My '82 Sylvan Sportster Project

[JohnnyMat]

This is my first boat.
Picked this thing up for $350 with a good running engine (bad lower unit) and a nice Sea Lion trailer. Its been a learning process so far but I'm getting things accomplished. Ran into a major transom skin issue but got that almost all buttoned up. I'm now in the process of building a new transom and got my floors cut out/in.
Also cut all new wood for interior pieces, spar varnished them and am going to cover them with marine carpet instead of vinyl. I also replaced all foam. I'm just about to start coating the floors (out of the boat) and getting the carpet attached to the interior trims. Would love some feedback on any of this stuff as I'm going at this alone and am spending hours on forums and watching vids.

 

[Frey0357]

Nice project ya got there JohnnyMat!

You have certainly gotten a great start. One thing I noticed from the pics that I would adjust (It is difficult to see tho, so maybe I have it wrong), is to make sure that the foam you have placed under the flooring fully seats against the hull of the boat and against the flooring. This will provide you more flooring structure, and additional foam will aid in increased floatation (which right now might seem like it is not a big deal, but someday when water is coming in for some reason or another will make a BIG difference). Good to see that you sealed the flooring with Spar varnish, they will last much longer!

Let me know if you have questions about that transom, I just replaced mine and had good success. I would strongly suggest the "old timers recipe" for sealant on the transom wood as it will seal it better and provide more protection for that water sensitive area.

Nice pics by the way! Another way you can easily place pics in your post is to open a free photobucket account, open the photo and then copy/paste it right in your posts, easier to see that way and nice and large!

Frey

 

[Woodonglass]

What are you using to seal the floor? Make sure to pay attention to the edges. Thats where the water will penetrate first. Very important that both sides of the plywood are sealed too!!

 

[JohnnyMat]

So the foam is directly against the hull plus I have cut the angled pieces and large blocks...they just aren't pictured. The decking is not coated with anything yet but I was going to start them tonight. I am using Spar on them as well (both sides of course). I planned on doing 3 coats on each side but going over the edges each time so they will all have 6 coats of spar around the edge. I also filled any voids with marine epoxy as well.
You may find this strange but I am using an LVL LAM beam for the transom. They are an 1 3/4" thick by 11 7/8". They are made with exterior grade epoxy I called Georgia Pacific and got the SDS from them. I need to plane it down to 1 1/2" but a few passes through the surface planer and I'll be in good shape. I am making the transom in 3 pieces (like the original) and will be biscuit joining the tails on using Tightbond III (waterproof glue). I was going to use the Old Timers recipe for sealing the transom. I was also going to pre drill mounting holes slightly larger, fill them with epoxy, and then re-drill to normal diameter. I wouldn't mind some feedback on that or if its overkill. The LAM cost me $35 so it was a good deal cheaper and less time consuming than gluing and cutting the 3/4" ply. We shall see how it turns out!
The decking and all interior panels are getting carpet and I was going to exterior carpet glue the floors right over the spar. I hope that is ok!
Also, all of the wood trim boards (inner walls, bow seats, dash board fronts, etc...) got 2 heavy coats on the surface and 4 coats on the edges. They should never have standing water on them, so I just wanted to get them sealed. I used Man-O-War Marine Spar, which I really like so far...nice product.
I want to flip the boat and strip the exterior paint down too. Priced a soda blasting at $400-$600 but that wasn't in my budget. Tried to rent a soda blaster and that was going to cost $500 + media! Guess thats not in the cards.
If anyone has any good tips for stripping I'm all ears! That has to happen sooner than later too.

 

[hotrod53]

Enjoying the progress pictures, I have a '78 Sylvan SeaMaster and I did the same thing. You'll end up with a great boat, my Sylvan can sit in the water for literally a week and still has dust in the well near the bilge pump. That thing is 100% water tight after 38 years!

I did a transom in mine too, it came out in little chunks, I also did a floor. I glued and coated the marine plywood transom with marine epoxy, and coated the floor with 2 part fiberglass resin.

