Sea King Semi V-hull **Phase 1**

[DocCaliz]

Evening folks

Initially i though this boat was a 14ft Seaking made in 1955, but on further investigation its not possible as sea king only made boats from 1972-1979 and then it started making boats in 2007 again. My tittle says its a 1955 so it guess its not really relevant this boat is at leas 30 years old but it is in fantastic structural ship just not very much to look at cosmetically.

I picked it up on craigslist from an older gentleman who's wife recently became ill and he would no longer be using it as he was going to focus his time taking care of his wife. we settled on what I believe is a great price and we where both satisfied. The boat included the motor, a 1962 18hp Evenrude Fastwin and a baby powder blue trailer. The boat itself is under many layers of paint I have identified a Dark blue, Green, Red and finally Carolina blue in addition to some type of house paint that splattered on it while it was stored upside down at some point. all are peeling and chipping off.

The previous owner had started on a deck but hadn't finished it. I will be re using the aluminum he framed it out with but want some storage up front so it will be reworked. I found that the trailer had two different sized tires on it too LOL. It was holding about 3 inches of water and had a nice little family of tadpoles and mosquito larvae swimming about. Almost like a miniature swamp :shock: .

here it is after successfully towing it the 20 or so miles home

more pictures for your enjoyment.

My game plan is as follows.

I took the Motor to a shop to get services and given a once over to make sure it Good to go for the water.

Rework the trailer freash paint, new tires and wheels, Hardware, trailer guides, new lights and wiring, inspect and replace bearing as needed.

Boats 1st mod was to add a bow hook to help me get it back on the trailer after I get the trailer finished, refit to be done in two Phases Phase 1 will be this summer. Phase two will be over the winter.

Phase 1
Clean up the boat
Replace the Transom
New wood benches
Carpet the Benches( so don't burn my butt)
New foam if needed
Get a cover to keep the weather off of it.
Get the motor back from the shop and put it to work.
Go fishing
Possibly a DIY Bimini cover
Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Phase 2
Strip and Paint the bottom of the boat
Strip and Paint the interior of the boat
Build a floor and small deck up front.
small rear deck to give me space to store the fuel cell and a battery.
Wire for USCG Night lights, docking lights and trolling motor
Front mount for trolling motor
Install a bilge pump for Emergencies
buy a trolling motor

Yanking out the transom right now it is 8 inches I'm am going to replace it with a 10 in one so that I have something to attached the rear deck to right now it isn't long enough.

New wheels and bearing all the way around.

the trailer tongue was pretty banged up and unsafe. I cut i back and drilled new holes for the hitch.

Bow hook mod Stainless Hardware Red locktite and a little silicone on the rear to seal it up.

this will be cover eventually by the trolling motor deck/mount.

Trailer Before Pic

most of my supplies for the trailer gathered a few thing are out in the the shed

Ill continue to make update as thing progress, any advice will be very welcomed, Please enjoy my project.

Doc

 

[es4286]

PLEASE MORE!! I HAVE THE SAME BOAT JUST CUT THE SEATS OUT GETTIN READY TO MOD AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOUR PROGRESS.THANKS :wink:

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

I have a 1971 Sea King jon boat and have read about Sea King boats as old as 1951.

 

[DocCaliz]

I have a 1971 Sea King jon boat and have read about Sea King boats as old as 1951.

Thanks for clearing that up. the info I found was on iboats so i assumed it was accurate, but really it isn't important i just needed a solid foundation to work with and this boat provides it. I should have the paint on the trailer completed tonight and then have it put back together with new hardware by tomorrow afternoon when I get done with class. Stand by for preliminary trailer pics.

 

[DocCaliz]

SO over the last 2 weeks I have slowly worked over the trailer. I don't have any indoor space so all my work has been outdoors. It has been slow going due to my school schedule, family obligations, the unseasonably warm weather here which limited the me work to the cooler hours in the evening. If anybody has any tips for balancing my family life with my new found habit I'm all ears.

I Have stripped, primed, and painted then put it all back together with new hardware. Originally. The trailer had roller bunks, once I started painting one of them I realized I wanted to use wooden bunks to better support the boat. Here are some pics of the progress so far.

primed

I still have to carpet the 2x4's and install, wire for and install the lights, and the guides. I also need to find new shock, after 5 trailer shops I'm going to autozone and hope I find a guy willing to help me find a set for a small car that will fit. I intend to use 1.5 in PVC for the guides with a T in the shape of an L. Anybody have an opinion about the durability of that set up?

Next I'll get the boat back on and get to work on the remainder of phase 1.

 

[DocCaliz]

well a little bit of life happened and i haven't gotten much work or use of the boat since finishing the trailer. My house was on the market and it sold and we purchased another home that was a upgrade. now I have garage space to do work indoors instead of out which is a plus but, I've been so busy with work around the new house Ive neglected the boat. We gotten settled in now and i can shift my attention to my hobbies now and have a few question if anybody is willing to answer them. I did get to take the boat out before I moved though.

To save myself a little embarrassment the first time i took the boat out I made a few fatal errors.

1. That little plug in the back of the boat is important.
2. Pull on a starter cable hard enough and it will break.
3. Bring a paddle!
4. Bring something to bail out water with.
5. Other boater are willing to help a guy in trouble. Once they know your OK, then they almost fall out of the boat laughing at you.

Needless to say i learned a few things about seamanship. thankfully i realized I forgot the plug before she sank and only had to deal with about 3 inches of water in her as i drifted away, dead in the water. I wanna give an internet shout out to the guy in $30k bass boat who took timeout of his fishing to give me a hand.

