I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Okay, okay, I'm back at it again. Couldn't let the long weekend go by without getting something accomplished on the old girl.

A couple weeks ago I went and sat in her for 45 minutes and made up a to-do list. This is not necessarily in order, just stuff that I thought about while staring.

Order two new fan belts
Order gimbal pin removal tool
Order bellows kit
Order exhaust tube flappers
Buy new/repair old fuel tanks
Buy new lights (if)
Buy switch panel
Buy starter battery
Buy battery switch
Buy new thermostat/gasket
Order blower hoses
Order new blower motors (if)

Remove motor
Install new fan belts
Pull gimbal housing
Replace bellows
Install exhaust tube flappers
Reinstall angle aluminum at top of transom
Remove/5200/reinstall transom bolts
Reinstall motor
Align motor
Reinstall outdrive
Wiring harness inspect
Wiring harness repair
Test lights
Install new lights
Remove console (?)
Install switch panel
Complete console installation
Reconnect/test console wiring
Build battery trays
Install battery power
Install new thermostat
Inspect pepcocks (one's broken, get from old motor?)
Compression test
Pull floors
Clean inside hull
Fill hull with water leak test
Gluvit
Install flotation
Install deck
Rivet deck
Glass deck (with sand)
Paint deck
Test original blower motors



Then I spent a couple weeks being depressed about how long that list is.

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

As you may recall, last fall I discovered leaks in the bellows inside the gimbal housing. Currently all my money is going into my car (exhaust, struts, brakes - winter is hell in MN) so until I have a spare $172 for the seal kit, I need to do things that don't require spending money. Fortunately, I bought a quart of Gluvit last year, so that's what happened this weekend.

I had to completely re-disassemble the boat right down to the bare hull. That was not encouraging. Felt like I was going backwards again.

I Shop-vac'd the leaves I left under the floor last winter.
Lowered the front of the trailer, set the bow on the ground, filled the hull with water and grabbed my trusty Sharpie.
I let the water fill until just below the starter motor. Figured I shouldn't submerge that. In the front the water came almost to the wood on the cabin seats.
Found just a couple leaky spots. One on the bow and one in the starboard seam at about the helm area.
Tested out the bilge pump - 25 minutes to drain the entire boat. 1200gph takes longer than I thought it would.
Scraped the livin' **** outta the top of my left foot on the sharp edges of the aluminum deck supports that run from bow to stern. Shoulda learned the lesson from Jason and pulled those out too. Oh well. Got a half a tube of Neosporin and a 4" square piece of gauze on it now. I'd show you the picture, but iboats would probably ban me for posting gore.
Went back today and took out the seat-top wood so I could access the bow seam. The original white stryofoam was still there and in perfect shape. Took it out anyway.
Of course the only way to get the biggest piece of seat-top wood out was to also remove the cabin walls. Humph.
I scrubbed out the hull, wire-wheeled and washed the trouble spots and the entire port and starboard seams from bow to stern and also the seam at the bow.
Mixed up half of the Gluvit and coated all the seams.
The can says 12 hours between coats, so I'll go back in the morning and use up the second half of the can.

Now I'm actually feeling pretty good - like I'm getting somewhere again.

Need to get to work on a visio diagram of the wiring harness too.

So... a big howdy too everyone, sorry I've been away so long!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Progress!! Well done bro!

Shoot man, what you accomplished there in two days would have been a three week stint for me :facepalm:

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Glad to see you back to the boat PR, that's quite a list you've got going

I hear ya on the budget issues, seems like there's always a few more items that need to be purchased.

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Thanks guys - it really truly helps motivate me knowing there are other people out there who are cheering me on.

I used up the last of the Gluvit this morning, went over everything with a second coat and really globbed it into all the rivets at the bow.

I left the bow sitting on the ground to keep the puddle of Gluvit right over the leak I found at the bow. Gotta get back late tonight to raise it back up into "water-off-a-ducks-back" position - s'posed to thunderstorm tomorrow.

Next step is to take a week off of work to remove the motor, seal up the stuff in the gimbal/keyhole area permanently, install foam board flotation and (finally!) permanently install the deck.

I brought the homemade helm home (say that five times fast). I bought a stereo for it sometime during the winter and I also need to buy and install a switch plate.

The stereo is really cool - no tape or CD. Just AM/FM, but it has SD and USB slots so I can jam a card or thumbdrive full of MP3's into it. I started looking for a deck like this for my car many many years ago. I was very excited when I found this one on clearance at Cabelas for $79. Apparently most people are still wanting the old-school media options. Just seems dumb to me - all those delicate little moving parts in a CD player on a boat. It's bound to fail isn't it? This deck has zero moving parts.

Alright, back outside to finish brushing the dog - he's overdue for his summertime puppy cut!

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

hmmm....

http://www.bazooka.com/read-news/121

 

[ezmobee]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

I have a bazooka tube in my truck. I added it because the truck only has four small 4x6's or something lame like that. The tube really adds a nice amount of bass without going overboard at all. I'm very pleased with it.

I have a stereo in my Honda that allows you to put your ipod inside it and connect it up. it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sony Tune Dock they call it. They recently came out with a marine model. Sweet! I also have no need for a CD player. All MP3 for me.

