'73 23cc restoration

[natchalkley]

So I started this project about 2 months ago. I first stripped the console, leaning post, and hatches. then I got a buddy who has a bobcat to pull the engine off and put it in the back of my buddies pickup and then to the garage here at the house.
I decided to attack the transom first and opened it up to find what I had suspected: a transom full of mulch
and

I found that ~30% of the inner layer of glass on the transom skin had never laminated to the outter skin, so after a lot of carefull discection with hammer/chisel and sanding, followed by some quick glass work I was ready for the new transom.

my dad and i tried to get the transom in on new years eve and the epoxy on the bead around the edges kicked too quickly so I ended up having to grind out a lot of epoxy before we could try a second time. learing from my mistake I got another buddy of mine to help with the transom we finally got it in


It is 2 sheets of marine ply epoxied together and it got 3 layer of the biaxlecloth over top as well as getting tabbed in all around the sides. I also took out the fir blocks that were the old scupper and glassed over the top of the old thru-hulls.

I then started the grinding and stripping of the old patch on the bottom that the previous owner had done. this part ended up being a lot more work than expected because of some serious structural work that I had not anticipated.
Istarted with 2 strips of biaxle on both of the chines, followed by a layer of biaxle and a layer of woven roving over that.
then I started on the long patch on the bottom. because I was working by myself and was working with the boat more or less right side up, I used small pieces and overlapped them.
then using some of the system 3 quickfair stuff, I built up the chines that I was repairing and shaped them with a fairing block. the chines do still need some fairing, but they are looking pretty good considering what they did look like.

yesterday and today I have been sandwiching 1/4" AC ply with a layer of biaxle for the transom cap. I will probably work on the doghouse design done some this week and start building the plywood structure for it.

[natchalkley]

So I have a few questions at this point.
1. I need to replace that aft part of the deck this year and I am wondering how I should go about it. the span is a little bit bigger than a sheet of plywood. I think it is 49.5" to the transom. my question is: can I actually cut more of the sheet off and leave the stern part open from the transom cap to the hull that is inbetween the bulk head on the front of the transom cap and the transom, or do I need to extend the deck all the way back? I thought this might give me some more room to do the rigging back there. I also think though that I might be sacrificing some strength back there, and im gonna need all that I can get because I am planning on putting a suzuki 300 on it. will tying the deck into the transom add that much strength or can I leave this open?

my other question is about installing the bracket. I talked to armstrong and they said that they can give me a better deal if I go through the guys that are installing the motor. I ended up having J&W call armstrong and they can save me ~$150, they I can get it from them and install it myself, or I can have them install it for $1000. this sees kinda steep but then again I am putting a 20k motor on it. Is it hard to install on of their brackets or is it just a matter of getting it placed correctly and sealing the holes right?

[KenB]

(Bump)

I will be putting a bracket on my new-to-me 23 and wondered what the consensus was on extending the deck back to the transom.

It would be good to hear about the bracket installation too, but as I have seen a folks make and install their own brackets on this site, I wonder what the general consensus on point 2 is.

[thehermit]

Nat,

I cant speak to the floor project but that sure was a nice job you did replicating the chine How is that boat coming along anyway?

[dcobbett]

See if you can talk to JeffS. The web site I linked is his and he lives on the lower Cape.

http://www.flyfishsaltwaters.com/ubb...c;f=5;t=003162

[thehermit]

Nat,

Is the cap still off? It looked like in one pick you had pulled it.

[Bigshrimpin]

Yo . . . nice work, but why are you spending 20K on a motor!!!

For 12K you can get a brand new 30" suzuki 250 from eds. That motor is perfect for your boat. 2mph difference on the top end and .5mpg better cruise is hardly worth 8K . . . also 30" shaft would keep the powerhead higher up out of the slop in the rips at quicks.

http://www.edsmarinesuperstore.com/suzuki_outboards.htm

8k = 2/3 of another suzuki 250 or a sweet radar, fishfinder, GPS . . . and 5k in the bank . . . or a full two seasons of fuel (with that motor).

Just looking out for yah!!

[Bigshrimpin]

Also bracket install is easy . . . compared to what you've done already there.

The tips that I remember from when strick helped me with mine . . .

Find the center of the transom . . . and mark it.
Figure out where the top of the swim platform will line up against the transom and mark it.
plan for the motor to be 1" up from the keel mine for every 12" of set back.
Make a template out of cardboard that has the bolt holes in it.
Use the template to drill holes on the transom . . . instead of trying to hold the bracket in place and fit a drill into the tub.
Raise the bracket with a hoist or Jack or whatever you have.
Dry fit everything (every bolt) before you decide to fasten it to the hull with 5200.

That's about all I remember.

[natchalkley]

So, a little update on the boat. I came back up to the great white north and immediatly had 10 inches of snow in the boat for a while. needless to say, that put a bit of a damper on the hull work(no inside space to work on it here). as a result I started working on the doghouse for it. I ended up just building the enclosure right on top of the lip that goes around the console ~16" above the deck. the 3 sides are 1/2" ply and the roof is 2 sheets of 1/4" that has been curved and laminated with a sheet of biaxle in between and another on the top. it has a nice little 1 1/4" curve over 34" for the roof. I faired sanded and prime it last weekend, and am waitin on the windows which should be ready on monday. I will cut the hole for the windows and seal the endgrain and sandwich the lexan inbetween 2 frames made of ipe mahogany.

I also molded the transom cap after scibing the curve on the transom and sandwiching 3 sheets of 1/4" inbetween Biaxle. today I put in 4 supports for transom cap today.

as for the engine: I will be putting a 300 suzuki on the boat. right now I have a deposit on one here in MA @ $20k.

a little aside about the 300 at Eds: the yamaha that I have on my parker right now is from eds. that being said: the 13k is for the 300 engine only. it does not include electronic controls(required on the 300) and installation. that costs you another 4.5k. they do not let you take the 300 and install it yourself because it has to be hooked up to the computer in order for them to get the thing running. that puts me at 17.5k plus my fuel, tolls and time off from work to go down there to get the thing installed. this puts me at about 18.5-19k

Also: there is no service at all from Eds and no one likes to work on an engine from Eds. most places put you at the bottom of the list. I know this because I had issues with the ethanol switch the 2nd year I had the motor(2 weeks in the shop right after I took my summer break from my day-job). I am a charter/ commercial guy, so if I have any issues, I need it fixed yesterday! A week with my boat in the shop kills me during the summertime: 3-4 charters and 3 commercial days is a big hit. I made sure that if I bought an engine from them that I would be at the top of the list! for me that is easily worth the difference between the prices.

[KenB]

Shrimp,

Wait a second... how do you know about quicks? That's a state secret. Huge scary rocks in there, no place for fiberglass or 20k outboards!

I think nat runs enough that the gas economy on the 300 makes sense, a lot of sense when gas hits 4 bucks later this summer.

I will not be running as much, so the 250 makes a lot of sense for me. I think the 30" makes a lot of sense too, but on the other hand, does having the motor that much higher up and further back get in the way while fighting fish?


--
best,
Ken