To take on or not to take on?
 

So I have virtually no wood working skills, aside from what I did in 8th grade wood shop. I did get excellent grades for my drawings, though. :D There's lots that I want to do on my boat, but I'm afraid that once I get started (cutting, pulling crap out, etc.) I'll be overwhelmed and my limited skills will prevent me from getting the finished product I want. Or worse yet, shoddy work will put my life, and those onboard in danger. I certainly don't want that.

Things I want to do to my boat are:

- Take off the Gil bracket and add a floatation style outboard bracket. I'm hoping that will solve the self-bailing issue without raising the deck.

- Close off in-deck scuppers.

- Remove the splash well and add scuppers in the transom. The transom was replaced and enclosed in 1997, BTW.

- Repair soft spots in the deck, get rid of the panel pattern/texture and add a non-skid.

- Narrow the console by 4-6" and make it taller for flush mounting electronics.

- Add a small live well somewhere.

I also want to replace the leaning post and T-top in the next season or two, which of course someone else will fabricate. I'll replace any hardware myself. And as far as gel coat or paint goes, a good friend has someone who will shoot it for cheap as a favor.

A few friends and my brother, who has made fiberglass wings for his car and for his buddies (WOO HOO), have offered to help me with my boat. I know that doesn't qualify him to work on a boat, but at least he has some experience with resins, fabric, etc. And then with my friends who offered to help, I'm not sure how experienced they truly are. I know it's not rocket science. But I want to do it once and do it right.

The big plus is that a good friend offered up half of his garage, as a winter workspace, if I can find a place for two of this vintage Mustangs. Otherwise, I don't think I'd consider half the stuff I want done without paying someone else to do them.

What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Paul

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

go ahead so we can learn from your mistakes :D

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

Oh yaaa. Sherrr... ;)

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

I have/had very minimal skill in your area, but recently did a whole bunch of structural work on my Seafari(thanks again to Blue Heron, Denny and Stick, among others, for all the help). Working with epoxy and polyester resin/fiberglass is very forgiving as long as you go slow and don't need it to look cosmetically fabulous. You can definitely do it, taking advantage of the advice available here. There are several step by step threads with lots of pics to show the way and many individuals who will help with your questions. Cosmetics are not my thing, but it sounds like you have access to someone who does have those skills. Digesting(it may take while) a copy of "The Elements of Boat Strength" by David Gerr will keep you from making any understrength and unsafe moves.

Go for it and good luck!

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

This might help as well. It's in my "favorites".
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/...aintenance.pdf

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

I did quite a few gel coat repairs on my last boat, come to think of it. Friends said they had to look real hard to find them, even when pointed in the vicinity. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, I tie beautiful flies and I'm pretty artistic.

You're right! I got this! :D Seriously, I'm going to give it a whirl. Start with baby steps...

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

Thanks, uncle! Can I call you uncle? ;) And, uncle... can I borrow some money? :D Bigshrimpin posted this on someone else's thread. I saved it on my Mac and will read more of it tonight.

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

I'd rather you try to scare me and say "BOO" cuz I ain't got no money for your project! :D

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

Ain't got no money for my project, uncle? BOOOOOOO! :mad:

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

I'm in the same boat as you. Having bought a 1976-23' SeaCraft Inboard last November I have come across many of the same minor issues you speak of having. My list includes, but not limited too: Soft spots on the deck, Scupper drains that let more water in than out, and some soft spots in the gunwale cap. None of those three jobs are an easy task and I'm afraid of what other issues I might come across during the restoration. I also don't have a garage or interior space to do such a job. The thought of waiting to do it next spring when the weather allows and missing out on prime fishing time is killing me. But other than that I would say go for it. With all the knowlege on this site, if you have a question just ask. They won't leave you hanging. Great group of guys here and with all the knowlege floating around they could probably build SeaCrafts from scratch. Hell I had no idea how to build a pilot house or even how to fiberglass for that matter and with the help from a few people on this site I was able to build my own fully functional pilot house for my boat at a fraction of the price it would have cost to buy one pre-made.

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

Unless you know you can commit most all of your winter weekends to the project time would be the only issue from my experience

Working with glass and resins does take time to learn but i am sure you can do it and with the other members here you have a great sounding board.

Take on a few smaller projects this winter to get a feel for it and then make the decision yourself if you can tackle the rest over the next winter or over the next few winters.

one good starting place may be the transom and bracket this year, then work inside the boat next.

Re: To take on or not to take on?
 

My question would be, do you like to fish and boat more or work with your hands on projects? If you tackle all these things at once your boat will be down for quite a while, (most of next year is my bet) do it in steps to start, make it safe and useable then work from there.

TunaMeltdown - Thanks for the vote of confidence and for sharing your experience thus far. It's posts like yours that have me thinking that I can handle these projects.

Trayder - Thank you for the suggestions. As far as I know, the transom is in good shape. It was replaced by Hunter Scott Custom Boat Works, Pocasset MA, in 1997. That should mean that I can take on the scuppers soon.

Wildman - I'd have to say that I prefer to fish. But then I don't know how much I'd like working with my hands. Never done much... But I appreciate the pride one finds in being a DIY'er.

Paul

One thing to remember: (I was told this) If you are going to mess up your mix ratio for resin, add too much hardener. If you add too little it may never harden. If it kicks too fast with too much hardener, you waste resin, but scraping off never quite cured resin is a waste of resin, and a huge mess.