So Im in the Market for a New motor, My little 18hp is fine but its to difficult to start and I don't have the mechanical knowledge to get it running and am not willing to invest the funds to have somebody else do as it is a 50 yo motor. I only gave $500 for the entire package and i knew the motor needed a little help. I figured i got the motor free and payed $500 for the boat and trailer so I'm not really sad it has given my trouble. I can get a brand new motor with Electric start and sell it to off set cost a little, to somebody that can give it the attention it deserves..

Currently In considering a Tahatsu 20hp 4 stroke that weights 120 lbs, I weight 300lbs currently(working on that to), then factor in a starter battery and fuel. will the 120lbs hanging of the back of the boat be to much for it? there isn't a data placard on the boat anywhere i could find so im trying to be conservative i don't want to over load it. I don't plan on having more that one other person on board with me at any given time. anybody have any opinions?

 

[fragdemon]

I have the same trailer as you, and I've got some questions. But first were you able to find shocks for it? I'll snap some pics of my trailer this evening and post in my build thread in my signature. My trailer is configured a little bit different than yours but both of ours has that unique center rail with the rollers mounted in it. Thanks!! And nice job on cleaning that trailer.

 

[Bassman018]

you have your work cut out for you on that boat but if you do as good a job on it as you did the trailer youl have a great rig!

 

[DocCaliz]

I have the same trailer as you, and I've got some questions. But first were you able to find shocks for it? I'll snap some pics of my trailer this evening and post in my build thread in my signature. My trailer is configured a little bit different than yours but both of ours has that unique center rail with the rollers mounted in it. Thanks!! And nice job on cleaning that trailer.

I had a hard time finding shocks, but eventually i was able to with assistance from a very helpful Autozone manager. dont even bother going to a trailer shop the won't have them, i went to 6 of them all over the city. We took the dimensions of the old one and just searched there inventory untill we found something similar. They where not exact actually about 1/2 in to long but they compress and fit, I also needed to buy the generic shock mounting hardware they sell on the back wall of most Autozones with the universal Parts. those worked great. The shocks ended up being for a Ford freedom I don't recall the year off the top of my head and i will see if i can find the receipt so i can give you the number of of it but i fear in the move that i lost it but i still have a few boxes to unpack for my home office.

 

[fragdemon]

I have the same trailer as you, and I've got some questions. But first were you able to find shocks for it? I'll snap some pics of my trailer this evening and post in my build thread in my signature. My trailer is configured a little bit different than yours but both of ours has that unique center rail with the rollers mounted in it. Thanks!! And nice job on cleaning that trailer.

I had a hard time finding shocks, but eventually i was able to with assistance from a very helpful Autozone manager. dont even bother going to a trailer shop the won't have them, i went to 6 of them all over the city. We took the dimensions of the old one and just searched there inventory untill we found something similar. They where not exact actually about 1/2 in to long but they compress and fit, I also needed to buy the generic shock mounting hardware they sell on the back wall of most Autozones with the universal Parts. those worked great. The shocks ended up being for a Ford freedom I don't recall the year off the top of my head and i will see if i can find the receipt so i can give you the number of of it but i fear in the move that i lost it but i still have a few boxes to unpack for my home office.

Thanks for the info! I posted a couple of pics of my trailer in my thread. Check it out if you have a moment, because I was wondering if you could give me some more info on the rollers that are located in your beam. It seems yours may have been replaced at some point since it looks as if there is a bolt going through the entire frame where as on mine they have never been replaced since mine seem to be pushed in. The reason I ask is because some of mine are seized or frozen and dont roll anymore. And I was wondering if I could take them out and bolt in new one's in the same fashion as yours are currently mounted.

 

[Tettle07]

I have the same trailer as you, and I've got some questions. But first were you able to find shocks for it? I'll snap some pics of my trailer this evening and post in my build thread in my signature. My trailer is configured a little bit different than yours but both of ours has that unique center rail with the rollers mounted in it. Thanks!! And nice job on cleaning that trailer.

I had a hard time finding shocks, but eventually i was able to with assistance from a very helpful Autozone manager. dont even bother going to a trailer shop the won't have them, i went to 6 of them all over the city. We took the dimensions of the old one and just searched there inventory untill we found something similar. They where not exact actually about 1/2 in to long but they compress and fit, I also needed to buy the generic shock mounting hardware they sell on the back wall of most Autozones with the universal Parts. those worked great. The shocks ended up being for a Ford freedom I don't recall the year off the top of my head and i will see if i can find the receipt so i can give you the number of of it but i fear in the move that i lost it but i still have a few boxes to unpack for my home office.

Take the shocks off of your trailer, measure their total length completely closed (compressed) and open. Also figure out the travel of the shock (open length - compressed length = travel) then take those measurements (all 3) and one shock with you to the Autozone/Oreilly's whatever you choose and find and old guy whos been there a while and knows how to use the parts manuals (most people use the computers and they will be no help for your application) use the legend/key in the book to determine the manufacturers symbol/letter sequence for the type of mounts you have on your shock (shocks with a straight shaft and a nut might be coded: SN for an example versus a shock with one end being a hole you put a bolt through might be coded: HTB) you will have a specific letter sequence for each end of your shock. then just take your time and go through the shocks looking for the correct type of mount codes then once you find a match look for overall length and travel. If the travel is more than your current shock its ok, the shock will be that much less likely to bottom out. but dont go with a shock with less travel... you could end up bottoming out and blowing out the shocks as well....... hope this helps... I did this for a lowered pick up truck I used to have, took my 3 hours but I found me some shocks that worked..... good luck....