3Squids '79 Center Console thread

[bradford]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Looking at that picture with the black cowl like that and for some reason all I kept hearing in my mind was "Luke, I am your father"....

My nekkid etecs make me think of stormtroopers.

[3 Squids]

Well been a while but progress is being made. I have had the motor guy on hold now for over a month. I offered to bring him the boat to hang the motor and run it and he kept insisting I get the transom 100% done first. Well I finally just told the fiberglass guy enough is enough, I got to get the boat back. So today we kinda slapped it all back together and hopefully tomorrow I will get the motor hung.

Unfortunately I'll have to take the motor back off and redo a lot of what was done today. The transom itself is fine, just mostly cosmetics in the splash well. I just needed it back together. I was warned the glass guy was good but took a long time but I didn't think it'd be over 2 months. I can see if he had other projects he had to finish first but he started mine soon as I took it there. All well. It'll get done. It was just nice seeing the transom part done. He sprayed it with a thick coat of gel-coat that'll need sanded and buffed of course but that can wait.

Also I have a guy interested in buying my T-top, which still hasn't had the hardtop repairs done. He wants to buy it as is for 3/4 of what I can get a new custom aluminum framed, cored hardtop with built in E-box T-top installed on the boat. Soon as he shows me the cash I may go ahead and pull the trigger on that.

Here's a couple pics I took tonight. You can see the lack of prep in the splash well but the fact she is coming home tomorrow morning is all I care about.

[bradford]

I've learned that fiberglass shops are good places to get free boat storage, often times multiple years worth. Be careful of the hatch in the splash well, potential sinking hazard. A foam roller at least would have been nice of him. I like the transom knees.

[3 Squids]

Originally Posted by bradford

I've learned that fiberglass shops are good places to get free boat storage, often times multiple years worth. Be careful of the hatch in the splash well, potential sinking hazard. A foam roller at least would have been nice of him. I like the transom knees.

Sinking hazard?!?! Well now you gotta explain that or I'll be freaking out every time I take her out. It had one there from the factory I just updated it to a nicer hatch cover.

[bradford]

Hate to be the guy Squid...

.... but a splash well is designed for when you take green water over the transom it stays out of the boat and bilge and drains quickly away through the scuppers. A hatch than isn't absolutely water tight will allow water into the bilge, which when on board and underway is a manageable situation. The problem is when the scuppers allow water into the splash well due to the aft end sitting low in the water and water seeping (or pouring depending) into the hatch, overwhelming the batteries with the bilge pump constantly running, she gets low enough in the water, and the water just comes across the top of the transom and she eventually sinks at the dock. Other people have had them before, but it's a screaming red flag to me, so I thought I'd mention it.

It would be an easy fix glass wise. I don't mean to freak you out or anything, just something to think about.

Somewhere on here someone posted a go pro video of a guy spear fishing and coming back up to the boat with it listing hard and slowly going down, likely attributed to a low transom and a leaky hatch. Maybe they'll chime in and re post it.

[3 Squids]

Like I said it had a hatch there from the factory which was not waterproof at all. It was just a fiberglass top sitting on top of a hole with a elastic cord underneath keeping it down. Boat made it 38 years like that so i guess I'll just have to go with it. The well has 2 scuppers with the ping pong ball stopper contraption and drains water pretty rapidly.

[3 Squids]

Motor is finally hung back on the boat, just about ready to go get the rebuilt powerhead installed.




Also after discovering that the nuts on the 2 eyes in the transom were basically non existent anymore I decided to check the bow eye as well. Well sure enough the nuts were just balls of rust. I can't believe it hasn't pulled out getting it on the trailer. So I bought a new bow eye and my plan is to reglass a core inside the hull as I believe the existing wood core is rotten. For now I just put a piece of wood back there to get it trailered to the motor man. The gel coat around the eye was chipped up pretty badly so I fabricated a little stainless cosmetic plate to cover as much of the mess as I can. I'll also bed it with LifeCaulk once I finish the backing plate.