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

First subs I ever heard in a car were bazooka tubes. They're fantastic. They also fit in places where standard sub-boxes would never go. A little outta my budget though. Gonna have to stick with the lame 6" "full-range" speakers that came with the deck.

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Here's a useful tip for the newbies just getting started on their resto's. Don't name your albums after the number of days you've been working on the project. I just loaded photos to my album site. The last day I posted photos was day 135. Today is day 423. Good Lord. That does not make me feel proud. I could go on and on about the evil forces conspiring to keep me away from this project, but I don't wanna and you prolly don't want me to either, so....

Last time was Gluvit. This time we're putting the "pink stuff" flotation foam board in.

1" board cut 8" wide to fit between the ribs, against the hull.

First layer in place.

Then I got to thinking (uh-oh). I didn't like the fact the the foam board was laying right against the hull so close to the limber holes I worked so hard to clear. Then I had an idea (uh-oh times 10). I put a smaller 8" wide piece between the ribs to hold up the long pieces just a little bit, to keep some space between the foam and the hull. I figure a tiny bit of added room here will help with drainage and allow a little more air for drying-out purposes right where it counts.

At that point it became a real puzzle. I'd bought 1", 1.5" and 2" foam board, and figuring out the best way to cut and fit each piece just right turned into a lot of time sitting and staring and trying this piece here and that piece there and blah, blah, blah.

Before ya know it, my assistants had completely given up.

Here's what it looked like when I gave up and threw the cover back on and went home:

Now I need to go troll the other threads looking for answers to this horrific puzzle.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Now I need to go troll the other threads looking for answers to this horrific puzzle.

No soap bottles? Well, I know what thread you can skip over

Yah man, after fitting a whole wide variety of stuff into my hull I have to say noodles are far and away the easiest stuff to work with. I can move 10x faster with noodles and my bride's bread knife than any of the other flotation. Keep picking away at it you'll have er filled up next run

Hey, love your new avitar man. Nice

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

No soap bottles? Well, I know what thread you can skip over

Yah man, after fitting a whole wide variety of stuff into my hull I have to say noodles are far and away the easiest stuff to work with. I can move 10x faster with noodles and my bride's bread knife than any of the other flotation. Keep picking away at it you'll have er filled up next run

Hey, love your new avitar man. Nice

No noodles for me dood. I like doing things the easy way... er... ah... nevermind.

Yeah the avatar. That's me on Madeline Island (in the Apostles) standing at the end of a boat ramp wishing I could be in the Islander out there with all the cool kids. It's my own personal kick in the pants.

Today's minimal update - the bellows kit (with the tube) is now on it's way from our iboats host!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

The Apostles are probably my favorite destination in all the Midwest. I can't wait to get back out there. I'll miss not being in a kayak but a Starcraft will do nicely.

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Me too brutha. In fact our "life plan" is to ditch the city immediately following the kids moving out on their own (still 8-10 years away) and move up to the Bayfied Penninsula permanently. In fact SWMBO and I were just brainstorming financial plans last night - she found a nice 40 acres right in the area we like the most for dirt cheap. I wanna buy the land ASAP - I need somewhere to store this boat after I'm done rebuilding it!

This weekend I'm pulling the motor again to re-do the rushed job I did trying to get the boat splashed last fall. It's getting the whole transom seal kit, exhaust flappers and while I'm at it, thermostat. I also need to re-engineer the block the front motor mount sits on - this replacement motor has a slightly different piece on the front that needs a higher block to sit on.

 

[Deadwood]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

she found a nice 40 acres right in the area we like the most for dirt cheap. I wanna buy the land ASAP

Papa, you'll never regret it!!.........Good luck!

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Okay, I'm getting tired of scrolling through page after page after page.

Does anyone have pictures of (or links to) the floatation foam board in a resto right before laying the deck in place? I really need to see how others have pieced this puzzle together. This is starting to drive me crazy. I wanted to go back over tonight, but I can't find a single picture.

Arghh.

 

[sasquatch8790]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Check out North Beach's 66 Starcraft Sunchief re-Build page 1 post #22, has two pics that show it, hope it helps you.

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Thanks Sas - I eventually found that one and a couple others last night too.

I finally decided last night that the reason this is so frustrating to me is that I'm way over thinking it. I want to pack every cubic centimeter and I don't really need to. I probably already have more effective buoyancy in there than the original factory foam so I think I'll just relax, get what I can get in there and get the deck down.

I can't believe it's already the end of July!

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

SWMBO just called - my seal kit from iboats already arrived! Huh? I ordered it yesterday morning and selected the cheapest option (UPS ground) for shipping. How the h**l did they do that?

Cheers to our gracious iboats host!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Sweet! Rock it man, let's get this rig in the water

 

[paparoof]

Re: I'm an owner! 1975 Islander 22

Heart just jumped into my mouth - I've neglected to come up with an answer to how to pull the "pull dowels" to get into the gimbal housing. the seal kit won't do me any good unless I can get in there.

There's a tool here:
http://mercstuff.com/hingepintool.htm
("5/8 Dowel Puller # 2")

And of course they want $40 for it. Can you dream up a cheaper "bottom feeder" way to do it?