88 Bayliner Capri

[09TNRT]

So I've been lurking here for a couple months now, even read all of Oops' thread. That was absolutely wild, would ever even dream of that. I come from building off-road trucks, bagged trucks, and engine work. I picked up a 88 Bayliner Capri 2.3 OMC on a sort trade with a buddy's dad. I don't have but maybe 200 max. I know it's not really a boat that's worth a bunch of money but it'll be a good project to learn something new on with my son and something we can do as a family when it's complete. I herd the boat run and it seemed fine. I have a huge list I want to do to it. All seals and gaskets, adjust linkages, and the worst part.... The entire boat has to be just about gutted. The floor is toast, the seat bases are shot, I peeled a layer of fiberglass off the top of the bow box and the corners of them where they meet the floor are a little soft where your feet would go. Y'all see where I'm going with this lol. I'm looking for some insight on things like I heard the seat boxes were structural and where exactly needs foam, and stringer setup. I've done some fiberglass before but nothing if this caliber. I apologize for the book, but I'll probably bug a bunch of y'all with questions I have. I really want it right the first time lol. Thanks in advance.

 

[bruceb58]

My suggestion...don't start on it. I used to own an 87 Bayliner Capri from almost new so I know how they are built.

Add in the fact that you have a drive that is not made anymore combined with an engine that is anemic, has very expensive exhaust manifolds....

...you get my point!

 

[Scott Danforth]

your $200 boat will cost you more than $5000 to make it seaworthy. and when your done, you have a boat that has no desirable traits if you want to sell it (motor and drive are big negatives). if you really love the boat, than go for it, we will be here to help. however you have hesitation based on your post

the motor is beyond underpowered (its a pinto motor), the drive is obsolete, and your hull is rotten.

your best bet is to strip it down and sell the parts on ebay. haul the hull to the dump and pay the $35 and watch them crush it with the excavator, then sell the trailer. you should be able to make a few $

 

[09TNRT]

Man I didn't realize I had so many typos from my "smart phone" lol. I'm not so much hesitant as I am nervous. I've tackled a lot of big projects, some bigger than this. They went down the street though and I didn't have to worry about them sinking on the test run. Where I live right now there are 3 Bayliners between 87-89 for sale, 2 are Force OB's and the other is a 2.3. They are all priced between 4-5k. Boats are just ridiculously overpriced in my area for some weird reason. I stumbled across an older 21ft Sunbird with a 350 OMC that the motor was just rebuilt that needs to be put back together after I read the responses here. Kind of bummed me out a little, I knew they were coming though lol. I know that it is a similar boat as far as quality runs to the Bayliner and probably has its own issues. I asked the owner for pics so we'll see. Unless that boat is in amazing shape I will more than likely end up pushing forward with what I have. I just don't have 8-10k to dump on a nice boat at one time. I've shopped around and found some good deals locally on materials for this build and so far I'm in the 1400 range. That's resin, wood, seats, vinyl, and 90% of the seals I want to replace. I look at this not as my dream boat, but a good project that I can learn the ins and outs of boating with. Then sell it at some point to recoup "some" of my investment and get something I'd really like.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you may want to re-visit your calculations on cost. on resin, if you cant pick it up locally, the EPA tags you with a shipping fee. you will want to buy your resin in 5 gallon buckets. make sure you get layup resin and not waxed resin.

I think your lite by at least 3X

PPE alone for you and your son will cost you over $400

add to that the grinder you will tear up at $40....the dozen sawzall blades, a few dozen 36 grind discs, acetone, tyvec suits, mix cups, resin rollers, brushes, etc. and you have $4-500 in incidentals

just for me to fix the side upholstery in my boat is 10 yards of vinyl and foam, not to mention the wood, staples, etc and that will cost me over $500 in materials alone when I am done. assume $20/yard for vinyl, $10/yard for foam, $30 per roll of hydem and add shipping on top of that.

when I re-did my transom and motor mounts in 2012 because they were wet (not rotten), it cost me over $1500 in wood, resin, 'glass, gel, and incidentals (I had the PPE). I went thru 15 gallons of resin, of which at least 2 became trophies

you wont really be able to recoup any of your costs because the lack of desirability of the motor and drive.

you should expand your search area. plenty of boats in the Memphis area

 

[ezmobee]

If you want a project why not look into an aluminum hull like a Starcraft SS? You'll really limit your potential for financial disaster that way.

