My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

[stackz]

edit 1/28/2010: found some older pics to reupload, not all but some

ok, here's my 1990 thundercraft.

originally a freshwater lake boat, I bought it while living in atlanta and brought it back to the coast with me. always had a list to starboard side since bought but it ran great and everything worked and was what I wanted at the time so it became mine.

then moved back to where I was raised and it became my creek/river boat. no bay or jetties work for this tiny freshwater fun boat lol. the bay beat the CRAP out of it the two times I took it out there haha.

anyway, fast forward a year. my now ex-fiance' wanted an outing...she brought everyone. no way they'd fit on it I thought. she basically blackmailed me. said if I didnt make it work, no sex for 6 months

yeah, so we made it out to the beach, good day, then got choppy so time to go. she loaded folding chairs under the transom without telling me...kicked the bilge wires loose. anyway, long story short, boat went down in 14' water (managed to get out of the channel thank god). it was down 15 minutes and a parasailing boat pulled it up and threw all the chairs in the water and rigged the bilge to the battery and got it floating again.

got it home and I'm a mechanic by childhood hobby so I was good to go saving it. pulled the gas tank out of it and drained it....15gal tank with 14 gallones when it sank and I ended up with 6 gallons of gas for my lawnmower long since used haha. 3 cups inside the starter, each carb full, the primer bulb was flushed, oil reservoir was good. I put the tank back and filled with fresh 93 octane and cranked it over and let it run for 30 minutes.

flash forward 1.5 years. EX-fiance left and I no longer look at the boat with contempt. I have 5 car projects to finish but I want a break from car grease/rust to mess with this...shrimping season is coming in september haha.

anyway....I charge the battery and turn the key. no movement. try breaking the starter free (the coil would still freeze to the windings arm now and then) and nothing. look over other things and see smoking at the rectifier.

I order one of everything electrical I can think of just so I have and I go at it. 1 ebay starter (saved $200 and only had to rethread a ground slot) and 1 rectifier later and it runs and idles on year old gas....no **** hole, crap.

complete lower end gasket set and water pump kit and thermostat kit (why not while I'm in there) and its pissin like a racehorse..

then I realize the steering froze...crap.

no clue what to get so I post more idiotic questions on here and find out I have a rack/pinion setup even though my neighbor cant believe it in the little boat this is.

order it and it goes right in...though the old cable was B!TCH to get out. had to cut and hammer it out in 3 sections, ugh. new one slides like a virgin.

anyway, because I've been on here reading and reading I begin to realize that boat foam holds water if its the expanding kind.


my boat always listed to starboard and I had a side cupholder always full of water....hmmmm, well here we go guys....

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

continuing on....

here's the floor carpeting torn up and I can now definitely see why the ski cage (I used it for life vest storage) was always scarey to walk by....

only the top side was glassed, everything else was left raw underneath....sigh

also, the floor is ALL rotted on the port side but the cupholder foam underside was bone dry.

anyway, my question before I continue on is this....

can I remove those side rail cupholder structures completely or are they helping stiffen the body?? personally, I dont want them if possible as it would open space and I'd no longer stub my toes on the back edges of those damned things either...I can put vacuum cup holders out which can stay in storage otherwise...I dont care about permanent ones.

main reason I ask is because everyone says dont do that because it looks like it could affect it structurally. I dont think so which is why I ask. I mean look at the one...it butts up to the floor, at the minimum if I want to keep it I need to cut it and then fit it back as I cant completely replace the floor without taking it out. I think its just aethetic (sp?) is why I'm asking.

here is the starboard cupholder container structure thingy. you can see its FULL of water. I'd say at least 5 gallons which 25lb of dead water weight.

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

ok, quick question. got the old floor out and got the new flooring pieces cut.

I was reading on the fiberglassing howto that you should soak the plywood in resin first before actually sealing it so it doesnt draw out the resin when you go to seal it.

how many coats of resin should I use and do you just put the resin on raw or mixed with hardener??

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

Stackz you want at least 2 coats of resin ( with hardener ) on all exposed surfaces of the wood ( top,bottom, sides) . After that you can start glassin . The glass boat guys will be along to answer your other questions . I figured this would at least get you started doing the resin on the boards on saw horses before putting it in the boat .


Rick

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

cool. one other question I have is how to properly seal screw holes after you have the new boards glasses and glued down to the stringers. like when you mount your new seats. I was thinking...mount the seat. then pull it up and squirt silicon in the holes and then rescrew down the seat so the silicon makes a better water tight seal??

most of the wood rot on this boat started at screw holes from what I can tell sigh.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

Use 3M 4200 or 5200 instead of silicone. And those cupholder rails in your boat LOOK structural. That's just my opinion.

 

[md-lucky]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

Looks like a great project!!!

I haven't seen many Thundercraft boats here, so I always root for the ones I see!!

Keep the pictures and info coming!!!

