# New Project... Bigger Boat



## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

My dad and I just picked up a project. WE have been kicking the idea around for some time now and we finally pulled the trigger.

The boat is an 85 Scarab Sport 30 ft. Supposed to be a 29'6" waterline and 32' LOA. I have not put a tape measure to that...

The boat came with a pair of OMC sea drive motors. These motors have newly rebuilt power head and lower units. That being said, we are not going to trust them. We plan on getting a test run out of them in the next few days to get a video. Then we will pull them and sell them off.

I found a set of 2008 Honda bf225's for a reasonable deal so I went ahead and bought them.

Here are some pictures of the boat in its current state. I plan on starting some of the stripping this weekend. I am going to try and keep up with pictures as much as possible throughout this project.


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## BigBay420 (Jun 20, 2005)

Good luck bro! The hondas should be a good match.


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## txteltech (Jul 6, 2012)

Awesome old skool with modern engines love it


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## bjmillet (Apr 9, 2012)

Looks like a great project. A big project. I like those SCARABS with the front cabin. Should be worth a bundle when you finish. Good luck.


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## ctcrop (Jan 5, 2012)

That is gonna be awesome! Good Luck to you guys and I can't wait to see the progress pics and finished product!


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## 61Bubbletop (Apr 29, 2011)

Very nice. Looking forward to your future posts.


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## Bankin' On It (Feb 14, 2013)

Those cabins on the front are cool. Watertight hatch door maybe? Also, are those windows on the bow? That boat is going to be friggin' SWEET.


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## That Robbie Guy (Aug 11, 2009)

Now that's what I call a BIG project!


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## LaddH (Sep 29, 2011)

_Also, are those windows on the bow? 
_
They look like "shark eye "docking lights.

Nice boat for a project. Good luck.


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## yellowskeeter (Jul 18, 2008)

Tubs and Crocket would be proud! Nice find!!!


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## bjmillet (Apr 9, 2012)

I remember see these boats at the Houston Boat Show when it was in the Dome back in the 80's.


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## saltwatersensations (Aug 30, 2004)

Subscribed. Post a lot of pics


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

I started a little bit of work this afternoon. I didnt take any pictures as there would not have been noticable progress.
I slowly drilled out the plugs covering the screws that attached the teak. I have a friend that offered to refinish the teak. (Thanks in advance)
I got all of the screws pulled but I needed a longer flat blade to get the sealant cut all of the way through.
Sunday I will get thag handled right before out test run. 
The teak doors are going to be replaced with new hatch covers. The gun whales, under rail rod holders and teak trim are going to be reinstalled once refinished. At this point the plan is to seal the teak so that routine oiling wont be necessary.

There are docking lights in the bow. We are planning on installing some LEDs to replace the current bulbs.
I will have some progress pictures after the weekend.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Sorry that I have not posted an update recently, I have been busy with work and haven't found much time other than a few minutes here or there to work on the boat. 

A good friend of mine came over today and helped me strip some of the boat. We were able to get the wiring and rigging for the OMC motors out intact today.
I have to say that the OMC setup had a lot of [email protected] to pull out. The steering system alone has multiple lines, a pressure/reservoir tank, and a distribution manifold. The tilt trim has a reservoir for each motor. There were two priming pumps with fuel lines going everywhere. 
The first picture shows the transom hatch prior to pulling anything out. Its a dark picture, but if you look close you can get a glimpse of everything that came out and what a mess it was.
The other pics are showing some of what has been taken apart so far. We took our time today to preserve everything to be reused on the off chance that someone would want to use these motors or use them for parts. 

After pulling everything apart, we went to work with the power washer to make everything a little more tolerable for the time being. Next step is going to be pulling the motors. 

Our new motors should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
I have been slowly finding what I need to rig the new motors. The Honda digital speedometer and tachometer has been discontinued until Honda can find a new manufacturer to produce them. These were very hard to find. Lucky, I found a speedo and pair of tachs. I wanted these gauges to minimize the space taken up leaving room on the dash to flush mount a chartplotter.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

As I a preparing to re-rig the boat, I have a few tenative plans that I am looking for advice on. 

First, the existing gauge panel is an old cheap plastic roughly 3/16" thick. It will not be reused. I am planning on using it as a pattern to cut a new panel from 1/2" HDPE. Has anyone done this or see any drawback of it? 
I was also planning on using the HDPE for the deck box covers. The existing wood covers are pretty rough and sanding them would make them fit looser than they already do. I don't want that. I planned on cutting them out to fit, then finding some type of traction material to use on the tops.
Any suggestions on that would be appreciated. 

