# Redemption Rebuild of Sylvan Backtroller 16



## Mainline9 (Jul 3, 2017)

Encouraged by the success others have chronicled on this sight, I am embarking on my first tin boat rebuild. Others have rescued boats that had been neglected by former owners - in my case, I am guilty of allowing this boat to deteriorate under my watch and now hope to atone for this by restoring it this summer.

We have a long growing season in South Carolina, and as you can see, something has been thriving on the warm, humid conditions under a failed boat cover.











Carpet on the floor came up easily as the plywood was either wet and spongy or had already morphed into wood chips. Carpet on rod locker, bait well and up to the gunnels required a bit more effort to remove.

Inspection of the flotation foam revealed that a good bit of this appears to have been submerged to the point of taking on additional weight. Foam under forward live well is discolored on the bottom - perhaps some type of sealant the manufacturer applied being spraying foam?











Leaning towards replacing all of the flotation foam with Dow blue board. Am in the process of building a hot wire foam cutter to shape these to the contour of the hull between the ribs (10" oc). I'd like to modify the interior layout and convert this from a tiller steer to a side console. More on that later. For now, I'm hoping to learn:
1) What type of rivet tool do I need? I'm guessing the Arrow pop rivet tool (resembles a pair of pliers) isn't going to cut it. Do I go for an accordion type manual tool or is a pneumatic gun the better option?
2) When replacing flooring, is there any reason not to use the existing holes in the ribs were the original floor was fastened?
3) The trim piece running along on top of the gunnels was easy to loosen but the piece on the bow (maybe cast aluminum) has me stymied as I have removed 4 machine screws from the underside of this piece yet still haven't figured out what is keeping it (and those 2 trim pieces) from being removable. Pictures of that with next post.


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## water bouy (Jul 4, 2017)

Nice boat. Where abouts in SC.


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## Mainline9 (Jul 4, 2017)

Greenville, one of the best small cities in the South.


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## Mainline9 (Jul 5, 2017)

Mainline9 said:


> Greenville, one of the best small cities in the South.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Trying to ready the hull for primer and paint but still puzzled on how to remove this piece at the bow. Four machine bolts have been removed but still it is immovable. 














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## Srobby26 (Jul 6, 2017)

For what it's worth I have an alumacraft backtroller and the nose piece was screwed and some kine of sealant was used.


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## water bouy (Jul 6, 2017)

I'm gonna tape around mine whenever it's time to paint. Btw, you're in the path of a total eclipse next month.


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## Mainline9 (Jul 6, 2017)

water bouy said:


> I'm gonna tape around mine whenever it's time to paint. Btw, you're in the path of a total eclipse next month.


Water Bouy - You aren't the only one who figured out the eclipse will be overhead next month. The hotels have been promoting eclipse packages (as if they needed another reason to attract visitors...) for months now. I'm trying to figure out if the eclipse will prompt a top water bite in mid summer for stripers in Hartwell! I need to get my boat back in commission.


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## Mainline9 (Jul 6, 2017)

Srobby26 said:


> For what it's worth I have an alumacraft backtroller and the nose piece was screwed and some kine of sealant was used.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Srobby - I thought that this might have been a 'friction fit' housing and took a rubber mallet to it without luck. Did you use heat or just force in removing yours?


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## Lost (Jul 7, 2017)

> 1) What type of rivet tool do I need? I'm guessing the Arrow pop rivet tool (resembles a pair of pliers) isn't going to cut it. Do I go for an accordion type manual tool or is a pneumatic gun the better option?


Get a pneumatic rivet gun. They aren't much more than a manual one and was one of the best decisions I made so far on my rebuild. I'd also recommend the cheap pneumatic stapler from Northern Tool when it comes time to install your vinyl/carpet.



> 2) When replacing flooring, is there any reason not to use the existing holes in the ribs were the original floor was fastened?


For me, lining up the existing holes on the new pieces was going to be more effort than what it was worth. I added additional bracing and added some wider strips that I could fasten to.


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## Srobby26 (Jul 7, 2017)

Mainline9 said:


> Srobby26 said:
> 
> 
> > For what it's worth I have an alumacraft backtroller and the nose piece was screwed and some kine of sealant was used.
> ...