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

Use 3M 4200 or 5200 instead of silicone. And those cupholder rails in your boat LOOK structural. That's just my opinion.

yeah, I'm pretty sure they are structural at this point. I've seen things similar on several other boat restoration threads while researching the ins/outs of floor replacement before starting on this.

I've just got the floor cut out around them right now while I get it measured and such but they are going to have to either come out or I'm going to cut the back sides off and reattach later as I've gotta get that soggy foam out of there somehow.

I was thinking of refilling with foam and then sealing the front portion off from the cupholder portion and then putting a drain in the bottom of the cupholder portion down into the bilge so it cant fill up with water like it did at present.

and yeah, I'll get some pics as soon as I get another camera. it sorta broke on the july 4th holiday haha.

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

hey md-lucky I was looking over your restoration thread...where'd you get that vinyl material from that you used to redo your seats, etc??

mine are rotted out up front as well as pulling apart at the seams and that seems like the easiest way to fix them lol.

how much was it as well??

 

[md-lucky]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

hey md-lucky I was looking over your restoration thread...where'd you get that vinyl material from that you used to redo your seats, etc??

mine are rotted out up front as well as pulling apart at the seams and that seems like the easiest way to fix them lol.

how much was it as well??

It's just standard marine vinyl I picked up at the local fabric store. It is a little expensive (about $12 per yard), but it goes a long way.

I called a guy locally to see what he would charge to do the interior for me. He said somewhere between $3000 and $3500!! I about hit the roof. I've spent MAYBE $120 on what I've done so far. I will have the entire boat re-done for under $200.

It doesn't look as good as factory, but I'm more than happy with it. Dumping $3k into a boat that is MAYBE worth $3k seems silly.

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

It's just standard marine vinyl I picked up at the local fabric store. It is a little expensive (about $12 per yard), but it goes a long way.

I called a guy locally to see what he would charge to do the interior for me. He said somewhere between $3000 and $3500!! I about hit the roof. I've spent MAYBE $120 on what I've done so far. I will have the entire boat re-done for under $200.

It doesn't look as good as factory, but I'm more than happy with it. Dumping $3k into a boat that is MAYBE worth $3k seems silly.

oh I agree totally and it looks just fine the way you did it. I just didnt think I could get the material cheaply. I've redone several automotive interiors (the whole hog ring dealio) and redid my patio furniture using heavy gauge vinyl...just didnt know a fabric store would carry marine grade vinyl is all...or if it was cheap enough for my tastes...that is definitely right up my price line lol.

oh yeah, how did you overlap it with the black and all?? did you heat fuse it or glue it together or something?? or stitch it and then fold the stitch under??

also, on the doghouse, why didnt you use a hair drier and trim adhesive to get it to lay down against the corners instead of free float with the little wrinkles??? the can of 3M stuff at the auto parts store is like $8 and it is a STRONG bond even on wood/vinyl. just a thought if that ever starts to bother you enough that you want to pull it off and use the adhesive spray to get it to sit nice and pretty.

and yeah, those rear seat backs are evil. mine are put in the exact same way, ugh.

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

ok, update time. I sat on the project for a little while due to car projects that needed finishing to supply money for this one haha.

I'm at a comfy place and I'd like to have the boat for the fall/winter beach/river camping scene since its usually 70* here in charleston even into december.

so out came the floor of the boat as well as the foam padding. WOW, that original foam was SOAKED!!! each piece weighed like 80lb and there were 6 of them!! I put in walling foam block like I've seen others do and actually have more foam in the bilge now then I did from the factory. and its dry. Then we sistered up the stringers (which werent rotted thank god) and put in the new floor piece. all wood used was treated and got two coats of resin once in place. floor is SOLID now. Also going to come back later and cut out the space over the ski locker and make it into a cooler/storage area.

the area in the top left of the pic with the cylinder head is because the treated wood was still a little damp and after two days of the hot sun beating on it, it started to bow a little. also, the reason for the gap is because we werent comfortable pulling out the two outer edge supports...OR cutting with our tools into possibly the hull. here's a question. there's about 1/4" empty space under that little area with the cylinder head. should I fill it with liquid nails or with fiberglass stranded resin mix?? I dont want a floppy floor in that area. I've got both the stranded resin and the liquid nails available. I was thinking liquid nails first and then once cured, fill in the surrounding areas with the stranded resin and sand smooth and then level out to the old floor with more stranded resin and sand smooth and then paint with non-skid.

also got the old gauge cluster out and got my test panel sorted out and my gauges fitted for fun. the lower right is where my switches will go. center hole is steering wheel obviously. The final panel will be white starboard to match the color of the boat and the gauges. cant wait....I never imagined making up a gauge panel could take so long eesh...

oh yeah and for ****s and giggles, here's my neighbor in a tyvek suit getting ready to cut out the old floor because he loves playing with boats/wood/fiberglass even more than me but cant stand fiberglass on his skin haha.

doing the bull dance, working it...workin it, yeah....