I am going to install a new switch panel with circuit breakers and a new fuse panel to run all of the accessories and electronics. 
Would you run your navigation electronics off of an accessory switch, or directly off of the fuse panel?

I have a dual engine bracket. It is the buoyancy type that ads an enclosed space off of the transom. In your opinion, does this bracket have to be glassed in or is bolting it an marine sealant sufficient?

I am sure I will be asking for more opinions as we keep moving. 

The next step is to pull the motors and do a deep cleaning.


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## bjmillet (Apr 9, 2012)

I think a well installed fiberglass bracket would be stronger.


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## dlbpjb (Oct 9, 2009)

Have you been on The Hull Truth? Some very good advice on rebuilds on the site. Looking forward to seeing the progress!


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

The Seadrives are off. Thank god. I never want to see another one. LOL

Dad and I did about an hour and a half this afternoon to get the motors off.
I was not in areal hurry to get this done ahead of other things. 
But, the Hondas showed up and I discovered real quick that the bracket that we had was not going to work.
The spacing, center to center on the bracket we have is 24.5". The cowlings will touch slightly in the center....not good.

We decided we should bite the bullet and order a bracket. That is a setback I was not expecting.

On the plus side, one of the guys that works for us in our sheet metal shop let us know today that he has 12 years experience working with fiberglass prior to working for us. We decided to add fiberglass technician to his title and enlist his help. 
Here are some pics of the transom with the motor removed.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

dlbpjb said:


> Have you been on The Hull Truth? Some very good advice on rebuilds on the site. Looking forward to seeing the progress!


I have done some digging around the hull truth. It is a good resource.
The searches I do seem to yield results that are not necessarily the most recent.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

I found an hour to tinker today. I got the new steering helm and dual binnacle control mounted into place. I wanted to get these two things mounted so that they would be in place when I start running wire in the console. 
I should have everything I need to start wiring by middle of next week. Mainly waiting on the fuse panels and switch panel.

Another question came up this morning.
Is there anything wrong with mounting Garmin electronics on the underside of a horizontal surface? 
The way the console is built, there is not a ton of vertical wall that can be used to mount the sounder, XM box, network box and so on...


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

We go moving on getting setup for fiberglass today. The plan is to start laying up the transom patches tomorrow.
Hopefully we will be able to get the glass done and be able to gel coat on sunday.
Motor bracket should be delivere week after next, so we want to be ready to install.


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## OldManOwen (Jul 16, 2013)

I'm loving this thread! Please keep us up to date, I would love to be able to do this some day! I can't wait to see those pretty Honda's on it!


Nathan M Owen
SSGT USMC RET

Katie Couric while interviewing a Marine Sniper, asked:
"What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist?"
The Marine shrugged and replied: "Recoil."


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## bjmillet (Apr 9, 2012)

OldManOwen said:


> I'm loving this thread! Please keep us up to date, I would love to be able to do this some day! I can't wait to see those pretty Honda's on it!


x2 I'm jealous


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## FISHROADIE (Apr 2, 2010)

Thats a big project and will be a nice one when done, keep us updated.


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## Outrigger1146 (May 16, 2013)

Suscribed! Can't wait to see more progress.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

I got my guy started on fiberglass today.
There are 4 holes from the sea drives on the transom.
After talking with him and some other folks who have done a lot of fiberglass, we decided to go with this approach.
Install a piece of plastic lined aluminum on the inside of the transom. 
Start layering glass mat and resin until almost flush with the outside of the transom. 
Sand the transom around the hole to remove gelcoat. Use woven mat as the final layer to tie into the sanded transom.
Then sand smooth and re gel coat.
Then the aluminum would be removed from the inside and tie the inside of the transom in the same way. 
He got pretty much to the point of sanding the gelcoat back today.
Dad and I found a couple of minutes to get some new thru hulls put in for the deck scuppers and get some electronics mounted in the console while it was removed and easy to get into.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

more pics


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## OldManOwen (Jul 16, 2013)

Looking good!


Nathan M Owen
SSGT USMC RET

Katie Couric while interviewing a Marine Sniper, asked:
"What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist?"
The Marine shrugged and replied: "Recoil."


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Went over to the shop this morning. I got the hole cut out for the switch panel and got the new dash panel mocked into place. My shop guy got a little more of the fiberglass done in between his regular duties.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Today we cut out the section of floor that felt slightly soft.
I discovered that the fiber glass is thick enough on the floor that if it feels soft at all, the wood is probably gone.

