14' JBoat Fixer Upper

[GAHunter]

G Flex and Epoxy(Coat it, 8Lbs/80sqft) will be here Friday. Going to fix the obvious areas, dbl check a few more and try and coat as much as I can. Will either do all seams/rivets first and then start in the back and cover as much as I can get covered. Since the very back bottom is the most beat up part.

May pick up my transom wood on way home tonight. But dont want to leave it sitting until the weekend so may wait til I'm done sealing then go grab a sheet (and some varnish). Can I stain the transom to match the seats then seal em up with spar? Or would it be better to seal em up then paint them whatever color I want?

 

[1960 yellowboat]

By all means, stain first. I used walnut on mine but Home or Lowe's has a variety to choose from. I used Rustoleum Marine polyurethane spar varnish over that. They have 3 sheens. I used gloss.

I would G Flex the rivets and bad areas first, you only need a drop or two on each rivet. The heat will draw it in. On the cracks, I mixed a bit of the filler that comes with the kit. The first coat, heat drawn and then a second coat after the first cures to even it up.

 

[GAHunter]

Awesome, I will do that as well!

Should I fill the gap in the... Keel? It doesnt seem to leak that I could tell but thought I might put some 5200 or somethin in there if it's a good idea?

This:

Saw this listed earlier on facebook market: 7HP Johnson, it supposedly runs.. I'd want to see it of course but they're asking 200:

She didnt mention what year or anything. She said shes pretty sure its 7HP anyways

 

[1960 yellowboat]

That's a good price but it doesn't look like a Johnson to me.
Get the model number to be sure. There should be a plate on the transom clamp.
I can't recall Johnson making a 7 hp.
Look on this site for a guy named "Pappy" and click on his name and you can e-mail him. He's a retired Johnson mechanic and knows them inside and out.
It's just that I can't recall seeing a 7 hp Johnson with a built in gas tank like that one has. I don't mean to rain on your parade, but the pic just doesn't seem right to me.
It actually looks like an air cooled motor.

As far as the keel goes, yes take care of it now instead of later

 

[GAHunter]

Thanks Yellow! I thought the same thing when trying to find it. So I just did a search for 7HP motor and found A Sears Ted William's motor that looks identical to that one. I'm betting that's what it is.

Https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=EleGw_yCXLk

 

[1960 yellowboat]

I'm glad you did that.
I did the same thing.
That motor was made by ESKA, and they have been out of business since 1987. Its's nearly impossible to find parts as Eska used a Tecumseh lawn mower engine on them. Yep, It shocked me too. They are air cooled and prone to breakdown.
It could well be that the seller just didn't know any better or she was trying to pull a fast one,
Even if it runs, it isn't worth more than $50 and it is pretty much a throw away motor.
Keep looking, you'll find one.

 

[GAHunter]

I'm gonna have to stamp your name somewhere on this thing for all the help. I would have already messed up a few times lol. I do appreciate it very much. I'm excited, gonna seal up the keel tomorrow, I'll do the part that's raised up a little and whatever is left in the tube I'll just run a small bead down the rest or find somewhere to use it.

As long as it's not raining this weekend I'll have the rest sealed up (Friday) and then epoxy rolled on saturday. Wood cut and first coats on the transom and benches. I thought about bringing boat inside but wife may have a cow lol. We have a large open room (garage was converted to a room at some point before we bought house) that would be perfect.. but then again..

Was looking at stainless hardware online and looks like it may be cheaper to buy online.. I need to figure out how to get the transom back in on the inside, gonna be looking at removing the corner caps, seems like they may be harder to get off than drilling out the corner braces and replacing with bolts. So may go that route. Gonna need to find me a drill bit for that, unless I can cut em with angle grinder.. We shall see.

 

[1960 yellowboat]

On my boat, I couldn't get one solid piece of wood under the flanges and across the whole back. i couldn't get the brace off and the sides of the boat were rounded so the wood had to be semi circular. Taking the corner caps off wouldn't have made any difference.
What to do,what to do.Reasoning that the wood was there to build up the transom so a motor would fit better, I decided to make the wood, two pieces. The first half would be installed with the help of a rubber mallet and the second piece was deliberately made oversize so I had to trim it down bit by bit until I got a super tight fit.I coated the backside with good quality caulk and when it was put together, you could barely find the seam. Kinda makes you think the manufacturer built the boat around the transom!
After reading some of these posts, it seems like many guys go way overboard on restoring old boats. Simple is better than complicated in my book.
Oh and about putting your boat in the house? She'll get over it, especially since you'll be sleeping out in the yard!

 

[GAHunter]

I just ran sealant the full length of the keel (both sides) and down the seam on both sides of the side of hull, hopefully that, a layer or 2 of coat it/epoxy, and then paint (plus inside paint) will have everything nice and sealed. Probably over kill, but why not..

