96 Bayliner 2050 - The Dirty Rotten Baystard

[AShipShow]

Well folks... I'm in deep now.

I was getting the itch (if I had only known how itchy) for a project to keep me busy so I started browsing Craigslist. It started out as me looking for a good donor boat that I could rip out a 5.7 and Merc outdrive to swap into my 95 Stingray 606. So eventually, I came across a nice "looking" boat right down the road. It was a 20' Bayliner that hadn't been in water for a couple years. However, when I went to look at it, I was shown some sort of white and green thing on a trailer. From what I could tell, it might have been a boat at one point, the only clue was some corroded mess that I could still see a faint "Mercruiser" on. Needless to say, the thing was totally rotten. It had sat uncovered in the woods for what looked like a decade. I knew in theory the thing could still have some life left in it, but this was a bigger project than I was interested in. Not to mention, who knows what kind of wildlife I would have uncovered during the deconstruction. Anyways, onward and upward and back to Craigslist...

I then came across an ad with no picture (never a good sign), but I gave it a read.. "96 Bayliner, needs work..."... Thanks for the overwhelming details. Regardless, I was grasping for straws and expanding my search range to a distance I didn't really feel like traveling so I gave this ad a reply... I got a quick response and we were off. I got some pictures and realized the interior appeared to leave a lot to be desired. Mildew everywhere and the soft spot in the floor......
But then the good news, a rebuilt 5.7 and an outdrive with a new lower unit... I took this with a grain of salt because I'm not new to Craigslist. I went in with very low expectations. So I decided to drive about an hour to take a look.

So I assume you guessed I bought it, so here we are....

The good:
The engine - It actually was rebuilt, he showed me the receipt from the machine shop, this thing got the full treatment. He walked away with a $2600 hole in his pocket (ouch).
The outdrive - Lower was also replaced, so I'm assuming at this point I have half a good outdrive, but from what I can tell, it appears to all be in good working order, but I'll get to pressure testing it to find out.
The interior (design) - The interior is super dirty. I'm not really sure why the guy didn't put an afternoon at 20 bucks into some cleaner because this turd could polish up nice. I absolutely love the design of the interior of this boat. At this point, I plan to put everything back exactly how it was.

The bad:
The interior - Yea I know, I just said it was good. Well the design if awesome, but the vinyl has seen better days. Fortunately, everything seems to be in enough order that I can use the old stuff as templates and I can reupholster. Like I said, I plan to put everything back the same.
The floor - Oh boy the floor. I learned pretty quickly that this is a Bayliner thing. There was a soft spot over the tank right in front of the back seat. From my limited knowledge, I knew that if there is rot at the floor, then everything below it is probably in a sad state of affairs as well.

Well here she is. I have a LOT of work ahead of me. But I just want to say, I'm new to the whole restoration thing, but I can't give enough thanks to WOG and Friscoboater for all the information you've made available to us little people. I already feel like I could teach a class on this stuff just from reading and watching videos.

More to come!

 

[Bayou Dave]

Are you sure that vinyl can't just be cleaned up? I don't see any rips, just dirt and mildew. One of the bucket seats looks pretty clean in the photo.

 

[AShipShow]

I think most of it can and I will try. The back seats and sundeck however are all cracked and dryrotted.

 

[AShipShow]

No Title

Some minor progress was made as I didn't have much time this past weekend between weather and the little guys T-ball game (priorities).

I managed to get pretty much all the carpeting out, all the seats, all the vinyl trim and side panels. Starting to find some signs of rot in the boxes so just an indicator of what is to come.

I actually can't believe all the places they stuffed foam in this thing, pretty much anywhere that isn't storage has foam (under the consoles, and in the tiny area between bow boxes.

 

[Corjen1]

Cool Boat! Mind if I tag a long for the ride?

 

[AShipShow]

Not at all... welcome aboard... probably aren't going to see anything new here other than a lot of complaining, questions, and fingers crossed some pretty pictures in the not too distant future

 

[AShipShow]

No Title

Just a quick update. I got a bit more done last night as I started to tear into the bow boxes and aft seat boxes and removed the foam up in this area. I also started cutting out the wood under the starboard side dash area. Once again, another area filled with foam that I wasn't expecting. I have a feeling this is going to be the most difficult area to get to. This area is the one reason I considered taking the cap off the boat, but I'm really trying to avoid that because I don't want to deal with figuring out how to support the boat to be sure it goes back together.

I also got starting on cutting the floor out... My lord there is a lot of water in this foam. Sounds like the same old song and dance for bayliners though so no real surprise. I think I'm getting to a point where moving further is going to require pulling the motor so I'm starting the search for a rentable engine hoist with enough height to get this thing out.

Slow and steady!

 

[AShipShow]

No Title

A couple more images...

 

[SHSU]

You are making some quick progress on her. Looks like a good power washing could help in some areas, but as you are finding wet foam, everything you cleaned would get dirty again removing that junk. You definitely have a gem under all the gunk.

 

[Woodonglass]

Welcome to iBoats!!!