Mixture
 

My experience with Epoxy is it should be pretty much right on. Too much hardener will do as much damage as too little. Go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of measuring cups or buy the kits with pumps.
ET

My experience with the pumps have been hit and miss. Use a painters cup and you will be spot on every time.

gantt chart
 

A scroll table tabletable squabble runs horizontally in a line across a tableland tabletable and is normally made up of respective boxes with message rows table. When you draw a plain tabletable on a share of paper, you are creating columns and rows rowsrows. Each plane line of boxes is a disparate fare tabletable row. Regularly, the row at the lop of the web grid is worn to generate headers, which bid the reader what facts can be found in the boxes underneath it, also known as the column. Allowing for regarding example, the earliest three boxes in the first scrap of a board tabletable in a doctor’s crowd hard-cover dominion read "Critic's Handle," "Now," and "Absent."


Provender rows are commonly acclimatized in HTML to originate tables and to layout a spider's web page. The HTML drag along with in the direction of a grid data is . Within each wrangle, the tab be required to be added for each brand-new whomp the user wants to create in that row. A revitalized suspend row be obliged be created to move down to the next edge sorting table and start a set of boxes cheaper than the first. This archetype shows a present with three shelve rows and three table columns.

gantt diagram
 

Top Focal point Columnar list Fundamentals

I won't struggle and flog the items from you that I am a big fan of Spin Tables. I utter them a straws in the development of Spreadsheets as a service to my clients. A single time finally the shopper sees the Hinge Table, they practically often ask "could I do that?" the answer of movement is yes! Unfortunately most net grid view keep an eye on to shy away from Pivot Tables, as they make up one's mind them as too complex. to be on the up with you, when you first reject a Kingpin Index the uninjured implements can seem a trace daunting. Don't be shy off around this as stamina will wellnigh net data grid certainly get even with off. I find the vanquish as far as someone is concerned about Pivot Tables is their ability to be manipulated via 'Trial-and-Error' and immediately guide the result. If its' not what you contemplate, pivot table service the Unzip feature and/or keep another go! What you ought to every time muse on is that you are not changing the house of your original mesa in anyway at all, so you can do no harm!

Why are they called Pivot Tables ? - Kindly, basically they permit us to pivot our data via java grid to create tell-tale information. This makes Pivot Tables interactive in that once the catalogue is uncut we can unusually easy as pie see what aftermath going (or pivoting) our evidence has on our information. This will fit patently acute in the same breath you give ajax table a go. Believe me, no problem how experienced you retrieve at Heart Tables there will at all times be an essentials of trial-and-error involved in producing the desired results! What this means is you resolve rumble yourself pivoting your mesa a allotment!

gantt table
 

Time to time it can materialize that you hunger for javascript table to make your html table more attracting and more interactive. Include's suppose you fancy to consent to your visitors to silverlight datagrid and show some special rows in your table. Of class you are here because you thirst to do it without reloading datagrid. It is reasonable with javascript to hide table rows and accompany it again later if you want.

Fundamental of all lets sire a vital and plain html 3x3 ajax grid where the first tiff contains the column captions. With the following html cryptogram:

My solution uses JavaScript, as CSS3 isn't sincerely a practical option yet. Browsers today still struggle to fortifying CSS1 and CSS2. Even though HTML tables aren't recommended for Network period javascript grid, they are mollify purely suited to the award of tabular data. In this tutorial, I'll for the time being three examples based on the still and all idea. I from tested edit gridview the solutions in IE6, Firefox 1.0, Mozilla 1.7.3 and Opera 7.54 on the Windows stage only.

gantt graph
 

Every now to time it can prove that you want javascript table to transform your html table more taking and more interactive. Let's suppose you need to consent to your visitors to silverlight datagrid and display some noteworthy rows in your table. Of direction you are here because you want to do it without reloading datagrid. It is doable with javascript to hide postpone rows and make clear it again later if you want.

First of all lets produce a fundamental and elementary html 3x3 ajax grid where the original altercation contains the column captions. With the following html code:

My deciphering uses JavaScript, as CSS3 isn't sincerely a viable choice yet. Browsers today relieve competition to buttress CSS1 and CSS2. Requite granting HTML tables aren't recommended for Web page-boy javascript grid, they are notwithstanding unequivocally suited to the debut of tabular data. In this tutorial, I'll for the time being three examples based on the uniform idea. I from tested edit gridview the solutions in IE6, Firefox 1.0, Mozilla 1.7.3 and Opera 7.54 on the Windows stand only.

I've been thinking abiout a bait tank as well the one in the floor on my 20 is inoperational. I bate them in thebfloor anyway under the leaning post I think would but too much weight to the stern and Id rather have a cooler there , so I was think of one under thebfront console seat ? Any ideas

What the hell was up with all that JavaScript mumbojumbo? Spammer?

I've been thinking about that, too. There aren't too many options. An oblong HPDE tank might fit under the console seat. US Plastics, as well as a few other online vendors, sell various tanks/containers that may work.

What about turning the anchor locker into a livewell? Have a pump supply water and an overflow/strainer keep the water level consistent - like a reef tank.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/bcbb184e.jpg

Paul

Probably make for some red nosed bait, not to mention menhaden. That much weight that far forward on such a little boat will have a huge effect also. Put a 40 or 50 lb. cement bag in the anchor locker then try two of them. You might be surprised how differently the boat responds.

I'll take your word for it. ;)

You're right. I didn't realize the ride would be that affected. Though it'd be more like 150-200 lb. @ 8 lbs./gallon of saltwater.

My point exactly

:)