Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

[Bamaman1]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

I have the same boat in the inboard-outboard version with a Mercruiser 470. I paid $6K for it new in 1980. It was quite a performer until I dropped a thrust bearing in the oil pan in 1992. I had the machine work done, but never got around to reassembling the motor. I had already switched over to a new 1985 Starcraft 24' pontoon with a Yamaha 115 hp two stroke, so I wasn't lacking for a boat. I'm still running the pontoon.

The Marquis is a relatively light hull, and I could run with the last 3' of the hull in the water. It would easily go airborne when I trimmed it out on any wave. I think it was good for 52 mph with a 26 pitch prop @ 4600 rpm. It should run okay with a 90 Johnson.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

Thanks for that info Bamaman. I've been pretty sure it would be ok too. I've actually swapped out lower units on the outboard to a larger one made for a 120-140hp. Everything swapped over well but the gear ratio on the new lower unit is 2.25:1 vs 2.0:1 on the old. That would add a little over 700 rpms on the motor to keep the same rpm at the prop. To compensate I've increased my prop pitch from 13 degrees to 17 degrees. That should bring the rpm's back down to recommended levels. We'll see once I get her in the water. I'm very interested to see how this 17 degree Solas Rubex prop is gonna perform.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

I had a pretty successful day today. With rain in the forecast I have been needing to get the bildge drain and splash well drains drilled. Honesly, I've been dreading doing it since I hate drilling into the hull of a boat. My goal today was to drill a hole for the thru hull fitting for the bildge pump, drill the splash well drain, and the bildge drain. To drill the thru hull hole for the pump, I used a 1" hole saw bit. No issues with that hole. Now onto the splash well drain. After I installed the new transom I filled in all of holes in the hull with epoxy and filler. The main reason is I wanted a really good seal/bond where the new fittings would be. I believe most of the time water seeping in from the bildge drain holes are were all the wood rot headaches begin. I used a 1 inch spade bit and a carpenters quick square to insure I was drilling perpendiculary to the hull. I punched through the other side perfectly aligning to the old hole. I must admit the drilling was a little tough since I made the new transom pretty much bullet proof with woven mat, CPES epoxy, and normal epoxy. But my recommendation would be to let the bit do the work and don't force it. Finally I drilled the bildge drain and had equal success. Both holes are perfectly drilled and my additional care to ensure the plywood was soaked with CPES and the whole unit epoxied in place paid off. I have full confidence water penetration won't occur for many years. But as more insurance I will take the CPES and paint it into the holes. Afterwards I will insert the fitting using some 5200 sealant. Here are some pics from today.

By the way, I still have a lot of sanding around these areas and apply new gelcoat.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

What a day! It all started last night with me painting the bilge with bilgecote. Then today I was able to install the thru hull fittings, sand the deck, apply fiberglass prep to the deck, prime the deck, and apply the first coat of Durabak anti skid.I also installed my Smartabs and did a little pre-wiring in preparation for running all of my electrical. I'll have pics tomorrow to show my progress. Once I get the deck done, I'll finish installing my new steering system, run all of my electrical, install hardware, paint the outboard, and finally mount the outboard. Then she'll be ready for the water!!!

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

I've been steadily working on this project for the past week or so. I'm at the point now that I've completed the deck and coated it with Durabak and now I'm making the forms for the upholstery & getting ready to add all of the wiring and misc. hardware. I thought I'd share a few pics of my progress.

I hope by the beginning of next week I'll be ready to start mounting the outboard. That should be a job in itself.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

Wow what a busy day today. First thing to accomplish was something that has been on the honey-do list for a while......trimming all the limbs away from the house, and clearing out the jungle around our back porch. That took from about 8am until 3pm. And boy was it hot today. After some rest I was able to get out and start adding some of the hardware on the boat as well as install the new instrument cluster, gang switches, bilge switches, and such. My neighbor has an 18 year old son who always seems to be one of those kids out on the fringes of society. I could see how he easily could fall to peer pressure or get caught up in something he shouldn't. For the past couple of weeks he's been coming over while I worked on the boat and he finally asked to help. Granted my OCD makes it difficult for me to allow to work on something like installing stuff back on the boat, but I figured I should help keep him busy with something worthwhile. So today when I got out of school I let him trace the panels I already made for the interior to the other wood and cut them out. He did a pretty good job. If I can get my wiring squared away somewhat tomorrow I'll add more pics showing the progress.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

