Beginning my 1987 Fisherman 20 Restoration

[Myfathersson]

What a wealth of information on this site! I purchased a 1987 Fisherman 20 last weekend from a young lady who was granted the boat in her divorce. According to the HIN search she started her life in Florida, then moved thru Georgia and South Carolina before landing in Indiana where I found her and dragged her back to Kentucky. I've started digging into her to assess what all I need to do.

The trailer is woefully under sized and in terrible shape but it survived the 20 mile trek from Indiana to Louisville without incident and will serve to jockey her around while I focus on the more important aspects. I'll replace with a tandem axle bunk when she's closer to being seaworthy as I plan to trailer her up to the Lake Erie Islands to visit family on a fairly regular basis.

The 1989 Yamaha 200ETXF doesn't run and best info I have is that it hasn't since 2017 or earlier. So far I've discovered it has three broken head bolts on the starboard bank that I'm fairly certain I have the tools and ingenuity to remove and repair. The #3 cylinder has some aluminum deposits so I'm also rather confident the rings went and that's what prompted a PO to attempt to pull the head. I think the cylinder can clean up but I haven't mic'd it yet. The port side head came off cleanly with the assistance of a little carefully applied heat and that bank looks in great condition, I just need to separate that water jacket so I can attempt to replace those zincs and descale the passages. There wasn't a trace of carbon on that head. After that I'll investigate why the #3 cylinder's ring took a I've got a realistic idea of how much effort and cash I'm willing to sink into this engine before I part it out and look for a solid used replacement in the 150-175hp range. This will be my first time working on a two stroke that doesn't cut weeds so it should be interesting, but it is well within my comfort zone, I've got a small machine shop in my basement so must anything short of boring a cylinder myself is at least plausible.

The transom is surprisingly solid. I can't flex it one bit by tilting the motor and bouncing on it, and the couple abandoned screw holes in the transom I've explored don't show any signs of mush. The stringers and the floor haven't fared as well. The open tops along side the coffin...my screwdriver just dove right on thru. I knew the floor was bad when I got her, the stringers were a minor surprise, though by no means unexpected. My plan is to build a couple wood gantries, hoist off the outboard to continue evaluating and then I can pull the cap to get full access to remove the tank and all the foam, replace the stringers and bulkheads and recap them with glass (I've had more experience laying up epoxy than polyester but I haven't decided which I'll use for this project yet.)

The gel coat on the hull below the seam shows a little oxidation that I think will rub out nicely, and all the OE graphics that remain will be fully removed and I'll probably upgrade from the OE rope rub rail. The forward portion under the flare is still shiny and quite reflective, so hopefully I can bring the rest of the hull up to a similar level of lustre. The cap will require painting though. The fish locker and live well lids both appear to have been painted at some point and of course every bit of non-stainless hardware needs to be replaced, along with a nice new leaning post and a T-Top.

I don't expect this will be a speedy project, I'm gonna do it as right as I can and I really enjoy long complex projects. So wish me luck! Here's a little introductory boat porn:

Sorry the pics are all on overcast days. Like most of the US, Louisville has been waterlogged of late! Thanks for looking! - Greg

 

[Cam]

Welcome aboard. You will find a lot of info on this site and we have quite a few people here that have done what you are doing. Help is just a question away. Thanks for the boat porn.

 

[Pipe_Dream]

Welcome! And thanks for a proper intro. Kudos to you for bringing this girl back to life. I'm a Kentucky native 30 years removed south, so I've been watching the state become another great lake this spring. Hope it dries out for you soon and best of luck with your project. Keep us posted and there are a lot of knowledgeable folks here (not me so much) to help you.

 

[phatdaddy]

nice project looks like a good one to restore. if the transom is solid and just deck is soft, might want to cut out rotten deck to see how much of the stringers will be exposed, possibly address that issue and leave cap in place.

also while your on the engine, i think that vintage yamaha is the one with the shift shaft coupler that gives problem. make sure its ok before going too deep in that motor.

looking forward to the build

 

[Myfathersson]

also while your on the engine, i think that vintage yamaha is the one with the shift shaft coupler that gives problem. make sure its ok before going too deep in that motor.

I've read about shift shaft corrosion issues on the models prior to the switch to stainless steel. Is that the problem or something altogether different?

 

[phatdaddy]

Yeah, that s the issue. The shaft would corrode at the adjustment turnbuckle. I m not positive on the years, but i remember they had the old style decals. Maybe ferm or spare will chime in

 

[Myfathersson]

Gotcha. Thanks phat. I'm sure the shaft will need replacing - it looks quite thin between the cowl and the drive and sure ain't shiny like SS would be. After the little bit of further inspection this evening, I've determined the powerhead is going to have to come off anyways if I do in fact rebuild this motor - the sleeves for the 1, 3 and 4 cylinders are spun - their ports are IMHO badly out of alignment with the passages in the block. So once I get the motor off the transom middle of next month following next week's vacation up north I'll focus on the hull structure while the weather is "nice" and leave the OB for the winter - if I can get the powerhead free without mangling the drive. It's clear it saw salt for much of its life, and clearly was allowed to run hot so the outlook is grim. I'm fine with the labor of tearing it apart to see if it's possible to salvage but I'm not spending another dime on the motor (already ordered a Yamaha Service Manual though it hasn't shipped yet) until I'm positive it's a wise course. Worst case I can part out the good bits on eBay.

