I think the boat came with some new sei decals. Im not a purist so plain black is good with me. 100% better than corrosion (it's an alpha 1 so it's like the bologna of outdrives. Its always there, it's always going to be reliable, it will do its job, its cheap. its also the short bus cousin to the bravo series. The bravo is the steak of mercuriser outdrives. Vovlo penta is like ostrich or bison, people get it just to be different, no one knows why but there are cheaper options most consider better)
The fuel tank is being a pita to remove. To make matters worse i did fine a few bits of port side stinger that will need to cut out and replace due to rot. Im glad i have plenty of epoxy, biaxle cloth and thickener laying around. I've also been wanting to get all that 3/4 and 1/2 cdx board out of my garage. Be careful what you pray for guys...i wanted to get rid of supplies and now god has granted me a place to put them.
Fuel tank is staring to move, got it raised about 2 inches then ran out of daylight. She's wedged tightly between the stingers. Will resume Saturday morning. Id like to work on it tomorrow but I've got too many thanks giving meals to eat for any one person. I hate turkey so im going to be loading up on sides.
Ive got to rebuild the port side stinger and motor mount thanks the water heater and Barrett hold downs not having any sealer on them!!!! Lucky it's easy to do with the tank and motor removed
63 gallon fuel tank is due to be finished in @ 5 business days. I believe my current tank is only rated 52 gallons. Not a huge upgrade. Had to go custom.
It's a belly tank. 56 along, 37 wide, 8 inches tall. Closest aftermarket i could find premade in stock was @ 40 gallons. Losing 12 gallons would have not been great.
My deck lights suck. The lenses are cloudy/ faded and the housings are old and pitted. The 5w bulbs do little to nothing to see much of anything. I got the flush fit 18 watt led lights. One for steps and 2 for the deck.. These all sit at ankle light/shin so no one will be staring at them dead on to blind themselves.
old rotten wood out. New wood cut, sanded and just cleaned with acetone. Will get its first epoxy coat after lunch then epoxied on place this evening or tomorrow.
Found a wet transom up to about 5 inches from the bottom, the rest is dry so I've got a transom housing to be removed and some fiberglass to cut and see how bad it is, see if im cutting out a small section or an entire transom. Transom skin comes off wet and rotted wood easily, solid wood it does not.
Id leave it be for now but id like to trailer this to the keys and you cant plan your weather, if I dont sell/upgrade before then i want to be 100% confident in beating to wake with the family on board.
If you look for wet or rot in any boat that's been stored outdoors...you're gonna find it.
I got a good deal on a centurion 23 footer a year ago. Was a south Carolina boat company from @mid 80s to early 90s. Was a good deal, new trailer and volvo penta 290 which i want for a future diesel conversion project.
I was going to try to rebuild the stingers in it along with transom. All wood coring from transom to v berth was rotten. Now it sits in my yard until i pull the last item i need off of her before trashing the hull at the dump.
Only one stinger and mount was rotten in my rinker and the rot stopped about mid way under the aft berth.
dont ask me how i managed to guess the wrong paint color for the bilge paint...i guess its either do a better job getting more or paint the entire bilge the new color.
The plywood between engine mounts was rotten half way across as well as entire port side motor mount and then rot to 3/4 way to the front of the aft bunk. If it was wet or dark or mulch it was removed. About 1.75 gallons of epoxy gone at this point and now i have to address the transom. The bottom 4 or 5 inches is wet and or rotten. Time to put the aft cabin back in then start cutting the transom. Luckily the transom is less than 3'x3'.
Remove the skin, clean out the old wood, glue 2 pieces of 3/4 inch cut to size ply together then glue it to the hull and glue the skin back on. Finish off with tabbing out to about 6 inches of overlap....i usually do one with 4 inches then next layer of 6 if i can use the biaxle....more tabbing/layers if i have to use the thin suff as the biaxle i have doesnt bend or conform for crap....not at my skill level anyway.
Its a job id rather not be doing but tis the price you pay when you buy boats that are 20 plus years old. In reality the fact the fuel tank is just now starting to leak is kinda lucky, it's lasted longer than most. I think 10 years is usually the expected life span of aluminum
Haha....well the life of the tank can be made longer if it's kept dry. The original tank corroded not under neath but on the side of the tank where it touches the bridge between both motor mounts (facing the engine).
There are now drain holes under the tank and neoprene strips bottom/top/sides so it doesn't touch any fiberglass. Air will circulate easily around the tank.
The new tank is also epoxy coated.
Tank 800 Shipping 200 Loss 2 months of weekends to work in it.: priceless
The aft berth is glued down in place. I will need to glue in some pieces of plywood to fill in the edges then time to fiberglass it in. The space over the tank was stupid flimsy before and now its much more ridged. It wasn't rotten, was just a huge void over the fuel tank with zero support under it, well now it's got four 6" supports running under it, all 3/4 inch thick tied into the stingers.
