the Mckee

[spareparts]

I finnally have gotten some work done on the McKee, and I got a new camera thanks to selling some parts I had. My Fuji finally fell apart, it was a good one, I've been shopping cameras for a while, I was figuring on buying the Olympus 850sw, but I came across the 1050SW at Costco for $20 more than the best price Ive found on the 850, so I went ahead and picked one up. Its the waterproof and shock proof camera, so hopefully it will hold up to my daily routines. So far, its seems to be working good.
Back to the McKee. First off, McKee has closed its doors, sound like its getting pretty ugly between the owner and the McKee family, too bad, they built a decent boat. theres a thread over on THT if anyone is interested. I was lucky enough to order and receive a new fwd hatch, my hatch was MIA, and any used one found was in pretty bad shape. I took a brand new virgin gel coated hatch, and sanded it down with a 40 grit disc, to prep it for Durabac to match the rest of the boat. Oh, I forgot to mention that I rolled the entire inside of the boat with Duraback. I ran into an issue with the original type rubrail( it cost more than the boat is worth), so I cut the lip at the hull to deck joint off, and glassed the two together so I could use standard type rubrail. I mounted an 18 gallon tank in the rear, built a tank cover that will double as a casting platform, and rounded up an extra seat to make this a four person boat(Me, the Wife, and the girls). My buddy up in Scranton, SC fixed me up with a fresh power head for the 60 Merc, I'm waiting for a fresh water mid before I bolt it all to gether. So here's some pics for ya'll.

hull to deck joint(yes i had allready painted it before I went back and glassed the two together, who said it had to go togther in a reasonable order)
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee2.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee3.jpg

this is part of the lip I cut off, you can see how wide the lip was, you have to use a special t shaped inner plastic piece with a c section type rubrail to go over it to go back factory. It was going to cost close to $500 to put it back like it was.

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee4.jpg

after rolling duraback over the repaired area

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee5.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee6.jpg

new rubrail installed

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee8.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee9.jpg

fuel tank mounted, used two aluminum yardsticks from Walmart for mounting straps

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee12.jpg

here it is with the seats sitting in the boat, with the tank cover in place
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee14.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/Mckee15.jpg

thats about it for right now, I'm going to piddle with it a little tomorrow, I've got enough done for this weekend. That little boat has been my escape here lately, I've gotten a lot of frustration out on it, but its coming together. My goal is to have it done by Christmas, then I'm going to get back on the V.

[tsubaki]

Dang, that's purty!!
Lookin great spare!!

[chumbucket]

I like it. They're tough little boats. Keep up the good work. :clap:

[reelapeelin]

Nice work, Spare!!...there's a LOT of fun to be had in that boat down on the SC coast!!...

[phatdaddy]

Great post & project. I've got a 13' whaler I've had for about 15 years that i picked up as a project. took me about 5 years to get it up & running, but it is a great little boat. we go check the crab traps or scalloping or just riding around. they are like motorcycles of the water, when the conditions are right, ain't nothing better. i also use it as stress relief. every 4 or 5 years i take all the wood out and refinish and paint the hull. i know its a PIA but it also is kinda a zen thing. sand sand coat sand coat sand coat, etc.
looks great, enjoy it.

[spareparts]

thats one of the reasons I tried duraback, so I won't have to work on the hull again, we'll see how it turns out. I've got quite a few comments about duraback, but they deserve their own tread

[bradford]

Looks nice Spare! Gonna start fixing mine up after I pay the property tax man.

[spareparts]

btw, this is what it looked like when I started on it

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/McKee002.jpg

[macojoe]

Looks great! Lots of work there and great idea on the yard sticks!

The only thing I would have done different is painted the gunnles with smooth paint. That non slip paint is pretty hard till you wear down the sharpness some.
But when you on a budget like most of us, you got to go with what you have!

Keep up the good work!!! You are going to have a nice skiff there when you are done!

