How much planning?

[RobbyA]

I am curious is to how much planning you all have done going into a restoration. Do you have every detail down to gauges, interior color, hull color, lighting, etc. before you start tearing into it, or do you just work on the fly and figure out everything when you get to it?

I have everything and I mean everything planned out before starting and it got me to thinking, am I setting myself up for failure if things don't go exactly as planned.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: How much planning?

The expression "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry" comes from the poem "To A Mouse," by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. It applys to planning for a boat restoration too! You need to think it through make some basic decisions and KNOW what the ORDER of things should be such as Remove the Motor before flipping the boat!!!! but IMHO ALL of us at times spend to much time OVERTHINKING and analyzing things instead of diving in and "Gettin er Dun". Sure that way of doin things may cause the occasional mistake but we learn from em and go on.

I'ts kind like teachin yer kids to swim, I just threw em in and said get to the bank or drown.

I still got em!!!

I'm just sayin...

 

[RobbyA]

Re: How much planning?

The expression "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry" comes from the poem "To A Mouse," by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. It applys to planning for a boat restoration too! You need to think it through make some basic decisions and KNOW what the ORDER of things should be such as Remove the Motor before flipping the boat!!!! but IMHO ALL of us at times spend to much time OVERTHINKING and analyzing things instead of diving in and "Gettin er Dun". Sure that way of doin things may cause the occasional mistake but we learn from em and go on.

I'ts kind like teachin yer kids to swim, I just threw em in and said get to the bank or drown.

I still got em!!!

I'm just sayin...

Before you started the flamingo did you have a vision of what the finished product will look like down to every detail. I know it has sat in the driveway for awhile giving you plenty of thinking time.

I would love to dive right in, but this heat is killing me. lol I have to wear a suit in this heat at work, the last thing I want to do is be out in it when I get home. Of course you are not that far away, if you get bored I can have everything laid out for you waiting to get after it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: How much planning?

I been dreamin and schemin since last December!!!! And yep, I know in my Mind EXACTLY how I want her to look. Now that don't mean she'll look that way when she's done. I'll just let things flow as they go, but color and where things are pretty much gunna be are pretty much determined. Seating is still up in the air. Back to Back may change to Me making Bench Seats but I will Probably start with Terry Cloth Seat covers on the Back to Backs and then make a Permanent decision once she is in the water and I make sure she IS the boat I think she is going to be. the Interior can and will be an expensive proposition and I want to make sure she is what I want before I invest the final BUCKS. I spend hours reading multiple threads last winter and pretty much knew what to look for and what to do when I bought her and when I got her. I know what you mean about this HEAT WAVE. I CAN'T wait till it breaks. A few hours on the weekends EARLY in the Mornings and LATE in the evenings is all I get and that is NOT enough to give me my BOAT FIX!!!! My wife is gunna kill me this fall, I can already tell. Oh well, that's what flower shops are for!!!!!

Don't get to ANAL with your project. It's supposed to be FUN!!!! That's what I plan on making it, and it has been THAT so far, and I have learned a LOT from the guys on the forum and just by doing and experimenting with different techniques and ideas. Don't overthink just dive in and do it.

If you ever get up to Tulsa/Broken Arrow, Look me up for Coffee and Pie. I'll BUY!!!!!

I'm just sayin...

 

[oops!]

Re: How much planning?

as woodie said......over thinking is a killer.

but there is nothing wrong with sitting in your boat getting a basic idea of what you want it to look like.

and trust me......when you are grinding ...and grinding.....one of the things that keeps you going is letting your mind drift to the finished product.....the details will come as you go along

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: How much planning?

RobbyA,
Plans are great and they help keep you on track to accomplish a goal. However unless you built the boat you really won't know what you have to do until you open her up and start.
I had a plan, but I'm already way off schedule. So updated my plan to go like this. Tear everything out I don't like, until I either get to the hull or everything left is good. Well I went to the hull.
I now plan to make sure everything that goes back in is right. I took a lot of measurements when I started so I would make sure everything fit when I got it all finished. Well that doesn't even mater now because on some thing I decided to go another direction.
Bottom Line, make a plan but keep it simple enough to be flexible. Like Woodonglass said, The best laid plan's.
good luck and have fun.
Bob

 

[sprintst]

Re: How much planning?

I did overthink quite a bit and that cost me quite a bit of time.

The trick is to come up with a basic plan and stick to it but wing it on some of the details so you can be flexible.

The basics for me were strip the paint, pull the decking, pull foam and replace with the board type, replace decking, pull engine, redo engine mounts and transom, replace all hoses, wiring, outdrive parts and maintenance, etc.

I winged it with the lights, changed my mind on the dash area, etc.

The overthinking on the transom replacement cost me the most time as when I got into it I found it wasn't that bad at all.

 

[Gypsystar17]

Re: How much planning?

I tried planning before I started,but most of those plans got changed as I worked on it.the only plans that never changed were the interior layout.as for rebuilding transom,stringers,and floor,it comes to you as you build it.

 

[jonesg]

Re: How much planning?

You cannot plan until you know the extent of the damage.

Many transom jobs start out as follows.

I'll just fix this soft spot around the seat base....
Well the soft spot seems bigger than I thought, so I'll cut a section of floor out and re-do that area. Yeh thats the ticket!

Well the foam underneath the deck seems damp, I'll cut a bit more.
The foam is soaked, and the stringers don't look too good but I think I can can leave them.
The foam was saturated and now the stringers are falling apart since the foam is gone, I'll do the stringers. And the underside of the deck is toast.

The transom is wet where it meets the stringers but it sounds solid when I bang on it. doh!
I drilled a hole and water poured out of the transom...is it still good?

That scenario can chew up 2 months of procrastinating.
The actual repair can be done in 3 weeks.

 

[D.spencer]

Re: How much planning?

I am sooo guilty on the overthinking part.... but alas, it has helped in the end to what I wanted without having to re- do stuff. Delays will happen and don't try to kid yourself here. Parts will not always arrive when you want them, your order will be wrong for some reason, the weather will not co-operate when you need it most, you will forget to get something on friday from a business that is closed on saturday, and sometimes in between all *that* life happens and work schedules change, kids gotta go somewhere, and things conspire against you- sometimes, all the above happens at *once* it seems. This has been my story so far, I try to always have back up plans to do something else then back up those plans about twice more. Even if you are just looking online for parts will make use of otherwise non-productive time.