Winter project had to start early :(

[Pickwicked Basser]

Well I knew my boat needed new wiring, carpet, and a few more odds and ends.

Here she is my '94 Aries xlt 200 after my last fishing trip I had a surprise. My batteries had fallen through to the bottom of the bilge area. The top of the wood was fiberglassed when it was made but the bottom wasn't. So I started pulling out the gas tank. Here it is after way too much work and too many fowl words.

Then I started to tear out what's left of all the old wood and it started getting dark on me today and this is where I stand so far.


The transom and stringers seem solid but I will have to drill a couple holes tomorrow to know for sure. Wish me luck and it will be a slow rebuild as money is sorta tight right now. Wish me luck.

[kk4iz]

Good luck hope everything goes well. Hope deer season don't get in your way so you'll have it done for spring fishing season when fishing gets hot Tom

[Pickwicked Basser]

I just hate that it happened right before the fall fishing really picked up and the mid south rally is just a few weeks away. I guess I'll be bank trash for that. I probably could have moved my batteries around and made it through the fall but didn't want to risk damaging anything else. This will be my first restoration project so I'm sure I'll be asking y'all plenty of questions. Thankfully I work a rotating shift so every couple weeks I'll have plenty of time to work on it during the days while the wife and kids aren't home. If anyone has any advice for me now I'm all ears.

[Pickwicked Basser]

Well crap... I started out by removing the rest of the rotted wood from the battery tray platform and it only went down hill from there. I drilled some holes in the center stringer and it was really wet for the last 6", but not rotten. The transom is a different story. Around the through For the live well pumps this is what I found.



The rest of the transom doesn't seem bad but I won't know until I tear into it. I'm gonna start looking into the pourable compounds because my carpenter skills aren't the best. As far as the stringer goes what will be the best method to go with to repair it? I've thought about going 6" into the dry wood and making a sandwich of the new rear piece between some new wood on each side of the original stringer and the new section. Then fiberglass it all in. Would this be the way to go or is that a major no no? While I'm this deep into it I want to do it right. On a positive note the 3 knee braces are solid. When I fix the transom I'm going to fill all the holes possible and hopefully only have an intake in the bilge area and the drain plug hole. The rest I plan on converting it to a pump out through the top cap like the bilge pump is. Right now there is 2 live well intakes and 2 live well drains through the transom. I need all the advice I can get. Thanks in advance.

[Pickwicked Basser]

No new pics today but I did a lot of looking and trying to sort through someones cousin Bubba's wiring. That stuff is like a birds nest. I've done some reading on the Nida bond pourable transom compound and it seems like my best option as far as cost vs ease of use. I read on another forum where a guy cut the outer skin off to remove ALL the old wood and I was thinking about doing the same thing only with the inner skin. Then before I pour glass the inner skin back in and then pour the compound into the clean out transom. If anyone on here has ever used the Nida bond before let me know how you like it please. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions let me know this is my first ever build and I didnt expect to have to go this deep when I first started. Thanks.

[Scully901]

Pickwick- Last year I replaced a transom on the same model Aries. I used Arjay and am very happy with the results. I used a chainsaw and big spade bits to remove the bad wood between the 2 glass layers...remember- a shop vac is your friend. If you have any questions- holler....

[Pickwicked Basser]

Scully you may have became my new best friend. Did you do a full cap off or cut the back portion of the cap into and dig the old out and pour? I was thinking pull the whole top cap off that way it will be easier to run the wires then connect everything once the cap is back on. Is there any words of wisdom you can share with me like things to look out for? Thanks in advance for any help and I look foward to talking with you during this build. If you have any pics of your repair please post them.

[ep72]

If you get in over your head, im not far away and can handle that project if you get discouraged. Best advise i have is take your time and make notes. Dont patch it up and do it right the first time so you wont ever have to worry and second guess a repair. Oh and remove all wet foam and IMO only put new foam back into areas that have to have it if its for support like around a livewell etc. It kills me to see folks restore boats and fill em with new foam in every area possible.

[Pickwicked Basser]

Thanks Eric for the advice so far I'm only going to put foam in the back corners where the flotation boxes are (unless you would advise against that) and where it's used for support like you said. When I'm done I will be paying you a visit for carpet install. If you don't mind will you pm me the price of red and green led strips to install into the rub rail for navigation lights.