We stripped the rotten wood to leave only the topside glass. We are going to replace the wood by putting a coat pf resin on the the top and glueing it back to the peice of floor. Then put two layers of glassmat on the bottom. Then glass it back into place.
We guessed at how far we had to cut to get beyond the rot. Luckily, we got it all in the first shot.
Here is a picture of the floor cutout. The pictures of the rotten wood and peice of floor that was removed didnt take so I will post those tomorrow.


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## Marcos Domingues (Mar 10, 2013)

Cant wait to fish her , keep posting . LOVE IT


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

I have been slacking on getting an update posted. 
Here are the pictures I was missing before.

We have the four holes in the transom ready for gelcoat and if time allows, it will be started today. 
We have the section of floor that was removed almost ready to go back in. While I am working on other things, my guy will be working on reinstalling and blending this back in.
I am in the process of running pipe from the console back to keep my wires and cables protected and out of the way.
My motor bracket shipped earlier this week and should be delivered tomorrow. I am trying to get the gelcoat done so that we will be ready to started test fitting it this weekend. 
Once the bracket position is located, we will bolt it on to test fit. Once we like the location, we will pull it back off, prime and paint it. Then it will be reinstalled with 5200 sealant and a full setup of mounting hardware.

If I can get the motors mounted next week, I should have about 2 days worth of harness connecting to do before we can start systems checks. 

I am really pushing to be able to have the boat in the lake for tests runs by the end of the month. I would really like to be able to get her into the salt water by late October/early November. We will see what other kind off problems I run into along the way.


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## HTJ (May 26, 2011)

Not trying to play devils advocate or drop a stinky one in the punch bowl but.....I really think you need to reevaluate that transom repair. The bolt holes can be filled with an epoxy/woodflour mix but the bigger holes.........Generally speaking any hull repairs need to approximate the original construction in both layup and resulting strength. At a minimum the area surrounding the holes should be tapered and feather back from the outside and the original glass layup matched as closely as possible. I also think you should be using 12 or 17 oz biax and not mat, along with epoxy resin, hard to tell from the pics but it looks more like standard poly resin. Poly is okay as an original layup resin but it has poor properties as a glue. There are enormous compressive forces acting on a transom, particuarly on a bracketed boat with heavy twin 4-strokes.

I am absolutely not trying to rain on your parade or be critical of your accomplishment thus far, but the transom on an offshore boat is no place for maybe.

Take a look around http://forums.bateau2.com/viewforum.php?f=10 is allot of wisdom and knowledge to be had


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

HTJ said:


> Not trying to play devils advocate or drop a stinky one in the punch bowl but.....I really think you need to reevaluate that transom repair. The bolt holes can be filled with an epoxy/woodflour mix but the bigger holes.........Generally speaking any hull repairs need to approximate the original construction in both layup and resulting strength. At a minimum the area surrounding the holes should be tapered and feather back from the outside and the original glass layup matched as closely as possible. I also think you should be using 12 or 17 oz biax and not mat, along with epoxy resin, hard to tell from the pics but it looks more like standard poly resin. Poly is okay as an original layup resin but it has poor properties as a glue. There are enormous compressive forces acting on a transom, particuarly on a bracketed boat with heavy twin 4-strokes.
> 
> I am absolutely not trying to rain on your parade or be critical of your accomplishment thus far, but the transom on an offshore boat is no place for maybe.
> 
> Take a look around http://forums.bateau2.com/viewforum.php?f=10 is allot of wisdom and knowledge to be had


 I will look into this a little bit more. Before mounting the motors.

The reason I went this way was that a fiberglass shop in town that had experience in putting brackets on told me to handle it this way. They had removed the same type of motors and installed a bracket with new motors. They showed me some hard copy pictures of how they handled the patch.

The boat had the omc seadrives previously. These motors have a proprietary tilt/trim bracket roughly(within 2") the same setback as the new bracket. 
They were bolted around these holes. The holes were utilized for the fuel lines, harness' and cables. There was not rot/softness around the holes.
The transom is thick. Not sureof the exact measurement this second, but a little over 3.5" from memory. 
My assumption was and is that I was not "plugging" these holes necessarily to gain structural integrity, but to make them watertight so that I was not relying on the 3M 5200 on the mounting bracket to do that as was with the old motors.

Is there a reason that you can think of that these holes being tapered into the transom would be more important now than previously when they were wide open?

I am by no means a fiberglass expert. I am however very good at tackling new things myself head on. I only have the suggestions of others and what I read to guide me. You are the first to mention that this might be an issue. The last thing I want is to have the boat totally rigged and then find out I have to pull the motors to do a more extensive repair on the transom.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Here is another thread I read. http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...om-repair-after-sea-drive-removal-228319.html

The last post kind of makes the point I was trying to disprove...