I was looking at the caps on mine. I may be able to get them off by removing 4 rivets on the side (that go into gunnel) and a couple from the rear that went through the top of the transom. I need to have a plan of attack as I dont want to epoxy over any rivets I'm going to be removing lol.

I'm going to let this sealant set up for a few hours and then I'll flip it over and get a closer look at the caps/transom area.

I may have jumped the gun a little. Was thinking and it may have been better to let the epoxy get down in the seams first.. hopefully it will form a protective shell over the sealant and seep in any holes or gaps in the sealant. If I was to do this again I might have even coated the inside seams and rivets prior to painting. Ah well

 

[GAHunter]

Well, since I have half a tube left I went ahead and hit most the seams on the inside. I'm going to be painting a few more coats over it anyhow. I also noticed my seats are exactly 12" but they have a little piece that over hangs the front another inch or two. (Shin guards or something?). Debating on leaving em.. otherwise I have about 8 or 9 rivets per seat to get em off. I may be able to live with it as long as the wood sits flush. Planning on 4 bolts to hold them in place. Just small bolts washers and a nut under the seat. I'll mark and drill those prior to sealing up.

 

[GAHunter]

I was able to drill out the rivets holding the corner cap, took a little work but they popped right off with a little prying.

I guess I'll replace those with bolts, or maybe save the money and use the rivets I have. They are not sealed rivets is the only catch.. but I think that high up will be ok? Just some sealant on em for good measure..

I should be able to bend the aluminum upwards to get the transome in, I just don't want it to crack. I'm going 3/4 wood on both sides and cap with aluminum angle (1.5").

One step closer! waiting on my gflex and I'll fill that crack, the other one isnt all the way through it seems. I'll fill it and maybe add some on the other side for good measure/reinforcement. If I can get all that done tomorrow will be epoxy & transom building day.

 

[GAHunter]

Wow. That Gflex is like concrete lol.

Not very happy with shipping though. The box was almost falling apart, the coat it is beat all to heck..I'm surprised it didnt leak out. I'm gonna have a time getting the lid off, it looks like someone took it out and played soccer with it. The Gflex packages were opened and dumped into the box.. like bottom ripped off of their packaging.. not what I've experienced from Amazon as of yet.. Hopefully the coat it is fine, the hardener can looks fine... smh lol

 

[GAHunter]

Well today was supposed to be epoxy day. But I held off for the rain, and wouldn't you know it.. no rain.

It's too hot I feel as well. My work time out in the sun would be terrible. Can barely touch the boat it's so hot lol.

I went ahead and started on the seats. Of course the 1x12s were more 1/11s. So I'm not going to be able to cover up entirely. That's ok tho.

Did a test fit first:

Gotta seal em up and then bolt em down tomorrow sometime.

More to come..

 

[GAHunter]

Ok I lied. At this dry rate i may be able to bolt em down next week lol

 

[GAHunter]

Well.. perfect? Nope. Hard to work with? Yes. That was a big pain in the butt..slow runs got me.. I got all the rivets covered and put extra epoxy on the back. Then used the rest to cover as much as I could. Used all 8Lbs..

May have some layering to do with paint to get it even. It's not terrible bad but once it started to thicken I pretty much lost all control with my brushes/roller lol

Seats are in:

Tomorrow in going to hopefully pick up my transom materials, paint, and some more stainless hardware..

What's my best option for bottom paint? Will exterior latex work there or will that not hold up as well? Would like something semi tough.. that will stick to epoxy..

As for the transom, I may get an epoxy resin and seal it for the long run..

 

[1960 yellowboat]

You can get bottom paint at any good marine supply store but I used Rustoleum over two coats of primer.
DO NOT use latex paint. It's water based and after exposure to water, like in a lake, will at some point, peel right off.
Stick with oil based paint. Let it cure in the sun for a few days between coats.

 

[GAHunter]

Thanks Yellow, I will check out the Rustoleum section tomorrow. From reading the forums it sounds like it might be wise to wait a little while before painting over the epoxy, to be sure it is fully cured. The label says 10 hrs. I'm approaching that in a few hours. I hope to be working on a transom and plate tomorrow at the very least. Thank you!

 

[GAHunter]

First coat black is on. I initially thought about doing the grey areas red.. but that may be too much red.. might come lower with the black and then do red at top, or may try n do the side rib red and then top 3 or 4" red... lol bad time to be changing my mind

 

[1960 yellowboat]

Hey, That looks good!
As an alternate idea, how about black gunnels and side rib with red sides?
Kind of like putting chrome trim on a car.
It's coming along very nicely.
You're going to have friends wanting you do do their boats

 

[GAHunter]

I like that! I think I'll do that and I may paint the keel red down the middle. Then black reg#'s on top of the red. I wont have much time today unfortunately so hopefully tomorrow I'll get some time to tape off and paint some more (weather permitting).

Be safe with that storm heading your way! Hopefully itll keep shifting.