Cyl 1:

Cyl 3:

Cyl 4:

 

[Destroyer]

WELCOME TO THE SITE!!! Looks like you have the right outlook for her restoration. Too often a person will try to do the whole thing in one huge bite and get discouraged when they see how large the job is. Remember, it is possible to eat an entire elephant if you do it in several meals. The same holds true for a restoration... take small bites. Concentrate on one problem at a time, solve it completely and then move on to the next one.

Some thoughts:
The shift shaft used to be a major PITA to repair, but some enterprising engineers came up with a 2 piece fix that makes the job much easier. Look for it online.
Not liking the spun sleeves, nor the alum scuffing on #3. I think a new block or engine is in her future.
Soft decks are most often caused by the wood that's glued to the underside of the deck rotting out. Caused mostly by not properly venting the underside after usage and during storage. Ditto for the stringers. Not really hard to fix, just time consuming.
All foam, including closed cell, will, over time, absorb and become water logged. At 8.34 lbs per gallon it's amazing how many pounds it adds to the total weight of your boat. Check it carefully... Take core samples from several different places, and if it's waterlogged remove or replace it.

Good luck with the restoration and we look forward to seeing more boat porn in the coming months as the job progresses.

Welcome aboard Capt.

 

[Myfathersson]

Slowly plugging away. I've got all the wiring removed except for the running lights and the bilge & live well pumps. Removed the outboard yesterday and started power washing and stripping off the well worn vinyl decals today. More power washing on tap for tomorrow. Then I'll start fabricating 2x4 supports for lifting the cap off. I plan to get a half dozen guys from the office and feed them lunch one day to lift the cap up and roll it upside down. The gel coat is looking even better than I thought as I get it power washed. A number of spots where I'll have to spot repair the gel but paint might be limited to the floor itself.

Outboard off!

Outboard parked behind the Harley:

Freshly naked transom:

Transom cap removed:

Found this penciled on the back side of the aluminum transom cap:

Just before power washing started:

Side by side comparison of the dirt coming off:

Results of day 1 of power washing:

 

[Pipe_Dream]

Making sound progress!

 

[Myfathersson]

Made some good progress this weekend. Got the tank emptied and all the suspect fuel recycled - it was 25% water. The interior of the tank looks really good, but I'm going to pull it anyhow to be sure since I'll have unfettered access with the cap off.

That out of the way I cut off the top of the splashwell at the transom so that I could get a bunch of chisels down thru to separate it from the transom. Then set to work on breaking the adhesive joining the stringers and the sole. A piece of 1/8"x1-1/2" steel 36" long with an edge ground onto one end made for a handy long reach chisel to get the hard to reach bits between the tank and the transom and the tank and the casting deck.

With everything broken free and disconnected I set to building the support structure that will be used to lift the cap. 2x4 spanning the gunnels tied down to 2x4 under the sole placed in at the bilge, fuel tank and insulated fish box.

I used 12 footers across the gunnels as I originally planned to get a crew of guys to come over and help lift and walk the cap off but now I don't feel that's realistic so I'll be building a gantry to use a chainfall and hoist it off then pull the hull on the trailer forward and set the cap down. I jacked up each section and had the cap 2" clear to make sure that I had released all the adhesive.

Looking in between the halves on the port side from the transom:

and on the starboard side:

2" of clear lift achieved the full length:

 

[Pipe_Dream]

Looks like tremendous progress. I tip my hat to you!

 

[Myfathersson]

Today was the big day - lifted the cap off!

And rolled it over:

Just seeing the hull without the cap in place was overwhelming. First thought was "what in the hell did I get myself into..."

The transom has rot up high even though down low it feels solid. This is the port side:

Though the starboard side looks pretty solid but we'll see when I pull the interior skin:

Timelapse video of the lift and the roll over on my Facebook page:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10215784076969907&id=1083633013

Tomorrow I'll pull out the shop vac and start getting the junk out of the hull then begins the task of chunking out all that foam. Placed my order from US Composites yesterday, should arrive late next week just in time for my vacation the week of the 5th.

 

[Slightly_Twisted]

Great job! You took your time and did the lift right. It is completely overwhelming when you see it, but it is sooooo worth it! You have room to work, and you will always find a problem you didn’t see before. The form is a *****! The first v20 rebuild I did had from like your, I used an ice chipper and it worked well.
https://www.menards.com/main/outdoo...idewalk-ice-scraper/atj-r/p-1444445290308.htm

I will recommend if you don’t have a full face respirator get one. They are hot as hell but so nice when grinding.

