In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I think Marine wire is for boats the size of small houses where you might actively need flexibility and corrosion resistance and whatnot. For a little runabout most of us are building? Meh.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I think Marine wire is for boats the size of small houses where you might actively need flexibility and corrosion resistance and whatnot. For a little runabout most of us are building? Meh.
I was out in the shop and didn't have time for it but a thing happened.
thats just the first coat and obviously just the gunnels and port console top but it looks much better than before. Not maybe as far as "good," but much better. I did get a lot of paint on the aluminum trim edges but I'm trying not to worry about it. This is my first time brush painting enamel and it seems there's a learning curve.
Life of course happens and I am taking my sweet time getting the boat ready for this season. A week of warm weather ahead has me chomping at the bit to get it out of the garage. I managed to get the second coat on the gunnels and in a day or so I should be able to start reassembly.
The second coat looks better than the first, but still is far from perfect. Again, trying not to worry about it. And now I really wish I'd gotten color matched paint to the truck, that would have been amazing. I do like the "safety blue" that I picked, but an identical match to the truck would have been awesome.
Now, is there anything more satisfying than polishing old chrome?
The "finished" piece is of course again far from perfect - there's pitting and wear you would expect for 44 year old cheap chrome, but it looks so much better than the before it's so nice to look at. Hopefully it all cleans up like that and the boat is shiny for at least a few days.
The rest of the light blue metal I will paint, but not right away. Still left to do after reassembling the trim pieces on the gunnels is wiring, then I should be ready to use the boat. As time allows I'll paint the remaining blue pieces.
Lookin nice!
Quick question.. I'm probably overthinking this, but some of the hardware like the rope cleats had the aluminum around them deformed and they were mounted with just lock nuts and #8-32 screws. I am thinking about making rectangular aluminum backer plates out of 1/8" or 1/4" aluminum, drilled and tapped for the mounting holes, then epoxied into place behind where the cleats go. I have the material and taps and epoxy. Would this be an improvement over the lock nuts? any reasons not to do it other than it being excessive?
That sounds like an excellent plan to beef it all up. I would have thought of just wood first but if you have the aluminum that seems like a better choice.
I've never had trouble with cleats, and my boats have seen some mighty crap weather pounding them at the dock. One of the secrets is how you moor. As long as you have enough angle on the rope (meaning, not a 2-foot length directly to an eye, but more like a 5' length parallel to the water) you won't ever see the shock loads that would break the bolts.
It can never hurt to upgrade, but Starcraft engineered them that way so that in abusive weather, the cleats break instead of ripping the gunwales off the boat.
Likely won't hurt a thing to beef it up, but also not something I'd lose sleep over.
To add to Curtis' point, when are you going to have it docked? Is it likely to be for very long or in rough water?
It'll probably never be docked in rough water. This is a small lake boat for us. Good thoughts.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:It can never hurt to upgrade, but Starcraft engineered them that way so that in abusive weather, the cleats break instead of ripping the gunwales off the boat.
Based on DCulberson's description of the problem, it sounds like Starcraft missed the mark if that was their goal ;)
I like the idea of a backer plate to spread the load (also, I would have just planned wood...but if you already have aluminum it seems like it'll work well). And then tie properly per Curtises'es description and it'll be awesome.
So, I made an aluminum spreader plate for the first cleat, and when I went to install it there was stuff on the back side of the gunnel keeping me from installing it. OK, I'll be honest, it was the brazing material I used to fill in holes in the gunnel. I filed at it for a while and decided I was overthinking things and just mounted the cleats with the new stainless machine screw+washer+lock nuts I bought. Plugging away at stuff has be here for now:
I have to put the bow rail on next and then do the rewiring, which should only take part of a day once I have everything on hand. I think I have it all except a couple high amp fuses to put at the battery end of things and those are on the way.
I love that the boat matches the garage wall. You are a design master.
We've had the boat out a few more times and the old 2 stroke motor just isn't doing it for us. It's noisy, balky, and smelly. I might be able to get it running a bit better but it'll always be a 40 year old oil burning motor. I've got a bit of a play budget built up from selling off stuff and am weighing my options. Looking at other boats nothing really seems to jump out at me as THAT much better than what I've got other than maybe a bit bigger which would be nice to have for friends joining us. But most are I/O drive boats and we would be limited to where we could take that. I'm seriously considering dropping the coin on a new EFI 4-stroke outboard for this boat. Suzuki DF9.9b - sticking with the 9.9hp for now so we can still get out on all the local reservoirs. $3,195 and it's in stock with free shipping. Plus I need control cables at about $80 - $100 depending on length. It seems a bit silly to spend $3k on a motor for a $2k boat, but the motor could come with us if we did upgrade the boat later on. What do you guys think -- am I crazy or is that not a bad idea?
