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The Initial Planning Process
In the beginning this whole process/adventure is the result of my wife having found a "For Sale" ad on Facebook. Depending on ones perspective, that was foolish on her part as I am one who is very much interested in things from the past. It is also true that I love to work on bringing those things back to life "so to speak". That said, it may also be true that she knew that I would be interested and quite willing to take on such a project. I did some looking around and found that not only would it be a cool project, the end product would be a lot of fun and likely be equally beneficial for future outings regardless of whether it was a simple camping trip or a "boating" trip.
The planning was more of an after thought than it was a pre-purchase activity as I wasn't entirely sure that I should "take the leap" so to speak when I first saw this boat. To be sure, I have not even seen one of these or anything like it and so had absolutely no idea what it would be that I was taking on. I was very confident though that no matter what or how it presented that it was very much within my abilities to manage with the possible exception of the requisite funds to make repairs and modifications that would truly make this an awesome boat that would result in the making of many great memories for me, my family and whoever might come later when I am done with it. There is a lot of thought about how I want to go about completing this endeavor as I can employ a minimalist behavior and execute my efforts using low end quality and quantity supplies or go all out to rebuild this boat so that it will easily last for another generation or two with only minimal effort in the arena of maintenance and upkeep. There are two primary issues for me that make such a decision a challenge. The first is that it is who I am that I want to do the very best. The second is that I also recognize that I could down scale my efforts by significant margin and still end up with a very nice product when I am done. An example of what I mean is when I rebuild structural supports and beams, I can do so using only wood with minimal preservative or I can wrap all of those same supports and beams with fiberglass which would provide additional strength as well as provide much greater resistance to future water damage. Doing the latter adds to work and of course time and money too. As this effort was determined by me to be a "RestoMod", I will, regardless of the afore mentioned upgrade with current technology where feasible for any components that I am forced to replace.
The Initial Assessment
The assessment process consisted, of course, of actually going to take a look at the boat so that we could see it in real life. There is always so much more to be seen and inspected in real time that one could never accomplish remotely and via photos or verbal description.
Continuing on with my initial assessment of corrections and modifications that would need to be made or at least considered is that this boat was designed with electric shift. The OMC control unit that enables throttle control as well as shifting into and out of forward and reverse was non functioning. My investigation resulted in finding that the shift control/neutral safety switch was broken beyond repair and so would not reliably shift the unit as it should. I am not sure why but virtually nothing on the electrical side of the fence (AC or DC) works unless it is isolated from the system and "jumpered" as a part of my trouble shooting and then I find that it works quite well. The virtual Heat Pump/Air Conditioner unit works well though I need to pull and lubricate the fan bearings. The dual electric refrigerator (120VAC/12VDC) works great. The antique fish finder/sonar/speedometer appears to work fine. (The ultimate test will be when I get this boat on the water). The stove and oven work too. The single item that is so far gone that it is not even worth attempting repair is the trailer itself. It is so severely rusted that there is virtually zero support. Somebody before me has gone to great length to scab in large steel plates in an an effort to salvage the trailer. While whoever did it was a marvelous welder and had the wherewithall to know where strategically to place all of the pieces, it simply isn't safe and too there is little liklihood that it would ever last for the long haul doing what it was designed to do. It is my game plan to have the trailer rebuilt using only component parts like the axles, wheels and fenders as well as the roller supports as you can literally poke wholes in the steel frame with your fingers because the rust is so severe. I have located a local business that says that they can make that happen for a reasonable cost. I have one small advantage as I have a "never used" shorelander" boat trailer that I could trade or sell to offset the cost.
What we Found & Thought
It was difficult to really fully understand the full scope of what was going to be needed as knowing that could only come from a lengthy & thourough evaluation that would take much more time than either of us felt was necessary. In very general terms, it was quite obvious that there would be a tremendous amount of work as countless others had undertaken modification and repair efforts themselves and with varying levels of success. While I do not typically take on any project that someone elses hands have been on before me, I decided that this project was a little different, if for no other reason, because it is such a unique boat and I knew that if it turned out to be necessary that I possess the skills to do whatever it would take, including stripping it down to parade rest and effectively starting from scratch.
The Decision is Made.
We decided to "Take it on" and so bought the boat.
At the end of the day, at the time of this writing I have literally stripped the boat down to bare naked hull. There is currently no wiring, plumbing or structural anything left in the boat. The original engine (a GM 4 cylinder with dual carburetors) is, at the moment, still in the boat but I will be pulling it as well for two reasons. One is to do an overhaul on the motor because while it runs reasonably well, it is in need of replacing the rings and maybe bearings and possibly a valve job too. Along with all of the wood rot that I found, included was the engine mounts/supports. So bad was the rot that it resulted in the transome sagging down under the weight and actually beginning to roll the hull into a "scoop" of sorts that would act as a drag. I have already begun the repair of that portion. I decided to employ the use of a "highlift" jack to lift the transome while simulataneosly pushing the hull down to bring the two back into original design position and will install new vertical support for the transome that were never a part of the original design. I am undecided as of yet about what I will do to repair or replace the original engine and bilge cover (made of the same ABS as the rest of the boat) as it has been significantly modified and damaged over time, not to mention that some important parts are just flat out missing and so would always look a bit hokey in the absence of major work to attempt repairs or build a new one out of wood instead. In any event I will need to improve on the area of the port quarter where a generator once sat to supply 120 VAC & 12 VDC power while on the water. As that portion of the project is at the very back of the boat and so will be some of the last work that I do on this RestoMod, I will continue to think about it as make a final decision at a later time. As my efforts to locate other owners along with resources for information, parts and supplies, maybe I will come with some other be idea that is not currently on my radar.