1978 MA rebuild.
 

Starting my teardown by removing cap (cross bracing to stop droop) , engine, and going to be cutting into transom. Found ants nest in the transom which im pretty sure wasn't put there by Mr. Potter or Moesly.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...mpa/image.jpeg

going to do a poured Transom, nida core decks, nida core in the cap and do an engine cover to keep engine noise and splash out of cockpit. criticism and tips accepted.

found a bunch of ants on my current 23 foam,re-do. thought we had em all, then it was, mas amigos ,these boys were alive... they were coming from all over...Shop Vac

I used a pourable transom material called Arjay and I purchased it at FGCI in ft lauderdale
It took just over 3 buckets of 5 gallons. It was a lot easier than I thought when it came time to do the pour. I also raised the transom to 26 inches and also did my cap and floor with nida core. I am fortunate to have the original seacraft splashwell

jorge did you raise your floor?

I did not. Just did not want to get into that . I don't plan on a bracket or big 4 stroke engine . Plan to put batteries under console and with the weight taken of with the nida core I should be ok . I can always put plugs in the deck drains and I've given some thought to maybe moving console up a few inches.

One thing I forgot to mention if you raise the transom measure the placement of the the bolts that attach the engine to the transom and your splashwell. I was told to raise transom to 26 1/2 Or to reposition the splashwell.

Let's see some pics, is this the light green master angler for sale on Craigslist a few weeks back?

yes it was on craigslist in cape coral.. painted o.d. green with house paint and a wagner sprayer. pics to follow

was resin free in 1978? there are large gobs of it in places on my boat. the starboard cooler drain area and the port baitwell on the transom had huge globs of resin. [URL=http://s222.photobucket.com/user/lelandtampa/media/image_4.jpeg.html]http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...a/image_4.jpeg[/http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...a/image_3.jpeg

half of the back of the baitwell was stuck to the transom with a 2" thick 6" wide blob that seeped all the way down to the bottom of the baitwell in a 4" thick ball. i cant wait to fid out where all the potter putty from the floor to gunwale joint ended up. it isnt where it was originally.

I have a gas tank question. The boat has a 2006 moeller 25 gallon tank that i can clean out and re use. but will it be large enough with a 2001 Suzuki 115 4 stroke on it? Boat would be used for fishing the Tampa bay area and Ft myers usually within 15 to20 miles of shore but i may try to run out far on really nice days. it has a stock alumin prop on it and i am not a WOT go fast guy. should i get a 40 gallon and be done with it?

Hummmmm.....time for simple math here. If you are getting a generous 3.0 mpg you are at a range of 75 miles with your 25 gal tank with no safety factor, which is a no-no! If you can fit the 40 or even a 50 gal without too much effort that's what I'd be doing.

My MA came with a 70 gallon tank. Now I know that engines now get better gas mileage but if you have 40 you have 40 gallons to work with. I have 70 now if I only want take on 40 I can. But if I want to go farther I can. I think its better to have more than enough to just having enough. With a bigger tank I can run to bimini I can go to the marquesas I can run far offshore on the west cost and have plenty of gas in reserve

I will probably be going with the largest I can fit as the consensus appears to be 40 gallons at the low end of the spectrum. Don I promise I can count , multiply , and divide.

There are many "rules of thumb" for safe fuel consumption when going off shore. The one I remember most is 25% of your fuel running out, 25% for fishing, 25% running back in and 25% for reserve. I'm with Jorge, ya need to have "plenty of gas in reserve", to me 40 gal capacity would be minimum to safely take the offshore adventures you mentioned.

Math and stuff
 

Leland, Don was just covering his bet that you might have attended the Hillsborough County School System, as did he and be math challenged. You see, if one is really good at math they would just "Charter"!
And don't be "snippy" with your Tampa Bay SeaCraft Bretheran or we'll send Eric to have a "conversation" with you, and he is a very rare "Southern Viking".

Well T-3 since my wife is also from Plant City I figured I would be nice with Leland. Actually Deb is average at counting and multiplication, however she's really, really good at dividing, especially my allowance in to smaller amounts. I was just doing some simple math for fuel burn and range, don't want there to be excessive arithmetic challenges for us edumacated in eastern Hillsborough County. :)

With the closest good offshore reef over ten miles out I would not even think about a 25 gallon tank. The way the weather can turn around here it would not be worth the risk.

There are plenty of productive reefs right in the bay. Check out Apollo Beach Reef and the Skyway areas. No point in becoming a statistic!

the previous owner took the boat from sugarloaf key to Parumph nevada, painted it green to go duck hunting on Lake Mead. I may be from Plant City but I'm not Nevada duck hunt dumb.

Strawberries!
 

Leland, I think the 115 Zuke will net you at least 4 miles to the gallon at 4,000 and probably 18 knots so theoretically you should have a 100 miles range with the 25 gallon tank. If you launch at either beautiful Cockraoch Bay or lovely Bullfrog Creek, you are probably limited to 60' of water off of Egmont. However, then you are faced with running headlong into one of those Avon Park manufactured afternoon thunderstorms in Tampa Bay "trying to get back to the trailer". If you drag it over the Skyway to Ft. DeSoto you are probably good to 90' west of Egmont and maybe get to the pipeline for some A.R.'s for our generous there day season. I have a 32 gallon tank on my 19' Sawzalled bowrider with a 90 E-etc triple and usually burn about 20 gallons a day running to 40' of water off of Bayport which is about a 75 miles day, with maneuvering on spots, when I'm out there. So in summery, if you put the 40 gallon tank in you'll be set for all conditions and situations.
P.S. you are in charge of the Strawberry shortcakes at the next West Coast Gathering and Don likes his with extra whipped cream.

