1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

[Frayed_Knot]

Hi, I think I have most of you to thank (? or blame ) for this project. Have been reading the resto forum and admiring the great work that you guys are doing with all the projects? and getting way too many ideas in my head. I had been looking for that perfect boat for several years ? perfect condition & practically free?. that didn?t happen so started looking at fixer-uppers and found this boat last fall. It?s a 96 crestliner sportfish 1750 with a 130 evinrude. It has a few issues, but its pretty solid boat. One of the bigger issues was with gas or gas vapors leaking from somewhere. If you popped the hatch over the gas tank it would stink up the whole garage in matter of minutes (I assumed the tank was leaking into the bilge). The deck had a bad spot under the rear starboard pedestal seat base, the paint had a lot of dock rash and the decals were basically gone from one side. Factored all that into the offer and they accepted? Hull had some dents and scratches but otherwise solid. The bilge was dry with no watermarks or signs of standing-water, the transom was rock solid, and the motor was in great shape with good compression. all-in-all I am really happy with the find.

This was supposed to be a winter/spring project but that also didn?t happen so now it?s a fall project. I have been making use of a lot of the ideas and suggestions here. The forum has been hugely informative and I have been taking lots of your ideas so i figured I should share some pictures ? plus I am going to have lots of questions along the way and am hoping for some advice. I did manage to find a little time this summer to get started so below are pictures of where I am with the project, hopefully I can keep this moving at a decent pace from here on out.

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Unfortunately I don?t have any before pictures from when I first brought it home ? not sure why but just didn?t take any before I started tearing things apart.
Here are a couple shots of the ?as close to before as possible? ?





After wasting an entire afternoon scratching at the decals and the striping with a razor blade the heat gun was possibly the best $19 I have ever spent. Quick shot of heat and they came right off.

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Went after the fuel leaking issue right away. Once I started pulling things apart there was no sign of fuel actually leaking into the bilge or signs of leaking anywhere else. Bilge was fairly clean under the tank, and tank didn?t have any obvious holes.



Checked the tank, gaskets, fuel lines, etc. nothing ? just seems to be off-gassing lots of vapors? I read that old plastic tanks become more and more permeable to gas vapor over time so I started looking for a new tank to see what it would cost. I found the specs for my exact tank online? but no one makes or sells it anymore (from what I could find). The space in the boat for the tank must be rather odd dimensions too because I could not find an aftermarket tank to fit at all. Tried going straight to the Crestliner factory, tried through the dealer, ebay, craigslist? no luck. Was also a bit shocked at the price of a new plastic tank ? ended up finding a guy to custom weld an aluminum tank for me and it wasn?t too expensive. He painted it with a 2-part epoxy as well to give it a layer of protection ? wondering if anyone has thoughts on that? I have read you should leave them unpainted and allow the oxidation to form a protective layer.

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Some pictures of the new tank in boat:



The tank is seated on neoprene pads that hold it up off the hull and should allow a sufficient amount of space for water to drain and air to move past. It is fitted in so it is not laying flat against any of the metal of the boat and with as much open exposure as possible to keep it dry. Hoping that is sufficient along with the protective coating to prevent any corrosion.


I made some supports out of aluminum stock to support the decking over the tank:



Previously there were just a pair of pressure treated 2x4?s laying on top of the plastic tank? just sitting right on top of the tank. Initially, I had assumed one of them punctured the tank and that was the cause of the issues. That didn?t seem to be the case. Anyway? now there is a new tank, new fittings, and all new fuel lines, problem solved? hopefully!

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Removed all the side panels and the bad floor panels.




Started taking things apart and just couldn?t stop?

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Took out the back bench, livewell, and baittank. The bow was the conversion-style bow that converts from open bow with flip up seats to casting platform ? I am planning to make it a solid casting deck (no flip up seats, etc.) and build in more storage compartments.

created a huge mess in the garage in the process and completely filled up the wife's parking space with junk .... :facepalm:




Also going to extend the rear bench to make a bigger casting platform. Stealing that idea from McGR - http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=362861&highlight=Crestliner+mcgr. Hoping my project can look half as good as his when finished.

