A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

[drink2mny]

Well, I'll start off thanking everyone that has put input and examples on this forum for rebuilding boats.. That is why I joined. this forum seems to have almost if not all answers to my questions..
Thank you..

Now here we go. Long story short. The classic old lady neigherbors husband dies and she has been asking for help alot. We live on a small cul de sac and I am the youngest that can actually do things for her like park campers and rototill and others.. So after helping here this summer I asked "whatever happen to that boat you guys had. She said, "Do you want it" . I told her and she already new I am restoring a '64 Cutlass 442 (http://www.64cutlass442.webs.com/) So no extra money floating around..
She said I could just have it.. I was floored.
Well I went and picked it up from her daughters house and this is what I got..

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Welcome to iboats

Looks good. Any idea of when it was last run?

I would start with the engine and then clean up the boat!

 

[drink2mny]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Not a bad free boat just looking at pictures.. Untill my buddy and I sat up on the nice covered seats and rocked a little bit.
Come to find out this was under the carpet and cracked fiberglass .
I pulled out the deck carefully so I can trace and have a good starting point for new wood, From what I have learned should be marine or lowes 4x8 sheet of douglas fir AC. I get a military discount at Lowes so I am hoping to get all needed items there..

 

[nate1220]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

looks to be in decent shape, how is the deck and transom and motor

 

[nate1220]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

well that answers my question.

 

[drink2mny]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Don't laugh, but I haven't tried the motor yet. Heck I think i finally figured out it is a 50 horse mercury made in '86 or '87..
I figure if I can build small and big block chevy's and build Olds motors I can work on this..
Plue it was last run last summer. It seemed to be winterized, the plugs were loose and wires unplugged with what seemed to be oil sprayed in the cylinders..

 

[drink2mny]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

I pulled and dug out all the soaked styrofoam (what a PITA).. and found all the stringers bad.. I was gentle with a cutting wheel and was able to pull them all out is mainly one piece..

 

[drink2mny]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

More.. all pulled out and cleaned up. I left a little lip so I know where the stringers went, plus hopefully as a guide to hold them up with adhesive. Which I also learned from the site to use PL Premium... Not sure if I need to cushion under them though.. I don't think I do..

 

[redfury]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

The PL will take care of that just fine. The idea behind using a "cushion" under the stringers I think was that if you put the stringer boards in WITH the glass covering, not by bedding them that you needed to make sure you had something to fill the irregularities between the board and the boat so you wouldn't end up with hard spots. PL does double duty. It bonds the wood to the hull, and it takes care of any voids left by the production of the stringer(s).

You have 5 of them, so buy up at least 5 big tubes of PL premium.

 

[drink2mny]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

As for the transom.. from what I read i can do a screw driver handle tap.. Kind of like listening for delaminated wing skin on airplanes with the quarter tap method..
I didn't think I heard any thud or dull sounds. all seemed to be tight and sharp sounding.
The transom does have a couple extra holes from I'm guess the original evenrude. The who knows how many PO's sealed it with silicone..I don't really know how much water would have gotten in..
Some of the paint??/Gelcoat?? has little cracks and looks like they siliconed maybe where a ladder was..
I tried picking up and twisting the motor with my buddy and didn't see the transom twist or tweak

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Welcome to iBoats!
Neighbors are so KOOL!

From the inside of the transom take a 3/8" drill bit and drill into but not all the way thru the transom at various places. See if you get light tan dry shavings or dark wet mushy shavings. With those holes and the stringers in that bad of shape I HIGHLY suspect the transom is TOAST as well. Since you have it torn down this far you might as well go all the way and "Git er Dun". You'll have a boat that will last longer than you will when you are finished.

Remember Time, Effort, Money and BEER and you'll have a boat in No time.

I'm just sayin.....

 

[drink2mny]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Now I do have some other questions that, yes I am going to research on here when the time comes. Is how to properly seal those holes and the holes the motor mount bolts go through. Plus seal the little holes and figure out what to do to fix these areas..
As always though I am all ears for some guidance from you guys..

 

[drink2mny]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Welcome to iBoats!
Neighbors are so KOOL!

From the inside of the transom take a 3/8" drill bit and drill into but not all the way thru the transom at various places. See if you get light tan dry shavings or dark wet mushy shavings. With those holes and the stringers in that bad of shape I HIGHLY suspect the transom is TOAST as well. Since you have it torn down this far you might as well go all the way and "Git er Dun". You'll have a boat that will last longer than you will when you are finished.

Remember Time, Effort, Money and BEER and you'll have a boat in No time.

I'm just sayin.....

Time..on and off.. Effort-all for it...Money-as soon as my '64 442 is done.. Beer---don't worry plenty of it...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Are you planning on Gel Coating or Painting the Hull?? That will dictate how you fix the gouges and scratches that the pictures are showing.

 

[drink2mny]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

not really sure.. I know I need to put something to fill in the gaps where the fiberglass is seen in the lower gouges..What would be easier and last?? I heard I could paint but if not done right it can come off if water gets behind it..Seen those boats..

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Gel coat is usually more durable but lots of guys on here paint their hulls with Great success. I will be painting my 1960 Lonestar fiberglass hull this fall with Pettit Easypoxy paint. Lots of guys on here have used it and like it. Your boat has gel coat now but seems to be in fairly poor condition. Wet sanding could bring it back some but you still have to do the filling and color matching so if it were me I would seriously consider painting the hull. If you go that route then you can use a good marine filler to fair the hull, prime it and paint it. If you prep it correctly and take your time you can get a paint job that will last for years.
Lots of help on here when the time comes

 

[ezmobee]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

On the transom...I agree, you've already come this far. The new stringers will be tabbed to the transom so you wouldn't want to tab your new work to a questionable transom. I'd put a new one in.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Drink,

Welcome to iboats! Cool looking boat you have there. Not to be the bearer of bad news but that transom is gonzoed for sure. Ez is right...don't attach new to old unless the old is in near perfect shape. Effort wise, re-doing this boat will be very similar to restoring your 442. Money wise it will be far less. If you are decent with body work than the boat will be no problem...just paint it. Just make sure you use marine fillers and paints. This forum is the BEST source of info. Good luck.

 

[drink2mny]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

Well, I'll see what happens tonight when I do the drill bit test....As for painting it, the wife loves that idea. She wants to have a similiar paint scheme to my '72 chevy cheyenne that is the classic white and orange.

..
Should I have any worry of warpage with all the stringers out for to long.. I have the boat sitting in the trailer.
I am not looking forward to replacing that transom and sqeezing in uder the back to cut it out...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: A free boat. 1973 Silverline Aruba 15V thats needs some work.

hey drink,

If the transom turns out to be toastm then It would really be best for you to de-capitate your boat. You do that by taking the rub rail (the rubber bumper) out and then drill out the rivets or remove the screws that hold it on. You can then remove the entire top of the boat. This will give you easy access to the transom. You can check the threads on the forum to see lots of examples of how this is done. I think the color scheme of your truck for the boat would be KOOL. Get er dun kid.