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

be very careful and make a template for the bolt pattern of the bracket and see where the bolts need to hit on the hull, you need to be able to reach them inside the transom....

i hope the inner core of your transom is really solid, if you mount an armstrong style bracket you will find that the new patch may not move like the rest of the transom when you pull things tight, this will shove the patch out of the gelcoat. 

make some large backing plates for the s.s. thru bolts, washers, and use nylock nuts

do not use an air ratchet on the nuts, only a socket wrench, they will seize w the speed/heat.

5200 fast set is the way to go, red writing on the tube, run the the initial set up on the flange and come back with a second coat that is taped off for a professional look


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

CoastalOutfitters said:


> be very careful and make a template for the bolt pattern of the bracket and see where the bolts need to hit on the hull, you need to be able to reach them inside the transom....
> 
> i hope the inner core of your transom is really solid, if you mount an armstrong style bracket you will find that the new patch may not move like the rest of the transom when you pull things tight, this will shove the patch out of the gelcoat.
> 
> ...


The bracket I am using has a 3/8" solid plate at the transom. It is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I ordered an aluminum channel for the top bolts and 3/8" 4"x4" aluminum plate for the bottom bolts. I ordered the bracket pre drilled for the motors but not for the transom. I wanted to be able to pick those locations myself.
The bracket comes with hardware. If it did not have nyloc nuts, I had planned on buying them.

My plan was to mock up the bracket to the transom to get the perfect position. 
Then cutout a peice of 24ga sheetmetal to the dimensions of the transom side of the bracket. This will be used as the pattern for the through bolt holes.

Does that sound like it would work?


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## HTJ (May 26, 2011)

CoastalOutfitters said:


> be very careful and make a template for the bolt pattern of the bracket and see where the bolts need to hit on the hull, you need to be able to reach them inside the transom....
> 
> i hope the inner core of your transom is really solid, if you mount an armstrong style bracket you will find that the new patch may not move like the rest of the transom when you pull things tight, this will shove the patch out of the gelcoat.


Read this ^^^^^^^thru several times, he aint joking.

When the seadrives were mounted the hole(s) in the transom where surrounded and supported by the seadrive frames, now the game is changed completely. Your adding heavier motors on the back of a 30" lever.

The normal procedure for closing seadrive/outdrive holes would be to taper the hole out at minimum of 45 deg, make a tapered plug by laminating marine ply to match the thickness of the original core material, epoxy in place and then start laying up layers of 12 of biax until you match the existing fiberglass skin thickness. ALL done with marine grade epoxy resin.

The key word here is homogenous, you dont want localized areas that are harder, softer, stiffer etc. than the remainder of the transom. Especially so on a 450 HP, 50 MPH offshore boat.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

HTJ said:


> Read this ^^^^^^^thru several times, he aint joking.
> 
> When the seadrives were mounted the hole(s) in the transom where surrounded and supported by the seadrive frames, now the game is changed completely. Your adding heavier motors on the back of a 30" lever.


I understand that by tapering a patch it would have been stonger.

The sea drive frame did in fact bolt around the holes. So will the new bracket. It has a solid plate on the tansom. I was told that it would be a good idea to through bolt around the sea drive holes to simulate the load of the sea drives on that area, but also bolt the perimeter of the bracket to spread the load.

Can someone point me to a failure on a similar application? A buddy of mine is a structural engineer. I am going to have him come over to take look to tell me his thoughts.


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## HTJ (May 26, 2011)

The seadrives were ON the transom, now you are going to hang 1100# of outboard on 30" lever. And go pounding thru GOM chop and bouncing on the highway. A few hours of labor and $100 of supplies and you can have a solid transom.

Catastrohpic transom failures tend to not be available for evaluation, know what I Mean??

You can always contact the manufacture and solicit their opinion

http://contact.wellcraft.com/contactus/wellcraft_ContactParts.cfm

In any event I really like your boat and hope you get it sorted out and running, should be a fine ride.


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

is this a shop made bracket or a factory one like a gil or armstrong ?

some good info for you

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/engineBrackets.html

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/seaDriveConversion.html

you also want to be darn sure of the bracket height to the transom, up from the center keel line. You obv. can play w motor height , but this one is a monster if it is wrong from the start.

best of luck , just do your homework.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

HTJ said:


> The seadrives were ON the transom, now you are going to hang 1100# of outboard on 30" lever. And go pounding thru GOM chop and bouncing on the highway. A few hours of labor and $100 of supplies and you can have a solid transom.
> 
> Catastrohpic transom failures tend to not be available for evaluation, know what I Mean??
> 
> ...


