New to the site, questions about my first boat!

LeePhan79 · Mar 25, 2008

Hey guys, Im new to this forum and I just bought a fiberglass 15ft, 1977 Terry Bass boat with a blown 55hp Johnson outboard motor. I purchased the boat for only $100 (trailer included) and it needs tone of work/restoration. i have no experience what so ever on boats and I dont know what to do. I purchased this boat for fishing purpose only so it does not need to be pretty. So my questions are what do I do with this boat? Where should i start? I havent gotten the title transfered yet but I need to some plans before I do that. Could I just get way with a $100 trolling motor if I just remove the blown outbaord? Please guide me, id really appreciate it.

woodee148 · Mar 25, 2008

Re: New to the site, questions about my first boat!

What I have found from reading in this forum is that pictures are like money in this place. The more pics you post the more info you'll get....
Post them and they will come.
This is a great forum so good luck, the only other thing I would suggest to better your knowledge is to use the search button. You can get sidetracked for hours there.

Post some pics, these guys will be able to give you more accurate info then.. they will show you problems you never knew could exist and then show you how to fix them.

Woodee

woodee148 · Mar 25, 2008

Re: New to the site, questions about my first boat!

leephan ???? = Leaf fan??

LeePhan79 · Mar 25, 2008

Re: New to the site, questions about my first boat!

Doh! I will post Tons of pcitures tonite! Thanks!

Oh and I do not know what to really search for, only thing i searched was 1977 Terry Bass boat and didnt get much info.

Leaf fan

TriadSteeler · Mar 25, 2008

Re: New to the site, questions about my first boat!

1st things first. Outboards are everywhere. If you don't do the work yourself, or find a reasonably priced replacement powerhead, then repairing a blown OB is going to cost you 5X what you would pay for one that already runs. Good thing is, you can part out the blown outboard on craigslist or ebay and make a substantial amount on the parts. Especially if the Lower unit is in good shape.

There are numerous posts here showing how to check your deck, stringers and transom for evidence of rot. That is where you are going to need to start.

Oh, and one other thing.

Welcome to Iboats.

pet575 · Mar 25, 2008

Re: New to the site, questions about my first boat!

First thing I would do is put the plug in it and get it wet to make sure the hull doesn't leak. You're not going to get very far with a major leak. Then, check all of the hatches for mold, mildew, etc. and check the floor for soft spots. If there are none, then move on to the transom and make sure it is in good enough shape to handle whatever type of power you are wanting to hang on it. If you're planning on using it with the trolling motor only for awhile, then I'd check all of the wiring with a battery that is known to be good to ensure that you have power and no shorting of wires, switches, components, etc. that would use that battery power. Make sure the trolling motor works and that it is steerable if it is a foot-controlled model.

OhWellcraft · Mar 25, 2008

Re: New to the site, questions about my first boat!

I think I would do as much as you can to make sure the boat checks out safety and structure wise first. As mentioned check the Transom very well if it is okay then move on to the floor, stringers, etc, etc. If your only going to hang a little trolling motor on it you might get away with a transom that was so so but if you go another 55 it HAS to be in good shape. One of the easiest ways to get an "idea" of its condition is to lift the motor up and lock in the trailer position, then with all of your weight push down on the lower unit (right by prop) and look at the transom while doing so you should see NO flex where the outboard mounts to the boat. If the transom is flexing in and out as you push up and down on motor, you need to look at it alot more closely. Are the bolts that hold the outboard onto the boat crushing the fiberglass around the washers and dimpleing in thats another bad sign. Do everything you can do yourself to it, cleaning, removal of unwanted items, etc. Its much easier to access things if its clean. if things checkout okay then get the title situation handled or whatever you need to do to be able to register it check your dmv it may be old enough that a bill of sale from the last person who registered it would be fine. It may save you money and time opposed to a new title application and there waiting period etc. If you do end up fixing it up and using itwith a trolling motor may want to think about how you are going to steer it tiller would be cheap but may be hard to reach with a splahwell foot control would be nice but not cheap. Get some pictures up and we can help out alot more.

jddenham · Mar 25, 2008

Re: New to the site, questions about my first boat!

Welcome to iBoats!

If you click on my projects page below you will see a 15' tri hull that I'm doing the exact same thing to.

I haven't updated it yet, but I have removed to motor and got it ready for my 55 lbs electric troller.

What I did to seal the transom up was kind of a test of a product I'd never used.

I would go to walmart and look in the automotive section. Find Bondo brand epoxy. It is a 4 inch long piece of putty hanging up and it's dirt cheap. Get about four.

After you get the motor off, scrape all the silicone type adhesive away from the holes that go through the transom. Then drill the holes out with a half inch drill bit. This will acheive two things. It will clean up the holes to facilitate filling, and it will give you and idea of transom wood condition. Take a look at the wood shavings that come out - are they wet or totally rotten? If so, don't put another gas motor over 10HP on it.

Now you take the epoxy stick and cut off about an inch at a time. Knead it with your fingers very well for a minute and then push it into the holes. I didn't mix some of it well enough and it's a little soft. The directions say that once mixed, you only have two minutes to work with it so hurry! You need to reach both sides at once and compress it within the holes. Don't put too much in there. You want it slightly recessed into the holes, yet covering all the fiberglass.

The reason I say this, is because I let it form a mound outside the holes, and this stuff is rock hard. It just looks funny cosmetically. I suppose I could sand it but why waste the time and effort if you don't have to.

You can use marine tex (Ace hardware can order it), or 3M 4200 (walmart boating dept) to level the filled in motor mount holes and get a cleaner look.

I also did this with the speedometer pitot holes at the bottom of the transom, I just didn't have to drill all the way through obviously.

I also have some scrapes on the bottom of the hull that aren't too bad, but you can see fibers and I'm sure water will seep through slowly. I plan to marine tex them, but I haven't worked with marine tex yet, so we will see what happens.

LeePhan79 · Mar 26, 2008