The List Of Things Done and To Do

Here is some information on the work that I have done and the work that is still to come. My camera is a battery hog… therefore there are no new pictures. I will try to take some over the winter to show some of the work that I did.

I used a wire wheel brush on a couple of drills and ground out all the paint on the outside and on the inside. I used about 5 wheels to get this job done. I used two sticks of StarBrite on the keel hole.

I then changed the wood supports on the transom both in and out. The replacements are over sized to accommodate the 15HP engine. The wood was coated with Polyester resin.

After the brushing, I applied one QT of E2000. Went on nice and dried well in the sunlight... unfortunately, I needed it to dry in the night too. When I did it, it was about 2 to 8 degrees C (35 to 40 F). Dry time is dramatically increased.

After a second outside coat (another QT) and two or three days of dry time, I flipped the boat and started to do the same on the inside. Two coats inside as well.

I replaced the old plug, but it would not fit right. This drain style is on the floor of the boat and has a plate on the outside. This plate limits how deep the plug can be. The placement plug is about 1/32 of an inch too deep, so it won’t fit right L
This is what I did… not necessarily what I SHOULD have done!
I used the boat about 6 or 8 times in October and November. It started to leak after the second trip. I am relatively certain it was due to my stupidity. I ratcheted the straps way too tight when I attached the boat to my trailer. I think that the hull flexed to the point of the seams opening up at the bottom of the boat. This caused some leakage… not terrible, but enough, about a half quart an hour.

What I should have done is this;

-Ground off the paint in and out.
-Removed the center bench so I can get at ALL the rivets.
-Tighten all rivets by pounding the snot out of them.
-Apply Gluvit to the INSIDE only of the boat leaving the outside bare.
-Not tighten the ratchet straps that hold the boat to the trailer to the point of flexing the seams at the bottom of the boat open.
-Pound the plate under the plug hole so it can accommodate the new plug.
- Redo the wiring on the trailer.
- Get new tires for the trailer and replace shocks.

The list above is my to-do list for this spring!! I will make sure I have a better camera and batteries!!