The sea drives are a 25" +- setback because of the bracket. The new bracket is 30" set back. It will also mount lower than the sea drives did.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

CoastalOutfitters said:


> is this a shop made bracket or a factory one like a gil or armstrong ?
> 
> some good info for you
> 
> ...


Those are good posts. I ordered the bracket from Don at D and D Marine http://dadmarine.com/modelrt7.html.

I spent a lot of time talking with him not only about bracket designs and performance but also about measuring the transom for installation. 
They have instructions here http://dadmarine.com/twinplace.html

The bracket came in today. It looks good, but the mounting holes for the transom were already drilled. I wanted to locate these myself, but I will be checking the predrilled holes to see if the can be utilized. Otherwise We will have to fill them back in.

I am going to get a 24 ga pattern cut out over the weekend then I will be dropping it off at the powder coating place to get coated.


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

ok looks good, he gave you what you need for mounting layout

a few things, watch out where any scuppers, trim tabs, or thru hulls might end up before drilling, so hold the bracket up to the hull, not just the template.

you may want to weld a dive ladder bracket on before you powder coat and be sure and mount a hull zinc annode on the bracket, 


assuming it will drain in the center w one plug, ck the drain plug to make sure it drains both sides clearly, you will get water in there.

once you powder coat it, get some 3m no-skid and put some strips on the deck, it will be really slick and this also helps keep the scratches down.

you also are going to need 2 holes for the rigging hoses and 2 more for the hyd. steering lines, if you plan ahead you can have a clear area in the middle to stand and take a leak between the motors w/o stepping on a hyd. line or hose, no-skid that area too.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

CoastalOutfitters said:


> ok looks good, he gave you what you need for mounting layout
> 
> a few things, watch out where any scuppers, trim tabs, or thru hulls might end up before drilling, so hold the bracket up to the hull, not just the template.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply.

I am headed over in the morning to do the following.
Setup the template on the transom.
The scuppers are on the side of of the boat not the rear. That being said we were going to set the bracket against the transom to check for clearances and help plan for under water light locations.

The bottom side of the bracket slopes toward transom. I plan on adding two drain plugs as close to the transom as possible at either side.

The powerder coating place mentioned being able to put a grit into the mixture that will be sprayed on the top to add grip.
I am still trying to decide whether to color the sides in red or black to match the hull or do the whole bracket white like the top of will be.

I also have a telescoping dive ladder that will be bolted on the deck of the bracket and while running it lays on top. While in use it flips down and can be extended.
We had this ladder on the sea drives but it is more suited for mounting this way. I will post a picture of this.

As far as rigging goes, I wanted to get the motors test mounted to check the height of the the opening in the cowling for the harness', fuel lines, cables etc.
My hope is that these will be in a location that allows for running the tube through the upper slanted part of the transom to keep them from getting submerged.
If that doesn't work out, would you suggest going directly through the transom or through the bracket or then through the transom?

I am also trying to find the right solution for passing the hydraulic lines through the hull to the stearing ram. Is there some type of double male connector with a mounting flange that can be sealed to the hull?


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

get something like the t-h marine rigging hose w the flanges and go thru the transom up nder the rub rail, yamaha and others make them too , it will give you plenty of room for the cables. punch a hole w a circle saw and wet the exposed wodd w some resin to seal it, then 5200 the flange , when you mount it to the transom.

teleflex makes a thru hull kit, they are the way to go, mount the hoses up out of the way of foot traffic, you don't want someone stepping on one and snapping it off, you will be in big trouble. i have one if you can't find em, they are like $60 i think.

one 3/4" drain plug should be plenty if both sides drain to the center, use brass or plastic


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

CoastalOutfitters said:


> get something like the t-h marine rigging hose w the flanges and go thru the transom up nder the rub rail, yamaha and others make them too , it will give you plenty of room for the cables. punch a hole w a circle saw and wet the exposed wodd w some resin to seal it, then 5200 the flange , when you mount it to the transom.
> 
> teleflex makes a thru hull kit, they are the way to go, mount the hoses up out of the way of foot traffic, you don't want someone stepping on one and snapping it off, you will be in big trouble. i have one if you can't find em, they are like $60 i think.
> 
> one 3/4" drain plug should be plenty if both sides drain to the center, use brass or plastic


the kit i have is for the trim tab thru hulls , not the steering, you want to look at teleflex part # HF-5513


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

CoastalOutfitters said:


> get something like the t-h marine rigging hose w the flanges and go thru the transom up nder the rub rail, yamaha and others make them too , it will give you plenty of room for the cables. punch a hole w a circle saw and wet the exposed wodd w some resin to seal it, then 5200 the flange , when you mount it to the transom.
> 
> teleflex makes a thru hull kit, they are the way to go, mount the hoses up out of the way of foot traffic, you don't want someone stepping on one and snapping it off, you will be in big trouble. i have one if you can't find em, they are like $60 i think.
> 
> one 3/4" drain plug should be plenty if both sides drain to the center, use brass or plastic


We got the template mocked onto the transom and then held the bracket up to it. There aren't and clearance issues with tabs or the like...But it looks like you are right. The rigging hoses are going to have to go just under the rub rail.
I am going to make a trip to the Honda Dealership in the next couple days. They seem to have two type of flanges to connect the rigging tube/hose at the motor. I would like to have the "Yamaha" style so that the rigging hose sort of threads into the connection at the motor and transom preventing it from slipping out. 
I have this style hose on my flats boat. It has and older yamaha motor so the hose had to fit over the boot of the motor and I used police isue zip ties to hold it in place. I do not want the same install on the same on the offshore boat.

I think I am still going to put 2 drain plugs on the bracket. Reason being is that the bracket is more or less flat on the bottom sloping to the transom. My thinking is that I will rarely be on perfectly level ground, so having a plug on either side will ensure that most of the water drains on its own. I am headed to the powder coater this morning to drop the bracket to coat. While waiting on that, we have the following to accomplish..
Paint the patches on the transom. 
Finish reinstalling the piece of floor that was removed to repair a soft spot. 
Remount the console.
Build new cabin door and hatch(decided over the weekend that we didn't like the teak up there.)
Start running wire under the console including gauge and engine harness'.

I should have some pictures posted later today of what I did over the weekend.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Due to business being busier than ever, it has been a couple of weeks since I have been able to spend any real time on the boat.

here is a quick update and some carnage pictures...

We were able to get the bracket mounted in the perfect location. It was mocked up and then pulled off so that we could seal the bolt holes with resin. 
Everything looked good until one of the holes just didn't look right. I put the resin tube in the hole and there was definitely some soft wood. We decided that it really wasn't an option not to investigate further.

I started drilling half inch holes starting from the outermost port bolt hole and following the soft wood in every direction. 
The end result showed that the rub rail at the rear of the boat was not sealed well. We had soft/partially rotted wood at both top corners of the transom and the first 3 inches under the rub rail across the transom. It was still intact enough that is was not going to show unless hole was drilled into that section or had we not found it and had issues later.

So I had guy cut at gut the wood from the transom. An hear comes Pandora's box....
The boat has 5 stringers. 3 of which have an angle support that goes up to the top of the transom like a buttress. The two of these supports left and right of the center also show signs of rot.

After considering many options on how to repair, we decided that the "right way" would be to go ahead and pick a spot 5 ft or so from the transom and cut the floor/cap and remove it. 
After debating about how much time it was going to take to do this in our spare time, we brought in a professional. Hey, we are making money with business going so good, why not spend it on something we love.

Anyway the fiberglass shop has the cap cut and is in the process of exposing all of the stringers and bulkhead in this area. They estimate 2-3 week to finish the process of rebuilding the transom and anything else in question.

Once finding these issues, I told them to inspect everything and point out anything that might be questionable. I am sure that they will come up with something else but keeping fingers crossed anyway.

First picture is of the bracket mocked up prior to cutting the transom.
Next two re pretty obvious.


For what its worth, I am really glad that we found this out now instead of later...Even with the extra cost.


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## andre3k (Dec 3, 2012)

I was wondering about rotted wood when you found that first soft spot on the deck. Usually if water is getting in to rot one area then its getting into other places as well. Ive followed a lot of the boat rebuilds on THT and its rarely a go in and fix a few things type of deal with these old offshore boats. But I do applaud you for jumping in head first and tackling this type of project. So whats the plan for the wiring and electronics? Are you ripping everything out and starting from scratch or trying to salvage whats already there?

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

andre3k said:


> I was wondering about rotted wood when you found that first soft spot on the deck. Usually if water is getting in to rot one area then its getting into other places as well. Ive followed a lot of the boat rebuilds on THT and its rarely a go in and fix a few things type of deal with these old offshore boats. But I do applaud you for jumping in head first and tackling this type of project. So whats the plan for the wiring and electronics? Are you ripping everything out and starting from scratch or trying to salvage whats already there?
> 
> Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2


 The wiring has been completely stripped minus the bow light and bildge pump. I plan on using the old bow light wiring to pull the new wire through.
The bildge pump is a 2000gph rule and doesn't look like it could be more than 2 years old if that. The wiring that is run for it is #12 and looks like new.
I plan on adding another 2000gph as a secondary. 
I bought brand new digital gauges for the Hondas. Two tachs and a speedo/fuel management gauge. These were very difficult to locate NIB since they are not made any longer. I feel lucky.

