dillonheath08
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2014
- Messages
- 97
Hi everyone,
I was recently given first bass boat by my fiance's grandfather. I have owned boats before but nothing quite this large. They were 8'-12' boats powered by a small trolling motor. Nothing fancy but they got me to the fish. Around the first of June I decided it was time to stop playing in these small ponds and find me a boat that I could use out on our bigger lakes here in North MS. I had been searching for a week for something with a 10-15 horse power motor when my fiance text me and said she may have found me a boat. And that it would be "free." Needless to say I was a bit skeptical. Nobody gives away a boat, let alone one like the one I was looking for but I agreed to take a look at the boat.
When we arrived the first thing I saw was a dull blue, fiberglass bass boat covered in old pine needles. And it is painfully obvious that this boat needs some serious TLC to both the inside and outside.
After a brief conversation covering the history of the boat her grandfather gave me some pretty surprising news, the boats motor was in running condition and had been completely overhauled one year prior to this one. This was a huge relief to me because body and interior work are one thing but engine work is an entirely different thing and I know next to nothing about an outboard motor. And this boat being a 17' bass boat had plenty of motor. It was fitted with a '79 model Evinrude 115 HP motor. It was very clean under the hood. After redoing fuel lines and adding an in-line fuel filter and connecting all of the appropriate wires I had the motor turning over.
With the motor turning over I was still faced with one problem that I had discovered while inspecting the interior of the boat the day I went to look at it. On climbing into the boat the first place I stepped I nearly went through the floor. My fiance's grandfather joked about it, saying "oh, you just weigh too much." I knew it had nothing to do with my weight. I was dreading having to pull that carpet up because I had a hunch I would not like what was under there. Just as I expected the, the fiberglass was cracked and the plywood deck was rotten right where I had stepped. So I got out my DeWalt Jigsaw and began cutting. What started as crack soon became a hole. That hole soon turned into an even larger hole and the large hole eventually lead to me removing the cap and the entire deck.
Once I decided it was time to remove the cap my friend and I started removing the motor. This was no easy task because at best guess this motor weighed 375-400 pounds easy. Luckily I have a brother who owns an engine hoist. We disconnected every wire and the fuel lines and hoisted it into the air. By the time we had the motor off two days had passed and the third was almost gone as well. We knew we couldn't leave it in the air during the restoration so we lowered it onto the back for the time being. The next day we went to Lowe's and got supplies to build a motor stand that I had found plans for online. I ended up buying:
Lumber:
4 - 2x410's (treated)
1 - 2x6x10
Hardware:
4 - 2-1/2" Rubber Casters (2 of which that locked)
1lb. of 2-1/2" Deck Screws
16 - 1" Lag Scews
This project cost a little under $70 but I knew I needed a stable stand for my outboard motor to stay on during the restoration. And the plans were very simple and took 2 hours to complete with Measuring and Adjustments being made to ensure that my larger motor would fit this stand. Once the stand was completed we tookt the stand, hoist, and motor all over to my brothers shop and lowered the motor onto the stand. It worked like a charm!
Since building the stand and removing the motor I have separated the cap from the hull which took one full day. Which I think isn't too bad considering I have never tried anything like that before.
With the cap removed I finished removing the remaining pieces of the fiberglass and old rotten plywood. Underneath the old deck was 10 feet of saturated flotation foam. It would literally gush water when you put pressure on it. I have been removing foam for a solid week now. I despise doing demo. It can be so tedious at times and very time consuming. I have filled 7 large trash bags and still have more to remove. I have been cutting stringers out as I go along. The outer covering of fiberglass was solid as a rock but the inner wood was the same consistency as mulch. This past week I have cleaned every but of foam and fiberglass out of the starboard side and have moved onto the port side.
As I said I hate doing demo so I am taking my time and doing a little each day. Each week since I am not rich I buy what supplies I can for the restoration. I have bought the decking material and a paint respirator to use when working with the fiberglass. Some of the decking material is going to double as my stringers since they are 1/2" plywood as well. Money is tight but I am determined to see this restoration through. The fiberglass materials alone are going to run me about $700 dollars. I will also need saw horses to cut the deck and stringers on, mixing cups for the Polyester Resin and 2 Part Flotation Foam. Paint rollers and trays for roll out the Polyester Resin onto the fiberglass. And various other things that go along with boat restoration.
While the boat is in pieces and undergoing restoration I will be redoing the interior carpet, wiring, and live-well water system. And will hopefully be redoing the color scheme of the entire boat. All new gauges and switches too. The Transom will be replaced once the stringers are out on both sides.
Well, I think I have rambled on long enough. I promise my next post won't be nearly as long. Haha. I know most people won't read this far but thank you to those of you who did.
