A few guys have asked about my progress on this whaler, and although I'm not very far along I thought i'd throw up some photos of the progress. Maybe it'll put my ass in gear to finish it. My plan initially was to take my time on this boat and make it a show stopper while fishing my Bayrunner Baja. But I found another potential project I really wanted to do, so I sold the Bayrunner to a fellow BD'er to make room for the next boat, and of course, the sale of the new project fell through. So now all my focus is on this sled. Instead of making it an over the top build, I switched up my focus and now just want a solid ocean worthy Whaler as my personal fishing boat. So it won't be as custom as I initially had planned, and more so just a basic rehab to an old whaler that wants some attention.
Attention is definitely what it needed. It's been out of the water for 5+ years now and has collected quite a bit of leaves, dirt, and debris. So a deep clean was first up.
Plan was to just get it down to hull and do some inspections to see what level of work was needed to be done. So off come the console, seating, motor was sold, etc.
Unfortunately the previous owner dropped the motor on the boat when trying to re rig it before he decided to sell, so there's a couple chips in the transom that need to be fixed. But the good news is the transom is rock solid, no soft or dead spots.
Once I got the console off I pulled inspection plates to see what the condition of the fuel tank was in. It actually looked surprisingly good and I only found one small corrosion spot that hasn't made it through the tank. I did a pressure test on the tank and it's tight as can be. So i'll coat the areas that need it, put all new hoses and clamps on it, and run it. Also, does anyone know what the wire in the bottom of this picture is? It looks to be some kind of ground wire, but I can't find where it goes. To me, nothing should ever be ground to an aluminum tank, but figured it might be a sort of diversion like a sacrificial ground or similar.
Before pulling off all of the mahogany and teak, I tried a few varnish brands and techniques on the gunwales to see what I like best. Now that it's down to hull I'll start sanding the entire hull to fix some crazing, do some light glass work, and prep for bottom paint. Lots and lots of sanding to be done next. Started by pulling off all the old decals. The exterior will get a full sand and gelcoat buff as well.
Attention is definitely what it needed. It's been out of the water for 5+ years now and has collected quite a bit of leaves, dirt, and debris. So a deep clean was first up.
Plan was to just get it down to hull and do some inspections to see what level of work was needed to be done. So off come the console, seating, motor was sold, etc.
Unfortunately the previous owner dropped the motor on the boat when trying to re rig it before he decided to sell, so there's a couple chips in the transom that need to be fixed. But the good news is the transom is rock solid, no soft or dead spots.
Once I got the console off I pulled inspection plates to see what the condition of the fuel tank was in. It actually looked surprisingly good and I only found one small corrosion spot that hasn't made it through the tank. I did a pressure test on the tank and it's tight as can be. So i'll coat the areas that need it, put all new hoses and clamps on it, and run it. Also, does anyone know what the wire in the bottom of this picture is? It looks to be some kind of ground wire, but I can't find where it goes. To me, nothing should ever be ground to an aluminum tank, but figured it might be a sort of diversion like a sacrificial ground or similar.
Before pulling off all of the mahogany and teak, I tried a few varnish brands and techniques on the gunwales to see what I like best. Now that it's down to hull I'll start sanding the entire hull to fix some crazing, do some light glass work, and prep for bottom paint. Lots and lots of sanding to be done next. Started by pulling off all the old decals. The exterior will get a full sand and gelcoat buff as well.
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