The aft berth is less hole now and more aft berth. Hope to have the back part epoxied in tomorrow. Ill need to lay all new carpet, will probably rip up the cabin too. But that comes after the transom is rebuilt.
That transom would be way beyond my ability. .would be afraid it would fall off!
Just one section left to install before i start on the transom. Ill need to order more fiberglass and resin once us composites reopens, i hope they are open a day or two next week.
Before ordering west systems epoxy check them out. They sell pretty much everything you need for fiberglass jobs, i also believe they sell west systems epoxy. I don't feel west systems is worth the extra $$$ especially when their in house brand is already superior/stronger/better bonding than most anyting the O.E. manufacturer use. Not a huge jump in performance from poly to vinylester based resins, the jump to epoxy resin is huge.
Comments
The fuel tank is being a pita to remove. To make matters worse i did fine a few bits of port side stinger that will need to cut out and replace due to rot. Im glad i have plenty of epoxy, biaxle cloth and thickener laying around. I've also been wanting to get all that 3/4 and 1/2 cdx board out of my garage. Be careful what you pray for guys...i wanted to get rid of supplies and now god has granted me a place to put them.
Fuel tank is staring to move, got it raised about 2 inches then ran out of daylight. She's wedged tightly between the stingers. Will resume Saturday morning. Id like to work on it tomorrow but I've got too many thanks giving meals to eat for any one person. I hate turkey so im going to be loading up on sides.
Ive got to rebuild the port side stinger and motor mount thanks the water heater and Barrett hold downs not having any sealer on them!!!! Lucky it's easy to do with the tank and motor removed
It's a belly tank. 56 along, 37 wide, 8 inches tall. Closest aftermarket i could find premade in stock was @ 40 gallons. Losing 12 gallons would have not been great.
Found a wet transom up to about 5 inches from the bottom, the rest is dry so I've got a transom housing to be removed and some fiberglass to cut and see how bad it is, see if im cutting out a small section or an entire transom. Transom skin comes off wet and rotted wood easily, solid wood it does not.
Id leave it be for now but id like to trailer this to the keys and you cant plan your weather, if I dont sell/upgrade before then i want to be 100% confident in beating to wake with the family on board.
If you look for wet or rot in any boat that's been stored outdoors...you're gonna find it.
I was going to try to rebuild the stingers in it along with transom. All wood coring from transom to v berth was rotten. Now it sits in my yard until i pull the last item i need off of her before trashing the hull at the dump.
Only one stinger and mount was rotten in my rinker and the rot stopped about mid way under the aft berth.
The plywood between engine mounts was rotten half way across as well as entire port side motor mount and then rot to 3/4 way to the front of the aft bunk. If it was wet or dark or mulch it was removed. About 1.75 gallons of epoxy gone at this point and now i have to address the transom. The bottom 4 or 5 inches is wet and or rotten. Time to put the aft cabin back in then start cutting the transom. Luckily the transom is less than 3'x3'.
Remove the skin, clean out the old wood, glue 2 pieces of 3/4 inch cut to size ply together then glue it to the hull and glue the skin back on. Finish off with tabbing out to about 6 inches of overlap....i usually do one with 4 inches then next layer of 6 if i can use the biaxle....more tabbing/layers if i have to use the thin suff as the biaxle i have doesnt bend or conform for crap....not at my skill level anyway.
There are now drain holes under the tank and neoprene strips bottom/top/sides so it doesn't touch any fiberglass. Air will circulate easily around the tank.
The new tank is also epoxy coated.
Tank 800
Shipping 200
Loss 2 months of weekends to work in it.: priceless
The aft berth is glued down in place. I will need to glue in some pieces of plywood to fill in the edges then time to fiberglass it in. The space over the tank was stupid flimsy before and now its much more ridged. It wasn't rotten, was just a huge void over the fuel tank with zero support under it, well now it's got four 6" supports running under it, all 3/4 inch thick tied into the stingers.
The aft berth is less hole now and more aft berth. Hope to have the back part epoxied in tomorrow. Ill need to lay all new carpet, will probably rip up the cabin too. But that comes after the transom is rebuilt.
Just one section left to install before i start on the transom. Ill need to order more fiberglass and resin once us composites reopens, i hope they are open a day or two next week.
Before ordering west systems epoxy check them out. They sell pretty much everything you need for fiberglass jobs, i also believe they sell west systems epoxy. I don't feel west systems is worth the extra $$$ especially when their in house brand is already superior/stronger/better bonding than most anyting the O.E. manufacturer use. Not a huge jump in performance from poly to vinylester based resins, the jump to epoxy resin is huge.