rebuild 79 blue fin 18ft or upgrade to newer boat?

[pie fisher]

i have an 79 blue fin 18ft boat that leaks and floor is shot. was thinking of epoxy on bad rivets and laying new floor down. or should i sell this as a project boat and purchase a newer used boat?

i have only ever owned this boat so i do not know how other boats handle on windy days on the lake. (lake oahee in south dakota) my boat seams to handle them ok but was wondering if a late 80s or a 90s boat will handle waves better?

any advice is greatly appreciated... and what one will be cheaper as i am on a budget. young dad with little kids.. thanks in advance!

 

[ezmobee]

There hasn't been a great deal of advancement in aluminum hull design. At least not into the 90's. The older Blue Fin's were solid boats so I'd think yours would be well worth fixing up. Check out the Starcraft section of this site. Lots of aluminum boat rebuilds going on there to check out for advice.

 

[TyeeMan]

Pie Fisher, I would say if your funds are somewhat limited or if that boat has some sentimental value, or if you just feel like doing something different, then by all means rebuild her. That being said, you will still put a lot of money and time into the rebuild if you do it right. Wood, carpeting, seats, and all the rest of it all cost money.
Back in 2000 I rebuilt a 1985 17ft, Lund American. It was a two console boat with seating in front of the consoles and casting deck up front. I always called it the precursor to what is now the Lund Pro-Vees.
Basically anything aluminum was tight and in good shape, most of the floor I vacuumed up in a shop vac and the rest of it was questionable.

The fun thing with doing a rebuild is that you can change things around. Put a different compartment here or there, wire in new lights, power ports and all that fun stuff.
The problem for me was once it was done I practically had to allow an extra 15 minutes every time I went fishing cuz people always asked if that was a new model Lund, or if they knew it was a refurb they wanted to hear about it.

As ezmobee said, over the years there really hasn't been a whole lot of technology added to the aluminum boat. Lund did some things that apparently make them plane quicker but aside from that, not much. I think one thing you would see in a newer or different boat is they are wider and deeper.

If you fish Oahee a lot I would highly recommend moving into a 18 or 19 foot Lund Tyee, , if you can find one. They are rock solid and take a pretty good wave. My 3rd Tyee now is a 97 1950 Tyee Magnum. Man what a boat!! She'll take everything Leech Lake (here in Minnesota) can throw at her and more. I'm partial to Lund, , , sorry. There are some nice Starcrafts, Crestliners and Alumicrafts out there too.

 

[mr 88]

Odds are if you buy a late 80s through the 90s it will need work as well. As noted aluminum boats are easy to work on and fuel efficient as well. Having a tight budget means you can pretty much buy a couple things each weekend over the winter and have it all done and paid for in the spring, If the motor is solid that's the route I would go.Probably not going to want to go out in rough water with the kids anyway so going a bit bigger isn't going to make it any more enjoyable for them at this stage. When they get older go bigger as your funds may be in better shape. Along with your rebuilt boat being worth a few bucks more.

 

[pie fisher]

ok does any one know if it is possible to put a electric trim on my boat? lifting the motor and setting it back down gets old. iv done some research on fixing leaks. on the boat and to my understanding. i need to drill out and put new rivets in. is there a special rivet or rivet gun that i should use?

is there any other miscellaneous things ( a beginner wouldn't think of ) that i should budget in before i start the project?
thanks !

 

[flyingscott]

ok does any one know if it is possible to put a electric trim on my boat? lifting the motor and setting it back down gets old. iv done some research on fixing leaks. on the boat and to my understanding. i need to drill out and put new rivets in. is there a special rivet or rivet gun that i should use?

is there any other miscellaneous things ( a beginner wouldn't think of ) that i should budget in before i start the project?
thanks !

What motor do you have

 

[pie fisher]

it is an evinrude 85hp.. would think it is the same age as boat (79) but not positive on how to find what year it is.

 

[ezmobee]

Around 78/79 Johnson/Evinrude switched to a different tilt/trim unit design then they'd been using prior and that designed continued well into the 90's. These units can be found in the $250ish range. Not sure how difficult the swap is. The pre-'78 units are very difficult to find and go for big $$$ even in unknown working condition. The other option is a CMC Trim unit which will work on any motor. They are expensive @$400+ but they are well made, work well, and you can sell 'em for nearly what you paid for it if you ever get a newer motor with integrated TnT.

 

[TyeeMan]

When I did my boat project I came across 2-3 loose rivets that were leaking as well. Not having the equipment to install blind rivets I just drilled out the loose rivets and used pop rivets in there place with a little bit of silicone sealant. Not saying it's the right thing to do but they were water tight for next 6 years I owned the boat.

That also included the one hole where we drilled right through the bottom of the boat when we were installing the new wood floor. Yeah, we found out about that hole on the maiden voyage. :facepalm::frusty:

 

[Scott06]

I'd stay with what you have- you won't get much for it and you won't get much for a couple thousand bucks. I assume your handy? Floor and transom on a boat like that isn't too expensive if you do the work.

fix the leaks, it's a good size until the kids get bigger. Can't kill an aluminum boat, my neighbors Starcraft - we hammered for 40 years skiing behind it.

 

[pie fisher]

thanks guys. i am a contractor by trade so i am hoping that knowledge helps me.

is there a layout you guys would recommend? i am taking out the passenger console so we have more room to move around in it and thinking about putting in a live well and some hidden storage spots. my budget is around 1500 is all this doable?

 

[TyeeMan]

My build was a bit more than double that. But I had the boat painted (in a spray booth), all new carpet from Lund, any exposed wood was oak, 4 new seats and 4 new air lift pedestals, and the wood I used for everything was, , , I can't remember what they called it. It's a high grade plywood but it has a paper kind of layer on one side. Pretty much like the stuff you would see in smaller boats with wood bench seats. Stuff was pretty expensive per sheet. Oh, and all hardware used was stainless steel. New gages, switches, lights, blah, blah, blah.

If you take out a console just make darn sure it's not structural. Cuz you might remove that console and all of a sudden that side of the boat might get really flimsy and start to flex when you hit the waves.

When we took up the old floor, , or what was left of it, we mapped out all the screw holes in the stringers and cross members. When securing the new wood to the stringers we used that map to ensure that we wouldn't hit the existing screw holes, , I wanted to screw into new metal.

For extra seating space try to make your storage double as a seat base.

Think of it as almost a blank piece of paper and let your mind go to work. Just don't compromise any structural items.

 

[ezmobee]

M the wood I used for everything was, , , I can't remember what they called it. It's a high grade plywood but it has a paper kind of layer on one side. Pretty much like the stuff you would see in smaller boats with wood bench seats. Stuff was pretty expensive per sheet.

That sounds like MDO. They make road signs out of it. It's apparently pretty darn good.

 

[TyeeMan]

You jogged my memory, , yep, that's what it was. Medium Density Overlay. It better be good, they charge enough for it.

If I ever did another rebuild I'd use the stuff again too.