I have the electronics units ready to mount and plug in. The garmin 3206 is already flush mounted into the dash panel with the gauges and gauge style stereo unit. I also have a 3210 that will be mounted on the top right side of the dash, if it fits well enough. If it doesn't, I will sell it and get a smaller and newer unit. The GDL30a, GSD 22 and GMS10 are already mounted in the console. I have a 24 hd radar dome coming. I also pulled the trigger on an autopilot pump off of THT so once everything is up and running, I plan on adding that as well. I actually built a new electronics box that will house 2 VHFs and 2 6.5" speakers. I need to take pictures of that and post them. It is gelcoated now, Just need a little sanding, some paint and some more wet sanding.

At this point, pretty much everything I need to assemble/rig is here. Just need the boat:smile:


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Some progress is being made on the rear end rebuild. The break down and wood removal process was a lot more intensive that I thought. The two stringer I had mentioned being rotted, ended up be the end of the rot we found.
We decided to redesign slightly. The old stringers stopped at the rear rear most bulk head and then continued behind it. We decided to take those two stringers through the bulkhead in a continuous piece. Then piece the bulk head on either side of them.
We did a bunch of extra test drilling/probing to make sure we weren't going to find any other issues. 

The old wood appeared to be 1/2" plywood. It may have been 5/8" but I think it was 1/2"
We are going back with 1" to beef everything up and the plan is to use heavy glass to make sure it is solid.


Here is a picture of the rear mostly cleaned and grinded with the new wood cut and mocked into place.


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

looking good, 

since you are that deep into a rebuild, might look at some pvc trunk lines to run your cables and wire feeds

be careful that you don't box some dead areas that water won't drain out of and wet everything w resin that you don't glass really well.

might make the deck a screw down

ck your gas tank over really well, since you have all that opened up.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

CoastalOutfitters said:


> looking good,
> 
> since you are that deep into a rebuild, might look at some pvc trunk lines to run your cables and wire feeds
> 
> ...


I put in 2 - 2" lines from the rear to the console, I am going to add one more. I wanted to put in a 4" but it takes up too much of the width of that rear floor compartment.
The ply wood is cut to test fit. It will be notched out for drainage prior to glassing. One of the main problems with the original construction was that the drainage holes were made with a holes saw after fiberglass was complete on stringer and bulk heads.(This seems to be a common trait among older boats.
A, they were not sealed well afterward and B, a hole saw did not get the opening down to the bottom to allow full drainage. We are solving both of those issues by cutting triangular shaped holes prior to glassing and glassing them in.

To access everything needed, the entire cap was cut and remove for the rear +- 6 ft of the boat. The existing floor/deck is glued down to the stingers and bulk heads. I believe it was done this way to make setting the cap easier. We are putting it back together in the same way bbecause it seems solid and I don't want to change construction only for the rear section on the off chance we have to pull it down the road.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Oh, and I pressure tested the gas tank yesterday. It is not original. manufacture in 2001. It seems to be in great shape(thank god).


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

I have been slacking big time on keeping up with the side project...
The rearend/transom rebuild is all but done. 
Here are a couple of pictures.

Everything went back together well. Each piece of wood was installed and glassed separately. This should hopefully prevent any spread of rot, if one were to come into contact with water. I had the fiberglass guy go out of the way to make it this way.
He also doubled up the thickness on the two outer transom/stringer angled supports(do these have a proper name?)
The gelcoat on the floor and cap splice was supposed to be done today, and the new floor grip paint done tomorrow.
Hopefully this weekend will allow mounting of the bracket and hanging of the motors. I need to have some forward progress to bring the enthusiasm back...


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Pic


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Pic12


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

So the backend is now gelcoated. The only thing left before I can get back on rigging is the floor paint.
I am impressed with how well this turned out.


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## txteltech (Jul 6, 2012)

Looking good, at least your making forward progress, it'll all come together


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## AlwaysWorkin (Jul 30, 2013)

Looks great


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

We could have been working on other things, but we wanted to see the motors hanging.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Other pic


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## yellowskeeter (Jul 18, 2008)

Sweet! Got some fattys on her!!


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

So, between business being extremely busy...still... and duck season, winter did not bring a ton of work to the boat. 




I finished connecting everything up for the Hondas about a week ago. I had been wresting with harnesses and connections. I was under the impression that I had all of the harnesses I needed included with the purchase of the motors. First I found out that the digital gauges take a different gauge harness than a I had. Then, the main motor harnesses had a 14 pin and a 3 pin. I needed an additional 6 pin to hook up to the gauge harness. The wiring diagrams on these harnesses is terrible. I spent a lot of time just sorting through different connections to make sure that everything got plugged into the right place. 

