1973 Holiday 18'

[AirforceHoliday]

I just recently bought a 73 Holiday for $500. The boat seemed to be a good buy. After getting it home my wife informed me she would not step onto it until I redid the interior. I will admit it was distressed. One of the previous owners covered everything in that nasty green "astro-turf" carpeting. Being that it wasn't waterproof I found the second and third floor panels from the stern to be rotted. I removed them as well as the Starboard side panel, and all the seats as they were dryrotted. I removed the old rotted top, driver and passenger side dash panels as well as the venter console. I have redone all dash panels and center console. I have yet to replace the floor panels or side. I bought 1/2 inch treated plywood and also coated it in Spur Urethane (recommended by the local lumber yard). I plan to replace the seat with fold down fishing seats from Wal-Mart. I have also ordered new Marine carpeting from Overtons. I am open to any help you can offer. I am a new boat owner and have no experience restoring these. Luckily I used to be a mechanic so I am not concerened since it has the 140 I/O, and it was gone through last season. I hope to have this baby on the water within a month.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

have you check the transom, bellows, etc? there are many good threads here, projects just like yours.

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

How much fiberglass resin and glass matt and cloth do you have? ya going to have to seal up all that wood with it if you want to keep the boat and you need to do some research into the transom and stringers to see if they are rotted or not. There is a sea of onfo on here if you poke around. Good luck and welcome!

 

[AirforceHoliday]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

Will I still need to completely cover the wood (i.e. the interior of the center console) even though I applied several coats of the Spar Urethane to the wood first? I was told this would waterproof it enough.
As for the transom it appears to be in good shape, what are you referring to when talking of the Stringers? Most of the rotting occurred to the flooring under the seat boxes and in the rear starboard side of the side wall. The rest has been checked and is still in good condition. I am laying in the new treated plywood multi-coated in Spar Urethane then laying on the new marine carpet hopefully this weekend. From there hopefully rebuilding the seat boxes and affixing the seats to them will be all I have left prior to putting her in the water.

 

[TheWoodCrafter]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

Have you read many of the threads here on the forum?
I have learned a lot from these guys.
I have spent many hours reading the threads and applying the info to my boat.
Stringers are wooden (usually) stiffeners running fore and aft that the deck (floor) is attached to.
Check for rot before you put that new deck down.
Oh and I don't think Spar Urethane will WATER PROOF anything in a boat.
Also research how to check for rot in a transom.

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

I agree. I think you are going to have to do something better to water proof the wood in the boat. And from my experiances and also from everything ive seen here, if the deck is rotted in a boat that age then the stringers are also. 99% chance they are anyways. I would be looking to do something different to waterproof the wood on the boat. If you dont want to use glass then you can use epoxy resin by itself on the deck. With poly resin though you need to use glass eather matt or cloth to seal up the wood. Also anywhere a screw goes into the deck you need to have a plan for that also. Most seem to like to use 3M 4200 or 5200 for when you run a screw into the deck. I just fill the hole and put a bead of it on the threads of the screw just before i drive the screw into the deck so that the 4200 seals up the hole.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

guys there are many old wood boats around, that only have Spar urethane, and varnish on them. that was top of the line stuff. they did not have the foam holding water problem, so when kept bow high, they dried out.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

Guys I think the boat in question is an aluminum so he won't have stringer issues.

 

[AirforceHoliday]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

Well I got home this morning after a 15 hour shift and looked at the flooring, I do have an aluminum boat so therefore the are no stringers just the metal pieces running front to rear to screw the floorboards onto. As for the transom it to appears to be in good condition. I think the main rot was because under the old seats used to be a make shift "live well" on either side and as for the rear stern side rot it appears that at one point the gas tank and battery were there putting all the weight on the side, maybe it the water pooled there rather than exiting through the drain hole. I check some threads and went into my garage and splashed water onto the Spar Urethane treated wood and watched it bead up, so according to some I should be okay, I figure worse case I will have to replace the floor again in a year or two (reason to upgrade while I am at it or so I will tell the wife). Thanks for all the inputs please keep tthem coming, hopefully I will get some more don't this coming week.

 

[Coors]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

Magic Word, Epoxy will outlast the spar.

 

[HONKER1]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

That boat is going to be nice when you get it done. Keep some pictures coming.

 

[AirforceHoliday]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

So yesterday was spent affixing the new floor, laying down the nw carpet and then putting the new interior sidewalls in. I must say it is coming along really nice. I am going to finish the rest of the carpeting hopefully on Monday as long as the weather holds up. After that all that will be left is minor cosmetics and installing the new seats.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

Luckily I used to be a mechanic so I am not concerened since it has the 140 I/O, and it was gone through last season. I hope to have this baby on the water within a month.

What outdrive does it have? Merc or OMC?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

coming along nicely.

 

[fishingdan]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

Considering the original floor boards were probably not protected in any way, Spar varnish is a significant improvement. While not as good as epoxy, I'm sure the floor will last a considerable amount of time (probably longer than you will own the boat).

This is a nice project and I look forward to reading your progress.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

the boat is looking good.....

im not a big fan of laying new wood over old........but it will work for a good few years.

your just about done and on the water.

what does wifey say?

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

Oops!
I'm pretty sure he gutted the interior - no original wood left...
- Scott

 

[reelfishin]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

I'd have some concerns with using pressure treated plywood on aluminum. Some of that stuff is downright corrosive.
If you have to use pressure treated, make sure it's the type that's safe for aluminum contact. If not, find a way to insulate it from the aluminum runners and hull around the edges.

I am about to start a very similar project on a Chieftain 18, I will most likely just use epoxy coated 1/2" ply and either Nautilex or rubber flooring.

 

[AirforceHoliday]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

The entire interior was gutted. There is no old wood left. I used nearly a half gallon of Spar on the new flooring before laying in the new marine carpet. As for the question of the drive, it is a 140hp Merc. Hopefully we will get it in the water by the weekend and finally get to see how she floats. I did notice a popped rivit on the underside that I plan to silicone then maybe cover with some bondo. I have a fellow boater that did that with his and he says he has had no problems. Any ideas?

 

[Squid Billy]

Re: 1973 Holiday 18'

Redo the rivit.