1994 Spectrum 16 Sport Rebuild? - Bouncing ideas around

[thill]

Last night, I went out with the grinder and ground away most of the terrible welds. Lots of porosity, voids and burnt spots. TERRIBLE! I still can't believe I didn't just stop.

Filling voids is a pain. I had to do many little spot welds, then grind back to make sure they filled properly. In the end, I got annoyed and just laid full welds over them, then ground them down to the proper contour. There are a few little pores here and there, but primer and paint will fill them with no issue.

In the end I am pleased with the results. The welds are nicer than the bubble-gum factory welds, especially the end caps and outside edges. And I put a fillet in the corners of the engine cutout, rather than just a bead. The other welds are just simple beads, nothing special. Here is the rough product, before final sanding and priming:





I'm about to go out and smooth everything out and spray etching aluminum primer on. I will probably clean up some old touched up spots on the back skin that look a bit suspicious. maybe because they used tan paint on them. A wire brush will reveal what is really under there.

Once the transom is back together, I need to get back on getting the floor down and secured. I still have to cut the original floor back tight to the new flooring. I'll probably use a vibro-cutter with a half-moon blade.

The front floor of the boat is tight and dry, so no need to do much there, but I do want to put an aluminum backing strip under the joint so it stays nice and tight over time.

I'm going to just re-carpet it as it was originally. I thought about vinyl flooring, but I hate the roll and tuck thing, and I don't want to put much time and money into this one, so carpet it is.

In the end, the boat will be a bit better than original. I just need to burn through the rest of the project.

 

[Lost But Happy]

And I put a fillet in the corners of the engine cutout, rather than just a bead.

?

 

[LDUBS]

Those welds look great. Nicely done.

 

[thill]

?

View attachment 115232

Hahaha...

 

[thill]

Those welds look great. Nicely done.

It's funny... in person they look pretty good, but looking at my close up photos, I want to critique them for the porosity. Still, they will be strong enough for the application, and will look better after I dress them a bit more, prime and paint.

 

[thill]

One thing missing from this boat was the starboard corner cap. I looked online, and they want a lot of money for them, like $160 - Yikes!

Since I was welding aluminum anyway, I decided to fabricate a corner cap. I didn't have the right aluminum, but I had some scrap angle and a small piece of flat stock, so I made the perimeter with the angle, and then filled the center with the flat plate. It looked really hokey, but I welded it heavily so I could put some decent radius on the corners, and the end result looks decent:




It probably took me two hours, but at least I got it done.

 

[thill]

After making a corner cap, I decided to check the funny looking spots in the transom. I'm really glad I did. There were a number of corrosion holes hiding under the bubbling paint:


I circled them and pulled the welder back out. I knew it was going to be difficult, as corrosion is hard to weld. Most of them opened up 2-5x bigger than the original hole before burning back to solid metal. I stuck with it, and got them all closed up. Right then, there was a clap of thunder, and I had to quickly wrap things up and get under cover before the storm hit.

I'll check the welds tomorrow and take a pic, but I made it out without getting my tools drowned or getting hit by lightning, so I call that a good day.

 

[Lost But Happy]

One thing missing from this boat was the starboard corner cap. I looked online, and they want a lot of money for them, like $160 - Yikes!

Since I was welding aluminum anyway, I decided to fabricate a corner cap. I didn't have the right aluminum, but I had some scrap angle and a small piece of flat stock, so I made the perimeter with the angle, and then filled the center with the flat plate. It looked really hokey, but I welded it heavily so I could put some decent radius on the corners, and the end result looks decent:
View attachment 115238

View attachment 115239

It probably took me two hours, but at least I got it done.

Welding...One discipline I haven't tried...yet. Much less aluminum lol

 

[Lost But Happy]

After making a corner cap, I decided to check the funny looking spots in the transom. I'm really glad I did. There were a number of corrosion holes hiding under the bubbling paint:
View attachment 115240

I circled them and pulled the welder back out. I knew it was going to be difficult, as corrosion is hard to weld. Most of them opened up 2-5x bigger than the original hole before burning back to solid metal. I stuck with it, and got them all closed up. Right then, there was a clap of thunder, and I had to quickly wrap things up and get under cover before the storm hit.

I'll check the welds tomorrow and take a pic, but I made it out without getting my tools drowned or getting hit by lightning, so I call that a good day.

Stupid corrosion. It's always worse than what the naked eye can see.

 

[thill]

Was showing someone the Spectrum and I showed them the corner cap, and they looked and said, "No... You didn't make this. It's cast aluminum." So I turned it over, and he was shocked when he saw that it was made from some old angle and a piece of road sign.

After that, I figured I'd show you guys what the bottom looks like:


Not so pretty, eh? I could really clean it up, top and bottom, but why? This is how it looks on the boat. You don't even notice it, which is exactly what I wanted.

 

[thill]

Did a little bit more work today. Bought a new sheet of plywood, and decided to make the front deck solid, instead of U-shaped. I'm very pleased with the cutout and fit. I made a cardboard template got it right the first time,. The edges are supported by the hull, so no additional supports are needed. I'm thrilled.

The platform is 70" long X 65" wide. Very nice platform for a boat of that type.



Getting the major stuff knocked out. Transom has been rebuilt, welding has been done, floor has been installed, front deck wood cut to fit.

I have a lot of bolting and screwing, some painting, a lot of carpet to lay, and an engine to go through and then install, and lots of rigging and electrical before the first water trial. I sure hope it doesn't leak. (Being a welded boat, I'm not too worried about that)

Every time I work on it, I get a little bit closer.

