New 24’ open rebuild

[LukeH]

Just picked up a 1973 skipjack 24’ open. Boat was an Arizona boat only used on freshwater with 500 original hours before the guy I bought it from picked it up to start an outboard conversion on it. Entire boat is solid with no rot anywhere. Previous owner had pulled the original motor and outdrive and plugged the key hole in the transom.

My plans for the boat are to finish reinforcing the transom, patch and re-glass the entire deck, get rid of all unnecessary hardware and patch the holes, strip clean and paint/upholstery in the cabin, strip any remanding electrical, run new rigging tubes, replace all electrical, sand/gelcoat the entire boat inside and out, and finally hang either a stainless marine or Armstrong bracket with a 250-300hp Yamaha or Suzuki and a kicker off the back as well. Basically a full redo.

Im fairly new to fiberglass work but I’m good with watching YouTube and reading forums to figure some stuff out, this will be a long project but hoping to get everything done this year with the exception of powering the boat as that will have to wait until next year. I’ll be posting pictures and asking a lot of questions as I go and hoping for some help from some fellow skipjack owners. I’m open to any recommendations/tips and I will try to answer any questions asked.

I’m going to start with just giving the boat a good clean up before I make it a complete mess again and then next from there will be tackling the transom which I will have many pics and questions for you guys as I go since I will need some major guidance. If there’s any pics you would like to see just let me know and I’ll post them up. I’ll post what I have for now and go from there. Boat does have 2 brand new fuel tanks one 75gal and one 55gal, and that is a piece of coosa board already cut to fit the transom, not sure if it needs to run the entire transom or if it’s current size will be fine I’ll take better pics later on

 

[LukeH]

Also trailer is original and frame and axles are in perfect condition. Will need wheels tires brakes and lights and it’ll be good to go

 

[45king]

One of my all time favorites! Keep us posted with the build please.

 

[LukeH]

One of my all time favorites! Keep us posted with the build please.

One of my all time favorites! Keep us posted with the build please.

I fish the central coast mainly, Monterey, moss landing, Santa Cruz. So just want a good rockfish/salmon/halibut setup plenty of room with some Downriggers and what not. With hopes for the occasional socal run for some Palegics

 

[NotAnotherProject]

Ohhh man. I just got done tearing out and reinstalling stringers, wiring, engine, outdrive on my 81’ 24 open. I’m down to throwing the gearbox on the outdrive and filling the tank with gas. I started to have boat ptsd when I read your work list. There’s a lot of sharp people on here that have helped me. I’m sure all will do their best to share advice.

I will say to possible save yourself a ton of money and time, you should try 3M’s gel coat cutting compound, cut and polish, then wax with an electronic buffer. That gel coat on the outside will probably shine up great.

 

[LukeH]

Ohhh man. I just got done tearing out and reinstalling stringers, wiring, engine, outdrive on my 81’ 24 open. I’m down to throwing the gearbox on the outdrive and filling the tank with gas. I started to have boat ptsd when I read your work list. There’s a lot of sharp people on here that have helped me. I’m sure all will do their best to share advice.

I will say to possible save yourself a ton of money and time, you should try 3M’s gel coat cutting compound, cut and polish, then wax with an electronic buffer. That gel coat on the outside will probably shine up great.

Sounds like you’re getting close! Luckily my stringers are solid so that’s one less thing I’ll have to do but my biggest task is going to be finishing the transom up and patching the deck. Yeah I still have lots of other things to do but I think other than time consuming the others shouldn’t be too challenging. As for the gel coat there is some minor cracking but quite a few dings and scratches especially down on the chines so I think I’m just going to take my time and tackle re-gel coating the entire boat and hopefully just maintain after that. May give it a try while I have it sitting tho just to see how it shines up. Would love to see pics of your build

 

[flytie]

Sounds like you’re getting close! Luckily my stringers are solid so that’s one less thing I’ll have to do but my biggest task is going to be finishing the transom up and patching the deck. Yeah I still have lots of other things to do but I think other than time consuming the others shouldn’t be too challenging. As for the gel coat there is some minor cracking but quite a few dings and scratches especially down on the chines so I think I’m just going to take my time and tackle re-gel coating the entire boat and hopefully just maintain after that. May give it a try while I have it sitting tho just to see how it shines up. Would love to see pics of your build

Short story: 1982 24' Open

Doesn't look like wax was ever applied. Gelcoat on the topside has cracking and has worn through in spots. Very porous and would stain easily. That gets painted and in the works now.

Hull: Dull and chalky. Rust stains on the stern.

Picked up the following:
Amazon product
Cut the hull with this:
Amazon product
and this:

Amazon product
After the hull had some shine back, went here:

Amazon product
and...

Amazon product
When the hull was shining like a new penny, finished here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0184Y73YE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

and...

Farecla Profile Polymer UV Wax Liquid Protection, 1L, PRW101

Farecla Profile Polymer UV Wax (PRW101), is a high performance polymeric wax developed for ultimate gloss, water resistance and UV protection. Extremely fast and easy to use by hand or machine, can be sprayed if desired. Highly resistant to drying out and may be polished to easily to leave a...

www.smsdistributors.com

So satisfied with how the hull came out that I started polishing my truck, wife's car, the dog...