Bayliners are what they are. They DO make some nice looking hulls but most times fall short when it comes to quality craftsmanship. Having said this, once YOU rebuild and and take proper measures to ensure it's done Right, It WILL be a Great Boat and will last a LOT longer than it did when coming from the factory. Lot's of great guys on here with a TON of knowledge and expertise. NO question is a dumb one. Just keep asking and we'll keep trying to guide you the a successful restoration.

 

[muskyfins]

Wait. What happened to the stingray?

I had a 606. Swapped in a older ford based mercruiser 5.0. That boat flew. Only got rod of her because the Admiral wanted a cabin.

 

[mickyryan]

I'am with wog on that i love the hull shapes of bayliners and properly finished make one hella good boat

 

[AShipShow]

Wait. What happened to the stingray?

I had a 606. Swapped in a older ford based mercruiser 5.0. That boat flew. Only got rod of her because the Admiral wanted a cabin.

I still have the stingray (I'm actually a half owner of this boat with a buddy of mine)... My original plan was to fix this boat and sell it since I got it for $800. I like the stingray a lot, but its going to be tough to not keep this one after all the time I'll have invested in it and also knowing that the hull will be solid for another 15-20 years. Plus the V-8 is tempting to hold on to.

 

[AShipShow]

No Title

Back at it again yesterday. I put in about a solid 8 hours and I was able to get the motor out, the transom plate, and bell housing removed from the transom, got the floor and stringers all ripped out too. I'm basically down to the bare hull so I think its about time to start grinding..... YAYYYY (sarcasm..)

A couple questions for you experts though...
I used my recip saw to cut the stringers and I tried to get as close to the hull as possible but I still probably have a good 3/4 to 1 inch of stringer left to grind down... It seems like its going to take FOREVER to grind down the wood and glass that far... Is there a better way to get closer to the hull?

Also, it looks like bayliner used solid wood stringers instead of plywood and the wood actually still had a lot of structure left to it... I just decided to remove them because they were definately wet and the plywood bulkheads were rotten so they had to go anyways. When I put this back together, I'm leaning towards using solid wood again, and the main reason is because the stringers are about 14' long and I don't feel like splicing plywood when I can make a single stringer from a board.
Can anyone make a suggestion for stringer material? I've been reading that the wood doesn't really matter much, its the fiberglass that creates all the strength ( i guess proof is stingray uses all fiberglass stringers)... So I'm leaning towards just going to home depot and buying some long 1x cedar for the stringers and figuring if it has knots it isn't a big deal. I don't see any reason to spend money on clear cedar or cypress..
Opinions?

 

[AShipShow]

Also forgot to mention... I know its pretty common knowledge that Bayliner isn't known for their quality of construction but wow... I wasn't expecting it to be that bad. Its almost like they construct the hull in the mold in one factory with a bunch of guys that have some level of pride of craftsmanship, and then they send the hull to another factory to install the stringers and deck... I can't tell you how much CSM i found that is completely dry and flaking off. Also a lot of spots where the glass sagged and left a huge gap between the glass and wood on the stringers.

Definitely left a lot to be desired... Friscoboater had it right.. I think in one of his videos he said, these things are built to get you off the showroom floor. Well, at least I know it will go back together the RIGHT way.

 

[Rick Stephens]

In a lot of ways you can save on grinding time by using one of the high rpm oscillating saws/tools to saw off the stubs. Having one of those on hand for a recent transom job was key to the job getting done in a reasonable amount of time.

I would use a decent DRY hunk of 2x8 or whatever douglas fir for the stringers. Others might think different, but would be just fine IMHO. Don't use anything pressure treated.

 

[mickyryan]

you know, i get what you are saying about the construction, however, i have always wondered if it was so bad as many say and lasted for 30 years ... well they might have been onto something.
think about this, they had air able to circulate around the wood so wood could get wet but also could dry out , i just recently cut up a 1967 boat and was amased some of the wood was still there and in fine shape yet glass was never really attached it was used to hold wood in place but not really a tight fit, i wonder if that was on purpose so when eventually hairline cracks happend and water penetration happend it wouldn't matter because it could breath and dry out. chincy resin is another matter all together

 

[AShipShow]

I haven't had time to tear into the transom yet, but is the rule of thumb to put things back the way your found them? From what I can see, it looks like the transom is only about 30" wide and goes from the bilge up to the swim platform cavity... I was thinking it would seem stronger to make at least one layer of the transom to go the full width...

 

[Rick Stephens]

I haven't had time to tear into the transom yet, but is the rule of thumb to put things back the way your found them? From what I can see, it looks like the transom is only about 30" wide and goes from the bilge up to the swim platform cavity... I was thinking it would seem stronger to make at least one layer of the transom to go the full width...

Pictures!

Seeing would help a lot.

 

[AShipShow]

No Title

Heres a picture of the transom. You can see the majority of the engine area is 2 layers of ply that goes from the bilge up to the area where it goes back for the swim platform, and theres a small area on both sides where its only the single layer of ply for the ubolts for the transom straps for the trailer. I'm wondering if theres any reason not to extend the plywood (at least the first layer) all the way to the sides of the hull... I can't imagine it would hurt anything but just looking for an opinion..