Today I took time to make a list of things to complete before she's ready to hit the water. While things have been going steady I came up with a page and a half of items I need to do. One of which was repaint the outboard. The major theme for my project is to get the boat into top working condition and look nice. Notice I said nice....not perfect. I decided this because of two major reasons....first off I do most of my boating in salt water rivers. No matter how much you work to keep everything clean and corrosion free, its almost impossible. Secondly, I didn't want a perfect restoration that I would be afraid to take out or get mad about when it gets some dents and dings. So, the same is true for the outboard. I could have spent hours sanding out all of the rough areas on the motor to get it glass smooth, but what's the point? Instead I took some paint stripping pads and ran it all over the motor. This took off the paint that was chipping and exposed bare metal, and then it help prepped the paint that was still in tact.

After that I wiped it all down with Xylene that I had left over from prepping the deck for the Durabak. What I liked about the Xylene is that it helped clean off the powdered paint from the stripping process, helped get the remaining grease and such off of it, and then it drys really quickly.

Then I used Duplicolor self etching primer to coat the entire outboard.

After 2 coats and time to dry (approx 30 minutes) I added the first coat of white paint.

I've also finished up the cowel. After repairing all of the cracks in it, I sanded it and then painted it white. I also picked up a couple of Johnson decals (not the same kind it originally had, I liked this style better) and I also hand painted the old Seahorse logo on the back.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

You may notice I didn't paint the skeg. I'm currently waiting on a Blackfin Skeg protector to arrive. I've seen mixed review about this equipment, but I needed something to get my skeg back into condition. My plans are to install it as the directions recommend, but I'm also gonna add two small diameter thru bolts to help ensure it stays in place.

 

[wolfe1974]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

Hi I was wondering how you made the transom conection to the left and right side. and how did you replace the transom without removing the cap. I am in the process of replacing my transom. i didnt know that you could just replace the center section and not the area left and right of it. or maybe i am not seeing the pics right. any pics would be helpful. i am considering a poured transom but what you did looks good!

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

Most people pull the cap and replace the whole transom. But in my case the rotted area was just in the center/bilge area. The wood in the left and right section was still good. I ripped out all the rot, and then injected the CPES and epoxy into the remaining wood (see rot doctors. Then I just replaced the center section and poured epoxy all around it. The darn thing is rock hard now. If anyone ever gets this boat in the future, they may cuss me about all the epoxy, but I don't think water intrusion and wood rot is gonna be a problem for them. LOL.

 

[wolfe1974]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

thanks i havnt taken mine apart yet but it feels like the whole transom is gone. thanks for the info. where did you get your epoxy and fiberglass supplies, online or did you get them local. I havnt worked with fiberglass in a long time and only on cars, so it will be a new adventure. thanks again

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

thanks i havnt taken mine apart yet but it feels like the whole transom is gone. thanks for the info. where did you get your epoxy and fiberglass supplies, online or did you get them local. I havnt worked with fiberglass in a long time and only on cars, so it will be a new adventure. thanks again

I gotmy epoxy from various places. The CPES (clear penetrating epoxy sealant) and a nice 2 part epoxy was from rotdoctor.com, West system epoxy I got at a local boat shop, and polyester resin (for my deck) I got at a local paint store. Various other misc items came from iboats.com. My typical take on my shopping is to place large orders with iboats that way the shipping costs are reasonable and cost effective. They have really good prices and ship it timely. Plusbuying from them maks sure we keep th forums free. I buy locally when I need it right now or when I feel I need to spread my spending equally. As much as I want to support this site, I also want to makes sure my local guys stay open too. Keep in none of its cheap. Don't get sticker shock, or expect to do it cheaply. Good luck with your project!

 

[Fzy1]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

I am going to follow your thread closely for my own repair project. Thank you for all the Ideas.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

My new skeg protector arrived today. After doing a little research I decided to go with the Blackfin skeg protector. There's mixed reviews about it, but I decided to give it a try.

