How would you do it.
 

I love the work most of you guys put into your babies they all show so well and I would love for my 78' to be able to look just as nice one day. But I am not the richest fellow and I dont have all the time in the world to spare working on it. That being said what I would like to do is be able to use my boat and work on it at the same time. I just simply dont know where to start or how to go about things. I am not looking to do a total tare down and have it up for a year or so before I can use it again. This is my first boat and I want to use it but the deck and hatches need some work and I want to tackel this and learn a thing or two. Insted of pictures and trying to explain myself in a long post I made a real quck video of my deck/top side which is where I would like to start making mods. Btw i'm not a real good talker lol and i suck at videos sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHM0ms0pP2g

Just wondering if this were your boat where would start making the fixes to the deck?

The hatches are not that bad to do and could be done in less than a week working part time or full bore on a weekend.

As to the floors take a look at what Mr Robertson did with the floor of his

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ad.php?t=23607

I did something similar and it seems that it's tha least time comsuming.

I would start out by 1st buying the things needed and laying out the plan

These projects seem to take a life of it's own and in the middle of it you decide to get something else done and that then leads to another thing and then another.

For example when you get the floor and hatches done you may end up painting the inside and then the non skid.

1/2 the battle is taking everthing apart and something I have learned that 90% of this type of work is the prep work if you don't do it right the first time you end up doing over again

If you need some tools call me see what I have to lend you

Good luck

If you check out Stricks thread at the top of repairs it will go through almost anything you want to do to your boat. Even though the thread is a complete tear down...just pick and choose what you want to do and you will find the answer there.

Have fun...

I am not rich either..I work for the govment!!...say no more.. plus a 3 yr old son, a wife and a black lab:eek:. I just try to do a little at a time when time and money permits!!! Tackle small stuff (thats what I do ...plus can learn that way!)and most important..you wont get overwhealmed or in a situation where you give up...or need to... and decide to sell your unfinished project...(talking from past experience)
-Fred

This is exactly why I would like to have a project YET keep it functional. Or else I would more than prob get tired of and sell it.

Then do the following first...
take off your hatches but not your fuel tank hatch (which is located partially under your console) and read topics on here and recore the hatches...you can still use the boat while your hatches are off. When you get comfortable with recoring these hatches...move to removing the console and leaning post and recore the fuel tank hatch...topics on this too where people have kept the center console in boat and just tilted console out of the way....or in your case take console all out (be sure to label all wiring etc.) and redo fuel tank hatch and soft spots on the sole all at one time..
Good luck and have fun!
-Fred

"Measure twice and cut once!"

No, really. It's a jigsaw puzzle and that's half the fun. Decide what you can do to start. Hatches sound like a likely starting point. Go read Strick's thread, HERE WE GO AGAIN and focus in on his layout and glass layup sections.

GET your tools/benches, etc. together and then write up a plan. Think the entire process through, step by step. Revise it because you will likely find that by the time you get done you will have thought of something that you didn't think of at first. When I say think it through I mean it. Not just until the last lick of paint, but once it is finished and reinstalled, how will it work and what could be improved for YOUR use. Get it down on paper, WITH MEASUREMENTS!

It sounds more challenging than it is, but each step is a learning experience and thus makes the next step easier.

Now the hard part. Probably nothing you do do will be perfect! There will be a blemish in the paint, an angle that wasn't quite right, a slightly off drilled hole, etc. Don't beat yourself up. Your friends will be amazed at what you did and will probably not even notice what just jumps out at you. Just keep at it and walk away when you have had enough for the time being. Frustrated hands can not do anything good!

Now for the real sanity saviour. I believe it is the Navajo Indians who believed that they should always leave a thread hanging or "mistake" of some kind in their work. They believed that they were imperfect and could not attain perfection in their work. They would leave the "hanging thread" as an invitation of prayer to their God to enter their work and and make it the perfection that only he was capable of doing.

Pretty neat, huh?

There's a lot of help for the asking here and even more moral support. We're the Seacraft nuts, that's what we do!

Best wishes and good luck.

this is off topic - but...

every time i see a picture like the one you have,i cringe !! those blocks - there's no strength the way they're stacked - NEVER set up blocks like that ! those blocks should have the webs up and down,not side to side...i wouldn't get under that boat on a bet...

Thats a very old picture, thanks to No Bones I have it sitting on a "work trailer"

He was kind enough to sell it to me for $1.00

i will be updating my profile picture very soon

Soon it will be time to pay it forward to someone that needs a temporary trailer

Guys more or less how much would it cost for a boat yard to paint the bottom side of my hull in white? As you can kinda see in this pic the black is coming off and I think white would looks real good.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...vJPlYU_3-1.jpg
Dont really have the space to try this myself