TOPIC: Another "new" owner here

Hello all,

My 8yo son finally talked me into a boat project for the winter, and we found a 1968 MFG Convair 19' tri-hull because he though it looked "old school".

The boat is in pretty good shape for it's age, and the previous owner(s) had already done some work on it by taking out the interior and floor, replacing the floor, and started re-wiring it. The outboard is a 1968 Evinrude 85 that is in surprisingly good shape, starting and running very nicely. We're picking it up next week to start the fun.

I'll post pictures when we get it, and I'm sure I'll be on here a million times for questions. The one thing that I know we're going to need is a steering wheel as it was removed and lost by the previous owner. Anybody have ideas where we can find something pretty close to original?

Knowing nothing about this boat, is there any collector value in them besides our own satisfaction of a father and son job well done? Our intent is to restore it to as close to original as possible and use it for general family fun outings.

Thanks!

Bob

Welcome Aboard Bob,

As for the value, you hit it on the head. All of mine are priceless. But when I go to sell them I can recover most of the cost of materials at best.

But if that little one of your's likes it, then you just cant say no to that. My middle daughter always want a Varooom Varooom boat when she was little. Now as an adult she doesn't even want to get in the darn things. Go figure?

You may want to read up on how to post pics it's a little tricky.
Here's a link on how to do it.

www.fiberglassics.com/glassic-forums/7-support/22256-how-to-post-pictures.html

Now that I have been as nice as I can be, I will get straight to the point.

ON THIS SITE WE ARE PICTURE NUTS!!!!!

Post as many as possible (even the ones where you messed up) For sure those ones, (we love to pick on each other). But we also have some very knowledgeable people on this site that know absolutely everything. And even some things about boats.

Talk to ya when we see the pics.

Yes that is for sure. Many times the paperwork does not match the boat in year. Maybe it sat at a dealer for some time or whatever. Some DMV's do things different from others. Some states don't require titles for boats and trailers. Ohio does not require trailers to have titles so here in Western Pennsylvania you will find a ton of boats for sale without trailer titles. Pennsylvania does and to title one you have to have one of your legs or nuts cut off. We love pics here. If you click on the pic you will open it full size and then you can click on it again to get in closer yet.

OK, so it's been over a month, and between PeeWee football starting, normal summer activities, and now the start of school, we finally got the boat home. Half of the garage is cleaned out and the boat is in it's resting place for the next few months (my wife says it's the final resting spot!) .

We've started by cleaning things out and taking stock of what's good, what's bad, and what the heck is this for?!

The good first, after removing the inside panels, the vinyl flooring stuck to the wood floor, and the various bees nests all over the place we found that we have only three spots to do some fiberglass work. There is a crack in the upper transom area where it looks like something was dropped onto the boat, there is a 1 foot long spot where the hull meets the upper deck that the hull flexes due to a broken bracket, and there is a previously repaired crack in the lower hull that looks thin so I'll put on another layer of glass. Everything is in the dash, and the wires were all cut so that I can figure out what goes where. All of the wiring to the motor is intact, including plugs in the harness and it looks to be in good shape. The steering components (other than the steering wheel missing) are in good shape and turning the steering shaft moves the motor easily. Cables to the engine are good with only one being somewhat frayed at the end that I can easily replace / repair.

The bad: I can't find any fuel tanks? I assumed they were behind the side panels, but after removing them I can find no space for them. Now, on each side of the boat there are large fuel filler caps (marked "fuel") however they dead end into the side of the boat. Immediately below them are typical fuel vents through the side of the hull, and the lines were cut off 6" inside the hull. Anybody know where the fuel tank(s) were located in these things? Is it possible that it's under the floor? I hate to lift the floor as it's 3/4" marine grade ply screwed down quite nicely.

Another thing is that the battery was just sitting inside the boat. It appears that it should be back in the transom on the port side (geez, I am getting nautical now aren't I!) but there's no hold down or anything. Safe to assume that a plastic battery box is in my near future? Should it be wired for dual batteries or is that overkill on a boat this size?

No fuse box, wiring panel, bus bar, or ANYTHING can be located. It's a fairly simple system so I can figure it out, but what's the generally acceptable method here? A small fuse panel, or are circuit breakers a better option?

I'll get onto the fun of gelcoat cleaning later, but after some time experimenting with wet/ dry paper and polishing compound it looks like it's going tp come back to life pretty good. I don't think it warrants more than some color matched touch ups in a few spots.

I promise, pictures soon!!!

Glad to hear you're back at it Bob, "life" does have a way of derailing our projects from time to time! I would caution you to check the transom over carefully, make sure it's sound and not causing the cracks you describe (without pictures!). NOW is the time to address the issue if it's not.

Sounds like somebody pulled the "permanent" fuel tank out, maybe one of the real MFG gang can advise on it's original location? Running a two stroke outboard, I prefer the portable tanks anyway. Onboard tanks do have their advantages, but mixing gas/oil is more "control-able" in the portable tanks IMHO.

Battery (or batteries) should definitely be secured and in a box IMHO. Single or dual is a personal preference, depends on what you plan to do with the boat. The extra "juice" would be nice, but adds considerable weight. The marine dual purpose "deep cycle/crank" batteries provide a pretty decent middle of the road for most applications.

Definitely plan on putting a fuse panel or breaker box in for everything other than the motor itself. Marine grade wiring products are a must, and heat shrink is your friend in the long run. We can help with sourcing this stuff if you need a hand, I'll put a pic of my fuse panel recently installed in my project boat below.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your projects. Littlefin is going to start hollering if you don't get some pics up soon, just thought I'd warn you!

Mark,

Thank you for the reply. The crack in the transom is definately from something hitting it. It's more of a puncture hole, and it's actually in the top of the "bowl" area well in front of the engine in a non-structural spot. I've tapped the entire transom with a quarter listening for voids in the glasswork and could find no hollow sounds at all. (I was a structural repair tech for the Air Force for 20+ years so I've done lots of sheetmetal / fiberglass / honeycomb structure work).

Like I said, I *really* don't want to pull up the floors, but I suppose I may have to. Probably better to do it now anyways before things are covered up again. Hopefully someone can clue me in to where the original tank would have been mounted to start with.

That's a nice clean install you have there! I especially
like the clean white paint on the inside surfaces. I intended on doing similar but was considering something like a truck liner spray?

Pictures soon! Don't want anybody hollering at me!