30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

[Smeag]

[EDITED] I would just like to clarify the 30-day restoration title and what i'm actually trying to accomplish here. i bought this boat with roughly 30 days to work on it until i take my fishing trip. the plan is to have her water ready (new stringers, deck , and get the motor running, and maybe some makeshift seats for a 3 - 4 day trip testing her out. i may be a little ambitous, but i'm gonna try like hell to make my deadline. i'm gonna try and keep this thread as clean and to the point as possible so i'm using other threads for any questions i may have and then i'll link the thread (where they apply) for those that would like to read about all the troubles i had along the way- in depth. [EDITED]

At 27 years old and never owning my own boat, I embarked on a voyage to remedy this. Here is my story. Entertainment for some i'm sure, and i hope some others can learn from this as well. I plan on documenting this project in depth so tune in and track my progress, and please feel free to tell me how stupid my ideas are and put in your 2 cents. I'm sure i could use all the help i can get .

Day 1. For $250 and a fairly new x-bow (horton used one deer season ~ 300 value) I purchased a 1988, 18' Baretta, with a volvo 151 I/O engine, and a solid trailer to tow it all. I believe my starting cost is roughly 550$

This is exactly what i started working with.

 

[SuperSaltAir]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Man you have floors your half way there just by some carpet and pre made furniture and you will be done in no time

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

DAY 2

well i had floors.. lol cut out a section and took a chunk of the foam out. I would describe it like cutting into an apple.. just as juicy. yep they all have to come out. looks like all new stringers and deck. but i completely anticipated this before i bought the boat. i couldn't imagine a boat this old not having some wood rot in it. even though the floor was extremely solid. no real soft spots in the deck. there was even a portion of new deck put in. i thought maybe an old rotten deck. Well i found out the hard way what that new section was really for......

yep that new piece of deck was for an aftermarket gas tank. i'm assuming the factory one wasn't big enough so they put this monstrosity in there. (i'm thinking it's a 39 gallon tank, correct me if i'm wrong.

guess i'll add the gas tank to things to fix....

this part of the destruction went really slow till i found the right combination of tools. grinder with 1/4" cutting wheel -- no good. circular saw-- meh it worked but i wasn't satisfied. chainsaw -- now that did the trick. (my poor gas tank can attest to that)

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

If you can measure that tank Length/ width/ height in inches and divide it by 231 you will end up with the capacity in gallons (if the tank is a true rectangle).

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Day 3

the rot in the rear end of the boat is pretty much complete. seems like there is no end to all this foam...... i finally found the right tool to use in cutting ot the stringers though. 4 " grinder with a narrow wheel worked great. got the gas tank out as well.

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Day 4

today was just more foam and old stringer removal. i concentrated on the back of the boat around the motor. the stringer on the right was just mud. the stringer on the left was almost just as bad, with alot of water trapped between the stringers. i noticed a nail sized hole through my hull and checked the outside to investigate, and found a rust line dripping down. not sure how i didn't notice it before. the P/O had put screws on the new deck, went right through the hull, and i bet he never even noticed it. well i found the source of all the water and wood rot on that side. not to mention they replaced part of the deck there, left a 1/2 " gap between that and the old and then tried to glass it in. i grabbed onto one side of the glass and it all came up.... i'm sure water was getting into the hull from every angle. maybe that nailhole actually acted as a drain lol.

on the other side of the boat, the area that the gas line took to get under the deck wasn't properly sealed, adding a way for water to get in from the other side. the P/O set this boat up for disaster.

NEVER use screws in your deck.......

Look for this when attempting to buy a used boat. can give you much needed info.

got alot done today

 

[danond]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

You might want to remove the motor and make sure your mounts are solid. If you have that much rot, they probably aren't!

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

i'm a few days behind on the updates, actually right now the cap is off and the engine is out. I'm currently finishing up the grinding and prepping for new stringers. the reason i didn't have them out is that i was getting as much done as i could until i got a few buddies to help out with the heavy lifting.

 

[zach103]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

wow man keep it up .. it looks great and your going pretty fast. start working on the engine too if i were you. just so you know it will be ready

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Day 5

worked as much as i could today but didn't get alot done. to remove the remaining sections of stringers i have to remove the cap and the motor, which i have determined is going to require a bit of help. so i just cleaned up a bit. i may start my own mulch business.... anyone need mulch?

