ludacrous999b
Member
Also an update on a previous post. I stated the boat had sat for four years. Yea more like 12. Considering this I'd say we're doing well. This was also a salt water boat. *whew* gonna be a challenge.
Taking the plunge!
- Thread starter ludacrous999b
- Start date
ludacrous999b
Member
Well the boat is on the back burner until I get back from Jamiaca, I'll continue cleaning and working on the engine, as long as its low cost stuff. The wife reminds me all inclusive resorts are great but if we leave the resort we have to pay for things 
.
Will be back on it hard core after the 18th of April. Will continue to post pictures of the progress.
Spoke with a guy from SEI Marine. They do outdrive conversion kits for many brands of outdrives. He informed me outright that I was basically screwed if I wanted a different outdrive. They make the holes too big so I'd have to refill the transom, cut a new hole and remake the hole for the outdrive... Well that confirms what you all have said. I'm going to try to get this all in working order, survive for a season or two then get ready for a transom rebuild project and do the outboard bracket. I love the idea of the outboard, more room on the deck, big live well
.
This break before the Jamiaca trip will give me time to research all the projects I wanna work on before getting it on the water (minus the outboard conversion) so I'm ready to hit the ground running when I return.
Current planned projects:
1. Check all wiring for continuity, replace worn or damaged cables.
2. Replace the Cuddy Cabins wood.
3. Clean the Cuddy cushions.
4. Continue cleaning the exterior hull to try to get down to gel coat.
5. Construct new seat bases for passengers, get a new captains chair (temporary, may construct our own)
6. Replace the ignition (no key with boat).
7. Replace Nav light and anchor lights, replace horn.
8. All the little things that randomly come up in the process of fixing all the other things you want to fix.
. Will be back on it hard core after the 18th of April. Will continue to post pictures of the progress.
Spoke with a guy from SEI Marine. They do outdrive conversion kits for many brands of outdrives. He informed me outright that I was basically screwed if I wanted a different outdrive. They make the holes too big so I'd have to refill the transom, cut a new hole and remake the hole for the outdrive... Well that confirms what you all have said. I'm going to try to get this all in working order, survive for a season or two then get ready for a transom rebuild project and do the outboard bracket. I love the idea of the outboard, more room on the deck, big live well
. This break before the Jamiaca trip will give me time to research all the projects I wanna work on before getting it on the water (minus the outboard conversion) so I'm ready to hit the ground running when I return.
Current planned projects:
1. Check all wiring for continuity, replace worn or damaged cables.
2. Replace the Cuddy Cabins wood.
3. Clean the Cuddy cushions.
4. Continue cleaning the exterior hull to try to get down to gel coat.
5. Construct new seat bases for passengers, get a new captains chair (temporary, may construct our own)
6. Replace the ignition (no key with boat).
7. Replace Nav light and anchor lights, replace horn.
8. All the little things that randomly come up in the process of fixing all the other things you want to fix.
RWilson2526
God
Oh for God's sake!!!! Right in the early stages of a what looks to be a real decent restoration thread you go on vacation! Thanks alot....Have a good time I guess....
ludacrous999b
Member
LOL, there will be more before i leave, this was the heads up post!
Destroyer
God
Eh Mon, ya be sef oer der and herry bek!
p.s. nice work on the boat/motor so far.
p.s. nice work on the boat/motor so far.
ludacrous999b
Member
Ya know blue I used to work at catawba college, built sets and ran the road shows through their theatre dept. Lived in charlotte up until two years ago. Thanks for the encouragment.
Oh cool! Right around the corner from here. I lived in Charlotte while attending UNCC. Couldn't wait to get away! I'm a country boy at heart, thankfully!
ludacrous999b
Member
No boat porn today, I spent about three hours cleaning out the bilges. They are still not clean all the way. The bow, live well, and most of the engine bilges are clean, I'll have to spray a ton of degreaser in there. That thing is filthy. The after region where the deck drains into the rear by the transom, then filters down to the sides of the engine stringers then is supposed to filter into the live well, then engine bilges. Stupid. Anyone object to drilling new drains through the engine stringers straight into the engine bilge if I waterproof them?
ludacrous999b
Member
Trying out a product to remove oxidation. Seasense cleaner wax, sold at my local wally world. Turning out to get a shine (which I was able to do) Apply seasense, buff, turtle wax rubbing and polishing compound, buff, then turtlewax polish, buff. 2' x 2' sections work. Tried just the rubbing compound and polish, no luck. Had to get all the oxidation off with the Seasense. Finding I'm having to do it all by hand except the final buff. Still not a quick process. But it does shine.
