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Posts: 176
| Well this weekend it finally happened, I decided it was time to take a peak behind the carpet and see what was the cause of my soft floors on my 27 year old Tuffy.
I had been doing research and found out that I could use a product called penetrating epoxy to give "good as new" life to old dry rot wood. To do that I knew I needed to pull back the carpet and take a look.
You can see in the first picture that I took out the seating and rear console, second photo is of my floor after I cut out the carpet and then took a grinder and cut off the "shell" that was about 1/4" thick on top of the plywood, below the carpet. The reason it was so easy is because the flooring was pretty much reduced to a crumbled mess upon the touch. I was able to take out and crumble the equivalent of about a sheet and a half of plywood into about one kitchen waste basket of rubble.
At that point I knew my repair was going to be a lot more than inserting penetrating epoxy.
My buddy Dean was helping me, so we ripped out the floor and decided it all had to be replaced. We decided to do it modularly so it can work with our schedules. First the floor was ripped out and cleaned, then the rod locker was ripped out, after that we plan to finish the Starboard side to the controls all the way back. That way the console can be left in tact and mounted to the new rod locker box, before we move back, next will be the Port side boxes, and the front deck appears good enough to leave in place.
I've posted pictures so far.
My questions: 1. Would you rewire? How hard is it?
2. How would you check the transom with the motor on it? I know I need to take off the metal cap, but how do you take a motor off while you do that?
3. I built a new seating deck a couple years ago along with new seats so I have that done. Has anyone put a little tool/glove box in their seating area?
4. Has anyone rebuilt their rear deck? If so did you change anything?
Nomad |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Couple things, the Bass'n Marauder was rated for a 90 HP, and part of that rating included a foam block under that side by side seating. Also, don't forget to foam the proper places in the side tanks and floors; take a look at the USCG Homemade boat web page for details or the boat will head for the bottom if you swamp her.
If the engine is still mounted, take it off. Use an engine cherry picker and a flywheel top ring, or get some help and make a 2x4 stand for the motor. Check the area around the mounting bolts with a screwdriver, and the transom top same way. Make sure to seal the motor bolts completely when reinstalling with silicone sealant. Rear deck can be what you want it to be, but any storage there needs the be sealed from the top with a water proof hatch. Let me know if you have any other questions, I spent a lot of time around the manufacturing processes and fishing out of that ride. Sold quite a few, too.
Great boat, good luck with the rebuild! |
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Posts: 176
| Steve,
Thanks for the insights. I've actually been able to keep all the foam in place and was able to use a knife, (putty knife), to scrape the old wood away, actually it was so rotted it was quite easy. It also gave me a good pattern along with my photos and measurements to rebuild the boat.
I'm using 3/4" treated ply and putting a coat of spar on the underside and then will be glassing the full topside, with two sheets, just like I would the hull of one of my refinished canoes.
I'm trying to find a cherry picker for the motor as well as looking for a good 4 stroke 90 as long as I'm doing the full rebuild.
I will post photos hopefully tonight. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Looking forward to seeing the finished project! |
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Posts: 176
| Steve,
I've been able to keep all the existing foam, but I was wondering if there are spray foams that work, (closed cell) to fill in the gaps?
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Yes, several brands like this one:
http://www.rhhfoamsystems.com/marine.php |
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Posts: 176
| Steve,
Thanks, The next question is the top aluminum edge of the boat. I saw on an old post that someone put on a black poly I think. Do you know what that was or if it is a doable option? |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | That's the nylon composite gunnel now used on the Esox LTD (your hull design) and Esox Mag. You also will need the new fiberglass corner caps. |
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Posts: 176
| So Here are some of the photos of the project so far: |
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Posts: 228
| Do not see any pics! |
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Posts: 516
Location: Kildeer, IL | I'm not seeing any either. |
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Posts: 176
| I'm trying this again: I wasn't able to post photos, and then got extremely busy with business travel but hope I can now.
Since I started this process a lot of things have changed and here are some of them: 1: I went from doing spar varnish on the boards to using the full blown West System which is completely water proof, I went from a quick late summer fix to a "wow, this takes a lot of time, I'll do it full blown in the winter", hopefully the photos can get attached.
