looking at a Grumman 184 with a 3.0 litre I/O PICTURES ADDED

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mikezohsix

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Aug 30, 2009
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Location
granville Mass
I looked at the above boat today. It's been in a barn for 20 years.
I'm not too worried about the mechanicals on the boat, but I am concerned about corrosion and a crack I found in the the hull on each side, down at the bottom, about 1" forward of the transom. Looks like it's been wet, corroded, and cracked, just forward of the wood on the inside. On the port side it's about 1.5 inch long, on yhr stbd side it's only 1/4 inch. The material around it seems sound. Can't really see the area on the inside as it's all foamed.

I bounced on the outdrive and found zero flex in the transom.

Is this something to worry about, or can I patch it with Al sheet and some 5200?
Not looking for a beauty, but don't want something that the transom falls off either.

The boat is cheap, $1000 range, with 260 hours on it. It hasn't been run, but seems to have even compression, has spart, gas is just a thick goop.
The hull is otherwise very good looking, motor is complete and original, seats are incredible for thier age, there are covers, etc.

What do you think?
 
Waterwings said:
Welcome Aboard! 8)


As Jim mentioned, anyway to get some pics to post? The owner wants $1k for a 20 yr oldboat and motor!? Is there a trailer included in the deal?

Thanks for the welcomes!
I had a tracker Tournament 17 with a 45 two boats before this one, and wanted to get back into a tin boat after having the "sparkle boat".

I won't have pictures unless I buy it.

Yes, it does have a good solid galvanized trailer.

I figure the boat to be worth $2500 when it's squared away, and there isn't a lot of money to put into it if all goes well with the mechanicals.

mike
 
Since you cannot post pictures unless you buy it, I can't help you on whether or not you should, because I cannot see the damage. My concern, however, besides the fact that it is an inboard/outboard (There are only a few cases where it is desirable over an outboard, and I doubt it is in your case), is the hull damage. Normally, a hull puncture doesn't bother me, but in this case, where you mentioned it is also very close to motor mounts, which, coupled with corrosion, could be the issue. I would make certain that you can fix that damage, and stop any future damage before buying, or you will end up chasing an issue around for years, which can end up costing a lot.
 
Ends up I bought the boat.
The motor is running fine on an external gas tank.
37 mph on GPS at 4000 rpm.
Jumps out of the hole, maybe a bigger prop is in order for more speed.

I've completely removed all the seats and misc junk from the boat.
Have power washed 20 years of barn dust and gunk out of it.
Pulled the front floor (easy) and have the gas tank out to remove the gunk.
All covers are power washed, seats are scrubbed with Simple Green.
Need a shift cable, starter solenoid, gas line, and with the exception of the corrosion crack ready to go.

Here's the boat

091309035.jpg


091309036.jpg


091309037.jpg


engine

091309042.jpg


091309043.jpg


drive
091309044.jpg


and, the area I'm concerned about.
It seems that the boat traps water because the drain is an inch or so from the floor.
That area is completely foamed in, so it must have trapped the water against the aluminum
My plan is to some how dis-assy the transom area, cut the foam away, and then seal the area with ???, and glue a patch on with 5200
Comments welcome.....

port side - total height is a 1 1/4 inch

091309039.jpg


stbd side, samething, just less

091309040.jpg
 
... and I wanted to add...

As far as the corrosion goes, the motor sits on stringers like a normal boat, the area around the motor is pristine, as is the rest of the hull. The plywood in the transom in all places I can get to is absolutely solid, and there is no flex when pushing on the outdrive.

Not sure if/how I can dis-assy the after deck, and remove the compartments seen in the engine pictures, with the foam extruding out. If I get the aluminum deck and side compartments off, I figure I'll either pull the foam out in a chunk, or, slice it to make room to get to the area. I'm hoping the tansom isn't going to be an issue, and that I can clean around the corrosion from the inside, alodine the bare aluminum, and then coat it with some flexible adhesive/sealer. Then I can fit some aluminum from the outside, and glue it on for water tightness, and to seal from the outside. I have some white on one side aluminum sheet used for fixing trailer bodies that should have the right protection, and blend in well.

