1976 MFG Caprice Restoration Project

[1976-MFG-Caprice]

Hello all.

I saw someone post some restoration pics of his 1976 MFG Caprice, so I thought I might post my own project. I bought this boat a month or so ago and because of this forum and the pics I saw, I knew what I was getting into.

I am fortunate enough to have worked at a friends fiberglass factory over the past 9 months in the evenings which has given me a great knowledge of the fiberglassing process.

I hope you enjoy and I hope this helps anyone else thinking that this project is "too hard" to tackle. So far, I have not ran into any snags (knock on wood).



The above are the boat before restoration began. I wanted to get out and test the speed and stability before I started. I hit about 25 MPH with the old MFG Evinrude 115 HP. It didn't seem right to me which made me wonder how much water is actually sitting in the wood and foam below the floor.

 

[1976-MFG-Caprice]

Re: 1976 MFG Caprice Restoration Project

As I pulled the seats out, I decided it test some of this vinyl paint. I had heard great things and since my seats were not ripped, just faded, I gave it a whirl. Here are the before and afters:

 

[1976-MFG-Caprice]

Re: 1976 MFG Caprice Restoration Project

Here we go: I forgot to take pics of the floor before I dug in. I really wanted to get started. I found some amazing things... the gas tank had an old carpet laying across it to level out the floor. This "new" floor the previous owner put on was a layer of PT plywood on top of rotting stringers and a shiny new carpet on top of that. It didn't work. Here are some pics of the stripping process. I ended up with 10 50# garbage bags full of wet foam and rotten wood.

 

[1976-MFG-Caprice]

Re: 1976 MFG Caprice Restoration Project

I was fortunate to discover the bow was in great shape. I don't know how, but it is solid. Here are some more of the cleanup.

 

[1976-MFG-Caprice]

Re: 1976 MFG Caprice Restoration Project

and the final post of the day. It is incredibly warm in Western New York this week so I have ordered my marine grade plywood, gathered my fiberglass materials and equipment, and looking forward to laying up the layers. I am running out of warm weather and happy to have the time to get this boat stiffened up.