Finished boat:
I love this site, you guys have some truly awesome mods and have inspired me to attempt to restore my old tin boat.
I bought an old tin boat 4 months back or so so that I could get out on the water and do some good fishing and take my kids out with me. The boat is a manufacturer called Del Mar and was made in 1959 according to my paperwork. It is essentially a 1436 with 3 seats in the boat. this boat, as I have jokingly told others, has been "well used." There were some serious defects with the boat but the boat still floats and fishes well.
the owner was selling the boat for $900 with a trailer and an old 1962 Evinrude 5.5 engine. When I got there to look at it the engine "for some reason would not start." And of course it was a great boat and never leaked..uuh huh. Well I bought the boat for $650 and took it home. My helpers here testing her out.
I pulled the motor off, bought a 40 fp trolling motor and took it out. It floats but of course leaked. The motor took some work but these old Evinrudes are some great motors and parts are still available. I replaced all electronic parts, carb rebuild, fuel parts, and impeller. Turns out I had a blown head gasket. After that she runs like a top now!
I also repainted the engine cowl close to original but took some artistic liscense.
I then turned my attention to the trailer which was serviceable but needed to be cleaned up. I ground down all the old slag on the trailer and cut off the hitch. I repainted the trailer, put on new lights and wire, put a new hitch on the front, put on new bunks, and put on trailer guides for easier hook up by myself. the trailer now looks great!
Now, it has been time to start on the boat. My oh my what have I got myself into? At some point this poor jon has seen some serious damage. there is a serious bend in the bottom of the boat and several cracks that have been repaired with JB weld. One of these did not hold and was the source of my 10 gallons per hour leak that I had.
Here are some beginning pics:
You can see the damage here:
I've started by striping off all the old paint. Let me tell you this boat has been painted once or twice. As far as I can tell there are 9 different layers of colored paint, not 9 layers of paint, 9 different colored layers. Who ever owned the boat long ago knew what they were doing. The first 4 layers are solid, followed by a layer that is like a thick gray primer. the there are at least 5 different layers of spray bombs.
I started with aircraft stripper. this stuff works, at least on the spray bomb layers. I was applying this in the Texas heat of summer. It evaporated pretty quick. My method was to apply it in 5 foot sections and then spray a thin layer of water on it when it go close to evaporating. then I used a drill with a cup brush to scrub the paint layers and then I sprayed it off with water. Wear long clothes and use gloves! This method worked for the spray bomb layers but not the thick primer layers or any paint below that.
I then used a combo of sanding with 60 grit or using and a twisted brush on a grinder. A heavy duty grinder is too much, you will go thru the side. I went out and bought a cheap small grinder for $15 that had the right speed.
This took 18-20 hours to do. Yep, that much paint. if I had to do it again I'd rent a big compressor and sand blast the boat. Sand blasting using a lighter medium will not hurt the boat if you take your time with it.
Here is that process:
I decided 5 hours into it that I didn't really need to go down to bare metal.
I have now completed sanding and prepping the boat for paint and Steel flex. Steel flex will be done tonight. I start posting more pics in a few days.
I also patched all holes with aluminum rods and a propane torch. It works but you have o go slow. I fixed the crack on the bottom with Alu rods and went over it with JB weld. I also touched up some other areas on the bottom with JB weld. Other holes above the water line I patched with aluminum rivets.
I've done alot of work on her so far and hopefully tonight I start to see some of my work pay off.
I hope y'all enjoy the process!!!
Thanks for all the help.
I love this site, you guys have some truly awesome mods and have inspired me to attempt to restore my old tin boat.
I bought an old tin boat 4 months back or so so that I could get out on the water and do some good fishing and take my kids out with me. The boat is a manufacturer called Del Mar and was made in 1959 according to my paperwork. It is essentially a 1436 with 3 seats in the boat. this boat, as I have jokingly told others, has been "well used." There were some serious defects with the boat but the boat still floats and fishes well.
the owner was selling the boat for $900 with a trailer and an old 1962 Evinrude 5.5 engine. When I got there to look at it the engine "for some reason would not start." And of course it was a great boat and never leaked..uuh huh. Well I bought the boat for $650 and took it home. My helpers here testing her out.
I pulled the motor off, bought a 40 fp trolling motor and took it out. It floats but of course leaked. The motor took some work but these old Evinrudes are some great motors and parts are still available. I replaced all electronic parts, carb rebuild, fuel parts, and impeller. Turns out I had a blown head gasket. After that she runs like a top now!
I also repainted the engine cowl close to original but took some artistic liscense.
I then turned my attention to the trailer which was serviceable but needed to be cleaned up. I ground down all the old slag on the trailer and cut off the hitch. I repainted the trailer, put on new lights and wire, put a new hitch on the front, put on new bunks, and put on trailer guides for easier hook up by myself. the trailer now looks great!
Now, it has been time to start on the boat. My oh my what have I got myself into? At some point this poor jon has seen some serious damage. there is a serious bend in the bottom of the boat and several cracks that have been repaired with JB weld. One of these did not hold and was the source of my 10 gallons per hour leak that I had.
Here are some beginning pics:
You can see the damage here:
I've started by striping off all the old paint. Let me tell you this boat has been painted once or twice. As far as I can tell there are 9 different layers of colored paint, not 9 layers of paint, 9 different colored layers. Who ever owned the boat long ago knew what they were doing. The first 4 layers are solid, followed by a layer that is like a thick gray primer. the there are at least 5 different layers of spray bombs.
I started with aircraft stripper. this stuff works, at least on the spray bomb layers. I was applying this in the Texas heat of summer. It evaporated pretty quick. My method was to apply it in 5 foot sections and then spray a thin layer of water on it when it go close to evaporating. then I used a drill with a cup brush to scrub the paint layers and then I sprayed it off with water. Wear long clothes and use gloves! This method worked for the spray bomb layers but not the thick primer layers or any paint below that.
I then used a combo of sanding with 60 grit or using and a twisted brush on a grinder. A heavy duty grinder is too much, you will go thru the side. I went out and bought a cheap small grinder for $15 that had the right speed.
This took 18-20 hours to do. Yep, that much paint. if I had to do it again I'd rent a big compressor and sand blast the boat. Sand blasting using a lighter medium will not hurt the boat if you take your time with it.
Here is that process:
I decided 5 hours into it that I didn't really need to go down to bare metal.
I have now completed sanding and prepping the boat for paint and Steel flex. Steel flex will be done tonight. I start posting more pics in a few days.
I also patched all holes with aluminum rods and a propane torch. It works but you have o go slow. I fixed the crack on the bottom with Alu rods and went over it with JB weld. I also touched up some other areas on the bottom with JB weld. Other holes above the water line I patched with aluminum rivets.
I've done alot of work on her so far and hopefully tonight I start to see some of my work pay off.
I hope y'all enjoy the process!!!
Thanks for all the help.