Everything is mirror polished in my house now!

Seriously, it wasn't that hard and was very rewarding to see the hull finish come back to better than new. With the topside painted (rolled and tipped), a new shiny rub rail and the hull buffed out, it will look like a new boat.

Learned all of this from University of YouTube:

Buffing and Waxing Boat Gelcoat to Remove Oxidation [Pro Tips]

Getting oxidation of of boat gelcoat and returning it to like new gloss is a three step process. First, we need to buff the boat with a wool pad and compound...

www.youtube.com

 

[LukeH]

Short story: 1982 24' Open

Doesn't look like wax was ever applied. Gelcoat on the topside has cracking and has worn through in spots. Very porous and would stain easily. That gets painted and in the works now.

Hull: Dull and chalky. Rust stains on the stern.

Picked up the following:
Amazon product
Cut the hull with this:
Amazon product
and this:

Amazon product
After the hull had some shine back, went here:

Amazon product
and...

Amazon product
When the hull was shining like a new penny, finished here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0184Y73YE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

and...

Farecla Profile Polymer UV Wax Liquid Protection, 1L, PRW101

Farecla Profile Polymer UV Wax (PRW101), is a high performance polymeric wax developed for ultimate gloss, water resistance and UV protection. Extremely fast and easy to use by hand or machine, can be sprayed if desired. Highly resistant to drying out and may be polished to easily to leave a...

www.smsdistributors.com

So satisfied with how the hull came out that I started polishing my truck, wife's car, the dog...

Everything is mirror polished in my house now!

Seriously, it wasn't that hard and was very rewarding to see the hull finish come back to better than new. With the topside painted (rolled and tipped), a new shiny rub rail and the hull buffed out, it will look like a new boat.

Learned all of this from University of YouTube:

Buffing and Waxing Boat Gelcoat to Remove Oxidation [Pro Tips]

Getting oxidation of of boat gelcoat and returning it to like new gloss is a three step process. First, we need to buff the boat with a wool pad and compound...

www.youtube.com

Lucky you! If I was a bigger fan of the blue lines on mine I wouldn’t be opposed to putting in all the time to get it shining right again lol did you find a run rail off another boat or did you find one online? Mines only missing a small piece or two so not too worried but having a new one would be nice as well

 

[flytie]

Lucky you! If I was a bigger fan of the blue lines on mine I wouldn’t be opposed to putting in all the time to get it shining right again lol did you find a run rail off another boat or did you find one online? Mines only missing a small piece or two so not too worried but having a new one would be nice as well

Rub rail is new. Mine was toast and corroded through in many spots. Picked it up from Taco Marine directly.

 

[Dragon]

Sand the Blue paint off and buff it. If it is thin enough it would probably buff off...

 

[LukeH]

So I have all the hardware and old wiring removed from the entire boat. Going to fill all old holes in the transom with epoxy then I will be tackling reinforcing it with coosa. My question is can anyone tell me the exact steps to secure the coosa to the transom, sand paper grit, any recommendations or tips? Plan was to fill holes then sand and clean transom, clamp coosa to the transom with only thickened epoxy in between the coosa and the old fiberglass, and let cure, round my corners with thickened epoxy before tabbing 3 layers of 1708 around the entire piece of coosa, followed by 3-4 layers of 1708 to cover rest of coosa board and overlap tabbing. Does this sound correct or an I missing any steps or should I do something different? Epoxy good or poly or vinylester? Any detailed advice would be appreciated

 

[LukeH]

Just a couple more pics I’ll take some more as I go, also thinking about cutting out deck and redoing with coosa or blue water 20 with glass on both sides. Going to have 3 hatches in deck and debating on an in deck fish hold as well

 

[LukeH]

Also think I’m pretty set on putting a pilothouse on it to stay out of the weather and have some more rod storage. Seen a few threads on here but let me know if you have any ideas

 

[Moochi22]

Just picked up a 1973 skipjack 24’ open. Boat was an Arizona boat only used on freshwater with 500 original hours before the guy I bought it from picked it up to start an outboard conversion on it. Entire boat is solid with no rot anywhere. Previous owner had pulled the original motor and outdrive and plugged the key hole in the transom.

My plans for the boat are to finish reinforcing the transom, patch and re-glass the entire deck, get rid of all unnecessary hardware and patch the holes, strip clean and paint/upholstery in the cabin, strip any remanding electrical, run new rigging tubes, replace all electrical, sand/gelcoat the entire boat inside and out, and finally hang either a stainless marine or Armstrong bracket with a 250-300hp Yamaha or Suzuki and a kicker off the back as well. Basically a full redo.

Im fairly new to fiberglass work but I’m good with watching YouTube and reading forums to figure some stuff out, this will be a long project but hoping to get everything done this year with the exception of powering the boat as that will have to wait until next year. I’ll be posting pictures and asking a lot of questions as I go and hoping for some help from some fellow skipjack owners. I’m open to any recommendations/tips and I will try to answer any questions asked.

