So I found my first boat, got it for free, it is a MFG Westfield Custom, I believe it is a 67 from the brochures I found online. The boat looks like it is in really good shape, no cracks,damage,missing parts or unexplained holes but being new to boats, boating, fiberglass and MFGs has led me to alot of questions and they just keep getting more and more as I read more and more posts. It seems that there are alot of knowledgable people in here and I hope yall will help me out. I hope its not rude but im gonna post all the questions I have right here and hope someone can come along and answer them for me. Well here goes.......
1. I have been reading alot about transom (a word i just learned recently) repairs because of rotting plywood is this something that I have to worry about on mine?
2. If it is a problem on my model is it something I can put off fixing till the end of the season since I only have a 50 horse Johnson on it?
3 I would like to tow tubes behind it for my kids, I believe I would hook up to the rings on the back of the boat but if this is the case will there be a problem if the plywood is rotted?
As you can probably tell I am pretty worried about the transom thing, when I tap it it sounds solid but I havent drilled holes yet.
4. The seats are still in the boat and as far as I can tell they are the original ones just reupohlstered, they arent mounted and I would like to turn them into bench seats along the sides and put 2 captains chairs in the front, is there any special way to mount them to fiberglass, do I have to reinforce or is there a design that will work better for this boat than others?
5. The paint on this boat looks pretty good but seems to be oxidized (if thats possible) there are no chips, flakes or bare spots, is there a way to shine up this teal and white beauty. Can I maybe buff it and if so what compound should I use. I have a buffer and have experience with cars but none with fiberglass so I am open to any suggestions.
6. On the topic of buffing, my windshield is hazy, is there a compound I can use to do this too?
7. This boat has an outboard on it obviously, is there an alternator in it? If so can I put a stereo in my dash and run power to it from the outboard or should I just bring a boom box?
8. I saved the dumbest for last, I have 2 holes in the back of the boat, one goes into the boat and the other seems to go under the deck. They dont have plugs in them but I am assuming I have to plug em before I put it in the water is this so? Oh yeah, I have a thing in the back near the dip for the drain hole, it kinda looks like it might be a pump, can someone tell me what it is, it has wires running to it.
Well if you made it this far then I thank you for reading and I hope you can give me some tips and pointers, I plan on working on the boat on saturday so I will take some photos to post then. Thanks in advance for your help.
1. I have been reading alot about transom (a word i just learned recently) repairs because of rotting plywood is this something that I have to worry about on mine?
2. If it is a problem on my model is it something I can put off fixing till the end of the season since I only have a 50 horse Johnson on it?
3 I would like to tow tubes behind it for my kids, I believe I would hook up to the rings on the back of the boat but if this is the case will there be a problem if the plywood is rotted?
As you can probably tell I am pretty worried about the transom thing, when I tap it it sounds solid but I havent drilled holes yet.
4. The seats are still in the boat and as far as I can tell they are the original ones just reupohlstered, they arent mounted and I would like to turn them into bench seats along the sides and put 2 captains chairs in the front, is there any special way to mount them to fiberglass, do I have to reinforce or is there a design that will work better for this boat than others?
5. The paint on this boat looks pretty good but seems to be oxidized (if thats possible) there are no chips, flakes or bare spots, is there a way to shine up this teal and white beauty. Can I maybe buff it and if so what compound should I use. I have a buffer and have experience with cars but none with fiberglass so I am open to any suggestions.
6. On the topic of buffing, my windshield is hazy, is there a compound I can use to do this too?
7. This boat has an outboard on it obviously, is there an alternator in it? If so can I put a stereo in my dash and run power to it from the outboard or should I just bring a boom box?
8. I saved the dumbest for last, I have 2 holes in the back of the boat, one goes into the boat and the other seems to go under the deck. They dont have plugs in them but I am assuming I have to plug em before I put it in the water is this so? Oh yeah, I have a thing in the back near the dip for the drain hole, it kinda looks like it might be a pump, can someone tell me what it is, it has wires running to it.
Well if you made it this far then I thank you for reading and I hope you can give me some tips and pointers, I plan on working on the boat on saturday so I will take some photos to post then. Thanks in advance for your help.
