Any idea where the fly bridge floor drains are on a Skipjack 24?

[Squashtowner]

Hey all. Noob here, also new to boat ownership. Wife and I rescued a 1984 Skipjack 24 recently, and are in the early stages of making it look good. We had to pressure wash the entire interior of the cabin, the deck and hull. She looks 100x better than when we started. It gas a 5.7 (I think) V8. Looks like any old Chevy sbc. No idea if it runs or not, but I'll probably swap in a smallish diesel or 4 cyl gas during our restore process.
While cleaning her up, we discovered that the fly bridge floor is retaining most of the water that collects there, and drains out very slowly. Slow enough that I can't tell where it goes lol. I did blast the pressure washer up those small slots on both sides of the exterior of the fly bridge, but it still seems really slow. Any ideas where the drains may be?

Also, how would one remove a graffiti tag off the rear hull? Someone made a tag with black spray paint. The pressure washer did nothing, nor did gas on a rag. I'm scared to try anything harsh as it might damage the fiberglass

Thanks in advance.

 

[Grub54891]

When the boat is in the water it should drain a little faster,on land it might be sitting at the wrong angle for proper drainage.
As far as the tag, you may have to wetsand the area with 2000 grit paper,then buff and polish. How about some pictures??

 

[Squashtowner]

The evening we pulled it free of its stored location. We spent almost 2 weeks jacking it up one wheel at a time to get the tires changed. It was moored into 6 holes, and I had to put my truck in 4 low to pull it free.

She's much heavier than I expected too.

But we limped it home. The Trailer has a broken shackle mount at the rear most position, port side.

Home in the yard, wheels blocked so it won't roll away on us

I'm a little worried about the engine

Youthful / hillbilly me loves a Quadrajet. 42 year old me prefers fuel injection tho.

After initial mucking out and cleaning:

Any pointers on what to use to clean it up more would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Squashtowner]

And I fear it has points ignition. Helllooooo . HEI distributors have been in use since the mid 70s, why do boats have points?

 

[Woodonglass]

Welcome to iBoats!!!

Sorry,I have no idea where the FB Drains are.
Xylene should take the spray paint off and it won't hurt the Gelcoat IF, in fact it is a gelcoat finish. Put some Xylene on a rag and hold the rag on a small area for a few minutes an see if the black paint softens and wrinkles without affecting the white. If so, then it's gelcoat. If the White comes off too then it's paint. Regardless the xylene WON'T affect the fiberglass hull. I believe that you have an OMC outdrive and they have been OOB for more than a decade. Getting harder and harder to find parts and find people that want to work on em and then it's a bit pricey. You'll also want to do a thorough inspection of the transom, motor mounts, stringers, bulkheads an all other structural components to ensure their structural integrity. She's got some years on her and will need some TLC to get her back on the water Safely!!!

 

[Squashtowner]

It actually has a Volvo penta 290 out drive. Is that good or bad? And thanks for the xylene tip, I'll have to make some calls tomorrow to see who sells it locally to me.

 

[Woodonglass]

Lowes carries it as Xylol The Volvo Outrive is an Excellent drive. No issues with it!!! Good luck with the motor. Who Know's it might fire up and run strong. Here's hoping.

 

[JameO]

Hello to all. I'm new to the boating world . And this is my new project.

 

[Woodonglass]

Uhmmm JameO instead of HiJacking ST's thread you should start your own!!!!

 

[Squashtowner]

I hope not to sound dumb, but wha exactly is the transom? I google it and it's kinda vague.

 

[JameO]

Sorry I'm not trying to hijack anything!!!!! This is a hole new wold to me.

 

[Woodonglass]

I hope not to sound dumb, but wha exactly is the transom? I google it and it's kinda vague.

It's the whole rear end of the boat. What the outdrive mounts to.

 

[Squashtowner]

It's the whole rear end of the boat. What the outdrive mounts to.

Been stomping around the aft part of the boat and everything seems solid...

 

[Woodonglass]

What you stand on is called the Deck or Floor. The vertical Part is the transom (the outdrive attaches to it and the motor sticks thru it to the outdrive.) The bellows and seals often times leaks around the hole in the transom and can cause it to get wet and start to rot. You need to carefully inspect the inside of the transom back at the rear of the engine where it attaches to the outdrive and see if its discolored or shows any sign of being soft. Use a screw driver to poke around or even take a drill and drill into it from the inside about an inch deep and check the shavings. They should be light colored and dry.

 

[Squashtowner]

I beat around where the outdrive hoes through with a sharp screwdriver and everything seems solid as a rock. When I pull the motor out I'll get down in the hole and get a better inspection of everything, but it seems solid. Fingers crossed!

 

[Squashtowner]

Lowes carries it as Xylol The Volvo Outrive is an Excellent drive. No issues with it!!! Good luck with the motor. Who Know's it might fire up and run strong. Here's hoping.

She's siezed solid. I took the plugs out (well, 6 of the 8 came out ok, 2 broke off in the head) and tried turn in it on the crank pulley...no go. I actually broke the pulley off trying. So it's coming out. Any suggestions on an engine? What bolts up to a 290 Penta? I'd love a small diesel or 4 cylinder gas but I was told buy a boat guy that the gear ratio of the 290 is designed for a V8. Hell, I'd even modify the transom to accept an outboard if it could be done.

 

[Woodonglass]

I'd recommend posting your motor/outdrive questions over in the Volvo/Penta forum...http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...volvo-penta-i-o-inboard-gas-engines-outdrives
Those guys KNOW their stuff and can guide you really well.