I would recommend a chair in your shop, you will need a lot of time to just think things through if this is your first time. In my case my "shop" is simply my garage and that isn't one with a lot of tools, just the simple tools that one has for house hold items. I have found my dremmel tool, a good ruler/yard stick, pencils, paper for sketching out notes or designs, a good dust/fiberglass mask, safety glasses with a good fog preventer are some of the bare essentials.
My work life got very busy and now that Octorber and November are here, I've shifted to hunting and fall Musky mode, but come January I have a wiring buddy lined up, a carpet buddy lined up, along with a fishing buddy who is very helpful and encouraging, and even a trailer guy lined up, (he redid one of my fishing buddies Ranger Trailer and it looked and functions awesome)
I figured if I'm going to do this I might as well do it right. I have a couple of little changes that I plan to make from the original design, but not many: mainly a little glove box between the seats for wallets and phones, add some cup holders, but I'm going to leave the rod box length alone, I'm not adding additional up front battery space, and I'm not going to change anything to the back deck.
One thing I do want to do is to update my console. I like the current design, but I counted holes from previous locators etc. and once I got over 25, I realized at least a fresh covering of fiberglass and gel would be a benefit.
So hopefully some of the photos attach this time.
(battery compartment.jpg)
(initial look beneath the carpet.jpg)
Attachments
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 battery compartment.jpg (170KB - 617 downloads)
initial look beneath the carpet.jpg (180KB - 613 downloads)
rotted decking.jpg (158KB - 679 downloads)
grinder.jpg (120KB - 602 downloads)
inside tear out.jpg (145KB - 638 downloads)
West decking.jpg (150KB - 593 downloads)
West system.jpg (130KB - 626 downloads)
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Posts: 176
| guys, I apologize. I'm sure it's operator error, but I'm having a hard time getting images to load even after shrinking them below 200kb. I will work at it again this evening.
See above, I used Steve's advice and got them posted.
Edited by Nomadmusky 9/28/2017 9:01 PM
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Make them 640X480, perfect size for the boards. |
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Posts: 176
| Thanks Steve, Some of the photos are now attached. Where do I get the Nylon composite and corner caps?
Edited by Nomadmusky 9/28/2017 8:35 PM
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Posts: 320
| Nomad,
How is the transom? I had to replace mine in the 88 Marauder. Looking good so far. Lots of work to go! Keep at it! |
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Posts: 176
| ToddC,
It looked good, I crawled around and poked and prodded, but I haven't pulled off the motor and I plan to do that now. Initially I was looking for the quick fix to run it this fall yet, but now I plan to do a full "deep dive".
I have a plan in place, thanks to my fishing partner Dean who did the research for me on replacing a transom. He has lots of tools and I think if I'm doing this for the long run, which I am, I will dig deeper and if there is even the slightest hint of need I will rebuild it.
The challenge really is the need to cut out the remaining part of the back deck, which right now is solid, and is a part I am least comfortable about rebuilding...I'm building up courage to bring out the grinder to cut it out.
One of the things I've done, is leave the epoxy skin in place to give me an existing template to feather in the fiberglass cloth to tie everything together.
Edited by Nomadmusky 9/28/2017 9:13 PM
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Posts: 320
| The new transom was not that hard to replace but then again I gutted the boat and had a lot of space to work with. My Rockwell oscillating cutter was a big time saver and I used it a ton. In fact I burned the first one up! Its a great tool for flush cutting and getting into tight places. It really saved me a lot of time in gutting the interior down to the hull. I really need to sit down and post my pics sometime. |
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Posts: 176
| ToddC,
I would love to see them. How did you rebuild your transom?
I plan on sandwiching two 3/4" plys and then West system them. I plan to drill my holes and then epoxy them first before I re-drill them to run the bolts through to prevent any moisture from getting wicked in.
One of the advantages of using the West system is I don't need to use the heavy and expensive marine ply's, I can use normal lower cost, plys that are easier to work with and then put the (relatively expensive), west system on, but I know that is bullet proof.
Edited by Nomadmusky 9/29/2017 8:22 AM
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Posts: 320
| Nomad,
I laid up two layers of 3/4" plywood and bonded them together with my Raka resin epoxy mixed with wood fillers. Then bonded it to the glass transom shell with the epoxy mixed with fillers. After waiting a day I started glassing in the inside of the transom and bonded the corners with fiberglass cloth tape.