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ludacrous999b
Member
Here is a step by step of what I did today, my last two posts were kinda jumbled.
1. Used a lemon and salt combination to try to remove some oxidation on the aluminium frame of the drivers side windshield, some success but it will take FOREVER to try to do it with this natural kind of cleaner, not to mention a lemon trees worth of lemons. Worked the drivers side and started washing it down and...
2. Crawled into the cuddy and sprayed that down, then decided shag carped is prolly holding a little tiny itty butty bit of mold... Started ripping it out, found 9 abandoned mud dobber nestes and a lot of collected dirt under the carpet. Got from the bow to starboard side. As I was ripping it out i noticed a goodly amount of dust flying out. Then some insane itching. Well crap, so I abandoned the carpet pull and started....
3. I removed the wood trip in the cuddy and the guide rails on top of the bow. Worked on removing the deck cleats, nav lights and old bow railing bases. They started crumbling as I tried to remove them. Pain to remove the screws with those little stop tabs on the bottom side when its just me there...
4. Decided to remove the dust and dirt from the cuddy and spray it down the bilges. Noticed the anchor storage bin does not have a bilge drain in it... Smart. Sprayed from the front to the back working all the dirt down, past the live well bins, into the engine bilge.
5. Mechanic needs me to clean the grease out of the bilge area so I started spraying down the area and noticed my drain plug kept getting clogged so I let it finish draining and pulled 12-15 big handfuls of dirt and debris (all slimy and oily) from the area under the engine and tossed it into the garbage (environmentalism and all) then started spraying down the bilge and using the old oil dip stick with it's curvy bottom to dig the blockages out. It's still a little dirty down there but I'll get some dawn, plug up the drain plug hole and fill her up to the bottom of the engine to eat some of that grease.
6. Noticed the poor drainage design from the deck drain holes, to the aft area bilge, the port sides drain hole from the aft to the engine transom drain has been eaten away, there must be 4 inches of scum under that hole. I am going to have to cut through the decking and see the extent of the damage. The starboard side seems to drain well still and has not gone through to the lower bilges. Seems good and solid too.
7. And as stated in the previous post polished the hull some and worked on oxidation removal. Still don't know how I'm going to get the underside of the boat. I'm not lucky as some of you fine folks. This is a town-home and I'm lucky enough to be able to do it in the driveway without the neighbors going bonkers. Heck thats why I don't want to do any sanding or grinding if I can help it. The dust would end up on all the neighbors cars. So I have no room to lift the boat, nor a tree to do it from etc. etc. etc.
Questions comments greetings of the season?
1. Used a lemon and salt combination to try to remove some oxidation on the aluminium frame of the drivers side windshield, some success but it will take FOREVER to try to do it with this natural kind of cleaner, not to mention a lemon trees worth of lemons. Worked the drivers side and started washing it down and...
2. Crawled into the cuddy and sprayed that down, then decided shag carped is prolly holding a little tiny itty butty bit of mold... Started ripping it out, found 9 abandoned mud dobber nestes and a lot of collected dirt under the carpet. Got from the bow to starboard side. As I was ripping it out i noticed a goodly amount of dust flying out. Then some insane itching. Well crap, so I abandoned the carpet pull and started....
3. I removed the wood trip in the cuddy and the guide rails on top of the bow. Worked on removing the deck cleats, nav lights and old bow railing bases. They started crumbling as I tried to remove them. Pain to remove the screws with those little stop tabs on the bottom side when its just me there...
4. Decided to remove the dust and dirt from the cuddy and spray it down the bilges. Noticed the anchor storage bin does not have a bilge drain in it... Smart. Sprayed from the front to the back working all the dirt down, past the live well bins, into the engine bilge.
5. Mechanic needs me to clean the grease out of the bilge area so I started spraying down the area and noticed my drain plug kept getting clogged so I let it finish draining and pulled 12-15 big handfuls of dirt and debris (all slimy and oily) from the area under the engine and tossed it into the garbage (environmentalism and all) then started spraying down the bilge and using the old oil dip stick with it's curvy bottom to dig the blockages out. It's still a little dirty down there but I'll get some dawn, plug up the drain plug hole and fill her up to the bottom of the engine to eat some of that grease.
