1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

[Maxtork]

Hi All,

I have been reading here for awhile and I thought I would share my project that is already underway. I bought a 1986 17.5' Bayliner Capri bowrider with a 115 merc inline 6 on the back. I bought the boat for cheap enough I could get most of my money back out of the motor and trailer alone. The PO was nice enough to rebuild the floors with non-coated OSB screwed in with drywall screws. Needless to say the boat is in dire need of some help. I stripped the whole thing down to the bare shell and I'm just about ready to start building it back up. I am a little leary though as the boat doesn't seem to be very well built right from the factory. While grinding things down flat I have noticed some sections of delamination in between the layers of glass in the transom. The stringers were 3/4" wood wrapped in glass. The problem with those is that they did a pretty crappy job of lay up as they had giant air pockets in them where the mat didn't want to go around the top of the stringer. Before I cut it open it looked like they were 2x4" stringers but it was just that much airspace inside. Has anyone else seen this type of thing? Is it ok to glass overtop of the sketchy original stuff? I don't mind doing the work and spending the time and money on this hull but I don't want it to fall apart on me afterward. You can see some pictures at the link below. I will try to get some more current pics today or tomorrow that show the delaminations in the transom.

Let me know what you guys think. Should I buy the materials and keep on chugging or take the big saw to it and go find a better hull?

Max

https://picasaweb.google.com/diychic00?feat=email

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Welcome to iBoats!

You will be investing approx. $1,000 to $1,500 in a 25 year old boat. If you really like the style and looks of the boat, or have sentimental attachment to it then it might be worth it. If not, then I would prolly part it out and spend my money on something in better shape. JMHO.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

yeah....the boat has been done once before....a lot of stuff in there is not stock.....including the upholstery......lol....someone had a sale on brown material.

i re did by bayliner and sold it for lots of money because i could prove it was done right. !....they guy bought a brand new boat for a fraction of the money. 7800.

any hull that you are going to get is going to need wore any how.....so unless you can find a good searay or other high money hull.....then do the liner !

there are lots of bayliner projects here....so plenty to look at !

you should not glass over rotten wood.....first off...you dont have the correct shape to glass over.....so you may as well replace the wood....i mean...you are already there right?....why stop short of the goal line !.....a 4x8 peice of plywood is nothing for cost....and the time it takes to cut it is also nothing. once the hull is ground out and prepped, to cut and install a stringer is just a few hours till done.

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Yeah there is no sentimental attachment. I juist posted some new pictures of the current state including the voids in the glass. I was planning on about $1000 in glass and resin then more for paint, more for gauges, more for....I figured I would end up spending about $3000 on top of the price of the boat. I know I would never get all that back out but I wanted a project and it would make a fun family run about for a year or two before I moved on to something else. From what I am seeing though I'm not sure I want to keep going with it. I have restored 25 year old cars before and it worked out great...but it wasn't a 25 year old AMC pacer that nobody wanted in the first place lol.

Thanks for the advice

Max

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Thanks Oops! I may do it afterall I just dont know yet. There is a 1978 Checkmate for sale here locally for dirt cheap that needs motor work. I could theoretically pick that up for half the price of the materials the bayliner would need and be that much further ahead. It is an IO set up though so I would have to do a conversion. Might be fun though if the transom and floors are solid.

Decisions decisions lol

 

[dorelse]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Well...although I don't own the boat anymore...I still love my 1986 Bayliner 1600. You can do a lot with a little imagination...take a look at my album of my restore. My project thread is in my signature at the bottom.

Youtube video:

https://picasaweb.google.com/dorelse/1986BaylinerCapri1600BoatRemodel?authuser=0&feat=directlink


Before:

After:

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Thanks Guys,

Dorelse that capri looks great! Unfortunately mine needs alot more work than yours. Mine is the 1750 but I think I can work out something similar for my back seat.

I went to look at that Checkmate today. It is pretty rough just like my current heap. I'm sure it would be a great boat when finished but I dont think it would be that much better that it would be worth asically starting over. So I guess I'll stick with the B-liner. I'm gonna go ahead and order some 435 resi, 1708 and 1.5 CSM to get me started. Anyone got any idea how much of each I should start with?

