1985 V20 Step-lift rebuild/refurb

gofish

gofish

Junior Member
Ok guys, I've started a partial rebuild/refurb of my beloved v20. Just wanted to start a thread of the project where I can post some pictures and get any advice I can.

Backstory: I bought the boat 10 years ago, payed $2500 for it and me and my dive/fish buddies have used the crap out of it. There's no telling how many pounds of grouper/snapper/lobster have hit the deck of this boat since I bought it. The odometer on the Garmin, which I added about 7 years ago, has 4500 nautical miles on it.

When I bought it, it had a 1985 Yamaha 150 2-stroke, and it has been a great/reliable motor. Fastforward to now, the trim is shot, lower unit shot, steering arm broke, leaks oil, etc. It's been a great motor but it's time to cut losses. Last straw was lower unit went out on a Sunday afternoon w/ me and my 3 kids on the boat. First time I'd ever been stranded and needed a tow.

After this happened I looked at selling my hull and trailer and buying a v in better shape w/ a better motor. After a few promising but ultimately dead end craigslist ads, I decided to rebuild mine and find a good used motor to hang on her.

After thinking about it, my dive buddy/best friend decided to go in partners w/ me to buy the new(er) motor and refurb the boat.

Enough writing, I'll let the pictures do the talking from now on w/ a few comments from me....
 
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Here she is after motor and controls removed.
 
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This is the 2002 200 Mercury EFI I bought from a well trusted source. Payed $2250 for it. Oil injection still intact and in good working order.
 


We built an outboard stand and got the Mercury mounted so we can crank it every week or so while we're working on the boat. She busted right off. Got a brand new Mercury binnacle and Mercury Smartcraft digital guage to go with it.
 


The only soft spot in the floor was the gas tank access hatch. When I bought the boat it was soft and had only gotten worse over the years. Pulled the hatch off. Since the pic, we cut through the glass on the bottom side and pulled all the rotten wood out. The top side "skin" is still in good shape. We'll add a new 1/2" piece of marine ply and glass back in.
 



Here she is in the barn w/ pretty much everything stripped off. Still have to take the windshield and slider off.
 
Hey guys, I know it's been a while. I've been working on the v20 the last 2.5 years on and off, just haven't made the time to sit down and post pics, etc. (The whole thing with photobucket turning off the shared pics didn't help my motivation to continue posting pics either.)

Anyways, I still browse the site when I get the chance, and I just wanted to share the progress with a a group of folks that can appreciate the V for what she is. Having said that, I'll list out a few of the big ticket items we've done, and then post pics afterwards. I may not get to all of it tonight, but will try to start from where I left off and get caught up to current day in the next week or so...
 
- Added 5 inches back to transom, where it was cut down to a 20" transom by a previous owner. (This one I was concerned with, and we didn't really commit to just adding 5 inches vs a total transom rebuild, until we cut into what was there, and the wood was dry and no signs of rot. I think the fact that the original transom was cut down and glassed over by a previous owner, is ironically what saved the transom from rotting). With the help of a friend that is much more talented/knowledgable than me, we cut to fit and epoxied two 3/4"pieces of mahogany together, then cut notches for "wedges" into the new piece and the original transom. Mated the 2 together and let dry. A few days later we cut and epoxied in 2 sheets of heavy glass. Here's a few pics of that....

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Installed a new Taco rub-rail. Wasn't all that hard, except getting the inserts around the rear corners
 
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Got a buddy to make this new helm/dash piece for me out of half inch starboard. I thought the v20 logo turned out great! I left the top right hand side blank in anticipation of adding a trim tab switch there
 
Looks great. What paint did u go with? I will drop mine off after Labor Day so u can do mine also.

Id be concerned about the transom extension. Hard to tell from pics how much of the load u spread on the existing one.

Dash looks great also
 
Thanks George!
I had the same concerns about the transom, but a buddy of mine that knows allot more than I do, helped me do it, after he convinced me it would work. The motor is mounted pretty evenly between the old transom and the new...

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We used an enamel based paint that we got from Sonny at Miracle Paint Center in PCB. It's not the finish of Awlgrip or any of the name brand stuff, but it cleans up pretty good and has it sealed nicely.
 
Looks great! Mine had a built up transom like yours from a previous owner and I had no idea until I hit a sand bar at speed. The glass cracked in a perfect line where the new piece was added, but didn't come loose or take on any water. While not ideal compared to a true 25 inch transom I think it will work fine, just be wary of any sudden impacts or unnecessary stresses.
 
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