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Random Quote: Nobody likes a Redneck, until their car breaks down -- BUGBUSTER
i think that i have just bought the boat of my dreams (hopefully not nightmares). i just got a 1973 Formula 233 for a song. It needs to be totally restored, which is what i wanted to do anyway. Now i need to figure out what to do. Any good tips, books, and things to avoid would be very welcome. Once the snow melts off of it, i am planning on removing ALL of the hardware so that i can see what needs to be redone. i will pull the motor, then the deck, and check out the stringers and bilge, then rebuild the deck without that ugly inboard (and maybe with some good size fish boxes. i plan on fortifying the transom and then putting a nice bracket to hold a Yamaha outboard (225/250/twin 150s?). Lastly, i would like to have a top built over the cockpit with plenty of rocket launchers. Just as a warning, i will probably be bugging you guys a lot with a multitude of questions. i have only been looking for this hull for two years, and i can't believe that i actually had the cash to get it as it materialized magically in front of my eyes. Thanks in advance for any suggestions (now and later). Fish on!
d
You really need to be talking to Hawkeye. It sounds like you're trying to build his boat, and you wanna talk about a fish box! You should see that thing. This is a young man with Tuna on his mind.
Thom
"More than 25% of US High School Graduates read at the 5th grade level or less" How's your kid doing?
HOW ABOUT SOME BEFORE PHOTOS??? SOUNDS LIKE A FUN PROJECT. I TRIED TO GO BACK AND FIND HAWKEYE'S PROJECT PHOTOS BUT THEY MUST HAVE BEEN LOST OR DELETED OR SOMETHING. MAYBE HE STILL HAS THEM TO POST. HOW ABOUT IT HAWKEYE?
[This message was edited by JE on 03-07-03 at 05:08 PM.]
Good pickup on the "snow". i just moved over to Nevada by Tahoe. Hey Hawkeye, any picks or links would be great. i am starting this project by boning up on my fiberglass and boat repair knowledge. i have plenty of before picks already and will keep on clicking when i get started. i will post some originals soon. Thanks.
d
There is a lot to look out for. Front deck could be a major problem for leaking screw holes. Mine was delaminated and had to be recored. They used 1/4" and glass on both sides. I went with 2 layers of luan epoxy puddy glued in and only tabed it in on the underside with glass. used 3 layers in from the crash bulkhead to the bow tip. I added a 5 layer 5" wide bowed beam out of luan right under the windshiend beam to beam. It is stronger then new. The org tank is galv steel 85 gal and sits on some 2 x2's glassed in the bottom. Mine 2x2 were half assed glassed in and trapped sand and bilge muck under them. You can get about 120 gal tank in there but thats all. Saddle tanks are another option. I got lucky on a 100 gal poly tank but had to make a 3" step up on the front floor for the fill. With a singl 100 does me ok. The stringers could have glass voids that could allow water and muck get in and cause the stringers to rot. They also didnt seal the drain holes from the rear of the stringers and storage boxes. My stringers were 3/4" x 6" white pine, waffel stapled together on top of each other and completly glassed over. I had to repaire 3 of the 4 and the 2 short ones in the motor well. Mine were only rotted on the bottom to up about 3" in places for about 1/2 the run forward. I repaired mine by cutting the skin off over just the wet part and a little of the dry. Chipped out the wet, cleaned, dried and scuffed the area and bedded custom fitted pieces of luan all epoxy puddy glued in. Then glassed over that, Then added the foam grid glassed over with drains to the rear. My hull was kinda thin skined for some reason. Only about 1/4 to 5/16" thick but some boats were built thicker so in all of this I made sure bottom was compleatly cover with atleast 1 more layer. The deck was good but it had to go to get to the stringers. I went back with 2 layers of ex luan, overlaping the seams and covered it with 1 layer of 17/08 and epoxy. It is solid as any boat floor made today. I also raised the floor 1.5" to make for better self bailing and made a gutter around the cockpit. This made a nice toe hold also. The transom, outside the diamond plate part in the middle, is 1/2 balsa core. The part over the diamond shape is 3/4 plywood. The diamond shape is 2 layers of 3/4. I went back with 2 layers of 3/4" I glassed a grid in and tied it to the stringers and added a knee brace in the middle with a slelf across that. See pics. SO all the stringht is in the middle and its super strong. I recored the gunwell's with 3/8 and glassed it to the hull with 4 layers of 17/08 1 of those being all the way down the sides. If you go with twins, you will need to had the most floatation in the bracket design as possible and as much weight forward as possible. Mine has a single 225 Suzuki and no floatation in the bracket. Its a old simple SS bracket, the price was right.I probally added 125 lbs to the transom with the fishbox and braces. Would want any more back there the way it is. A single does ok but a load can slow it down 5 mph. With a light load I can get 45 mph and 50 b4 the hardtop. I used all epoxy, about 35 gals, mostly 17/08 biaxle glass,Used 5 lbs of chopped glass, lbs of wood flour and cabisol to make puddy/glue to fix the cores and glue things. I even used epoxy to mold tank supports to the bottom. It was the easiest way to make the pads to set the poly tank on. The tank mfg recomended ribs every foot or so and line them with firm neopream 1/2" thick or more. Mine sets right on the bottom in this 1/2" neopream. Each rib or pad has a different angle from the bottom. I made sure there was open channel 3" wide down the middle. If you got a fast connection check out my pics. They will make more since after reading this. I still have not taking the time to get them orginized. Thats enough for now but good luck on your boat and post some pic if you can. Oh the picture links are below.
Get you a www.yahoo.com or www.Fishingworks.com account. Yahoo works pretty fast but you cant post your pics at other places but people can click in and see them if you have them open to public. Fishingworks will let you post them here but only hold so many and its kinda slow for me anyway. Those hyper link I provide might get you in where you can see up your own and you can see how they work.
Email me a picture and I will try to upload it. The pic extention has THT in it somehow. Right click on one of my pics above and look at the properties. Yours should look something like that. My email is formula233@comcast.net
No fair, you got windows in your. Just kidding. Maybe it will be is better shape then you think and you can get away with just some transom work and fuel tank. You have the more fishing friendly splash boards also. That is one adj I want to make to mine. Was your set up for twins or a single I/o?
Hey Hawkeye. What are the splash guards? It is setup as an inboard but i am planning on converting over to an o/b with bracket. Do you like your bracket length or would it be better with a shorter bracket? Another thing i would like to do is redo the deck with custom fishboxes. i really want a clean cockpit. Do you think that there is room for them under the deck? i also read about one guy that used the engine box room for additional gas. If this is feasible i may try it. i am probably going to replace at least some of the stringer system and redo the transom. i don't mind the work as i have another boat (althougher much less seaworthy) to fish from. i also have a buddy that has restored a couple boats and was looking for another project to do. Now that he has seen mine he needs one. Thanks for all of the input. i will hopefully be picking your brain later for tips.
d
I call the splash board the inside vertical part of the gunwell that leeds up to the winshield. Or the last part a wave would see if it came over the side of the boat. Mine are about 6" above the front rod holder and tapers down to about a inch at the rear rod holder. This is a pain cause you cant wind a reel from the starboad rod holder. Twins or single's in your rig?
Doooh! New Formula 233 Project 