The new transom is slightly taller height wise than the original. I cut the new transom at 18" high where the factory was 16". I'm sure the reason is so at the factory they can cut three pieces from one sheet of plywood (3x16=48) and not have waste. I wanted to have it at 18 because there was less space between the bottom of the transom and the deck making it easier to glass that joint together. Plus it probably gives it a little more strength. Although with a 50hp max rating, any difference is probably negligible.
I know I probably over built this boat but wanted to last a long time because I really like the stability of it and love how she fishes. I sold the 50hp Merc 2 stroke and push it now with a little Merc 9.9 four stroke since I'm only using it for motor restricted local lakes. It's also really easy to take off the 9.9 for when it want to fish the electric only lakes.
Take care and good luck with her!
Edited by ToddC 9/29/2017 10:27 AM
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Posts: 176
| ToddC,
Thanks. I plan to leave my height the same, but understand why you did 18".
I plan to do it pretty similar to you, and using, "peanut butter epoxy" in the corners to build it up to apply cloth where I have to.
What did you do for the transom cap? |
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Posts: 320
| For the transom cap I had a friend in the HVAC business custom fit some stainless steel. I just brought the boat to his shop and it prolly took him 30 minutes to get it cut, bent & fitted. We spent more time drinking beer afterwards than it took him to fit it!
Also when I built the transom I also screwed the two 3/4" layers together with SS screws and countersunk them and filled over the heads with my epoxy/filler mixture. |
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Posts: 176
| I've been asked by several people about the West system that I used. It's an epoxy based system, that encapsulates the wood with almost a plastic like hard surface when finished. You paint it on all six sides, especially the cut ends, because that is the area that sucks up all the moisture into the wood.
Attachments
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West decking.jpg (150KB - 598 downloads)
West system.jpg (130KB - 613 downloads)
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Anything you need for parts, corner caps, gunel, etc. you can buy from Tuffy. 8003594416, ask for Laurie. Keep in mind you can't et the aluminum corner caps and gunnel or old style electrical panels anymore. |
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Posts: 320
| sworrall - 10/1/2017 2:47 PM
Anything you need for parts, corner caps, gunel, etc. you can buy from Tuffy. 8003594416, ask for Laurie. Keep in mind you can't et the aluminum corner caps and gunnel or old style electrical panels anymore.
Steve,
What about decals? Wanda said they no longer have the old "Tuffy" or "Marauder" decals. Do you know of a source where I can get them without having to scan and custom make them?
Thanks! |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Not the old style, no, and the Marauder has been gone for a very long time, so that really isn't a surprise. Wish I could be of more help... |
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Posts: 176
| Steve,
Thanks. |
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Posts: 176
| Okay, here is an update on the Tuffy refurb after a long winter in storage. This weekend we pulled it out and sat in the driveway in the sun and continued with the make over.
Pulling the motor was much tougher than I thought it would be, simply because I don't have the proper tools. I used a Rack Jack, made for deer that attached to my receiver hitch, backed it up to the boat, attached it with ratchet straps, and started loosening the bolts. We made a make shift boat stand out of a heavy duty saw horse, put everything in place and started loosening bolts.
This is when the first "AHA" moment occurred. We knew we had to disconnect everything, power, fuel, steering etc... but forgot to. Once we did that we started lifting again, then realized that is one huge tangle of stuff besides a motor, Second AHA moment. So we got a tub to put in all the wires and cables and set it on a furniture dolly next to the motor. We started lifting the motor and undoing the bolts. Now we realized there is a lot of tilt to the motor and putting it on the motor stand wouldn't be so easy.
We ended up putting it in a jet sled on the furniture dolly making sure to lay it down in the same manner you would a small tiller motor. We strapped it to the furniture dolly and jet sled and rolled it quite easily into storage. We used a board to keep an angle and prop it up a little.
We did notice one neighbor watching the free show for quite a while, he had quite a smile and a couple of audible guttural laughs. I'm glad we provided entertainment.
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Posts: 176
| I will resize and add photos tonight. |
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Posts: 320
| Nomad,
Glad to see you back on the project! Looking forward to seeing your progress as this weather warms up. I'll probably be working on my hull to get it cleaned up. Don't know if I will do a cool looking wrap or just clean it good and apply new decals. Carry on.... |
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