If anyone has had one of these apart, or has any ideas, please let me know.

mike
 
IMHO you have good news. This boat is an i/o and that means that the transom has less flex/twist then a transom with an outboard. I believe the end of the transom has started to corrode the aluminum. I believe you could put plate ove them and weld/5200 with closed pop rivits and it will be fine. This is just a corrosion issue not a structural problem.

Again Just my OPINION.
 
huntinfool said:
IMHO you have good news. This boat is an i/o and that means that the transom has less flex/twist then a transom with an outboard. I believe the end of the transom has started to corrode the aluminum. I believe you could put plate ove them and weld/5200 with closed pop rivits and it will be fine. This is just a corrosion issue not a structural problem.

Again Just my OPINION.

thanks for the quick reply.
Can you tell me what you mean by the transom has started to corrode the aluminum?

Is it a glue or acid in the plywood that causes what you're talking about?
Trapping water?

I can put a patch on the outside easy enough.
I'm wondering if I should see what's going on on the inside so if it is getting into the transon to hull seam, I can try to stop it.

again,
thanks!
 
I would have no idea what is causing the corrosion. My guess would be that it is trapping water. Was this boat ever in the salt? If so It probably got some down in that area that did not get rinsed out good and that started the corrosion.

Can you take some pics of that area from the inside?
Is the transom wood covered with anything?
If it had been replaced and treated wood was used it could be causing the corrosion.
With out seeing it it is real hard to tell.

Congrats again on the boat, it looks nice and it should provide plenty of years of service.
 
huntinfool said:
I would have no idea what is causing the corrosion. My guess would be that it is trapping water. Was this boat ever in the salt? If so It probably got some down in that area that did not get rinsed out good and that started the corrosion.

Can you take some pics of that area from the inside?
Is the transom wood covered with anything?
If it had been replaced and treated wood was used it could be causing the corrosion.
With out seeing it it is real hard to tell.

Congrats again on the boat, it looks nice and it should provide plenty of years of service.

I was thinking it may have been in salt water based on the fishing gear that came with the boat, but my fishing buddies say that it was set up for deep lake fishing. I have no real way of telling, the original owner, and last guy to run the boat died in 1989. The boat passed to his brother, who never used it, who recently passed, and it was sold off as part of his estate.

Now that I've looked at the boat at home after cleaning, I don't think it was in salt water because the rest of the bilge is almost shiney, there's no corrosion around screws and stuff you'd expect from a salt water boat.

The transom wood is original, see above. It is not covered or coated.

Like I said, I can't get at the inside to see what's going on because of riveted in place aluminum, and foamed areas.

My plan is to continue to go through the motor and outdrive to make it reliable, then, assuming all continues to go well, maybe this winter pull the rear floor and try to take the rear section apart.

we'll see what comes up.
 
While the patch over the damage would be a fine solution if the hole were due to a puncture, I would be leery of doing such under a corrosion issue. While it would be a fine temporary fix, you cannot stop corrosion. The only way to stop corrosion is to remove all the corroded metal, or it will continue to spread. Also, without being able to see the inside, you have no way of knowing how bad it is.
 
If there is any pressure treated lumber/ply in the transom, it will react with the aluminum and corrode it.
 
I ran the engine this weekend after running new fuel line. Something going on with the ballast resistor, not sure what. Sometimes needed to jump 12v direct to the coil to get it to start. It runs perfect!, it's quiet, seems to accelerate well, and idles amazing for something that sat so long.

I've got the gas tank cleaned out - ever need to get 20 year old gas out, ask me how. Will put that in next weekend.

I'm going to replace the shift cable (corroded) and do the bellows at the same time. Then after rebuilding the starter and hoping that this addresses the ballast resistor issue, it's time to take off the rear deck and those side panels, cut the foam away and see what's going on in the inside of the hull.

I work in the aerospace repair business. I can alodine the AL to stop the corrosion, and I got a flexible sealer from our materials engineers to spread on the inside, which I intend to do over the corroded area and the whole transom seam. Then it's some 5200 as a patch on the outside after slightly flattening off the top of the rivets with a grinder. Still no big surprises, so the deal hasn't soured yet.

Slow but steady this time of year....
 

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