1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

[HiltonFerg]

About 7 years ago, a friend of mine bought a 1989 Ski Brendella. We skied on the Red River 3-4 times a week during the summers until he moved to Ocean Springs, about 3 years ago.

He pulled the boat to his parents' house in West Monroe, about an hour and a half from here (Shreveport, LA).

The cover was not "trailer-able" and was destroyed on the trip. Thus, the boat sat, uncovered, for 3 years.

This summer, he told me that if I wanted the boat, that I could have it. He told me that it's been sitting uncovered for a little over 3 years.

Always a glutton for punishment, I happily agreed.

When I picked up the boat at his parents' house, they were THRILLED to get rid of it.

I stopped at my Parents' house on the way back.

My father said that he could see the potential in the boat, but that it obviously needed a lot of work.

Somewhere around Minden, the trailer tire failed.

Of course the spare was already on the trailer, so I left the boat on the side of I20, and took the wheel to the Minden Walmart. Off to a GREAT START!

The engine is a 351 Windsor.

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

Everything else is trash

Including the floor

I ripped out the floor

The foam in the front is saturated.

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

The rest of the foam seemed fine, so I was going to replace the floor and call it done. 3/4" Marine Plywood, but I might as well resin it.

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

At this point, I decided to pull out the ski pole because the braces on it were rusty. I thought I'd grind it down and paint it.

When I tried to unscrew the braces from the stringers the bolts just turned. There is no wood underneath the fiberglass anymore. All that is left is mush.

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

At this point I resigned that if the stringers have to completely be replaced, I might as well replace all the foam as well. Sure enough, the bottom of the foam was holding water.

LOTS of foam to take to the dump

Here is how the boat looks now.

Next I'll create a template of the stringers, cut them out, install new ones, foam*, then install the floor.

That will be step 1.

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

Step 2 is to get the engine / transmission ready.
Oil change
transmission fluid change
new plugs
new fuel line and filter
rebuild carb

probably new starter (heh, think it works?)

probably new coil

I've already bought new bilge pumps.

Step 3 is to build new seats and install a stereo.

I also bought a cover.

It's trailer-able!

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

looking good so far....i wouldn't be surprised if that ford wouldn't start right up....but i wouldn't recommend it.
i would change the oils first, then pull all the plugs and float the pistons for a couple of manual revolutions. I'm sure that whatever piston is sitting there with the intake valve open is a bit dirty

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

Follow up:

After I realized that the engine had to come out, I covered it, and it sat until Thanksgiving. Life goes on.

Yesterday I built this hangman's gallows monstrosity.

Here is the engine, transmission, and most of the exhaust coming out

End result

Excuse the cluttered garage. We got Christmas down from the attic yesterday and found a lot of stuff that has to be dropped off at the church. Two kids is ENOUGH!

Now to replace the stringers, put down the floor, do a little fiberglass...
I'm going with the foam insulating sheets. I plan to glue them to the hull, then to each other, then another layer of glue beneath the floor.

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

envious of the motor setup...a 351w is what is going back into my boat instead of the 302

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

I made good progress today.

Got the stringers completely out. Now it's time to put new stringers in, then put the floor down that I've already cut.

 

[8point1]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

Nice project! I will always have a sweet spot for Ski Brendella's. Me and a friend bought a '91 Super Comp for $1000 in 2005 that needed a motor rebuild. Needless to say, I learned my lesson about projects with friends! Sold it with the motor halfway put back together a year or so later...



Yes it was pink!

I'll be watching this, looks you are well on your way.

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

Yesterday I got the stringers cut. I was afraid that this would be the most difficult step, but it ended up not being too terrible.
I tied a length of fishing line between two pair of Visegrips, clamped one to each end (front and back) of where I wanted to run the stringers. Then I measured and marked every 3" along the hull.
I measured the distance (in mm) from the string to the hull.
I transferred the numbers to a 13'9" length of 2x6", then played "connect the dots" with a jigsaw.
Next step is to glue them and clamp them. The glue says it needs 24 hours to dry, but the ~100% humidity may make it take longer.

 

[LorenHaus]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

Looks like you're making excellent progress. I personally enjoy watching others restore boats as I can appreciate all the time involved in doing it.

 

[Auger01]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

Did you grind down all the fiberglass that was on the old stringers or are you going to try and drop the new stringers into the "pockets" left by the fiberglass on the old wood? The reason I ask is because most rebuilds that I have seen grind down to fresh glass on the hull and lay up new fiberglass on the new stringers.

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

The stringers curve, but not as much as I'd feared.
The front of the stringer goes to a point. It slopes up relatively sharply to the full 5.5" width of the board. The rear of the stringer starts at 4" and has to be notched to slip into the transom. The rear slope is much more gradual, going from the 4" at the back to a point about 3.5' away where it reaches the full 5.5" width.

I tried to keep as much of the fiberglass side walls as possible. I wasn't able to keep all of them. I'll glue the stringers to the hull with a LOT of glue (PL Adhesive, thanks again FriscoBoater!) then push the stringers in, then squirt glue down the sides where the side walls are still intact.
Clamp it with a whole lot of clamps and leave it alone for a few days.
Then come back and glass over it with several layers.

 

[Tthomp3]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

When i restored my boat i was going to drop the stringers into the pockets as well, but i was advised that the bond to the hull would not be as strong because the "pockets" are not structurally supporting the stringers

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

Here are a few more pictures.

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

I plan to fill those pockets.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

That appears to be treated lumber. I hope it's been drying in your garage for several weeks. Coming from the Big box stores it will be wet and resin and glass does not like to adhere well do it. It should be coated with resin and a layer of CSM applied prior to installation. It's not usually recommended to attempt to insert the wood stringers into the old fiberglass pocket. Poor adhesion for the new glass. The PL will take a minimum of 3 days to cure and stop outgassing.

 

[HiltonFerg]

Re: 1989 Ski Brendella (boat restoration progress)

You are correct. They are treated, and they haven't been drying in my garage for weeks. I bought them about a week ago.
I can put them in front of a small heater in the garage if you think that would help. Move the heater every hour or two. I'm not really in a hurry to do this. The next few weeks are going to be super busy with holiday parties etc.
I had planned to resin them before putting them in, but had not planned on wrapping them in CSM. Once they're in the boat I figured I'd put plenty of fiberglass around them.
Three days curing isn't a problem. It probably will be at least a week.

I've read a lot of your posts and I value your opinion. If you think I need to let the wood dry in my garage a couple weeks; I will.