My 20' center console has a new floor + I/O

[klaucke]

Ok, so at the beginning of September I finished installing the floor in my 72 SC center console. Here's a quick history of the

boat:

I got the boat free off the side of the road. It was missing a floor, and a motor and outdrive, and most of the controls. I

did get the galvanized trailer (painted white) with the boat. I just had to tow it home accross town. It belonged to the

father of a guy I went to school with, who tried to fix it himself, but was in over his head. He sold the boat, but the

purchaser returned it, probably because it was so far gone. He then tried to sell it again to no avail, when it was just given

to me. At the time, I had no idea what a SeaCraft was. It looked like any other center console to me, only sans floor. My

father knew of the SeaCraft heritage and quality, and convinced me to take the boat. This was boat #5 or 6 at my family's

house, so I risked being kicked out of the house my my mother. She is not a boat fan like my father and I are, and her opinion

was that our StarCraft 21' center console didn't need a companion... and we didn't need another lawn ornament.

A whole two years after acquiring the boat, the repairs began. We cut the the rest of the rotted floor out in a neat fashion

with clean edges. We then wrapped this edge in fibreglass to seal it off. The left stringer was cracked, presumably from

extra stress put on it when the original floor rotted. This was fixed, and the stringers generally "cleaned up." The factory

did a pretty messy job of attaching the floor to the stringers, and there is no support for the floor behind the console.



2x12 pressure treated planks were cut to fit the sides of the stringers, to give them extra support, and these were completely

glassed to keep them from rotting. They were bolted to the old stringers using large wooden washers, made from 2 layers of

plywood, wrapped in glass, inserted through access holes we cut in the foam inside the stringers. These pockets were later

filled with foam after the wood stringers were bolted in. "Liquid Nails" type adhesive was also used between the new wood and

old glass stringers. A 2x6 pressure treated board was added across the stringers, behind the console, to give added support where I'll be standing a lot.



The new stringers came up to the bottom of where the new floor would sit, to give it support. A new floor was cut from 7ply

plywood, and completely glassed, with two layers on the top for durability. Large stainless steel "washers" were made (sorry

no pics right now). These consisted of 1/8" by 2" stainless bar stock, with stainless nuts welded to the back. The new floor

would bolt to these, sandwiching the old floor. Also, it allowed us to tighten the bolts from the top without holding the nuts

from the back, because they were welded in place. Special locater pins were made from some threaded rod, so that the bars

could be laid in under the lip of the old floor, with the pins holding them in place, the new floor dropped on, and then the

bars pulled up to allow us to start the stainless bolts that would ultimately hold the floor. Never-Seize was used to help

prevent galling, and a dab of silicon on under the truss head for water proofing.

The next two show test fitting, notice the locater pins sticking up. Then down went the caulking and in went the floor.








To power the boat, I purchased another boat, a 1984 "Success." The boat was complete junk, but for $150 I got the motor and

outdrive. I promptly cut the back of the boat off, and cut the dash out, so I could hastily throw the rest of the boat away.

(I was again threatened to be kick out for taking home another boat). A chainsaw and Sawz-All can make quick work of a boat,

but its dusty work. I then removed this stuff from the transom of the dissected boat and put it in my SeaCraft. I had to drill

two new holes in my transom and plug two old holes, because my SeaCraft used an older outdrive from the factory, which wasn't

directly compatible with the Alpha-1 setup. A new engine mount board was made also, and completely glassed for longevity.





Initially the motor was seized. I put WD-40, PB Blaster, oil etc in the cylinders and let it sit. Using a large pipe and some

sharp taps from a hammer, I free'd up the motor, and after a couple minutes it was spinning freely and smoothly. I was

confident enough to install the motor in the boat after this. In went the motor, and after I rewired my guages, etc, for the

wiring harness, I filed the points on the motor, poured some gas down the carb, and it fired right up! I've heard these

inline-4's are durable and long running, and so far I'm in agreement. The steering I took from the "Success," and managed to

unseize it, and installed it using a custom bracket. My father had picked up a shifter assembly at a flea market years ago,

and after a quick R&R I had it working smoothly, and installed. It is nice because we didn't have any other shifter for a

center console, where the cables go straight down. This one worked well and looks so nice. I realize it's on the left, but

that's how my center console was set up for.




After rough alignment of the engine, I drilled the holes in the front support. Thank goodness for a long drill and powerful tools.




I got the intermediate housing all buttoned up, however, I still need to install the lower unit. Right now all the major

components of the boat are there, it just needs finishing touches, but I'm away at college and can't finish right now. I did

want to finish all the big stuff before I went to school, which I did. Still, its hard to be here when all I want to do is

take her out!

This is just a rough overview of what we did, there are so many little "while you're in there" projects it can drive you nuts. I had to clean up the trailer axle, make a custom trim pump mount, do all the cable routing, rewire everything, fabricate the wood mounting trim for the console, and a lot of other little stuff that is time consuming.

Every bolt or fastener is stainless steel. There might be a couple brass bits here or there too, but we've built it to last. I realize this is an untraditional way of doing things, but my father is a mechanical engineer, I was (now a math major), and it will work. It might not be the prettiest floor, but it definately looks utilitarian, and now the trough along the edge will keep water off the floor deck. We worked with what we had, with what we know. Nothing was sent out to be fixed, all the work took place in my driveway. I'm not looking for critiques, I am just showing one possible method to get around a rotting floor. There's more than one way to skin a cat, I know, so please no bashing my choices. The boat is going to last another 30 years, and that's fine with me, someday I'll upgrade to a 23'.