# Free boat - need advice / recommendations / warnings



## eqppwqqep (Jun 4, 2010)

Hello again fellas. I am sure you don't remember, but about 3 months ago I posted on here about my 1236 flat bottom boat. I ended up selling it with new troller, batter, etc for about $500 to a guy locally. Two days later, two of the four lakes in our neighborhood busted levees due to flooding in TN (the same stuff that took out downtown Nashville.) 

Yesterday, I got on Craigslist and found a guy giving away a free fibergalss boat and trailer. I called the number and he explained that it included a 75HP Evinrude. At first I was interested, after hearing about a 75HP motor for free, I was tickled pink. 

Here are pictures. I plan to clean it all out this weekend. He made me haul off a few things for him since the boat was free (pallets, exhaust pipe, etc) 










I guess I would like some advice on:
- Repainting a fiberglass boat like this one?
- Rebuilding, repairing the Evinrude?
- Putting a new prop on, someone stole the old prop
- ANy warnings, advice, etc.


I have never owned a boat with a motor, only trollers and small flat bottoms. So this is all new to me. Thanks in advance for the advice and maybe I can get it all done and slap a tinboats.net sticker on each side. :mrgreen:


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## bear7625 (Jun 4, 2010)

Great find! I would start with a good cleaning to see what you have. You would be surprised how different things look when you remove years of crud. Make a project list. If you try to fix everything at one time, it can become overwhelming. I would start with the motor. Good luck and remember there is no such thing as a stupid question.


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## bobberboy (Jun 4, 2010)

For free?! What's the deal? Maybe the previous owner collected insurance or something. Was this related to the flood? Maybe you need to glue a couple of pieces of aluminum on the sides to stick the Tinboats decal to...


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Jun 4, 2010)

I'm only 8 hours away if another deal like that comes up.


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## eqppwqqep (Jun 4, 2010)

Okay, found a few things wrong. Need some suggestions as to fixing these issues. I will get pictures tomorrow.

First thing is the deck is bad, so I tore it out tonight. The problem is that the deck apparently set on stringers and foam board right on top of the hull. I guess what I am saying is, the bottom of the decking laid on top of foam that laid on top of the bottom of the boat. Should I build stringers for the deck to sit on?

Second, there is a hose that comes off the engine and goes to an adapter on the powerhead cover. It's cracked in a few spots. Is this a big problem?

My steering cable is locked up, I know what to do for that.

I turned the motor by wrench and it has compression, but I don't know how much PSI. Either way, I am assuming if I had a locked engine it wouldn't have turned AND that if I had a blown wring or valve, it would not have felt uniform like it did. 

How do I check gearcase oil?

It has no battery yet, so how can I lower the tilt? Where is the tilt reservoir?


I swear I won't ask these noobish questions once I get my hands in the boat. I will take pictures of everything tomorrow. Lots of fixing up to do. Thanks in advance!


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## perchin (Jun 4, 2010)

I would replace the foam with new poured foam. The foam will save your boat in the event of a capsize.

I would replace the cracked hose..... hose is cheap, and that one could be vacuum.

I would just replace the gearcase oil all together. To do that remove the lower of the two plugs (screws) from the lower end. Then gently break loose the upper plug, start to loosen it untill fluid starts to drain. I usually let it drain in a oil pan for 30min. or so, probably longer than needed, but I like to know its all drained out. Now to replace with new, Cut the tip off your squeeze bottle of lube so that the tip will fit snuggly into the bottom plug hole. Press the tip into the bottom plug hole firmly and with one hand squeeze the lube into the lower end, continue to squeeze untill the lube starts to come out around the upper plug, maintain pressure on the bottle of lube and with the other hand snug up the top plug. Now replace the lower plug, and tighten both of them.

If it were me I would not mess with the tilt untill you have a battery.... reason being is that if that thing has not bleed off by now, it must be in good condition. You crack open the fill plug and bleed off some of the fluid, but I wouldn't because of before mentioned, and I would not risk an air lock.

Hope this helps.................perchin


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## eqppwqqep (Jun 4, 2010)

So because the motor hasn't tilted down, the seals in the tilt must still be good?

What can I do to test the motor a little bit without a battery? Everything looks to be in good shape, but I know looks aren't everything when it comes to motors.

Also, the gas cap is stuck, is this normal?


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## perchin (Jun 4, 2010)

eqppwqqep said:


> So because the motor hasn't tilted down, the seals in the tilt must still be good?
> 
> What can I do to test the motor a little bit without a battery? Everything looks to be in good shape, but I know looks aren't everything when it comes to motors.
> 
> Also, the gas cap is stuck, is this normal?