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Day 6

So i enlisted some help in taking off the cap. i took the rubrail endcap off, pulled out the rubrail, and realized i didn't bring my drill with me. but i had a screwdriver.... unless you enoy a nice forearm workout, i would suggest using a drill.... there was a screw about every 5 inches, 70 or 80 total i figure.
my help never came, so i called work early and went home for a nap

a few of my cap removal concerns and how they were answered

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Day 7

Well the boys showed up today. rigged up some ropes in the rafters and have decided to just pull it up outa the way while leaving most of the wires and stearing cable attached. we lifted one side at a time. I managed to untie the wrong rope at one point and the whole cap came crashing down. lucky nothing broke PHEW!!!! i had a few more hours before work so i decided to do a little more stringer removal.

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Day 8

Time to get that motor out. the motor mounts had sunken into the boxes that had been built to hold the heart of the beast. i had to use my dandy grinder to take off the top of the bolts to get it out. after romoving the bolts from the bell houseing, and taking off anything else that seemed attached, we jacked it on out. We used a 2,000 lb rated Come-A-Long. i've decided to do the same with the motor as is did with the cap, store it in the rafters till the time comes to lower it back into place. man i hope i don't bang my head on that thing.

again i had a few more hours before work so i puttered around a bit taking out the old motor mounts. i did make sure to take some careful measurements before i ripped them out so i could reconstruct them easily. yuck what a mess under there.

 

[JaSla74]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

At the rate you're going you just may meet your goal. Nice work. My Baretta is an 87. Aside from the power plant & gas tank our boats are nearly identical. My tank is under the bow. I think I kinda lucked out with my design as I didn't have to remove the cap. Keep up the good work.

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

At the rate you're going you just may meet your goal. Nice work. My Baretta is an 87. Aside from the power plant & gas tank our boats are nearly identical. My tank is under the bow. I think I kinda lucked out with my design as I didn't have to remove the cap. Keep up the good work.

yeah i was going over every inch of your thread before i started. (amazing upholstery btw) it is the closest to mine as i've seen on here. oh and BTW i blame you for taking the chainsaw to my gas tank LOL. i saw your floor being ripped out and the thought never crossed my mind as to there being a gas tank right in the center. I'm seriously doubting my deadline though, as i thought the transom was rocksolid. while i took out the rear stringers, i found out that they were connected to the transom and like any old cancer it has spread into the transom.... i'm not sure as to the extent yet, but i would assume it needs to be redone just like everything else. hopefully i'll get the outdrive off by monday so i know exactly what i'll be dealing with. i was hopeing to be glassing already....

 

[JaSla74]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

BTW i blame you for taking the chainsaw to my gas tank LOL.

Ha! Glad I could make a contribution to your project

You may not make your deadline, but you'd be surprised how much you'll accomplish if you keep plugging away. If you don't burn out too fast (like I did) she'll come back together before you know it.

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Day 9

so i peaked into the transom a little further and wasn't very happy with what i found.....

so i enlisted a few bodies for tomorrow to go ahead and take the outdrive off. in the meantime... grinding grinding grinding. who'da thunk it... snow in april... itchy nasty scratchy snow.....

oh and thanx again jasla74 i went back to reference what the hell this was. and i found out--garbage lol. i'll grind it off tomorrow i guess

 

[JaSla74]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Yeah, as far as I could tell the only purpose that piece served was to mount the bilge. I think it was a bad design & most likely that wood will be rotten anyway. I ended up just using some 3M5200 to mount base of my new bilge & less water has to build up now before it starts pumping.

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Day 10

well we had 3 masterminds (none of which had ever taken off an outdrive before) working on this sob for about 3.5 hours. ended up having to make a tool run (and beer) for a large allen wrench to finish gettin it off. but alas i can finish the destruction tomorrow hopefully and start the contruction.

 

[Smeag]

Re: 30 - day restoration project - baretta overhaul

Day 11

i decided to do some grinding first, then get a break from it by ripping out some of the transom. the wood under the bilge mount was wet but surprisingly not overly rotted. it came out in one nice piece, there was some nasty sludge underneath it though.

so after i was sick of grinding i took a break to rip apart the transom. i made sure to draw a nice diagram and get some measurements first though.

it was alot tougher than i had though it would be. only the bottom few inches were rotten and then only a few inches above that were even wet. the top 2/3 of the transom were solid as a rock and i ended up taking a chisel to it and actually chiseling out the layers of plywood, and then grinding out the last layer of wood to get to the hull. i didn't give myself enough time cause there was still a bit to get out, but work calls.... i left a case of beer in the cooler there and offered it to a few buddies if they took the time to try and get the rest of the wood out of there. lets hope they took the bait and i come back tomorrow with a clean hull