The only thing that I didn't do is repaint the outside of the hull, I call it "pre-scratched"!

 

[Frey0357]

JohnnyMat:
It seems you have done your homework and are moving along in the right direction! I'm sure you already checked into it, and if not, make sure that LAM Beam has exterior glue used to adhere the surfaces of the ply. If not there may be unintended delaminating going on in the future.

Striping the boat is just a pain, if you ask me! Soda blasting is a good option, but pricey as you found, and short of wire-wheelin' I'm not sure you will find any other method, but there may be something someone has found.....anyone?

Got any pics of the exterior of the boat that you wish to strip? That may help?

Frey

 

[JohnnyMat]

Yup the LVL from GP has the exterior grade glue. If someone knows how I can upload the PDF GP sent me about the product.
I'll shoot a few pics of the exterior in a little bit.

 

[JohnnyMat]

No Title

Here she is...maybe I can just get away with sanding and repainting. I have no clue when it comes to body work so tips are welcomed! I'm not trying to do a 40 year resto on it either. Just trying to get her seaworthy, looking good on as low of a budget as possible. Thats why soda blasting was out of the question. For $500 I can buy a lot of stuff for this thing!

Picture of the LVL glue included!

 

[JohnnyMat]

If I can get away with flipping her over sanding it down a little (not to bare metal) and rolling it with paint....I'm fine with that. I just need to know how to prep it.

 

[Frey0357]

It's difficult to tell from the pics. but it appears that the paint that is currently on the boat now is adhering quite well and not flaking off. If that is the case, I know that you can lightly sand or "scuff" the surface, begin with a primer (self etching, if there is bare metal), sand again, and then paint over the top. There are many members that have done just this and the results turn out well. A member here "WoodOnGlass" has experience with paining many surfaces and has experience with this. He will likely join into the conversation to help out any minute...

Frey

 

[JohnnyMat]

No Title

Thats what I am hoping as the paint is not chipping, just faded and some dock rash. Are you all able to see the pictures okay? They are nice and large when I click on them...same for you?

Here is the interior wood I have already sealed and that LVL LAM Beam I am building the transom out of. Its got a ton of veneers in it and is extremely solid. Its a 1/16" shy of the 11 7/8" I needed but I will make that up with some cardboard strips (or grinding the aluminum skin down a hair)
The width is just shy of 1 3/4" so I will have to plane it down. Even if is doesn't turn out well, I only took a $35 hit for everyone to know not to use them!
Wish me luck!

 

[JohnnyMat]

I can already tell there will be voids exposed once I trim this LAM beam up. I am going to fill voids with loctite 2 part marine epoxy then a few coats of Old Timers Formula over everything.

 

[JohnnyMat]

Okay, so I already ran into what some may consider a potential structural issue. When I trimmed the end off of the LAM I took that roughly 4" x 12" piece of scrap and whacked it with a 3 lb sledge...and it split right in half without much resistance. We all know that would not happen with 1 1/2" ply. That said, the transom piece I cut out has pretty good strength from the side. I laid it on an angle between my trailer tongue and driveway and I can jump up and down on the side of it and it doesn't bend. (I'm about 190 lbs).
Now, due to my transom skin issues I ran into, I purchased a 3/16" aluminum plate that will cover a large majority of the old transom skin. This plate will also be attached into/through the transom and should add significant increased shear strength (I would think). Any engineers here willing to chime in?
Anyway, I think I will be just fine as I am now running a 2 cylinder 60 HP Johnson that weighs 180 lbs in stead of the 75 3 cylinder it came with thats about 250lbs.

Anyway, as of now I'm still rolling with it so we'll see what happens!

 

[Woodonglass]

Lam Beams are construted for Vertial Load, NOT horizontal. I'd recommend starting over with Ext. Grade Plywood.

 

[JohnnyMat]

Yeah, I agree...$35 down the tubes! That's where trying to cut corners gets you folks! Although if it worked, I would have been on to something!