I was recently given first bass boat by my fiance's grandfather. I have owned boats before but nothing quite this large. They were 8'-12' boats powered by a small trolling motor. Nothing fancy but they got me to the fish. Around the first of June I decided it was time to stop playing in these small ponds and find me a boat that I could use out on our bigger lakes here in North MS. I had been searching for a week for something with a 10-15 horse power motor when my fiance text me and said she may have found me a boat. And that it would be "free." Needless to say I was a bit skeptical. Nobody gives away a boat, let alone one like the one I was looking for but I agreed to take a look at the boat.
When we arrived the first thing I saw was a dull blue, fiberglass bass boat covered in old pine needles. And it is painfully obvious that this boat needs some serious TLC to both the inside and outside.
After a brief conversation covering the history of the boat her grandfather gave me some pretty surprising news, the boats motor was in running condition and had been completely overhauled one year prior to this one. This was a huge relief to me because body and interior work are one thing but engine work is an entirely different thing and I know next to nothing about an outboard motor. And this boat being a 17' bass boat had plenty of motor. It was fitted with a '79 model Evinrude 115 HP motor. It was very clean under the hood. After redoing fuel lines and adding an in-line fuel filter and connecting all of the appropriate wires I had the motor turning over.
With the motor turning over I was still faced with one problem that I had discovered while inspecting the interior of the boat the day I went to look at it. On climbing into the boat the first place I stepped I nearly went through the floor. My fiance's grandfather joked about it, saying "oh, you just weigh too much." I knew it had nothing to do with my weight. I was dreading having to pull that carpet up because I had a hunch I would not like what was under there. Just as I expected the, the fiberglass was cracked and the plywood deck was rotten right where I had stepped. So I got out my DeWalt Jigsaw and began cutting. What started as crack soon became a hole. That hole soon turned into an even larger hole and the large hole eventually lead to me removing the cap and the entire deck.
Once I decided it was time to remove the cap my friend and I started removing the motor. This was no easy task because at best guess this motor weighed 375-400 pounds easy. Luckily I have a brother who owns an engine hoist. We disconnected every wire and the fuel lines and hoisted it into the air. By the time we had the motor off two days had passed and the third was almost gone as well. We knew we couldn't leave it in the air during the restoration so we lowered it onto the back for the time being. The next day we went to Lowe's and got supplies to build a motor stand that I had found plans for online. I ended up buying:
Lumber:
4 - 2x410's (treated)
1 - 2x6x10
Hardware:
4 - 2-1/2" Rubber Casters (2 of which that locked)
1lb. of 2-1/2" Deck Screws
16 - 1" Lag Scews
This project cost a little under $70 but I knew I needed a stable stand for my outboard motor to stay on during the restoration. And the plans were very simple and took 2 hours to complete with Measuring and Adjustments being made to ensure that my larger motor would fit this stand. Once the stand was completed we tookt the stand, hoist, and motor all over to my brothers shop and lowered the motor onto the stand. It worked like a charm!
Since building the stand and removing the motor I have separated the cap from the hull which took one full day. Which I think isn't too bad considering I have never tried anything like that before.
With the cap removed I finished removing the remaining pieces of the fiberglass and old rotten plywood. Underneath the old deck was 10 feet of saturated flotation foam. It would literally gush water when you put pressure on it. I have been removing foam for a solid week now. I despise doing demo. It can be so tedious at times and very time consuming. I have filled 7 large trash bags and still have more to remove. I have been cutting stringers out as I go along. The outer covering of fiberglass was solid as a rock but the inner wood was the same consistency as mulch. This past week I have cleaned every but of foam and fiberglass out of the starboard side and have moved onto the port side.
As I said I hate doing demo so I am taking my time and doing a little each day. Each week since I am not rich I buy what supplies I can for the restoration. I have bought the decking material and a paint respirator to use when working with the fiberglass. Some of the decking material is going to double as my stringers since they are 1/2" plywood as well. Money is tight but I am determined to see this restoration through. The fiberglass materials alone are going to run me about $700 dollars. I will also need saw horses to cut the deck and stringers on, mixing cups for the Polyester Resin and 2 Part Flotation Foam. Paint rollers and trays for roll out the Polyester Resin onto the fiberglass. And various other things that go along with boat restoration.
While the boat is in pieces and undergoing restoration I will be redoing the interior carpet, wiring, and live-well water system. And will hopefully be redoing the color scheme of the entire boat. All new gauges and switches too. The Transom will be replaced once the stringers are out on both sides.
Well, I think I have rambled on long enough. I promise my next post won't be nearly as long. Haha. I know most people won't read this far but thank you to those of you who did.
