Comprehensive assessment for restoration of 20SF
 

Hi everybody, I'm pretty new here, but have read a lot of restoration threads. Can anyone point me to a thread that goes through the assessment of an old 73 Seacraft 20 SF to determine what is the best path for a restoration? I know the main things to change are battery and fuel tank location for better weight distribution, possibly raise the floor to be completely self bailing, raise the transom for safety, and so on. Thanks

New here also
 

I don't have any help but welcome to CSC. I have found the members here to be a wealth of information.
Ed

Thanks, I spent a few hours later that night reading posts. I think that hoping for someone to write a book detailing the restoration of a Seacraft 20 might be asking a bit much. I plan on compiling a file on each of the projects involved, try to knock off one a night for a while. I've been up in the air about just running it as is and sort of treating it like a work boat(which it actually will be, I have a boat rental business and marina. It will be a chase/rescue boat), or going through a full restoration. Such a pretty boat and I love the construction of them.

Tommy54, I've been thinking about you post for a while. Some say I process data only slight faster than sloth, but I'm very methodical! You see it is very difficult for us to know about the present condition of your boat and therefore how to prioritize a repair schedule on your particular Seacraft. Please understand that there are 2003 Seacrafts that need lots of attention and 1974 ones that can effortlessly make the run to Bermuda.

I think you need to preform a survey first.
If the keel isn't ground off on the cross member of a trailer, than usually the hull is good and the stringer system is typically indestructible. Soft spots appear in the floors where screw holes were not properly sealed and water has gotten to the floor core, be it plywood or foam. Transoms, can be the biggest issue but there are some around the are 50 years old and still dry and solid and much newer ones that have turned into mulch. Coring in caps sometime deteriorates where water gets to the core where rod holders, deck penetrations or screw holes have let it in over the years. As you know any of the new fuel injected engines cannot tolerate contaminated fuel. Some here have re-powered from an old two stroke which ran poorly to a new modern fuel injected four stroke just to find that the problem with their old motor was really a leaking fuel tank that was allowing deck water to get into the fuel. $11,500 later they find out what they really needed was a new $750.00 fuel tank. And now they are standing in water at the back because the decks are awash with the new engine weight.

If you would share a little more about the condition of the boat with us and think about phasing or prioritizing the repairs, I think you would get more helpful responses. Survey the situation and circle back around with some pictures - lots of help here if there is a little more to go on. There are a couple of Seacraft workboats and a freighter or two on this site and we agree, they are the prettiest little Work Boats and Freighters on the water.

Thanks for that response. I suppose I'm used to people starting a build thread with a plan in mind, and at this point I don't really have one. I have a mostly original boat that needs some attention. I'll start with that. I'm in the boat rental business, and we have a few weeks of craziness left before I can settle in to repair work. I will try to get some pictures of the boat posted so I can get some educated opinions on how to proceed. Thank you very much.

Tommy,

Unless you have a different use right now or a reason that it needs a bunch of work right now I would use it for a while. I have used both my 18 and now my 23 without any unnecessary work as a work boat. ( Same industry as you... much bigger tide swing.)

Running it like that made me think about what I wanted to do and how to go about it so I could knock off things here and there and have a plan. Plus I just feel better knowing I am in my Sea Craft at 3:00 AM towing the rental boat back that ran aground seven minutes after high tide earlier that day so I can have the rental boat back at the dock for the next days rentals.

I agree with Terry and since you said about moving the fuel tank look at my thread on my 18SF fuel tank pull... It was fast and easy.

Good luck with the end of the season.

Tommy's Tug
 

Tommy, go ahead and "Make hay while the sun is shinning", Bro'. We'll show you how to spend money building the coolest Tug Boat on the waterfront when the November winds start blowing!

Strick's sticky "Here we go again," on the repairs and mods is a good place to start. I'm not sure if the pics will show up in archives or not.

Billythekid did a '73 - here's that link:
http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ighlight=billy

IslandTrader's 21 is an awesome project to learn from. Link is at the tagline end of his posts.

Pirate Terry of the Union Jack has a bit of experience with a sawsall, too.

Trayder's original resto is here and the beginning of this "movement," and a host of others.

Reading Shine's stuff is very helpful and he he has a ton of craft knowledge.

Definitely more than a few books of content here. Keep using that search engine. And always feel free to ask questions. Pretty friendly bunch here. Good luck with your resto. We'll be watching...:cool:

Ahhh, Tommy me boy, The Marshtackie carried a bit too much ballast to suit this 'ol salt when I captured her. A might trimmin' wit me 'ol cutlass cleaned her up a bit to outrun the Spaniards! They'll hang the likes of me iffin they catch me. Us ol' Pirates subscribe to the mindset dat "Form follows Function" and to outrun dem wit de noose you got to stay "light and nimble".
You got to have enough room to hold a dance the night of the Wenches Ball in case a troop of em' want to do the Bootie Scootin' Boogie on board!!!

Er Iff'in yur in the Gun runnin business -