1984 Skeeter FS80 Restore refloor

[kyleizking]

Picked up my first *fiberglass* bass boat and knew for this steal of a price I would have to do a little work to get it up to my standards of perfection. OB is a 84 mercury that runs and all tilt trim works and lights, bow mount troller is on the fritz like its not getting power but theres a few wires in the under the rear deck that may hook up although they don't look big enough to be for the trolling motor. When purchased had a few soft spots and the carpet was ugly as it was worn. I broke up part of the deck and under the foam was dry even to about 4-6 inches down, but under the rear deck the deck turns to mush with slight push of a finger and foam is saturated but hopefully stringers are fine. Motor had great compression and all within 5% of each other. Has a little problem of cutting out a little but I'm sure with a thorough cleaning it will run great. Hull and paint are is amazing shape for the age except for a few dime spots of where clear coat is peeling/bubbling. Hoses to livewell are disconnected and want advice on whether or not I should rewire this boat while I have the cap off to refloor the boat. I think this will be a pretty easy restore because all I have to do is lay a flat floor and the cap has the deck and seat spots built in so it seems to be a matter of cap off gut it, hope and pray stringers are solid and refloor and redo transom if need be and put cape back on and carpet. Ive got a pretty busy schedule with family and amateur bodybuilding but I'm a great handyman when it comes to wood working and tools, done some small fiberglass work on a smaller boat and I've read for months on here following other posts to feel very comfortable tackling this project, just have some questions that other posts didn't discuss. Please provide any and all positive* instructive criticism, along with tips

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter FS80 Restore refloor

Hi and welcome to the Iboats Dry Dock, "kyleizking"...
You are definitely in the right place to get all the info you'll need to make this boat better than new...
My first tips are to get a Photobucket account, load your pics there, then click the IMG tag and post them here in your replies...makes seeing them much better...

Also, read through this section, tons of great info...http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...r/how-tos-other-great-information-288451.html

Check this link out from "woodonglass"...http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...lly-started-w-pics-384982-25.html#post3586813

And look through "FriscoJarretts" you tube vids for a wealth of info...FriscoJarretts - YouTube...

Hope those help and we'll be here when you need us.

Good Luck and Have Fun!
GT1M

 

[delta229]

Re: 1984 Skeeter FS80 Restore refloor

If you have any doubt about the integrity of the electrical system it's worth the time to replace it. Many boats are constructed with low quality electrical components including wire and distribution panels. Nothing is worse than a day on the lake dealing with electrical gremlins. Take your time, use quality materials and good electrical practices and spend your time fishing. I just finished a total restoration of a center console for salt water use and followed good practices for aircraft and salt water systems.

 

[kyleizking]

Re: 1984 Skeeter FS80 Restore refloor

Ok great info so far. I've seen just about every video from FriscoJarrets and I must say from watching countless videos I feel like a pro at working with fiberglass already, I have some experience and always have a knack for catching on very quickly and my attention to detail is about ridiculous. And thanks i'll definitely do some serious inspecting and probably replace every wire under the cap so I'm confident in my boat. I found a diagram that specifically shows every wire type that's coded to what the wire should belong to(I.E. pink goes to fuel gage, yellow w/ red goes to starting circuit etc) Wondering is this is what most people try to follow?? Another add on I was contemplating was extending the front deck right up to the "windows" (cant remember the proper name of them but you know). I would have to lay down a solid piece to go over and on top the existing deck so everything was flush. Just wondering if you all think this is a good idea and if it would make my boat too bow heavy? I'll check out the photobucket account seems legit and good if it makes it easier for everyone to see.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter FS80 Restore refloor

As far as the wiring goes...you can go all out and color code everything factory-like, but it isn't necessary if you make sure to label the wires properly and create a good wiring diagram for your records...at electrical supply houses they sell different types of labels that can either be heat shrunk on to the wire and include things like numbers, letters or colors...might be less expensive than having to buy X number of minimum length rolls of wire in a variety of colors...
As far as any modifications you make to alter the boat, you just need to keep in mind your maximum load capacity and subtract any additional structure you add from that, also my personal recommendation is to get the boat almost finished to the point where you can float it and add the expected weight in the places you want to make changes using sand bags, cinder blocks or some type of ballast and see how the boat sits, if possible, run the boat at speed and see how it handles, of course make sure the added ballast is secure...Unless the modification is not too drastic of a change, you might be OK without doing the float test...
My 2?...

 

[kyleizking]

Re: 1984 Skeeter FS80 Restore refloor

Ok great I like the heat shrunk wrap and I guess I could do each wire a different letter .. Do all assessories or wires besides trolling motor take a standard wire size so I can buy one big roll for everything .. Progress will be slow until I get motor off so i wanna try and buy all my supplies so I can whip it all together.. I'd say once the motor is off I'd like to have it all done in 4 to 6 weeks at the most as long as I don't run into any snags

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 Skeeter FS80 Restore refloor

Actually the best answers to your electrical questions will come from making a thread in here...Electrical, Electronics, Audio and Trolling Motors...

 

[kyleizking]

Re: 1984 Skeeter FS80 Restore refloor

Well Ok I probably wont make a new thread just yet I'm still getting used to how to run this one. I'm ready to pull the motor off and I've recently read through a few theads about removing an outboard with a cherry picker. I have access to one but dont feel like buying a flywheel eye-bolt so I read where you can use thick rope and tie it up securely and then hook it up to the cherry picker. Was wondering if anyone had any pictures of how to most securely tie the motor up so I can lift it up long enough to drill the holes necessary in my wooden stand I made. Also in a previous boat I removed the rubrail and had to drill out alot of rivets, just wondering what kind of rivets are used to go back in place and is the rubrail re-usuable? Any special way to remember what goes to what on the "bilge motor" under the rear deck?

 

[kyleizking]

Re: 1984 Skeeter FS80 Restore refloor

So I tried to give an update last night but the iboats forums seemed to be on the fritz. I got all of the deck grinding pretty well done removing old carpet, took a couple samples and at the bottom inch or so showed the foam was soaked by the steering wheel and on back. Rear floor under rear deck the fiberglass was coming up from my shop vac and looks to be only one layer of chopped strand was put down. So instead of gel coating this area for best protection would it be ok if I did the several layers of strand mat/cloth/resin then do a top layer of bed liner to keep scruffs and help gas tank/battery from sliding around? Also I have some questions about the sides of the floor it was tabbed or puttyed to the hull but theres about an inch wide gap and inch and a half gap deep so not sure if this was for water to get to the bilge area or if previous owners re did the floor and didn't do it correctly. I attached a picture (well I copied the img code so hopefully that works) and wondering if I should do it how it was or fill that gap? Also under the driver bench seat there was carpet over the dry storage and its like a plastic insert but its part of the cap instead of carpeting it I was thinking of applying a bed liner to this also just be easier. I have a lot more stuff to go over from my recent progress but don't want to hit you all with all of this at once... I'm going to take the next few days and label wires with colored zip ties and take pictures of the trim motor and how everything was hooked up to the outboard before I take it off. Final question was would it be easier to unhook wires from trim and leave attached to trim motor and pull it out together or??