Max

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

I wanted a project and it would make a fun family run about for a year or two before I moved on to something else.

The above statement worries me. You'll have way too much into this thing to be wanting to dump it after a year or two.

How about looking for an aluminum hull to put that nice Merc on?

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

The above statement worries me. You'll have way too much into this thing to be wanting to dump it after a year or two.

How about looking for an aluminum hull to put that nice Merc on?

If I could find a good hull design I like for cheap I would consider an aluminum hull but that isn't super likely. I'm not too worried about selling it in a few years at this point. If I go through with it, and it looks like I am, then hopefully it will turn out good enough to want to keep for many years and run it.

I ordered some supplies from Us composite so we will see how it goes I guess. From what I have read on here there are folks that have done a lot more to alot older boats and got alot better results then I would have expected so I guess I'm in with both feet!

Wish me luck!
Max

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Hey that's fine. As long as you know what you're getting into! We'll be here for you. Good luck with it.

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Thanks!

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Ok Guys I need some guidance..

I was working on the boat this weekend and I got quite a bit done. I found that there was a good layer of glass under all that chop so I was able to peel and pry most of the old voied stuff off so the transom is looking pretty good. A couple more hours and it should be ready for the new wood and glass.

Then I started working forward on the stringer area and I was able to peel most of the heavy chop off there as well. So I am seeing a pretty good surface to work with from here on up. The problem is that I accidentally went a bit deep into one of the strake areas and went into the core. I noticed it was wet so figured what the hey I should go ahead and rebuild those too. So I cut along either side and peeled the chop off the tops and found several 12" sections of 3/4" square sticks (soaked of course) used as filler. My question is what to put back in there? Can I just fill the triangle shaped strake and glass straight over the top? Or should I put square stock back in there and glass over that giving the strake a square cross section again with half of it on the inside of the hull and half on the underside?

I know this is hard to visualize so I will post some pictures tonight once the wife gets home. She is the photo wiz so hopefully she can get pictures that will show what I am talking about.

Thanks
Max

 

[oops!]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

awww geez.......the po messed up the build.

we need pics......the bayliners did not use a core and foam was used to fill the strake area.....

if you are finding the stuff under chop...it could just have been an experment by the plant.

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Ok here are a few pics.

I don't know who is the culprit...the PO or the factory. I'm kinda leaning towards the factory as there is a ton of glass up against the bulkhead areas etc as if it was done via chop gun. As for the stringers I'm not sure if you can see them well enough in the pictures but they were full of small sections of 3/4" by 3/4" wood. I'll try to edit one of the pictures with some arrows to point out specifically what I am talking about.

Max

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Ok went and took another picture. Here is one that shows the wood that was inside the strake and where it is located.

Max

 

[oops!]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

yeah.,....that was factory.....

they chopped the hull.....added the wood and chopped some more.

if its wet....it has to come out...

you can add more in later if you wish....or use foam for the shape and glass the heck out of it

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Yeah that was what I was thinking. Do you think it is ok to use foam or whatever to fill in that area and then just glass straight over top and leave the area flat? Or do I need to build it up taller like it was when the wood was in there? The other option is to widen the floor just a tad and let the deck actually sit in that strake groove. Since all the stringers are coming out I can put them back at whatever height I need to make contact with the underside of the deck. Just a thought...

Thanks
Max

 

[oops!]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

ok.....

rule of thum with all rebuilds.......replace what was there.

if you replace the wood.....after its glassed.....water will not get into there ever. it was just a shoddy job with the chop gun that let water in there in the first place.

however......you can use foam in those slots and just glass the heck out of them. but you want stregnth or better put "anti crush" in those strakes.

i would not drop the deck in there....it is to no advantage to you any how.

 

[Maxtork]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Thanks Oops....

I got to thinking about it and I would have to move the deck down and not up to put it in that slot anyway,...that is going to cause problems with the fuel tank as it would be to tall. Guess I will follow your advice and go back together like it was. I'll just have to cut some thin boards to fill the gap in the strake and go with it.

First things first though, I have to get the transom back together. That will happen after a couple of weeks when I get the resin and mat shipped from us composites.

Max

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1986 Bayliner Capri rebuild

Nice work on all the tear out.