6. Noticed the poor drainage design from the deck drain holes, to the aft area bilge, the port sides drain hole from the aft to the engine transom drain has been eaten away, there must be 4 inches of scum under that hole. I am going to have to cut through the decking and see the extent of the damage. The starboard side seems to drain well still and has not gone through to the lower bilges. Seems good and solid too.
7. And as stated in the previous post polished the hull some and worked on oxidation removal. Still don't know how I'm going to get the underside of the boat. I'm not lucky as some of you fine folks. This is a town-home and I'm lucky enough to be able to do it in the driveway without the neighbors going bonkers. Heck thats why I don't want to do any sanding or grinding if I can help it. The dust would end up on all the neighbors cars. So I have no room to lift the boat, nor a tree to do it from etc. etc. etc.
Questions comments greetings of the season?
ludacrous999b
Member
Brr... Cold day. Washed the boat some more. Turns out one of those empty bottles of motor oil was empty because it was coating the deck of the boat so todays task was cleaning it out so it was no longer a slip-n-slide in there. Got the rest of the mildew off the inside of the boat too. The section I shined up yesterday on the hull looks great. I can really tell the difference in the better light.
Got a sample of the Durabak yesterday in the mail. Got my foot on it right now to see how long I can stand on it before or if it ever becomes uncomfortable to stand on.
Supposed to be in the 70s all week here starting around tuesday, Gonna try to remove all the screws and trim and get all the oxidation off. Any suggestions on steps? If I remove all the oxidation and let it sit for a few weeks before polishing it will it be okay? I don't see it being 3 weeks but wanna be careful.
Got a sample of the Durabak yesterday in the mail. Got my foot on it right now to see how long I can stand on it before or if it ever becomes uncomfortable to stand on.
Supposed to be in the 70s all week here starting around tuesday, Gonna try to remove all the screws and trim and get all the oxidation off. Any suggestions on steps? If I remove all the oxidation and let it sit for a few weeks before polishing it will it be okay? I don't see it being 3 weeks but wanna be careful.
ludacrous999b
Member
Been a long time...
Well, needless to say I haven't done much to the boat because I haven't posted anything on here. Life took hold. Army can be a hell of thing. Recently moved, got the place all cleaned up and now looking forward to working on the boat some. I have no plans of putting it in the water this year or for two years after. I found out I get to take a trip to the Republic of Korea. Joy. Regardless, I'll have plenty of time this summer to work on the beast and hopefully have it in a good state to be stored for a couple years.
Well, needless to say I haven't done much to the boat because I haven't posted anything on here. Life took hold. Army can be a hell of thing. Recently moved, got the place all cleaned up and now looking forward to working on the boat some. I have no plans of putting it in the water this year or for two years after. I found out I get to take a trip to the Republic of Korea. Joy. Regardless, I'll have plenty of time this summer to work on the beast and hopefully have it in a good state to be stored for a couple years.
Kracker Jack
God
Just wanted to say thank you for your service to our country!!! good luck on your project
ludacrous999b
Member
Engine removal stalled... Well the mounting bolts are removed and the engine swings around but DOH! Learning experiences happen every day right. Bell housing... Evil. Well daylight is fading, looks like tomorrow will get it going again!
ludacrous999b
Member
Gotta love it, found the repair manual for 1964-1986 OMC sterndrives and a separate one for wiring diagrams for all years of OMC. Already learning lots of new things. If anyone needs a copy let me know, I still have the links.
reelapeelin
God
Get what you can done this summer...she'll be waiting for you whenever you get back...and I'm glad yer goin' to Korea instead of Afghanistan...
ludacrous999b
Member
ARGH! Can anyone describe the location of the bell housing bolts or better yet, provide a picture, its so tight back there I cant really see them!
ludacrous999b
Member
Well I located the bell housing bolts, boy howdy their in a tough spot. I had to spray them down with WD-40. Let them soak until tomorrow. Put some more elbow grease into the hull, slowly bringing that shine back to the gelcoat. At least I got the gunwale done on the side I'm hopping in and out of, keep that lovely white powder off my clothes when I just wanna get in the boat!
Lost my shade tree mechanic to another state. Found some guys at work, mechanics. They enjoy rebuilding engines. We'll see what the pain and suffering is on the block. I'm almost expecting to replace anything attached to it, (starter, alternator, steering, etc.) I can feel the dollars adding up already.
reelapeelin
God
sorry to hear yer mechanic got away...good ones are hard to find...hope those bell housing bolts come out for ya the easy way....you got a torch?...and if you do, make sure no gasoline layin on engine somewhere...fuel lines, etc...