I'm in no way stressing finances to do this, it's just a "does it make sense if I like the boat otherwise" kind of purchase. If I don't do this, I may spring $10 - $20k on an upgrade to a modern used fiberglass bowrider.
It looks like I could get $700 - $1000 for the old 2-stroke if I decided to sell it. I might put it in the attic in case I decide to upgrade boats and put it back on this one.
Also, looking at used motors, nothing seems worth it. All the modern 4-stroke 9.9hp motors are $1800+ even for 12 year old stuff. Any 2019 - 2022 motors are like $3000 used so I'd rather spend $3200 and get a new one.
All of those options make sense to me.
I wouldn't rule out I/Os unless it limits you because you need a small engine for lake restrictions. They don't really draft any different than an outboard boat of the same size. I definitely prefer outboards, and don't see myself having another I/O in my life, but if the right one came about for the right deal I'd do it.
Don't think of it as spending $3k on a $2k boat. It's spending $3k to get the boat you enjoy to a more enjoyable place. Buy the new one.
Think of it as saving you from buying a $10k-$20K boat :)
[pedantic mode] "Gunnel" is pronounced that way, but actually spelled "gunwale". [\pedantic mode]
mtn said:I wouldn't rule out I/Os unless it limits you because you need a small engine for lake restrictions.
That's where I'm at - the lakes I'm thinking of have 10hp limits. So even if I did upgrade to an I/O later, I could put the new 9.9hp outboard on it as a kicker, and remove the I/O drive prop and be legal on the lake. They're fishing only lakes, no swimming, but one has a "world class" blue cat reputation and the other a not-so-crappy crappie reputation so I'd like to retain access to them without needing two boats.
@Steve: good point. I'm also well aware of the resale value on these motors, so if I do end up not needing it at some point I could get most of my money back out of it.
Any old salt baggywrinkle every finger a marlinspike sailor would keelhaul ye for spellin' it "gunnel". OTOH that dude was prolly illiterate and couldn't care less how it was spelled.
dculberson said:We've had the boat out a few more times and the old 2 stroke motor just isn't doing it for us. It's noisy, balky, and smelly. I might be able to get it running a bit better but it'll always be a 40 year old oil burning motor. I've got a bit of a play budget built up from selling off stuff and am weighing my options. Looking at other boats nothing really seems to jump out at me as THAT much better than what I've got other than maybe a bit bigger which would be nice to have for friends joining us. But most are I/O drive boats and we would be limited to where we could take that. I'm seriously considering dropping the coin on a new EFI 4-stroke outboard for this boat. Suzuki DF9.9b - sticking with the 9.9hp for now so we can still get out on all the local reservoirs. $3,195 and it's in stock with free shipping. Plus I need control cables at about $80 - $100 depending on length. It seems a bit silly to spend $3k on a motor for a $2k boat, but the motor could come with us if we did upgrade the boat later on. What do you guys think -- am I crazy or is that not a bad idea?
I'm in no way stressing finances to do this, it's just a "does it make sense if I like the boat otherwise" kind of purchase. If I don't do this, I may spring $10 - $20k on an upgrade to a modern used fiberglass bowrider.
It looks like I could get $700 - $1000 for the old 2-stroke if I decided to sell it. I might put it in the attic in case I decide to upgrade boats and put it back on this one.
Also, looking at used motors, nothing seems worth it. All the modern 4-stroke 9.9hp motors are $1800+ even for 12 year old stuff. Any 2019 - 2022 motors are like $3000 used so I'd rather spend $3200 and get a new one.
Too bad you're not near me. This is what $2000 will get you. 260 SeaRay Sun dancer nice interior teak but age has attacked some of the upholstery bathroom , galley, sleeps 6 Chevy 350 about 500 hrs Gimble bearing getting noisy
In reply to frenchyd :
My minivan might struggle launching that, a bit.
New outboard and control cables ordered. I feel a bit silly but I'm trying to apply the "buy once, cry once" philosophy for a bit. We'll see how it works out for me.
I got white since my boat is mostly white and blue. I think it'll look cool.
Yes, I ordered from Online Outboards, how can you tell?
In reply to dculberson :
Ha, ha, it's always like that, back in the 50's a lot of runabouts were saved from the scrappers simply because they were small enough to fit in the garage or somewhere.
On the other hand my uncles 55 foot Mahogany cruiser with 3 Allison V12 engines went to the scrappers because premium gasoline went to over 35 cents a gallon on the lake. Still in nice shape though.
In reply to dculberson :
Nice! That engine will outlast you.
You'll need to log in to post.
