First Project Boat

[PondTunes]

So there's been a boat sitting on the side of the highway for as long as I can remember probably 5 years judging from what I can make out from the registration sticker. Anyways, the wife wouldn't let me take on another boat until we got rid of our current one.. So a good friend of mine decided he wanted a boat / project so we went and looked at it.

The boat itself is a 87ish model "Caribbean" with an 170 mercrusier engine, alpha 1 drive.

I'll be keeping a progress log at: http://pondtunes.com/dwb/

We started working on it today cleaning it out and I've come up with a few questions I would like to ask you guys. I tried to take photos of each issue to explain what i'm asking.

Side Photo:

As you can see the trailer has some rust but all in all the trailer won't take much work at all to get it ready for the roads.


QUESTION #1:

The way we brought it in, previous owner had started a resto but didn't complete it. Plywood floor = rotten, stringers = rotten, full of leaves and decayed wood.

The upholstry is dryrotted & cracked beyond salvage, first up is the seat foam... Should we save it or trashcan it? For the most part the foam is intact and squishy but it has been exposed to rain/snow/sun for a good long time.

The bases for the captains chairs are in good shape, so we plan to hold on to anything that isn't rusted or broken, the insides of the captains chairs are plastic so no rot inside them.

QUESTION #2
The foam in the front of the bow where the seats are doesn't *feel* wet to the touch or soggy. This is ABOVE the floor and is encased in an area attached to the dual consoles, only way to get in would be to crawl below there and dig it out with a spoon... Do we need to replace this?

QUESTION #3
The plywood floor appears to continue up into the bow area, we can't get to this area to rip out the old plywood because the seats/consoles/front of the boat are all one piece. If we lay down and dig out all the old rotten wood with a claw hammer or something will we be able to slide a new piece in or should we look at seperating the upper & lower hull?


QUESTION #4
In this picture we've cleaned out the trash in the boat and you can actually see the bottom of the boat. There appears to be a layer of glass in the center that was carpeted. We presume this was a storage area/ski locker. Below this glass is a channel and a low profile looking stringer, I presumed this to be a drainage channel that ran the length of the boat to the bilge. What is the proper way to repair this? Rip out the glass & stringers, replace them then glass back over the channel leaving a void for water? We're going to attempt to cut the stringers out to use as a pattern, is there any great way to do this?

Question #5
How does the engine mount up in this boat? It appears that the engine mounts are bolted into a board that's been glassed over and this board is connected to the stringers that parallel the engine.. No clue about the status of the transom, at first check it *appears* solid but given the condition of the rest of the stringers it probably isnt. Can this be replaced from the inside if the engine were removed? Should I get the engine at least running prior to re-building the floor?

Thanks in advance! We know we've got a big project, total investment thus far is $400.00

 

[JaSla74]

Re: First Project Boat

I'd trash the old foam. As far as the rest of your rig, from what I can tell, it looks like you need to remove all of the above. If you're not able to access the entire length of the stringer I'd remove the cap & pull/grind them all out. I'm guessing your motor is a 4 banger? If so, it's probably mounted to a 2x6 the ties into the stringers, however, I would check the motor before diving in too far. If your motor/out drive is shot the project may not be worth it.

My somewhat inexperienced two cents.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: First Project Boat

Good luck with that. The 170 hp mercruiser has a bad name and is hated by MANY ...... as said above I would give it a good check over or you may be hunting for a re-power too.

Please limit your future pictures in the forum to 640 x 480 in size.

Thanks.

 

[PondTunes]

Re: First Project Boat

Thanks for the tips i'll cruise over to the engine forum and see what I can dig up on the engine. I've resized the pictures as well will post future ones according to your specs.

 

[Fingernip]

Re: First Project Boat

My boat is in nearly identical condition and configuration as yours. This spring ill be diving in as i didnt get much time to work on it before everything froze last year. Mine was also powered by a 4 cylinder but over the winter i found a nice complete 305 for a steal. Ill be watching your project and maybe we can share info as we go along.

 

[PondTunes]

Re: First Project Boat

Cool deal fingernip, at the link at the top I have some more photos, i'll probably turn it into a detailed teardown/rebuild as it goes along.

Okay after looking over the Mercrusier section it's the general consensus that the 470 engine was built by satan to cause boat owners to stab their own eyes out. That being said the V8 swap could be an option that we will pursue... I fully intend on checking the 470 out and getting her running if possible so I can offset the cost if we go with a swap. My question to this section is now if going with a V8 swap what do we need to do differently from the stock setup. I assume we will be dealing with a set of motor mounts similar to a car engine, do I need to glass in 4" P.T. Timbers on either side of the engine or is there another preferred way of doing it?

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: First Project Boat

If you are intending on shopping for a new engine I would consider a V-6 since the gear ratio in the outdrive is closer. Post the swap questions in the http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21 section and you will get an accurate answer.

I owned a 470/170 and I actaully kept it running but it has it share of troubles..... a nice V-6 will deliver more power and allow for more sleep