[spareparts]

i definately wanted the gunnels nonskid, beside the fact it saved me a ton ofwork by not having to block out the glass work, I did't want to have a slick spot on the deck, you never know when you might be standing on it. Besides, I think it looks pretty cool

[macojoe]

Agreed, I am thinking of a bigger boat when say that, I like to sit on the sides and jig, and other stuff, so non skid would be a issue there, but a small skiff with low freeboard I can see you reason.

Keep up the good work!

[randlemanboater]

Looking good SP.....glad you are getting to work on it.

[tsubaki]

Allright spare, what's goin on with the McKee??
Trout and bass runnin around like ape ****, flounder (if you can find a clear creek) wanting to be stabbed, skrimp fixin to leave.
IS THAT BOAT READY???

[spareparts]

naw, I tried to get some work done on it last weekend and everthing I touched turned to crap(my whole week was like that), I had to walk away from it before I set it a fire. Weather has been crappy all day today, spent the day with the family, did the Disney on Ice thing with the kids, droppped them off at the inlaws, the wife and I went out for diner. I'm going to piddle with teh Mckee a little tomorrow, we'll see what I get done

[Seacrets]

The boat looks great. I heard the McKee family is trying to buy back the company and get it up and running again. Let's hope so. They've built some fine boats. Keep taking good care of the family.

[CaptJJ]

Nice job on the boat:beer:

[spareparts]

baby sitting the wife right now, the chemo has really knocked her back, mentally and physically

[spareparts]

bring it all up to date, I've got it ready for the season. Still have a few bugs, but it full speed ahead now. I took it out last December and didn't like the way it handled. I added a whale tail, transom wedges(compare a Mckee with a Whaler, the whaler has it built in), moved the battery and fuel tank under the helm seat, moved the hlem seat fwd a few more inches. It should ride a bunch betetr now. Before it hopped so bad, you couldn't keep a beer in the boat, it shook it up too much. So here's some pics.


http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/P2201533.jpg


http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/P2201534.jpg


http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/P2201535.jpg


http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/spareparts_photos/P2201536.jpg

[bradford]

Looks great Spare. I like the 18 gallon fuel tank install with the cover. :clap::beer:

[spareparts]

thats where the tank was on the first try, I raised the drivers seat up about 3" and moved the tank and the battery under the seat, now the area under the rear casting deck is storage for life jackets, fenders and lines. I also made the fwd seat removable so I could take it out when not needed.

[Blue_Runner]

Spare that looks great! What year model was that again? Love the original baby blue.

[bradford]

thats where the tank was on the first try, I raised the drivers seat up about 3" and moved the tank and the battery under the seat, now the area under the rear casting deck is storage for life jackets, fenders and lines. I also made the fwd seat removable so I could take it out when not needed.

SWEET, Even better idea and better weight distributiuon. Mine has the two forward pedestal seats with a "bench" seat for the rear. I might try something similar under the bench seat.

[spareparts]

the boat is a 79, that baby blue is durabak. If you want to put the tank under the seat, you have to make spacer blocks to raise it up

[Blue_Runner]

...unless you find a tank that will fit under the seat. How many gallons is that one? A low profile 12 gallon tank would be purrrrrfect.

[Blue_Runner]

P.S. HEY ADMIN I THINK WE NEED A MCKEE-CRAFT SECTION ON THE SITE!! LOL :party::nice:

[bradford]

P.S. HEY ADMIN I THINK WE NEED A MCKEE-CRAFT SECTION ON THE SITE!! LOL :party::nice:
I was thinking that a few days ago. We could include phatdaddy and his whaler too. It would be easier to put all the info in one section, and not make everyone else listen to us unless they wanted to. Those kayak guys got one. How bout it MJ?

[Blue_Runner]

Call it the lil boat section LOL.

[spareparts]

just refer to it as the "other boat" section, it might make space for a Sea Ox