Little snag

No pictures today. I forgot to bring the camera out with me.

Using some boat stands I got off craigslist, I jacked up the boat in order to get to the bottom where it sits on the trailer. Got myself some clearance between the boat and the trailer and did some more scraping. The paint is much weaker down there, and all of the caulk around the keel came right out. I will definitely need to re-caulk the entire bottom.

Also, where the keel sits on the back 2 keel rollers for the trailer, the wood on the keel is indented from the weight of the boat resting on those spots for so long. I am hoping that with the pressure off, the wood will expand some.

I am going to have to raise the bunks on the trailer so that they carry more weight, taking the weight off of the keel. But the bolts holding the bunks are rusted. I am going to have to cut them off, and put new bolts in.

More...

Got some more work done today.

I started off today working on the port side hull, scraping and sanding. With the exception of the aft splash rail, the white paint was remarkably strong. There was a little loose paint here and there that scraped off, and a few lap fasteners need to be filled in where they were countersunk. Other than that, I just sanded it smooth in order to prep it for new paint. The paint on the splash rail peeled right off. The wood seems OK underneath, though (not soft or crumbly at all).

The bottom paint is a different story. There are multiple coats of different colored paint there. It was some tough scraping, but I was able to work my way down and get nearly the entire port side done (except for where the trailer bunks are).

After that I was done with crawling around on the ground. So I turned my attention to the port side aft gunwhale. It appears that the previous owner repaired some rot there, and replaced the mahogany with ply. The ply has since delaminated. After tracing a template onto a piece of scrap wood, I carefully pried the wood off. I was able to get it off in one piece, so I didn't need the template (better safe than sorry). I'm going to replace it with a piece of solid mahogany.

After that, the mosquitoes were swarming like something out of a late-nite sci-fi channel movie starring Lorenzo Llamas, so I quickly made some measurements for the rear facing seats, and got outta dodge.

Pluggin' away...

Today I continued working on the bow deck. I finished scraping off the old varnish on the large flat areas. The only part left to scrape is the center ridge ( i don't know the correct term for it). So far so good. The mahogany under the finish is in good shape and should finish up nicely. There are 2 spots where some wood came up with the finish. They are hardly noticable, though.

Next, I turned my attention to the console. That was tough. There were at least 3 dozen screws holding it together and holding it to the rear of the front seat. They did not want to come out.

More measuring clued me into the fact that neither the steering cables nor the throttle cables will reach from the engine to the dash. So I am going to have to start searching ebay. Buying them new is a ripoff.

I did have a "that was cool" moment. The wires for the lights and the switch for them reached the dash no problem. Yay.

Got a bunch done today

So, today, Kathy took the girls to a live action performance of High School Musical, leaving me alone to work on the boat. Needless to say, I owe her big time. I would have pulled my fingernails out if I had to sit through that.

I started out working on the interior mechanical functions. I removed the rest of the floor and began disconnecting all of the existing cables. The boat had dual throttle controls installed (at one point in time there were twin engines). I removed one of them completely, as it was not connected to anything. The other one, I removed from the dash and snaked it back through the floor and set it aside, still connected to the engine. I don't think the cables will reach the front seat, unfortunately.

Next, I turned my attention to the bow. I had started scraping and sanding the port side of the bow hull. I got a bunch done. It's pretty much done from the stem to the window on that side. It's a little messy, and I'm going to need to put some filler and caulk in a few places near the stem. I also am going to need to jack up the boat to scrape and sand where the boat sits on the trailer bunks. Today, the ground under the boat was a little wet, so I didn't last long under the boat.


So I started on the deck. Scraping around the perimeter and where the finish was peeling was easy. The rest - not so much. My arms are pretty sore. Here are the results so far...

Work begins...

Removed bench, part of the floor, and drivers seat - exposing the bilge, keel and control cabling.

The positives: It had a some mouse droppings and empty acorns inside, but no signs of rot, animal damage or cracks. A few minutes of "shop-vac" time and it was all cleaned out. It'll need a coat of bilge paint before I finish. The bilge pump is relatively new and in perfect working order.

Now for the negative: When the previous owner moved the steering to center steer, he did not leave any "slack" in the cable. I was hoping, that when he moved the steering, he would have just kept the long cable, and I'd be able to just move it back. But alas, no such luck.

Not picured: Removed all the chrome cleats, bumper hooks, and rub rails.

The Game Plan

Here's my game plan...

1. Spend the remainder of the summer scraping and sanding (probably a good chunk of autumn as well.
2. Paint the hull before it gets too cold out.
3. Spend the winter working on mechanicals (steering, motor controls, electrical), as I am changing the steering back to standard placement. Clean, buff and shine all of the chrome.
4. Winter/Spring finish up the seats, make cushions, and put all of the chrome pieces back on.

Here are a few more pictures of the boat at the time I bought it.

The transom obviously needs to be refinished and repaired where some of the seams separated due to dryness and age. The boat has been out of the water, in storage since 2000. So there is definitely some wood shrinkage that will hopefully be remedied when we do a "soak-up" next year. The engine turned over and has compression, but I haven't been able to run it yet.


Here's the center console that I am not too fond of. The previous owner changed it to center steer. My brother thinks I am nuts to want to move it back to it's original position. But since I'm not much of a fisherman, I could care less about having a stand up console.

I plan on re-using the mahogany, as it is in fantastic shape. Moving all of the cables and steering is going to be a pain in the neck (and wallet).


This is the rear bench seat. The seat back is in great shape, but the bottom could use a little sandpaper and varnish.

The driver seat just in front of it will be gone. I plan on building 2 rear facing seats out of mahogany.

Built the shelter

It took me almost a week to build the shelter tent in the sweltering heat. Never fails, as soon as I have to build something, we get a heatwave. I think I lost 5 pounds.

Finally was able to start working on the actual boat over the weekend.

Starting off...

Hi. Mike here. I bought a boat.

Why, you ask? Because I'm in my 40's, I can't afford a sports car, and I have no desire to cheat on my wife.

Here's what I bought. It is a 1956 Lyman Outboard. It is 18 feet long.

I'll be using this space to post the restoration process, step-by step.