New guy New boat

MAC67

New member
Well, after the pain and suffering of trying to find a cheap boat and looking at one to many piles-o-crap we came across a V20! I instantly fell in love with it and now it's making sure my driveway does not blow away! My brother, (CJSCustoms on here) and I are going to be restoring it and will hopefully have it going by next year. So far it's been clean, clean and then a little more clean on top of that as it has been sitting for quite some time. We are new to the whole boat thing so any advice would be great. Love the site and it has allready been a great help, here are some pics of the work we have done.
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WOW!!...pics on the 1st post!!...you've jumped right in and w/one of the classics...pictured below is a '74 I had for about 10 years...laid out much the same as yours, I had great fun w/it and know you'll do the same w/your '77!!...cruise thru the Gallery for idea starters

Lots of work ahead...go for it, you'll never regret it...and once you splash her there's no lookin' back!!

Do you have outboard selected yet? Would suggest 150 min, but several here are very happy w/Zuke 140s...how's the transom?...solid or will it require a rebuild?...if it needs to be rebuilt, I'd strongly suggest rebuilding to a 25" transom...better in many ways...if solid, leave as is and go w/the originally intended 20" motor..just gonna depend on the level of restoration...
Great pics!!...welcome to the madness around here...ask ANYTHING...SOMEBODY will have an answer for you...pics of the progress (no matter how ugly) are always good
 
Thanks, and yeah, I love pictures! We are kinda waiting to get a motor untill we are farther along and we find a money tree! Been reading up and will prolly get something in the 150 to 200 range. We haven't really decided on the transom yet, it has a couple cracks in it and one side is a little swollen. I did the drill a hole thing and it does not seem super rotton, but we have to do work there any way so if it would be better to raise the transom that is what will prolly happen.
 
Thanks! This site is the reason it ended up coming home with me. All it took was a couple quick looks through the gallery! You all have some beautiful V20's.
 
if it needs to be rebuilt, I'd strongly suggest rebuilding to a 25" transom...better in many ways...if solid, leave as is and go w/the originally intended 20" motor..just gonna depend on the level of restoration...

I'm totally new to all this and I have to ask. What are the benefits of having a 25" transom verses the 20"?
 
Thanks, good luck to you as well! I just wish I had the funds to start buying stuff lol.

You would be surprised if you knew how much stuff was handmade here because of just that reason... But that's the beauty of this site.. you don't just get "buy this, buy that"... you get honest to goodness answers to questions and a lot of "if you do it this way it will look and work better" answers. Welcome to V20 heaven.. :love:


Oh, and following seas (where the waves of water are being pushed at the rear of the boat because of the wind) don't splash into a 25" high transom as easily as they do through a 20" one. That 5" can make a whole lot of difference in the amount of water coming onboard.
 
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Welcome to the site. Looks like you are making good progress already. The teak looks great.

To answer CJS's question (even though I have a V20 cuddy with an I/O), I think the 25" transom is probably preferred over the 20" to keep less water coming over the stern.

Good luck with your restoration.
 
I'm totally new to all this and I have to ask. What are the benefits of having a 25" transom verses the 20"?


The extra 5" does add protection against water entering the boat's splashwell and that can be a plus in following seas as mentioned, but also at the dock when unexpected waves from other boats and weather roll waves toward the stern....actually when tied to a dock overnite or extended periods, it's best to tie off w/the bow out toward big water for the same reasons...also, when you leave your boat in the water and tilt the motor up, the foot clears the water entirely...allows you to squirt the whole motor off after a day in the salt water...
 
I honestly can't imagine a 20 inch transom, we were shrimping in 2-3 footers last week & the only way to pull up the trawl is stern to the wind & my well was full with a 25" transom!
Not many little boats like mine, but opening day in Biloxi is worth a bit of a beating!

Welcome aboard newbie!,

Doug
 
Thanks for the great info. guys.

Thanks Nipper we're real happy with the way the teak is coming back to life. The next thing on my list for wood work is getting the gauge bezel made. But before we map out the bezel I want to find the set of gauges that we are going to use. Anyone know of a company that sells white faced gauges, with red back light and a gold outer ring?
 
Awwwwwwww crap!!!!!!

Well, I guess we are going all out with this so....... I cut the cap off the transom! The wood was delaminating and there is some rot in there, so we are going to redo the transom and build to 25". After all mah research we are going to go with seacast. This will be our first fiberglass job and after reading all the other post about newbies doing it I believe we can tackle it.

So I will follow with a bunch of pictures and I ask you peeps to tell us if we are doing it right, or of we are blowing it! Do I leave the thin inner fiber glass? How far up do I go with the seacast? Do I just fiberglass in the 20" cutout to 25"? I am now realizing what everyone says about this being pain in the a$$ to get all the wood out. If the link don't work it's because I am a tard when it come to this I pad crap!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/mobile/slideshow.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-legacy&localeid=en_US
 
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