1978 Starcraft aluminum vee-hull, Evinrude 48 Special, TeeNee super duty trailer

[Genonbamagirl]

Re: 1978 Starcraft aluminum vee-hull, Evinrude 48 Special, TeeNee super duty trailer

I painted her with a graco airless - not the best choice as you waste at least half the paint but the only choice I had available at the time. No air at my house and my mother is hooked up with a junkie so our huge (100' x 50') shop is not going to be used by me until she get's rid of him or something happens for the good.

We intended to replace a couple bad dashboards to stop the floppy steering but every time we put a screw anywhere - it just slopped around due to rot. Also intended to make a patch for the one soft spot in the deck. Pulled the carpet back in the worst spot and was floored......the previous owners did replace the decking but with particle board painted with water seal (thompson's or some other similar worthless junk) and stuffed open cell styrofoam into every nook and cranny preventing the hull from draining. I lost it a bit and demanded that we fix that nonsense.

We tore her down over the last few days and replaced every speck of wood but the transom. It's soft but isn't flexing yet so no need at the moment.

A few pics of the tear down and work back up. Also I guess I should mention that I have been completely down due to a herniated L1 disk that the docs want to operate on so I had to talk my family doc into giving me a shot of toradol every day for a bit and I have an endless supply of lortab since they all think I'm dying. I'm not dying - I'm just in a lot of pain.

Decking - lovely huh?

Her hull from the inside - no major issues. Looking good.

Decking. 5/8" sheathing with 19 coats of epoxy paint we got on clearance at the local hardware store - that stuff is so expensive that no one would buy it - they almost gave it to us so we bought four gallons. My wife loves to paint anything and everything so I encouraged her to put on as many coats as she would like - it's a hundred degrees down here right now so drying time is el rapido.

Just about in. Old and tired but no plumber's crack yet lol.

The youngster being a big help as always.

The old (but decent shape) carpet back in and us doing a bit of console work. The windshield didn't want to act exactly right so we put a rachet strap across the bucket just in front of the consoles and pulled a tad and she came right back into shape. A bit of adjustment on the winshield stanchions and proper fastening of the consoles to the front seating (wich is FIRMLY attached to the hull directly in front of the consoles) should put the glass back in perfect order.

 

[Genonbamagirl]

Re: 1978 Starcraft aluminum vee-hull, Evinrude 48 Special, TeeNee super duty trailer

I was tired and in a lot of pain today so I slept most of the day. I know you all would never believe I would do anything stupid but........I couldn't figure out why my construction adhesive to seal the seams between the decking boards was not working so I looked directly down the newly cut off tube and it exploded. Yep - construction adhesive directly in the left eye. I Immediately held open both eyelids and wiped out the bad juju with the only thing I had (the other hand) and flushed with about thirty ounces of ice water the loving wife had just come out the door with when she heard the pop. She actually thought I had shot myself in the head from the sound lol.

The eye is probably a bit degraded but as fine as it could be under the circumstances. I wasted 4 hours at the eye foundation emergency room (they took me right in in front of all the people who had been waiting - imagine that) 4 bags of saline washed through it with the most uncomfortable eye cup in the world and the swabbing out of my eyelids (much more painful than being kicked in the boy parts), testing the PH level at least twenty and maybe thirty times and they finally let me get back to my rat killing with a clean (or maybe slightly tarnished for being el stupido) bill of health.

 

[Genonbamagirl]

Re: 1978 Starcraft aluminum vee-hull, Evinrude 48 Special, TeeNee super duty trailer

I felt really tired and a lot of pain today - I also am so sick and tired of all the narcotics that I refused to take them. So I slept the day away.

While I slept in the middle of the living room floor, the wife and stepson painted all the ugly assed gunnels (after removing the rails, cleats, bimini slides, etc.), painted the surround in the aft portion and cleaned her with mean green from stem to stern.

I am the luckiest man in the world. To have found a family willing to do such hard and tedious work just to please me while I laid on my lazy *** is just incredible.

Real men shouldn't cry.

When I woke from my 5 hour nap and walked outside to pee (being a neanderthall living in the woods where no one can see us) I realized I was no longer a real man.

My wife and stepson have been right there with me, busting their keesters right along with mine to make "the Bucket" back into what she should be every second of this journey.

I am truly blessed. A few tears do not make less of a person - they just happened - I couldn't help it.