boat.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Well here are 3 more pictures of the boat. They were just taken so they may be a little dark since it is night time. These 3 are different angles of the drive assembly. I am unable to get it to slide out of the housing, and I can't get it to go in the rest of the way. I'm lost on pulling this unit out.

I have it held on by a chain that is hooked to a tow strap around the motor.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Here is one more picture that I forgot to add in. This is of 3 of the stringers that were removed, and the glass was grinded with a angle grinder down to being smooth. There will be a over glass work done before the new stringers are installed.

Sorry about this picture it still has the dust from the glass after I went over it with the grinder. Didn't have time to clean it off since rain came in. Had to get it under the car port to keep her dry.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Well sadly today when i was cutting the stringers out I ended up going right through the hull. This is a repair project I'm not to big on doing considering this is my first fiberglass project. Hopefully when I repair the 3 spots I will do it correctly and the hull will be sound again. I will get pictures of it up here probably tomorrow sometime.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: Fiberglass work

Re: Fiberglass work

Ok I guess my big question is how to do the fiberglass work to the hull where I grinded right through it. I have no experience on fiberglass work, and I'm wanting to get the repairs done correctly. Thank you for all the help.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Well the spot where I grinded right through the hull has been repaired, and it's pretty solid. I have also started to tear down the motor which right now is still in the boat, but getting larger pieces off of the motor to make it weigh less for when it is pulled out of the boat. I still have a few more spots for the stringers to remove, but gotta wait till that motor is out of the boat.

The motor is actually in excellent condition. The block has NO cracks on it, and the cylinders and pistons are actually looking pretty decent, but a rebuild of the motor is still going to happen.

I will get the pictures up on here as soon as I can of the motor, but not feeling to well so on break from the boat till I get over this cold.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Well things with the boat are going pretty well. I'm been working on tearing the motor apart inside the boat to make it lighter when it gets pulled out. There will be pictures tomorrow of the work done so far on this project. Now what I'm wondering about is with the hull I'm going to be changing the color of it to a white/blue, and it is currently brown/maroon. I'm going to be using color gelcoat to get the new colors on it instead of paint which I have heard of being used. Now what I'm wondering about is if I will need to sand this hull all the way down to the fiberglass or if I could be able to get just giving it a rough sand and just apply the new gelcoat over top of the old gelcoat.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Well finally got some more pictures of the boat to put on here. There hasn't been much work done to the boat since the last reply on here that had the pictures, but finally have the motor out of it. Tomorrow working on getting the housing for the outer drive assembly taken off the boat.

These first 3 images are of the bilage area. It needs some cleaning, but I'm going to completely tear it out and and rebuild it.

These next 2 pictures are of the drive housing assembly, and working on getting it taken out. Sadly I have to find a auto store that has the correct size inverted star drive.

The final 2 images are of where I ut the angle grinder right through the hull. I did the fiberglass repair on it finally. Put fiberglass cloth on the inside of the hull glasses it then glasses the outside of the hull. It's pretty sound, and rock solid.

By the end of October I'll have all the stringers finished being removed, and then I'll be taking the boat off the trailer getting it repainted, and rewired. Then the hull will be put up for the winter for the most part while I purchase all the fiberglass, stringers, floor, carpet, and vinyl. Through out the winter I will be rebuilding the motor, and maybe do a little work to the hull. I will keep everyone updated with this project as it continues.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Here is the other picture of the hull repair. Only able to put 6 images per post, so had to make this one really quickly.

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Ok I know I asked this question before, and hopefully I can get some advice on how to do this. Now when I go to prepare my boat for a new paint job since I will be using gel-coat do I need to sand the boat all the way down to the fiberglass or can the gel-coat be applied over the old gel-coat? Since I have found a temperature controlled garage that my neighbor is going to be kind and let me use I can do work on this boat in a warm area through out the cold season. Which with gel-coat, fiberglass, and others has to be done at a certain temp.

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Not trying to sway you either way just was wondering why you don't want to paint it. Gelcoat can be tricky to work with I have heard. I have seen some unbelievable paint jobs done that look as good as gelcoat ever could. Some are even using the roll and tip method which if you have the cap off could be very user friendly. Just was curious

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

Not trying to sway you either way just was wondering why you don't want to paint it. Gelcoat can be tricky to work with I have heard. I have seen some unbelievable paint jobs done that look as good as gelcoat ever could. Some are even using the roll and tip method which if you have the cap off could be very user friendly. Just was curious

The gelcoat that I'm getting is the colors that I'm going to paint the boat. I've been told by a few people to use gel-coat that it's stronger than paint is. Plus if I were to go with paint would it just be automotive paint or is there a special marine paint? The only "paint" I know about for a boat is gel-coat. I'm trying to get as much info right now cause starting next week I'm going to start getting all the materials to redo the interior of this boat, and now since I have a garage to use with a furnace inside of it I can do work through the winter on it.

 

[woosterken]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

net,
have a look at this..............

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=184482

he did a fantastic rebuild

woosterken

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

net,
have a look at this..............

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=184482

he did a fantastic rebuild

woosterken

I checked out that link. He did do a great job rebuilding that boat, and adding in the extra things he did to it.

Well today I got the windshield taken off the top cap, and pulled the bumper guard off of it as well. I have the steering system pulled as well as the switch panel, and guages. Tomorrow I will be pulling the rest of the wiring system from the boat as well as any other little items that need to be removed. Saturday I'm planning on pulling the top cap off the boat, and pulling the hull off the trailer so I can get some trailer work taken care of. I'll get some progress pictures up here as soon as I get them taken.

 

[evildocrsx]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

How are you planning on taking the hull off the trailer? Are you just gonna dump it?

 

[NetMatrix]

Re: 1984 Ebbtide Riviera Restore Project

How are you planning on taking the hull off the trailer? Are you just gonna dump it?

On the 2 U-hooks on the transom going to use tow straps that will go from the transom to the back of a friends pick-up just to hold the boat in place. Then I have some boat stands that are going to be put in place while I pull the trailer out from underneath the hull. There is 4 stands that I made out of some scrap lumber that was lay around my house. They are build for part of the hull they will be supporting. Those stands are also cushioned some outdoor carpet.

Now that's just to pull the boat off the trailer to get the work done to the trailer. As far as flipping the hull to work on the underneath with preparation, sanding, priming, and painting. I have no idea on how it is going to be flipped. I'm still lost on the part.