I used a heat gun and some gentle encouragement with a large "fixer" bar, it's hot in Texas so my patience gets rather thin...


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## Mainline9 (Jul 8, 2017)

Lost said:


> > 1) What type of rivet tool do I need? I'm guessing the Arrow pop rivet tool (resembles a pair of pliers) isn't going to cut it. Do I go for an accordion type manual tool or is a pneumatic gun the better option?
> 
> 
> Get a pneumatic rivet gun. They aren't much more than a manual one and was one of the best decisions I made so far on my rebuild. I'd also recommend the cheap pneumatic stapler from Northern Tool when it comes time to install your vinyl/carpet.
> ...


Lost - Thanks for the suggestion about going pneumatic as I'm always looking to add to the tool arsenal. I was hoping that using those existing holes in the end of the ribs for securing the flooring would be standard practice but recognize the challenge of aligning these holes might be worse than drilling new ones in the flooring and additional bracing at the same time.


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## Mainline9 (Jul 8, 2017)

Srobby26 said:


> Mainline9 said:
> 
> 
> > Srobby26 said:
> ...


Srobby - I'm guessing a fix it bar is not a finesse tool, so banging it rather than prying it is the way to go? 


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## brownfarm2008 (Jul 13, 2017)

Wow, once you strip everything down this looks almost identical to my 16 foot smokercraft pro angler I just started tearing down. Looking forward to following your post as this is my first rebuild as well! 


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## Srobby26 (Jul 13, 2017)

Mainline9 said:


> Srobby26 said:
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> > Mainline9 said:
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Missed this, sorry, no my fixer bar was used for prying this time. I'm not positive it would be the same for yours. Good luck and great work so far. I need to start a build thread for mine



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## Mainline9 (Jul 19, 2017)

Big shout out to Srobby as removing that bow nosepiece was a cinch with a tire iron and a little leverage between the rubber trim and that casting. Today's (and prob tomorrow's) agenda is to scour the inside of the hull with Etch and Prep, wipe up any resulting dust, Bondo the pitted areas and paint. 


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## Mainline9 (Oct 22, 2017)

Back at the rebuild. Over the past two months, I’ve addressed the issue of pitting/corrosion on the hull interior where the OEM expanded foam flotation had been compromised. All that foam has been removed and replacement pieces cut from 2” Dow extruded polystyrene to fit between (and then over) ribs.



Before installing the Dow (which cuts like a dream with a hot wire cutter), I put several coats of Aluthane (from frequently mentioned vendor, Epoxy Products) on the hull interior. Great finished look but this won’t be seen as flooring will cover all in the weeks ahead.




WHAT I REALLY NEED INPUT ON is converting a livewell into a highly efficient bait well capable of sustaining 3 or 4 dozen shad or herring. My first thought was finding a commercial tank, either circular or oval that would fit under the forward deck. I could probably get away with as little as a 20 gallon unit, but everything I’ve found has been too tall to fit, without raising that forward deck another 3 inches than it’s original height. My alternative would be to modify the livewell I removed, insulating top, bottom and 4 sides with 2” Dow and playing it back against port side, just aft of the forward deck. As the tank is a 15 gallon model (measured to the overflow, I’d have to raise that outlet as rounding the sharp interior corners of the livewell (a must with herring or shad) would reduce the current 15 gallon tank to about 12. I would greatly welcome any input on whether this is a viable option by someone who has experience with this.







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## water bouy (Oct 22, 2017)

The good thing about bait tanks is you can leave em home if you want. I decided not to bother with a livewell either, just a cooler.


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## Duke62 (Oct 28, 2017)

Why the Aluthane on the hull interior? I have not seen that on other builds. Should I do the same?


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## Mainline9 (Oct 28, 2017)

Duke, I had some scattered pitting and corrosion, particularly where the OEM foam had become waterlogged. After scubbing, sanding and a vinegar wash & rinse, I planned on primer, Bondo and more primer. After reading some threads and talking with Paul at Epoxy Products, I elected instead to seal with Aluthane after cleaning the affected area. First time I used the stuff but I like the way it went on. Time will tell if this approach was best.


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