Can't garuntee that the seals are still good, but chances are they are good. I don't think without a battery its gonna be easy to check for spark, fuel or compression. Take a photo of the gas cap, mine used to give me fits if I put it on too snug. By the time I had a almost empty tank I could barely get it loose..... I'm not positive but it seemed to be begging for oxygen and sounded like opening a pop can at times (ppsshhhhh). lol, anyways good luck man.


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Jun 5, 2010)

For the gas cap you can use a small strap wrench.


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## eqppwqqep (Jun 5, 2010)

Guys I really appreciate all of the advice, thanks!

If it's okay, I'll just keep throwing stuff up here. I'm not expecting anyone to answer, but if you feel like contributing, I will certainly appreciate it.

I took the deck out last night and pulled out maybe a dozen or so foam 2X4 looking things. They were water logged. Once up, I noticed the hull flexing a lot under any sort of pressure. Is there something I should check for? I am assuming once I re-deck the boat and pour the foam (i plan to drill key holes and replug the deck) that the boat will regain some rigidity?

Also, it appears there are some cracks in the fiberglass and some chips that are completely missing. Inside these cracks you don't see the normal fiberglass I expected. It looks alot more like spiderweb. It's like the fiberglass is full of voids throughout, it's not mesh, more like a bunch of fiberglass that looks "puffed"? It's almost like you could squeeze it, but it is anything but soft. Should I worry about water infiltration in these spots? How hard is it to gelcoat the boat with a second coat? I was thinking about buying a few gallons of gelcoat, cleaning the hull with acid, and rolling the gelcoat on. Is this overkill for a free boat?

Again, thanks for the info! I'm a total fg noob. Also, given the name tinboats, if fiberglass isn't a normal topic here, I can move on elsewhere for advice if needed. Just let me know.


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## eqppwqqep (Jun 5, 2010)

It appears the fiberglass is chopped strand. :?


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## perchin (Jun 5, 2010)

I'm thinking that the 2x4 looking things are your stringers.... they are the structural make up of your boat... :shock: , You have a couple of options for replacement. You can use new wood 2x4's, and glass them in, or you can do poured stringers with sea cast. There are a few guys on the board here that work daily with glass boats. Post up some pictures of what your working on. Tight lines............Perchin 8)


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## eqppwqqep (Jun 5, 2010)

I'm certain that these weren't stringers, if I understand what stringers are. My understanding is stringers run the length of the boat and add structurally to the boat. These were literally foam strips. When I pulled them out of the boat, they snapped like styrofoam. They look like 2X4s made of Great Stuff foam...very spoungy. 

I think my stringers were like fir strips with resin on them. They were rotted out.

I will take a ton of pictures tomorrow. I really appreciate your responses.


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## eqppwqqep (Jun 6, 2010)

Cleaned out the boat today. I scrubbed all of it with steel wool. Cleaned the outside of the motor as well.

Before:













After:

























I cleaned the splashwell, removed the rub rail, all the rotted carpet I could get to, cleaned the bilge and punched a hole throught the rotted deck to all me to rinse the hull out and dump out of the bilge drain hole. I don't know what I am looking at, so if you guys can point out any issues, I'd appreciate it. Also got the gas cap off with a pry bar and hammer. Last inspection on the boat was 2002, so I assume it has been off the water since 2002-2003.


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## eqppwqqep (Jun 6, 2010)

I have 40 rivets to drill to split the halves. How do I reattach the two halves back together?
I also took inventory:
- two bilge pumps
- 2 livewells (bait / fish I guess?)
- Some sort of magnet attached to a cable in the bilge?
- The stringers are part fiberglass and then fir strips that are glassed over. 
- I don't have a key to the ignition.


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## perchin (Jun 6, 2010)

You should really take a look at this guy's rebuild to get an idea of what kind of work your getting into..... hope this helps, and I hope no-body gets offended I gave you a link to I-boats but here it is, great info from this guy.

https://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=364284


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## eqppwqqep (Jun 6, 2010)

I started a thread over there, but was basically just told to do a search.


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## perchin (Jun 6, 2010)

eqppwqqep said:


> I started a thread over there, but was basically just told to do a search.



Yeah.......... most of em over there are pretty clicky, if your not a I-boats veteran than nobody responds to your questions..... That's why tinboats is so great.


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## eqppwqqep (Jun 6, 2010)

perchin said:


> You should really take a look at this guy's rebuild to get an idea of what kind of work your getting into..... hope this helps, and I hope no-body gets offended I gave you a link to I-boats but here it is, great info from this guy.
> 
> https://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=364284



I actually read that entire thing today...he went balls to the wall on that boat and it looks great.


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