Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

[bakerjw]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Well, the transom came out better than I had anticipated. It does have orange peel, but I'll live with that. Here it is. The gelcoat is a brilliant white compared to the bone(?) white of the original gel coat. I suspect that some day I'll go ahead and re gelcoat the inside of the cap. The gelcoat that is in there now mars and scuffs so easily.

I also sprayed the splash well. It looks great.

Thanks for the kind words Greenbush. When I had it down to a bare hull, it was like "Darn this is a big hull". It was designed like a tank and rebuilt like a lighter tank.

Yes, spraying gelcoat for the first time was real intimidating. I used my standard Harbor Freight HVLP gun with a 1.5 mm tip. It shot a nice 2 to 4 inch swath depending on the cross jets. It was a great feeling to go out a few hours later and feel smooth non tacky gelcoat.

I also painted the insides of the 2 rear compartments. They look real sharp now and tomorrow night I should be able to get the plumbing finished out, starter battery mounted, center console mounted permanently and prepped for an outboard install on Thursday or Friday.

I am getting very very close now.

 

[further]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Awesome work Baker!! You're flyin to the finish line. Learning a lot from your build.. Looks sweet! Enjoy!

 

[bakerjw]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Tidying up a lot of loose ends tonight. Finished out most of the transom. Only have to finish the deck drains. Other than that, all of the under deck plumbing is complete. I even got the fuel fill and vent lines connected.

Tomorrow I'll get the center console buttoned up and Friday, I take it to the dealer for the new power plant!

There is a very very good chance that this thing will get splashed on Saturday.

But by Monday when my sister gets here, it'll be all together and cleaned up.

 

[BILLGREEN]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

realy found this interesting your a braver man than me bill green australia

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Gel work looks great!:rockon:
All the hardware in place and all sealed up!:thumb:
Can't wait to see the power that gets hung on there...op2:
I bet you can almost taste the sea air...:fish2:

 

[bakerjw]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Well, last night I got the center compartment cover and center console mounted along with a few other things.

This morning, I took the boat to the dealer to get the new power plant installed. Here are some pics. It is a beautiful motor.
Outboard porn.

The day was not without setbacks though. On the way tot he dealer, I stopped to put fuel in the boat. For some reason, it will not accept fuel too well. I suspect that the vent line might be pinched. It's just another thing to figure out. I didn't change diameters and all of the hoses have gentle sweeps to them.

Lastly, my dealer didn't get the right control cables or controls ordered. ARGH... So instead of being ready to go tomorrow, it won't be until Monday or probably Tuesday. I'm going to pick up the boat tomorrow morning and start finishing up more things. I did get cleaning and a few other things done this evening, so it wasn't a total loss.

I tell you, that outboard is B-E-A-U-TIFUL! It's truly like putting a diamond ring on a hogs back side.

 

[bakerjw]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Well, I got to bring the boat home yesterday. One thing that I did do was to bounce on the motor as it was fully extended. The transom was solid as a rock.

A couple of views before I got the kicker plate and motor installed.

Here is the Tohatsu on the kicker plate. I was a bit disheartened to read that you're not supposed to have a kicker on when you trailer the boat. I've thought about putting a bow eye right in front of the motor and using a trap to hold the kicker forward so that it is not putting torque on the bracket when I pull to the lake. If I were to go on a long trip, I'd pull the motor, but I don't know about for a local 10 or 20 mile run.

Either way, the Panther bracket really works nice and mounted pretty easily.

 

[bakerjw]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

I also had some time to work on wiring up the PLC that will be controlling boat functions.

The terminals on the left side are:
Top to bottom
+24V
+12V
Ground
Chassis ground

Along the bottom are:
Left to right
Chassis ground (again)
8 Inputs
8 relay outputs (terminal strip not there right now)
8 battery inputs. Each battery hooks up + on one terminal and - on the other. The circuit board with the resistors drops the voltage to under +10V so that the analog input module (the far right one) can measure all 4 battery voltages.

This mounting board will mount in the center console right above the 2 deep cycle batteries for the trolling motor.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

That is a really nice setup with the kicker, and that new Evinrude really looks like it was made for your Stratos. So when will you be mass producing and marketing your PLC control? I would like in on the ground floor of your new company. Boat Nav Controls for Dummies like me!:laugh: Seriously looking great!:joyous:

 

[bakerjw]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Well yesterday I looked up at the hand rail for the center console and something didn't look quite right. Rather than being up at the front of the console where the windshield would be, it was back about 10". I looked at pictures the night before I took it to the dealer and it was normal then. I doubt if the wind going down the road would have pushed it back.

What I figure is that when they pulled the boat out of the garage, the handrail caught on the front edge of either the door or the top of the opening as they pulled the boat out. I was able to pull it back straight with a come along and some tow straps, but they're lucky that they didn't rip the center console off of the deck.

Even with the difficulties of the day, we managed to get quite a bit accomplished. The rub rail is mounted as are all of the hatches and assemblies. I still have to wire up the trolling motor, mount the depth finder and transducer, etc... Small tasks that eat up time.

On the transom, I measured where the transom should go and drilled out 4 1/2" holes and filled them with very hairy PB. When I put in the screws to hold it in place, it will be both solid and waterproof.

Pics tonight as it will be ready for a splash.

 

[bakerjw]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Well, Today makes day 90. There was a snafu with the outboard controls, but the parts are in and are being installed right now. The extra delay gave me time to tidy up a few loose ends, but now everything is pretty much set to go and we're heading to Watauga for the day.


So, minus a few loose ends here and there, here it is in it's full glory...

I cut, heated and bent the plexiglass for the windshield. As I melted the edges where I had made cuts, I did get a bit too much heat on one area and it crazed just a little bit, but other than that it is very good.

And


for


the


first


time...


Presenting


The new name for the Stratos...

 

[nerys]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

So. named for the box or the moon?

what a gorgeous boat. it really is virtually a "new boat" and not counting your insane amount of labor for a fraction of the price.

I can't wait to see it in the water!

 

[further]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Congrats man! Must feel awesome. Looks great!!!

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Perfect name!:encouragement: She is beautiful, and probably one of the best built center consoles in the area now. Great job on the redo. Really inspirational work.:joyous:

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Absolutely Gorgeous job you have done on "Pandora's Hope"...Looks like a serious FUN Machine!
And in a very short time!
Can't wait to see it in its natural environment...
Congratulations and may you and yours garner tons of enjoyable outings...
Have Fun!

 

[Teamster]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

I the kicker bracket can handle the pounding on the water I don't think much on the road is gonna faze it,...

 

[Teamster]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

And everything looks great,....

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Looking great! Nice work.

Fish pix please

 

[lokonn]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

Heck of a job! Looking forward to some ''in action'' pix.

 

[BILLGREEN]

Re: Stratos 1850 possible rebuild?

bloody great job from downunder in aus