I finally had it hooked up correctly. It felt really good when we fired the motors up and they started like a new car.

I will say when I rigged my Yamaha on my flats boat, the harness system was much much easier to deal with.



Fast forward to this past weekend. I spent Saturday hooking up the fuel system, bildge pump and double checking all my through hulls. 



Sunday morning I got to the shop, hook the boat up and it started raining... I ended up spending about 3 hrs looking into the wiring of all my electronics while waiting for the weather to clear up. 

At about noon, we got a break. We jumped in the truck, got to the ramp and back her in. We sat with the boat floating on the trailer for about 20 minutes, just to make sure that we did not have any leakage. 

I fired both engines up and backed her off. (the previous picture is right as I am pulling off.) 



The boat ran perfect. I could not believe it. It currently has 19 pitch props. We were running with a super light load, so the first time we opened it up, it hit the rev limiters in no time. We had to backed it off and started a little slower building up. I did not have a GPS installed but I was watching the digital speedo and the iPhone speedo. Right at 6000 RPM, we were running 48MPH. We ran it that open for a very short amount of time, just to get an idea. 

At right around 4000 RPM, we were getting 32 MPH. My fuel burns were incredibly low. No doubt due to not having anything in the boat. At idle, the gauge was bumping from .9 to 1 GPH. At 4000 rpm on plane it was reading 8.6 GPH. If my math is correct, this is 3.7 MPG? I thought it was too good to be true. I even shut down one motor to make sure that my usage at idle dropped.

We had put 30 gallons in one aux tank and 15 in another to get back to the ramp. I ran through the 30 gallons until it sputtered. The total fuel burn read 28.7, so I assume its pretty dang close.

Hopefully with a normal load I can see the 2 MPG that I really want.



I am going to run the boat to the Honda dealership tomorrow and let them hook up the motors to the HDS and make sure that everything is good to go after the short run time. If nothing comes up, I will be pinning/ clamping wire and to make ready for electronics installation. 

Most of the electronics wiring is all right at the console. Hopefully that will go pretty smooth. I


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## ReelWork (May 21, 2004)

Looks fantastic - well done!


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## cg_wilson2003 (Jun 2, 2011)

Nice work. I like seeing these older boats redone and put back into use.


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## BigBay420 (Jun 20, 2005)

Congrats I bet that's a good feeling!


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## yellowskeeter (Jul 18, 2008)

Awesome! More pics !


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

Im going to try and get the tape peeled from when we painted the floor. I was going to post some interior pics then. I am actually embarresed how dirty it is inside right now. We have the boat in front of our office. We dont have a paved lot. With the rain, there has been anlot of dirt and mud tracked into it...


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## Im Headed South (Jun 28, 2006)

Great thread to date, congrats on your progress.


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## SeaY'all (Jul 14, 2011)

I just sat and read the entire thread. Lots of trials and tribulations. It looks great. Thanks for keeping up with the post.


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## saltwatersensations (Aug 30, 2004)

Awesome. Looks good.


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## SpecialK (Mar 20, 2007)

It seems like it has been ages since I started this...

I haven't had a lot of time all at once, but I have slowly and steadily pecked away at the list.

We actually got her into the saltwater on the 13th. My inlaws were in Port A and really wanted to go for a ride. We did have all of the electronics in place and were still missing the rod racks that make up the gunnels at the rear, but took it out anyway. The weather was so nice that day that we figured it was a good a time as any. 

The boat ran great. No issues yet. We burned 105 gallons and the gps track totaled 187 miles. I am hoping to be able to dial in the props a little more and get that MPG average up slightly. 

I still have to do the following before she goes to the coast permanently. 
Get plate welded for Radar to mount.
Mount Radar.
Mount gunnel rod racks.
Finish wiring in the electronics box and hang it. 
Install out riggers. 
Install and figure out how to setup the autopilot.
I still want to play with props a little bit.

I think all in all in a few weeks or month I can have it ready for some fishing. 

It felt pretty good to run that long of a trip after all the hard work...

Here is a couple of shots including one of the electronics box mocked up.


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## FISHROADIE (Apr 2, 2010)

Very nice job thats one cool boat.


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## GulfCoast1102 (Dec 30, 2013)

Awesome project! But whats with that little tiny yeti in the back of the boat? You gonna keep your sammiches and juice boxes in there?


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## Quackerbox (Feb 6, 2006)

Cool project and props to staying at it!


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