1985 V20 Step-lift rebuild/refurb

[gofish]

Ok guys, I've started a partial rebuild/refurb of my beloved v20. Just wanted to start a thread of the project where I can post some pictures and get any advice I can.

Backstory: I bought the boat 10 years ago, payed $2500 for it and me and my dive/fish buddies have used the crap out of it. There's no telling how many pounds of grouper/snapper/lobster have hit the deck of this boat since I bought it. The odometer on the Garmin, which I added about 7 years ago, has 4500 nautical miles on it.

When I bought it, it had a 1985 Yamaha 150 2-stroke, and it has been a great/reliable motor. Fastforward to now, the trim is shot, lower unit shot, steering arm broke, leaks oil, etc. It's been a great motor but it's time to cut losses. Last straw was lower unit went out on a Sunday afternoon w/ me and my 3 kids on the boat. First time I'd ever been stranded and needed a tow.

After this happened I looked at selling my hull and trailer and buying a v in better shape w/ a better motor. After a few promising but ultimately dead end craigslist ads, I decided to rebuild mine and find a good used motor to hang on her.

After thinking about it, my dive buddy/best friend decided to go in partners w/ me to buy the new(er) motor and refurb the boat.

Enough writing, I'll let the pictures do the talking from now on w/ a few comments from me....

[gofish]

Here she is after motor and controls removed.

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This is the 2002 200 Mercury EFI I bought from a well trusted source. Payed $2250 for it. Oil injection still intact and in good working order.

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Not in chronological order, but this is from the tow-in when the lower unit went out.

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We built an outboard stand and got the Mercury mounted so we can crank it every week or so while we're working on the boat. She busted right off. Got a brand new Mercury binnacle and Mercury Smartcraft digital guage to go with it.

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The only soft spot in the floor was the gas tank access hatch. When I bought the boat it was soft and had only gotten worse over the years. Pulled the hatch off. Since the pic, we cut through the glass on the bottom side and pulled all the rotten wood out. The top side "skin" is still in good shape. We'll add a new 1/2" piece of marine ply and glass back in.