[ep72]

PM sent.

[Scully901]

Unfortunately I did not take any pics....I would not pull the cap if you didnt have too. Drop the motor, pull the aluminum angle off, measure in about 3/8 " from splashwell side and again on motor side of transom...then make 2 parallel cuts to remove the top of the transom...then get to digging. I live just north of Memphis, if you are in the area let me know. I can show you easier than trying to describe it.

[Pickwicked Basser]

Ok guys I've started removing the rub rail and there is a blue million screws in it. A lot of the heads have broken off of them so far. I've read on the Gambler page that their rub rail is riveted on so, my question is which will be better? I'm sure the rivets will be a little more expensive but are easier to just drill out instead of break the heads off and then fight with the remainder of the screw? Is there a down side to using rivets instead of screws? If rivets would be better is there a certain kind I need to use?

[ep72]

I prefer screws but either/or will work just the same.

[Pickwicked Basser]

Well I started taking more screws out of the rub rail tonight and succeeded at turning my phillips head screw driver into an ice pick. Most of the screws are coming out but some are breaking due to being so rusty, and others are so tight that they won't budge. I'm about to go back in the garage and start removing wires and hoses from the motor. Hopefully the motor will be coming off one day this week. If anyone has anymore advise feel free to chime in, and to those who have gave me advise so far thanks.

[Scully901]

I would personally replace with screws rather than rivit....It sounds like you have decided to pull the cap, if so you may be better off doing the plywood/1708 thing

[Pickwicked Basser]

Made some progress today, I got all but about 4' of the rub rail removed. I finally got some Phillips bits for the drill so it went a lot faster. I still have a lot of screws that the heads broke off that is still in the top cap and hull that I will have to figure out how to get out before the top cap will come off. Come to find out someone had a sense of humor back in '94 when they put the boat together because they put the cap and hull together with a rivet, screw, rivet, screw pattern. Some of those screws are so rusted that the heads would just crumble. The rivets are easily removed, just drill them out. Tomorrow I will finish removing the rub rail, trolling motor, and throttle and steering cables. Depending on how smoothly that goes the motor may come off also tomorrow or Thursday. I ran across one issue that will have to be addressed when her top comes off . Around 3' from the very front of the boat it seems that the lip of the cap was a little thin when it was screwed and rivited to the hull and caused the cap to crack completely hidden by the rub rail.



Hopefully this won't be too big of a set back and I can add a layer or two of glass and fix the cracks and repair the gel. Who knows it might even have a change in color before the fat lady sings. As always if anyone has any advice feel free to send it my way.

[bullet20vee]

I feel your pain brother. I finally shot the gel on my project. After 2 years I am ready to start putting my Bullet back together. If you are gonna pull the cap, you may as well fix the transom, batteries and stringers the way they were from the factory. Lots of good info on here to get you through the rebuild. It takes time, but when you finish you will know it's right. And yes, there are millions of screws holding the rub rail on there.


Keith

[Pickwicked Basser]

Scully and Eric I'll take yalls advice on the screws. I removed a few of the rivets and screws holding the halves together and the screws had more tension than the rivets. I'm pulling the cap so I can remove any wet foam and make any other repairs that can't be seen. I may go back with a wood transom I just want to make sure it is done right the first time. If I go with wood how would I join the joints and make them solid because if you are looking down onto the transom it is shaped like this \_/. How would I join the two corners in the middle? That is my only worry with going back with wood. If I pour it the transom would one solid piece all the across so I'm looking for what would be the best method. I would like some guidance with that and I will be more than happy to go with wood as long as I can make sure it is solid for years to come. As always thanks for any advice.

[944own]

I have the same boat. It looks like you have the bench style seat like I have. Could you post a pic of your seat. I am thinking about getting mine recovered. Thanks

[Pickwicked Basser]

944 I'll snap a few tomorrow when I get home. I'm working nights the next 2 weeks so I hope to make some headway during the days. Yes I have the bench seat but I'm not sure if it's the factory seat cause all of the other Aries I have seen only have bucket seats.