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

ok, got the gauge panel finished and all the gauges installed. I'm still trying to determine how many switches I want installed in the lower right portion of the dash assembly before I start the hardcore portion of the wiring of the boat. once I get that figured out (tomorrow) I'll get the wiring knocked out and this project will really get moving over the next two weeks.

also of note is that in the first picture all the original wiring is since removed and the boat's nice and clean on the inside yay!

did more work on the floor. got the stranded resin in the joints between the old floor and new floor and its really solid now. it looks like crap in this pic but that was the first application and I'm a complete amateur with fiberglass. once I hit it with my big air powered block sander, it cut down nice and smooth though.

and here's the starboard side roughed in.

I put 3 thick coats of resin over the main floor and sanded all the edges, top surface smooth for when I laid down the carpet but I lost those pics sigh.

 

[stackz88]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

ok, its been over a year since I last messed with it due to remodeling the kitchen all year and then doing the bathroom as well. finally got a chance to work on it the past couple of days. nothing really picture worthy but I finished the fuel gauge wiring and got some more of the carpeting done. going to put the fuel cell back in over the next few days after I cut new panels for the rear seats and refinish them. trying to track down all the hardware in stainless at the hardware stores is turning out to be a pain though.

got the boat on a new(er) trailer and almost have it set up. once I get some more progress done and find my old pics to repost them as well, I'll give another update.

and yeah, having problems with my main account so I"m using this temp name.

 

[fat fanny]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

I like the read on your thread but none of your pictures showed up just a red X!!! I would like to see the thundercraft

 

[stackz88]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

yeah, I apparently deleted them all offline a little while ago for some reason. I'm looking to see if I burned them to a disc when I reformatted my laptop and if I find them I'll rehost them because I really liked a few of them.

anyway, quick re-synopsis of where I am right now.

here's the boat as it sits on the unadjusted trailer. its a lot more dirty than it seems.

floor is pretty much done. I'm hanging the carpet little by little due to the bolsters in the side being weird to work around and its so cold out, the adhesive isnt really grabbing.

various panels that need recovering. the old crappy gauges.

the new gauges, switches, wiring.

the rest of the boat. yep, dirty. the old tarp fell apart and I didnt realize it for a couple months. guess I get to pressure wash the carpet once its all back together...

ok, here's where I started today. I wanted to get the splash well cleaned up and get the lower seat redone and installed so I could install and hook up the gas tank again. I already got the carpet placed up the inner side wall in the gas tank area so it'll be finished once the tank is in. then I'll start working my way down the boat with the carpeting. probably borrow my gf's hair dryer to help with that process....

does anyone know a good product to get the rust stains from the old hardware off? I got this $14/bottle seacraft rust stain remover that doesnt really work and the pic on front showed rust as bad as this being wiped away, lol.

I used the old cushion as a template and made a new treated plywood base. then drilled for the four tree nuts and put the hardware in. then on with the foam and cut out a piece of marine vinyl. tossed it over and stretched while stapling. stupid pneumatic harbor freight nail gun gave me a fit until I realized the hammer portion needed oil.

voila!, ghetto seat!

 

[stackz88]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

installed! for being horrible at it, I think it looks good and it'll work now without being horribly brittle.

gas tank all back installed. having the upper seat out made it WORLDS easier and quicker to work with. I will make sure to take it out whenever I'm in there again.

thats it for now. gotta start getting that carpet in.

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

ok, got a bunch of progress made today. I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel yay!

I finished getting the carpet all put in and it looks great if I do say so myself. got the port side done first and then moved all my tools over there after I vacuumed.

then I worked on getting the starboard side in place. It was a pain in the butt getting it trimmed while dealing with all the cables and such.

after that was done I was quite pissed at the cables so I went ahead and got them all placed back up under the railing and out of sight since I'm all but done with the wiring finally, yay again!

after that I still wanted a little more torture so I finished off redoing the rear seats as well. man getting the starboard upper in place without side access like on the port, ugh, I dont want to do that too many more times. I also remounted the battery box and hooked it all up correctly and then I recovered the gas tank and strapped it back down. looks so much better.

 

[stackz]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

ok, I need some help with two things that are irritating the hell out of me.

the following pics from the previous post are pretty much a before/after of me cleaning the existing vinyl on the boat as I did that while I was hiding the wiring.

I used a strong seacraft (or whatever its called) cleaner and also a clorox bleach spray cleaner and this is as much of the mildew/crap I could get off the vinyl. I know I can get it looking better than this but dont know what to use??

also, if you look at the top middle of the panel, you'll see some darker splash looking spots. thats where my half drunk neighbor was putting his resin coated hands all over the vinyl...as well as the gel coat...I didnt notice this until after it was hardened sigh.

is there ANY way possible to get this stuff off at all?? I'm assuming a fresh razor blade and gentle scraping is the way to go on the gelcoat but I have no clue on the vinyl??

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My 1990 Thundercraft 1506 rebuild + background

Magic eraser.