 

[Myfathersson]

Thanks Twist! I know it'll be worth it, just an overwhelming moment, partially because I was exhausted and sweating gallons! I got this - just a thousand tiny steps to get to my goal.

Spent 7 hours Sunday chopping out foam. Plenty of rest breaks to let my ankles unkink and guzzle water by the super size Yeti full. I started with a floor scraper which worked great until the final cell on the starboard side when the cast aluminum head of it cracked. Picked up a long steel chipper from Harbor Freight on the way home from work tonight to replace it, along with an air chisel to assist with removing the globs of adhesive. Wish I had thought to bag the adhesive chunks separately - it weighs a ton and there's a massive amount of excess everywhere. Is that really 3M 5200??

I managed to get all the foam on the starboard side out. Port side remains along with the fuel tank. I think I will remove the rear bulkhead from behind the tank and use the long reach chisel I made for breaking the adhesive between the floor and stringers to break the foam from under the tank then tab that bulkhead back in or replace it altogether. Another option is the stringers either side of the tank where they weren't fully capped are mushy so maybe I'll cut those sections out and go in from the sides. Still not sure and it's a couple steps off so I've got time to think and evaluate.

Picture time!
Working on the first cell:

Found this nugget of history encapsulated in the first cell under the conduit:

You can see my scraper in it's handy holster (foam yet to be removed) in the background:

Three cells down:

I must not have taken a photo at the end of the day LOL. Lugging all the tools back down to the basement is enough of a chore let alone remembering to document as much as possible

4 lawn bags filled with foam done, so likely 4 more to go. There wasn't as much waterlogged material as I feared there might be. But there was some. Nice how the waterlogged foam releases from the fiberglass of the hull rather easily. I'll go back in with a wire brush after everything is stripped to clean up the remaining residue.

 

[Slightly_Twisted]

Nice work,

You got the right idea tons of small steps. The foam is a huge pain, just from amount of physical labor to get it out! The white hard globs on top of the stringers is not 5200. It’s some type thickened epoxy, wellcraft used as glue. I used a sledge hammer to knock it off where I needed to take measurements and get levels. I didn’t bother with most of it since I was cut out the stringers anyways.

Once you get the foam out you can get a real good idea of how much needs to be replaced!

 

[phatdaddy]

Great job. Wish u were closer, i d drop mine off for the winter, and pick it up in the spring, all ready to go.

Like skunk said, mines an 83 or 84 and no foam, only in fuel cell compartment

 

[Myfathersson]

Well Phat we've yet to see if I can get this thing back together or not! Plus without a garage I'm limited to what I can get down to the basement to work on in the workshop over the winter

Glad to know that's not 5200 that I see mentioned so often. I thought maybe peanut butter but didn't get any sense of glass content so must have been just a powder filler with the resin. It's for sure hard - using a brick chisel and a 20oz hammer was still a helluva lot of effort to get the overhanging globs clear so I could easily run the scraper down the stringer.

Got the shipment notification from UPS for my US Composites order this evening. Should be here Wednesday if my normal driver doesn't murder me for the 4 hefty boxes coming. So if I get the foam out Saturday and open up the problem spots the first half of next week I should be starting glass work the following weekend. I've decided to go with readily available MDO plywood for the cores in lieu of marine ply.

 

[phatdaddy]

i wish they d built their transoms as stout as they built the pencils

 

[Myfathersson]

Excellent progress made this weekend. Got all the foam stripped out. 8 lawn and leaf bags worth:

Then cut out the rotted bulkhead aft of the fuel tank:

Ran the chainsaw down the sides to free the tank from that foam and then drove some 15 deg 4x4 wedges under the back edge of the exposed tank and it popped out nicely:

The tank looks mediocre but there is too much pitting and corrosion for me to feel good about putting it back in so it'll get replaced., The Moeller FT5007 looks like it might drop in with just a slight drop in capacity (that I don't feel I need anyhow) - https://www.oceanlinkinc.com/product/50-gallon-belly-shaped-tank-44-x-30-75-x-10-25-folt5007/

I did my exploratory holes to evaluate the condition of the stringers and sadly every 12" was at a minimum waterlogged, many spots of plain mush, so I began the work of getting it off the trailer so I can fully support the hull under the stringers:

I'm presently supported at 7 points - keel and both chines at the transom, keel and both chines about 5' to 6' forward of the transom and at the keel at the forward point where it begins to curve up. Tomorrow I'll begin making supports that are directly under the strakes at the stringers.

I always planned to replace the trailer with a stouter tandem axle but here's an example of how poor of shape the rollers are in:

Everything is clean and ready for me to take my measurements and start cutting out the foul wood:

Gonna be a busy staycation this week. I hope the weather holds! My 30 yds of 1708, 7.5gal of slow epoxy and some gelcoat showed up this past week but I don't think that will be enough now that I've confirmed all the stringers need replacing. More demo the next few days than had been anticipated so FG won't get started till late week at the earliest. I'll see how far I get before I order more materials in case I need to modify the set speed for lower expected temps.