 

[09TNRT]

My fianc? works at an industrial supply company, all the PPE I already have. I've got 3 4" grinders, 2 sawzalls and enough flap disks and cut off wheels to do just about anything lol. So far I'm at roughly 5 sheets of plywood at 30 ish a sheet. The vinyl I priced locally was in the 6-8 a yard range, I figured 30 yards or so so maybe 400 ish for foam and vinyl. I've got a buddy that said he can get me some carpet so that's a freebie. I talked to a local guy that does boat restorations and he gave me a line on a place to get all the fiberglass supplies at wholesale pricing. His estimate off his experience with that company and a project my size was around 500. I honestly did forget about rollers and cups, I'm used to Bondo not fiberglass lol. That totals in the 1100 range, then I figured leave a couple hundred for oopsies. Plus I'm off for 9 days starting Friday so I could get a decent jump on it. I really appreciate everyones comments and I promise I'm in no way trying to be argumentative and I haven't made up my mind on what I'm going to do yet. I value each of your inputs and I get exactly where y'all are coming from. My fianc? says I'm cheap and that's why I love projects lol.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I suggest you read links 14, 2, 3, 4a and 4b in its entirety prior to starting. you forgot the expanding foam, etc.

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat-...at-information

 

[09TNRT]

I did forget to factor in the 2 part foam and I'll read those on my breaks tomorrow. I started cutting the floor out tonight but I wasn't one solid cut in before my neighbor asked me to help him on his jeep. A couole months back we did a head gasket, new carb, and a few oods and ends. He's a Vietnam vet and reminds so much of my gpa that no matter what I've got to help. We put in a new clutch and all associated components. Anyway something I did notice and maybe ya'll can give me some insight. I know the stringers are plywood overlaid with fiberglass and the strength comes from the glass. I've read numerous post about people asking if they can glass over the existing stringers instead of replacing and I know the pros and cons. From the outside the stringers look fine, honestly if not for this forum then I wouldn't know what bad vs good was lol. I know the insides have to be mush, but I'm trying to understand the issue. Literally aside from being dirty, I would almost bet that somebody in the past has done this work before on it. The stringers are really rounded on top and the glass itself looks good. Can someone educate me on what I'm looking at? I'll post some pics up in the morning.

 

[bruceb58]

I know the insides have to be mush, but I'm trying to understand the issue.

The issue if they are mush? If they are mush, they need to be replaced. No strength left if there is no structural wood inside.

The good thing...you just spending labor right now.

You did run the boat in the water to see if the drive works under a load right?

 

[09TNRT]

That's what was confusing me, 1 person says the fiberglass this the strength and another says the wood is. I'm going to be replacing them anyway, just wondering about it. I'm a firm believer in doing things right and over killing them lol. It has been in the water, I didn't run it much but it seemed fine and didn't have any noticeable leaks. I also didn't factor in a new impeller, transom gaskets, and all other associated things in my price either. So I'm probably looking at 2k or so, seems Scott may have hit the nail on head. I'm going to tear it all the way apart and access from there. Either way it would have to be done and so far I haven't spent a dime.

 

[Scott Danforth]

most boats where the stringers get the strength from the fiberglass have no wood in the stringers, just air.

most boats with wood in the stringers rely on the strength of both the fiberglass and wood.

wet mush weighs about 10X that of dry wood

 

[09TNRT]

Gotcha, makes sense. I'm going to post a couple pics of the stringers on lunch. The cross brace in front of the gas tank that goes from stringer to stringer was gone and that looks like how they got rotted cause from what I can see so far there's no open spots on the top. Unless they aren't capped at the ends at the bow.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Bayliners of that era rotted on the showroom floor. While I type that with tongue in cheek, its not far from the truth

the build quality wasnt that great and in many areas there were voids in the fiberglass, areas of debonding and delamination. none of the limber holes were sealed and none of the screw holes were sealed. however they were cheap and got people out on the water. they only really had to last past the warranty period.

FWIW, the boat was designed to last 15 years max. your boat is coming up on 30.

 

[bruceb58]

I had the same boat in the 20.5' version. Even when it was only around 8 years old, I was repairing rot in the engine enclosure and I cared for the boat as well as anyone could. Just water form getting in and out of the boat from water skiing caused rot.

If I had done it over again, I wouldn't have bought that boat and I had it since it was one year old! I couldn't even imagine having it when it was 30 years old.

 

[09TNRT]

It's definitely a project. I've been trying to upload pics but it keeps saying the photobucket link is invalid.

 

[09TNRT]

[No message]

 

[09TNRT]

I couldn't get the links to work but the pics of it are on the first page of my photobucket album.

 

[kcassells]

You can use your camera or phone and set it at like 200 kb. Then lay in as an attachment. No PB.

 

[Speak]

Well I have the same boat! Same deal free or in your case dirt cheap! I have done it all, stringers transom floor foam upholstery stereo wiring engine work - crappy 2.3 yes ---- everything! But like you wanted to learn! And bouy did I. Have even now done a complete omc to mercruiser conversion to 4.3l. The boat is now near a 50mph vessel that is rock solid. It holds its own against much more expensive boats and looks pretty darn good for an old girl. Any way I probably have 4 k into her and could easily get that out now, as she looks good and has a desirable engine and drive in it. I did all the work myself and that is what saved me. I documented most of it in my signature. Good luck