 

[thill]

I finally received the Moeller drain tubes for the motor well. I cut them to length, slathered silicone all around the inside of the drilled holes and slid them in. Tightened the bolt and a few seconds later I had a beautifully flared drain. Spend the next half hour looking for my transom U-bolts, but didn't find them, and then it got dark.

Will take pics later.

 

[Lost But Happy]

Spend the next half hour looking for my transom U-bolts, but didn't find them, and then it got dark.

Will take pics later.

They're on yer head. Oh wait, those are glasses

 

[thill]

I never did find them! Ordered another pair off Amazon, and got them a couple of days later.

Today, I got a little time, but a storm was looming. I went out, and wiped the transom down with Acetone, taped off some parts, and sprayed the transom with Rustoleum Aluminum Primer.

I have always been pleased with this product. It goes on smooth, adheres well, dries fast, and leaves a great surface for painting the top coat. I got two coats on, and as I admired my handiwork, my wife tells me that a storm is coming. Right on cue, raindrops starting falling, so I scrambled to cover the boat back up.

So here is the only pic I took today:


You can't see much, but you might notice that all those holes and corroded areas are gone. All welded up, sanded and primed. Hopefully, it won't be so rainy tomorrow, and I can make more progress.

I also set up my spray rig today, and practiced using it with water on cardboard. I know this isn't the same as using paint, but I have only used a spray rig once or twice, and I hadn't set it up, so the more practice I get before doing the real thing, the better.

Now, I'm off to watch YouTube videos about painting with an air gun, particularly about setup and cleaning the gun afterward. The last time I used a spray gun, I was spraying gelcoat, and it came out great, but then the gelcoat locked up in the gun and ruined it. I don't want to make that same mistake again. It's an inexpensive gun, but I'd rather not ruin it like the first one.

 

[thill]

I finally have the transom welded and primed and ready for paint.

BEFORE:



AFTER:


Now, I have to figure out the spray gun that you can see on the right in the pic above. I've watched some videos, and think I've pretty much got it. Can't be any harder than getting a good finish with a rattle can, and I'm pretty good with that.

 

[thill]

I decided to try my hand at shooting paint today. I watched a number of videos, until I felt I had the basics down. Pulled out my $9.99 HFT spray gun and screwed on a secondary filter:


Mixed about 6 oz. of paint with a bit of hardener and added acetone as a thinner. It might rain this afternoon, so I wanted a quick dry time. I loaded the gun and got the pattern right on a cardboard box. I was as ready as I was going to be.

I shot the first coat... WOW, that was fast. It probably took less than a minute. I let it flash off for a couple of minutes then shot another coat. MAN, this is just too easy. I ended up shooting 4 coats total, making sure I had good paint thickness. Satisfied, I broke it down and cleaned out the gun carefully.

It was somewhat anti-climatic, but in a good way. Set up and cleanup took longer than the actual painting.

Pretty boring, but here is the painted transom. Looks the same as it did when primed, except there is shine to the paint, instead of being flat.



Something that surprised me is that the paint was dry to the touch after I cleaned up the tools, maybe a half hour later.
Yes, this is MUCH better than using rattle cans.

So this ends the transom repair part of this project.

 

[thill]

At this point, I realize that I'm about 2/3 through this project. So far, I've

1. Emptied the boat of seats and accessories
2. Removed the old flooring and decking
3. Cut out the welded-in aluminum transom
4. Dug out the rotten transom wood
5. Replaced the floor decking
6. Cut out and replaced the front deck
7. Replaced the transom coring with new, sealed wood
8. Welded the transom and splashwell back onto the boat
9. Welded up a bunch of corrosion and screw holes
10. Fabricated a new corner cap, since one was missing
11. Sanded, cleaned and primed the transom and splashwell area
12. Sprayed the transom area with fresh paint.

Now I have one more big decision to make...

Do I put the jump seats back in the back corners of the boat or do I put in a small rear deck/casting platform?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[LDUBS]

Seats with storage under. My two cents.

Boat is looking great.

 

[thill]

So here is what I see to get this project done.

1. Re-install the built-in rear seats OR make a small carpeted platform in the back.
2. Flush out the gas tank and add new fill and fuel lines.
3. Install new carpet to the floor, front and back decks and gunnels.
4. Get the bilge, lights, stereo, livewell, etc. working properly.
5. Install either the Mercury 60 or the Evinrude 70 to the transom, and make sure all is right with it
6. Install a bow-mounted trolling motor.
7. Water test the boat, and do any remaining odds and ends.

Dropping the jump seats back in is very simple, but I'm leaning toward adding a platform. That way, 3-4 people can sit across the back, if needed, and a platform never hurts for fishing. Also, I can add storage underneath, if I design it right.

Tricky decision about which engine to add. The Mercury 60 is a 1991, but it's free and the boat is already rigged for Merc. The Evinrude 70 is a 2001 and it's better looking, but I have more money into it.

I've never run a Merc 60, but I've heard they are very similar in power to the Evinrude 70. Any thoughts or comments on that?

 

[bigcity]

I finally received the Moeller drain tubes for the motor well. I cut them to length......

What length did you cut them past the inside of the wood?? I will be putting in my motor well drains this weekend.
Moeller's instructions say to leave 1/4" beyond the transom. But it looks like that is with the extra spacer(for an aluminum skin only) correct??