Rebuilding The Crappiest Boat on The Water.

[Fx20 2011]

My journey to rebuild possibly the worst crappiest boat on the water. I will note that I came close to sinking this boat 2021. Long story short. A storm moved in on a buddy and I and the fishing just jumped. The problem was it was raining hard and the wind was strong enough to produce waves with white caps. Needless to say I put on the bilge pump and nothing. The wiring was not marked and the wire was a rainbow of colors. By the time I got it figured out the gunwale was just several inches above the water. My buddy was on the front deck just hammering some nice bass. I was busy trying to lift the battery up so I could figure out which wires worked between bailing water.

[Fx20 2011]

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This photo gives you an idea of some of the wiring issues you may run into. The main problem was the factory wire harness was in cased with foam. In addition several connection were also incased in the foam. The other surprising find was the harness did not use marine tinned wire or water tight connections. The was giving me reliability issues, the wire had corroded and actually turn black up to 6 inches beyond the area it was stripped for the connection. I was able toclean it up and get it to work. However saving money is one thing but when you need a bilge pump to run why take a chance. I just ordered all new wire and when it comes in I will just replace everything.

[Fx20 2011]

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These photos will show you a better understanding of the deck rot. It looked much better in the video. You get a better idea of the transom it looked like the rotten edge of the deck. The other photo clearly shows you how many rivets were in the transom. They all leaked as there was no sound wood on the other side to hold them tight. You never want to think you will get by on a bad transom. It can fail at any time.

[cooper.bohner]

Pour foam is amazing when used right but I see it being used all the time incorrectly and once its wet its such a PITA to remove! Seems like most older boats just put it ever were they could and now we all are going around fixing the issues it caused. Build is looking good so far though! And I have herd the pink and blue home foam insulation boards can be a good pour foam alternative if you want buoyancy but also want an area serviceable.

[Fx20 2011]

[Fx20 2011]

I wish I had documented my transom rebuild. I will try to cover that later. However after making sure you have a sound transom the next most important step is your wiring. It's important to tackle this before moving ahead with any other step. It's harder to run wire through new poured foam or other additions you might have added or changed. In my case I had to fully replace all of the wiring except for my trolling motor. With the floor removed and most of the boat dismantled I was able to plan ahead and get my wiring replaced fast and simple. I will note I used tubing to make it easier to run the wire.

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[Fx20 2011]

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This is a close up to what is hidden under the plastic wiring cover. You can clearly see that the copper wire has deteriorated. I did scrap off the one strand to try and show you the copper. In addition the plastic has lost its elasticity. This is 20 year old factory wire in a 25 year old boat that held moisture. The wood transom and floors were rotten and the poured foam held water / moisture that never dried out. The result was reliability issues with my pumps. Even when I put new water tight connections on I couldn't clean the wire good enough to make a reliable connection. I found it strange that Alumincraft used non marine wire. The piece is just a small example from the orginal wire harness. So don't forget the wiring if your in the process of rebuilding your boat.

[Fx20 2011]

Just a little update on my progress. Wiring switches.

[Fx20 2011]

I thought long and hard if I wanted to post this update.

Of course the first thing you have noticed I have no update. I have a couple of good reasons. My youngest daughter will be having her first child. She is a little over due. One way or another I will have my second grandchild no later than 2-16-2023.

Now the main reason updates will not be posted is because I'm sick. It was confirmed this week. However I was pretty sure what I was going to go through two weeks ago. I have to divert my resources. Short answer 35 rounds of radiation, in a fight with my health insurance company over the denial of certain drugs, along with covering a high deductible.

I'm OK. There are far more people worst than I am. In addition there were far more people that had a worse day than I did today. Remember D-Day. A lot of them didn't get another day.

I'll get through this if not then it will be what it will be. Unfortunately my dreams for this boat will stop for now. I will end on this note. I'm really OK, life has been great to me.

[wgammill]

Hope you get well soon, I like your attitude.

[Fx20 2011]

[MikeFromMaryland]

Looks Good John ,

[TomP.]

My boat when the factory foamed it they used like a parchment paper between the hull and foam not bad to remove.