"extra whipped cream"

Oh hell yeah!!! :)

What Terry said.

I have a pair of 20 gallon tanks, but often I fill one and the other is empty. It is nice so that I don't have a 1/3 full tank sucking water out of the marine air and into the tank.

Expect at least 4 MPG.

Sometimes I do one tank and a 5 gallon tank for that reason. You could do 25 plus another small one, like a whaler under-seat tank.

I prefer 2 small tanks to one.

I got the cap off and flipped. will go on sawhorses and get recored in the bad spots with nida. gonna cut as little as possible of the original (still solid) core and beef up around the rod holders and hawse pipes. I pulled the old foam out and was amazed at how much resin smell came out. smelled like someone had just laid it up.http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...a/image_5.jpeg

Why not just take all the old wood out and replace with nida core ....

Saves weight and you'll never have to worry about it again

WHAT happened to the live well tub

livewell tub had to be cut because it was stuck to the transom with 10 lbs. of resin. i used a big holesaw to keep the dust down as i didnt have a suit on. and a sawzall running very slowly.m

Good job bracing the hull Leland, whilst you have the deck off. This looks like a serious rebuild. Send pictures or Donnie and I will have to come over and inspect your progress and then we'll end up drinking your beer.

hull and liner arent really connected anymore except at the fishbox up front and on the stringers. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...a/image_8.jpeg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...a/image_6.jpeg
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Pic from above down to center stringer. old thru hull transducer with thru bolts around it holding some teak against it. not sure why that was installed like that. To the left are thru hull bolts to a large anode. like 5" by 7" gob of zinc. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...a/image_9.jpeg

Ship shape tv did an episode on a aquasport where they cut out the floor and tub where the has tank goes all in 1 piece. They took it out in one piece flipped it over and took the old wood out and replaced it with nida core . It saved the original deck and non skid
Seemed to me it might have been easier to do the floor that way
Would have been nice to see it before I did my cutting

i have looked everywhere on the bottom of my boat for a seacock or thru hull for water pickup purposes. The only penetrations thru the hull below the waterline are
1. fishbox drain starboard side towards the bow.
2. bottom transom drain.
3. thru hull transducer
4. bolts for zinc anode.

how did the original baitwell get water?

where would be a good place for a seacock when the time comes to install one?

See where the old zinc is/was? Is it easy to get to the area to turn on/off the sea cock? Then that's where I'd put it, use the aft hole as a pilot for the hole saw, install the sea cock. Glass over the front hole, smooth out the bottom gel coat and say good bye to the zinc.

Why is a shooter looking thru anything?

Don that spot is real easy to get to. the picture was taken thru a 12" pie plate in the splashwell. Sandman-i have no clue. i am just trying to make this heap into a strong simple fishing boat. get rid of nonsense and add reliability and function. and sea foam paint ( wife wants seafoam)

That's were I have my raw water pick up in mine

Not too bad to get to but also leaves room for my 2 bilge pumps

1) All that 10lb of resin = "Potter Putty"
2) Center Stringer = Serves no purpose. Was believed to strengthen the stem because most trailers were roller types back in early 70's. My '78 23' had 1/2 cut 4" PVC pipe running the length (Attached Pic)
3) Evidently, whoever installed the transducer thought the teak pieces would reinforce the cutout hole. :confused:
4) Agree with Jorge Nidacore the entire cap

pulled my outside transom skin off. full of mulch. my inner skin is only one layer of roving and resin.
[URL=http://s222.photobucket.com/user/lelandtampa/media/image_11.jpeg.html]http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../image_11.jpeg[/http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../image_10.jpeg

Man-O-Man I've seen that before!!! And yes, it's still butt ugly!!! :)

Yep, looks like those two plastic thru hulls in the transom boxes were the culprits :mad:

My "78

so heres my plan of attack:
Prep outside skin and inside skin for pour in Arjay transom.
add 2 layers of 1708 to the inside skin tabbed to hull.
put outside skin back on .
pour arjay and finish top of transom.
then recore cap with nida core and pour arjay pads around rod holders and to back up cleats.
put cap back on
recore floor with 3/4" nidacore and reglass. tab liner to hull then core hull with nida or balsa to stiffen it up.
sand sand sand sand fair fair fair............
the paint or use brushable gelcoat from FGCI.

one thing that i am going to need direction on is getting the existing straight down scuppers into the right plumber left left plumbed right configuration. what fittings? got pics.

Check your PMs.....

Just bought some Arjay 6011, 1708, poly resin , and some 6" biax tape. it gonna get real, real soon.

the inner transom skin is only attached at the hull sides. should i just fillet the bottom of the aft side of inner skin to hull and put a new layer of 1708 on the inside (towards the bow) or should i glass the aft side of the inner skin and tab it to the hull all around before i put the outer skin on and pour the Arjay?