Here's the reason I needed one. This lower unit I got from Tashasdaddy last summer. He sold it to me for a good price and I knew it was a solid unit since he was excellent at what he did. I just wish now I had spent more time with him that summer before he passed away.

To order the right one you have to measure the lower unit as such:

My gear case needed a medium fin.

Here's what you get:

The directions on the back are a good step by step pictorial on installation. But they've also added some tips on the sheet inside to ensure a good install. Based on some of the gripes people had, either they didn't install it properly, or they didn't get even adhesion in the unit. I believe they added some additional holes in this version to make sure the glue filled the void.

First step was to remove all of the paint, sand, and clean the skeg. I used a paint striper pad on my drill to remove the paint, then 60 grit sand paper to rough it up. I wiped it all clean with Xylene.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

After you prep, you then dry fit the unit to see where it meets with your skeg and where the drain screw for the lower unit lines up. You mark it and then use a utility knife to make a notch for it.

Next you cover the drain screw with masking tape so the glue doesn't cover it.

The directions just call for adding masking tape around the top of the unit, but due to the holes I added it where they were so clean up would be easier.

I applied the adhesive as directed on the skeg, and also filled the lower half of the unit as the tip sheet mentioned.

Once the unit is in place you can remove the masking tape around the top, then use your finger to make a smooth bead around the top of it. You can then remove the tape from the oil drain. As you can see adhesive comes out of the holes in the lower portion.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

Finally you tape the unit to the outboard to ensure it doesn't slip while drying. It requires 72 hours to dry.

The directions state it could be installed in an hour...it took me a little over an hour and a half. If I had to do it again, I would also add masking tape to the lower portion of the gear case so cleaning it up would be easier. Once I get her in the water I'll report on its performance.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

Well now I want one of those skegs (although I kinda have to laugh at you repairing that skeg considering you have about 80% more intact skeg than my last motor and about 20% more than my current one )

The motor looks great. I'm betting if you listed that motor on CL looking like it does with some video of it running you could sell that sucker for $1800+. (not that you would do that of course, just that you could)

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

Well now I want one of those skegs (although I kinda have to laugh at you repairing that skeg considering you have about 80% more intact skeg than my last motor and about 20% more than my current one )

The motor looks great. I'm betting if you listed that motor on CL looking like it does with some video of it running you could sell that sucker for $1800+. (not that you would do that of course, just that you could)

Thanks ezmobee! I could have left it as is, but my darn OCD wouldn't let me. Plus it just kind of completes the whole thing. I'm hoping with it, the new Smartabs, and the new no-feedback steering system, I'll have a very stable ride once she hits the water.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

Had a long one today. I decided to try and get the outboard mounted on the boat. First thing was to install the new stainless steel transom plate. Luckily I have some connections to get this nice piece of stainless fashioned to my drawing for free. Its roughly 3/32 of an inch thick and 316 stainless. I had to mark all of the patterns for holes and then drill them. For anyone who's never worked with stainless, its not the most forgiving material to cut or drill. After laying out the hole patterns, I used a punch to mark the exact spot the holes should be and for the larger diameter holes I drilled a pilot hole, then moved on to the larger hole. After that was complete I used 5200 to seal it up and seal the screw/holes up. To ensure I made perpendicular holes for the motor mount pattern, I took a piece of 2x4 and drilled several holes in it until I got a perfectly "square" hole. Then I placed it on the transom and used it as a guide to make sure the holes drilled straight. Once I got about an inch drilled I removed the 2x4 pattern and then used the hole I drilled as the guide to finish the hole. Here's the end result.

I also had to re-certify my shade tree mechanic certificate.

To lift the outboard into position I used an oak limb in my yard to support the chain fall to lift the motor. Although I did get it close to position, there is some slight modifications I need to make tomorrow before I make the final fit. I just got too late today.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Poor Man Restoration - 1979 Marquis Catalina

WOO HOO! Finally got the outboard mounted! I had to make some modifications to the transom cap due to the fact the transom was wider than the mounting bracket on the outboard. I had to cut a notch out to allow the outboard to fit snugly on the transom. This also required me to add more glass and epoxy to the modification. It all worked out though.

It took two full days but its finally on!

Now everything can really start going together. I can run the wiring cables, install the new shift/throttle cables. Exciting time right now!!!