1990 16' Lund Rebel Special

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wmrmurphy

Well-known member
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Location
Yamhill County, OR
Greetings. Here begins my saga. It may be wordy at first but bare with me and I'll get to the juicy parts. My first boat was a 1982 Lund Tyee 5.2. My father bought it new and I purchased it from my mother when he passed in 1997. As my kids grew we rapidly outgrew it and I moved up to a 20' Duckworth. Loved both of those boats. When my kids all grew up and scattered to the wind and I got older the Duck was just too big for me to handle launching and loading by myself so I sold it. Believe it or not, I had that boat for 13 years and sold it for almost what I paid for it. I decided to look for a smaller craft that would be easier to handle for 1 person... I looked at a few Smokercrafts and a few other brands and stumbled upon this old Lund. I figured why not? My first boat was a Lund why not have my last boat be a Lund. I drove north almost to Seattle to look at it and decided to give a go. It had been sitting outside with an old red cover pretty much for the past 10 years - had a 40 hsp Yamaha 4 stroke with few hours (supposedly) and the trailer had new tires. I hooked my jeep up to it and hauled it home to mi casa. It seemed a bit heavy to me for a 16' boat but little did I know. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of the inside with the hideous red carpet - I thought how hard can it be to replace carpet?

Here's what it looked like when I hooked up:
 

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Like I said, I did not have the forethought to take photo's before I started as I didn't really know what I was getting into. Once I started trying to peel up the carpet I discovered the plywood was soaked with water and soft in places. Once I started removing the plywood I discovered the joys of soaked floatation foam, sand, dirt, 30 years worth of debris, corrosion, pour drainage. Remember when I said it seemed a bit heavy? At least 300# of horrible messy water logged foam.
 

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Of coarse by these images it looks like it was easy! My wife of 35+ years had no idea I knew that many cuss words! By now, I've gotten past the buyers remorse - pretty close to a year has passed and I discovered this wonderful web site that proved that this project was survivable and maybe even enjoyable if approached from the proper perspective. If you look close at the 2nd image you can see that the large drain holes are at least 1/4" to 1/2" off the floor - water literally had no way to evacuate!
 

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To remedy the poor design I cut out the bottom of all the holes. Can you say contortionist? Oh, and some more colorful language for sure!
 

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To make a very long and painful story shorter and somewhat kinder - let's just say I've progressed to the design stage. I've settled on 5/8" MDO for decking and started to fit some pieces together. I have used an oil base primer and several coats of heavy duty floor paint. I've decided to mount a seat on a box by the steering wheel and the other two I will have on moveable pedestals... No more big holes in the floor thru which water pours. I will have a hatch in the front deck for storage and a couple built in tackle boxes. I will have a covered area in the back for the fuel tank and batteries. I will completely rewire it with new switch panel and fuse box. I will have built in rod storage on the drivers side.
 

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I recently finished using my grinder to rid the old girl of corrosion from salt intrusion and rust from old hooks and whatnot laying in the bottom; successfully lost most of the skin from my knuckles and promised my wife that I will no longer scare the neighbor kids with my swear laden rants that must of sounded like an absolute crazed lunatic. Last night I applied Gluvit to all the seams and rivets in the bottom of the boat and will soon start cutting closed cell foam to go under the decking - mostly for sound deadening as I'm not sure how effective it will be at floating this craft in reality. I'm looking forward to piecing it together and would like to think I'll fish out of it before the summers gone. From this point on it should be easier, less painful and hopefully I can keep the promise to the wife. (of coarse, there's still the motor and trailer :shock: ) I will add photos as I go so stay tuned.... :beer:
 
Two more images before I quit for this round. One shows a better view of new improved drain holes and the other just an example of the really nice carpet that was literally covering this poor little boat. I'm telling you - unless you've seen it you have no idea how much water and dirt this kind of carpet can hold.... Until next time! :beer:
 

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keep us apprised, I have a 14' 1990 Lund Pike Rebel Special which also had that bright red carpet before I removed it. I agree, even after power washing it, it retained a lot of dirt.
I hope ya get to fish outta your boat this summer
 
I appreciate all the detail in your story telling. It seems that for a lot of us these projects grow and grow and grow after starting. Mine started with plans for a simple drop in casting deck.. I am now on year two of the project and planning for year three..

Keep taking lots of pictures, and keep us posted with the details. Good luck with the project!

Check out my thread if you are interested in seeing my 14' Lund build:
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=43755
 
I was back at it for a while yesterday evening. It's tough finding blocks of time to spend on this project. Pictured below is the foam of choice - 2" thick. I use a skill saw to cut it and it works like a champ. The first deck board is set in place - the side edges are routed to match the pitch of the sides. Aluminum rivets are ordered and will be in Monday. I hope to have all the foam cut and deck boards in place by the end of the weekend. Prior to riveting I will use a good silicone sealant on the predrilled rivet holes, as well as on top of all the stringers. I also plan to fill all the blind rivets with 3M 5200. More to come!
 

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Coming together. All foam cut and installed, floor decking placed waiting to be riveted in place and started work on bow and sides.
 

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Last night got most of the decking riveted down. Special order aluminum 3/16" rivets with 3/4" grip. Put 3M5200 on every one to help seal out moisture. Oh, and this is the best $50 I've spent so far on this project... Can't imagine doing all these bad boys by hand with the arthritis I have in my hands! From here on out the project gets more interesting!
 

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Thanks for posting your story. I have a 16' starcraft that I just did the bottom on and am about to flip over to work on the interior, so watching your progress closely.
 
No photos today. Just this observation: If you think it will take an hour, plan for 2 and it'll probably take 3. Decking is all installed. Helm is re-attached and front hatch is cut out and in place. I have more pattern making, cutting, painting etc to do next as I piece together both sides and the back covered area. I also plan to replace all the wood on the old helm as I find it's starting to dry rot - it's not about the destination, it's the journey right?
 
Some of the pieces parts are cut out and fitted. I'm turning the old live well into storage with a one piece cover that folds open from the end. The space in between will have a built in tackle box. Front bow piece is cut and fit, front hatch is installed and of coarse I had to set one of the new seats in to see what it'll look like as a tease. My plan is to have that seat the only permanent seat in the boat I could of made the box an inch or so shorter but I will live with it. My feet are on the floor that's the main thing. I have a 4 leg pedestal that will be moveable and I will have a removable seat for the stern when trolling or if I need to fish a 3rd person. As expected, this part of the project is less stressful - all those hours of sitting and staring at the boat and planning in my head are finally paying off. Still need to do the opposite side with rod storage and the covered area on the back, close up the bow, redo the helm, rewire with all new wire, fuse panel, switch panel, bilge pump etc... Lots of primer and paint coming my way soon!
 

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Just so you don't think I got distracted and abandoned this project here are a few images - nothing exciting but progress none the less. Pieces parts cut, fit and primered then painted. Also what happens when it gets late, you're trying to hurry and you try to use a router on a hatch opening. Very frustrating. I did quit for the night after that... it was the 2nd attempt at making that particular piece. The painted image shows how it eventually turned out. Only I will know it happened.
 

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