79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

[Paul eagen]

This is my first boat. It is a 79 Thompson 17.5 foot bow rider. I bought it 3 years ago, and used it for three seasons. I started this rebuild in May. The stringers were no rotted but they were wet. The transom was rotted only at the bottom. And the foam was wet. I always wondered why a 17 foot boat weighed 2500 lbs. Anyway, here are some pictures of the progress so far. This is where the stringer meets the transom.

[/IMG]This part of the floor that was falling apart.

The other part of the floor that was really bad was where the cap set on the deck. It had fallen about one inch which made the counsoles sink down and the window would not close right.

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This is where I started. The transom came out in pieces and I mean little pieces. It took me two full days with a chisel to get it all out.

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I have made more progress but I can't find the cord to the camera. My flotation foam came in yesterday. I will have more pics tomorrow. Its 2am and I have to go to bed.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

Looks like you have a pretty "by the book" restore going on thus far. Keep up the good work!

 

[Paul eagen]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

okay I found the cord to the camera, so here are some more pics. This is the grass that has not been cut because of the work on boat

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The motor mounts before and after.

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This is where I am at now. Most of the wood has glass on it but still some left to do. It is really slow going when I have to work 12hrs at the shop, but at least I am working.

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oops, ran out of room for pics

 

[Paul eagen]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

Here are some more.

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Here is the wood from the old motor mounts.

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Hoping to get everything glassed and pour foam this weekend. Still have to make some drainage holes. Does anyone have any input on where they should go?

 

[Doernuth]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

Great work so far. I would put the drainage holes at the lowest point to drain to a bilge pump. Otherwise you have water sitting somewhere.

Also consider how the boat will sit in the water and put drain holes accordingly.

Keep us posted as to your wonderful progress!!!

 

[Paul eagen]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

Not much progress to report. I have glassed all the wood under the deck. I did not take pictures because it doesn't look much different. I wanted to reroute the fuel filler hose to go straight back through the engine bay instead of out to the side. One reason is that I wont have to worry about keeping it out of the way when I pour foam the other is so that I wont have any extra holes in the deck. I would also not have to cut through my new stringers. I would run the filler hose the vent hose and the supply line all in this same path. Here are some pictures to explain , the white line is where I wamt to run them. sorry they look bad, but I am no artist. Any input would be appreciated. The first pic is where the fuel line was.

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My next step is to pour the foam as soon as I get a handle on where I can put this fuel line. One more question. My fuel tank was mounted directly to the stringers with screws. I was wondering if any one knows if there would be an advantage or disadvantage to using rubber bushings under it. Thanks

 

[Paul eagen]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

"bump"

 

[Paul eagen]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

Okay, not alot of progress but some. I got the rest of the glass on the stringers and removed the old support for the bow eye. It was put in on an angle. I don't know if you can see it from this pic but it was not covered with glass either.

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This is what I put in, and is the last piece of wood to go in before the deck goes on.

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Here is a pic of the rest of the boat after all the glass was done.

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Tonite I am going to don the tyvek suit and make some dust. I am going to remove the lip from the old floor and sand it flush with the hull. After I vaccum everything I can take down the plastic I have around the boat. Lets hope I don't cut through the hull I still haven't found the fitting I need to move the gas tank filler hose. It is kind of a custom job and there is no place around here that does mandral tube bending. If all else fails I could always use a piece of 16 gauge aluminium and do it the old school way by shaping it with a hammer and tig welding it.

 

[Paul eagen]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

Okay got her all sanded down this weekend. Drilled some drainage holes tonite and started pouring foam. I still have to cut a spot for the fuel lines. wondering if anyone knows If of a place that sells fittings for a fuel filler hose it is 1.5 inch OD. I can't find any around here. I need an aluminium 90 deg elbow.

 

[Paul eagen]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

Poured the rest of the foam today. Don't know if I did some thing wrong or if this is just how it goes. I have heard here that you can cover the foam with a layer of glass, but it would not be easy with this.

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These are not even half of the cups that I used. My wife is going to wonder where all of here coffee cups went to.

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I am hoping to start cutting the deck tomorrow.

 

[Paul eagen]

Re: 79 Thompson Bow Rider Rebuild

Hey guys,

Its been awhile but I have some progress to report, and a question. I have put some of the deck in, and got the motor mounted in the boat. Here are some pictures. The last one is for my question. After being pretty anal about centering the motor on the keel of the boat and drilling the holes I put the intermediate housing on to make sure it fit (I guess I should have done that before I drilled the holes) the holes to mount the transom boot dont line up where they were before. Although it looks worse in the picture, they are only off about a 1/4 inch. Would it be okay to pull the boot over to match up the holes, or would that cause problems later. Thanks

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