I’m going to start with just giving the boat a good clean up before I make it a complete mess again and then next from there will be tackling the transom which I will have many pics and questions for you guys as I go since I will need some major guidance. If there’s any pics you would like to see just let me know and I’ll post them up. I’ll post what I have for now and go from there. Boat does have 2 brand new fuel tanks one 75gal and one 55gal, and that is a piece of coosa board already cut to fit the transom, not sure if it needs to run the entire transom or if it’s current size will be fine I’ll take better pics later on

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Hi, I have the same deck set up with single gas tank going under the lower section, do you know what kind of tank was in here before? How did the get it out?

 

[LukeH]

Hi, I have the same deck set up with single gas tank going under the lower section, do you know what kind of tank was in here before? How did the get it out?

From what I’ve read that should be the original tank somewhere around 100gals +/- a few. Should’ve been aluminum I believe? I had a 24’ FB before and the original tank was a 120gal aluminum tank but it wasn’t under the low part it was under the high part of the deck. You’ll have to cut out the high part of the deck more than likely and slide the tank back and out. That should be easiest as far as repairing your deck when you’re done. I now have two Moeller tanks one will be under the low part and one just behind it for a total of 130gals

 

[Moochi22]

From what I’ve read that should be the original tank somewhere around 100gals +/- a few. Should’ve been aluminum I believe? I had a 24’ FB before and the original tank was a 120gal aluminum tank but it wasn’t under the low part it was under the high part of the deck. You’ll have to cut out the high part of the deck more than likely and slide the tank back and out. That should be easiest as far as repairing your deck when you’re done. I now have two Moeller tanks one will be under the low part and one just behind it for a total of 130gals

Yes, aluminum tank 100-110 gals I believe. There is the engine bulkhead right up against the back of the tank, i would need to cut it out too and possibly remove the engine too to have enough clearance to move the tank back far enough.

 

[LukeH]

Yes, aluminum tank 100-110 gals I believe. There is the engine bulkhead right up against the back of the tank, i would need to cut it out too and possibly remove the engine too to have enough clearance to move the tank back far enough.

Yeah I forgot about the engine being there lol I’d try to stick a tape measure on the tank to determine if you’d be able to slide it back and out at an angle before cutting anything, I’d rather cut and replace part of the deck then have to try to replicate the curves and what not of the lower drop down section personally

 

[Moochi22]

Yeah I forgot about the engine being there lol I’d try to stick a tape measure on the tank to determine if you’d be able to slide it back and out at an angle before cutting anything, I’d rather cut and replace part of the deck then have to try to replicate the curves and what not of the lower drop down section personally

Yeah, I really dont want to pull the engine and cut the bulkhead, thinking to make two sectional cuts, one in the high part one for low part, then add cross beam for support where they meet in the middle, also create a fish box out of the lower part reusing the whole section as one piece.

 

[LukeH]

whole boat is officially stripped of all hardware/wiring. Windshield came off today as well as the remaining electrical. Next up will be replacing all the “holding” wood in the gunnels and fill and glass over all holes for future mounting. Also Going to be cutting out about 3/4 of the deck next chance I get.

 

[TheWesNMads]

whole boat is officially stripped of all hardware/wiring. Windshield came off today as well as the remaining electrical. Next up will be replacing all the “holding” wood in the gunnels and fill and glass over all holes for future mounting. Also Going to be cutting out about 3/4 of the deck next chance I get.

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I like these on my 20

 

[LukeH]

I like these on my 20

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Nice just for some extra support or you gunna be mounting anything to them? Also did you redo your deck? Looks like there’s no Chanel to the scuppers like my deck currently has, just trying to figure out if I should try to replicate the channel or if a flat deck with a slight taper at the scupper will work

 

[Moochi22]

Yeah I forgot about the engine being there lol I’d try to stick a tape measure on the tank to determine if you’d be able to slide it back and out at an angle before cutting anything, I’d rather cut and replace part of the deck then have to try to replicate the curves and what not of the lower drop down section personally

The tank goes under the lower part 45 inches, with 5 inch clearance on top. I do not think there is enough room to lift out without taking off that lower section.

 

[Moochi22]

If you dont mind me asking, what did you use to clean up before painting, and what type of coating did you use, I like the look!

 

[LukeH]

If you dont mind me asking, what did you use to clean up before painting, and what type of coating did you use, I like the look!

Guy before me did painting so not sure on prep but I’d imagine just a quick clean up and wipe with some kind of acetone or dewaxer, used total boat bilge paint tho

 

[NotAnotherProject]

Nice just for some extra support or you gunna be mounting anything to them? Also did you redo your deck? Looks like there’s no Chanel to the scuppers like my deck currently has, just trying to figure out if I should try to replicate the channel or if a flat deck with a slight taper at the scupper will work

Would absolutely try to keep the crown of the deck and the gutters along the sides of at all possible. You want it to drain water like a road way and not hold it like a bathtub.