Going to replace all floor panels and put down the nautolex vinyl instead of carpet. Planning to redo the side panels and make some open rod storage instead of the closed compartments

Pulled the carpet off the sides (it was really nasty) and found that wonderful rock hard yellow adhesive underneath? only way I could get it off was wire brush.

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

I also have the new floor panels cut and epoxied ? will have those pics up soon. So that is where I am up to this point?

Hopefully, I can get this thing looking half as good as the rest of the projects I see here. Thanks for all the ideas so far ? tons of info on this site!




By now I am guessing some of you are cringing at all the pour-in foam in those pictures. I am a bit torn about this ? I really don?t want to mess with it after reading how much of a headache it has been for everyone here who has torn it out of their boats. It is completely dry and in pretty good shape so my thought is to leave it alone. If it were wet at all I wouldn?t hesitate to pull it ... but it seems to be in such good shape, I am not sure it is worth the effort. So?. What would you do?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Looks like mass destruction,,, I like it!

My 01 Superhawk also had a serious fuel leak. There was/is a USCG recall on certain models because the aluminum mounting brackets can cut into the tank. I called Crestliner and they sent me a replacement tank for free. The tank would have been $400-500 otherwise... I was going to get an aluminum built tank too, but stumbled upon the USCG recall.

For the carpet adhesive, try this. Apply paper towels dipped in lacquer thinner to the sides of the boat. Keep it wet and after 5-10 minutes everything will easily wipe off. I was working a 2x2 section and it went pretty fast after I figured out that letting the stuff marinade for 5-10 minutes was the trick, also keeping it wet with a squirt bottle. Test it out first and see if lacquer thinner will dissolve your carpet adhesive, mine looked a bit different and was a clear color, not yellow. Once I found that lacquer thinner worked I ran down and bought a 5 gallon can, used most of it taking the carpet adhesive off everything. One word of caution, wear a good quality respirator, buy a couple boxes of nitrile gloves, keep a fan moving fresh air around and don't work in an enclosed area. I was wearing doubled-up Nitrile gloves as the lacquer thinner would eat through the top glove in a couple minutes. I tried a pair of thick acid gloves, but those only lasted for about an hour...

If your foam is dry, leave it. The foam in my boat was fine and I left it in place.

Oh yeah, that nasty splintered up rub rail rope... You can replace it with black braided rope which looks nicer. I bought mine from Lowes, but Menards, Fleet Farm or Home Depot probably has something similar. I thihk it was 7/16" rope.

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Thanks fd - good to hear you could get the tank replaced. Only thing I could find on the recall you mentioned was this -

RECALL 020206S
Crestliner, 320-632-6686
2001-02 Sportfish 1850; 2001-02 Super Hawk 1800; 2002 Eagle
2300, all I/Os and outboards (1220 boats)
Fuel tank hold-down brackets may dig into surface of fuel tank and
breach its integrity during initial fuel tank expansion. This creates the
possibility for leaking fuel and/or gas vapors, which causes a risk of fire/
explosion. Crestliner will replace metal hold-down brackets with plastic
brackets, inspect each fuel tank to determine if it is damaged. Damaged
tanks will be replaced.

afraid that won't work for my '96... guess I could still try .

It was frustrating - I could find my exact tank online - http://www.incaproducts.com/store/productfiles/FO2364.PDF
even called Inca directly - they couldn't sell to an individual, only manufacturers... couldn't even get a list of manufactures from them that might have this to sell it to me. Crestliner apparently doesn't use this tank anymore at the factory so they didn't have any available but I was told if I was willing to purchase a large enough quantity they might be able to place an order for me through the local dealer ... not sure what I would do with a garage full of fuel tanks though ... Oh well, I have a good tank now and I don't have to worry about it so I am happy. ended up getting the aluminum tank for $320 with a new sending unit. More than I wanted to spend, but figured the fuel system is the one area I don't want to take an chances with. changed out the fuel lines while i was at so now I know they are all alcohol ready. Still will put the additives in with every fill-up to hopefully prevent the alcohol from causing any corrosion on the inside of the tank. Tough to find any gas without ethanol in it anymore.

Thanks for the tip on the adhesive too! I tried wiping it down with Lacquer thinner but not marinading it... going out to try that right now!

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

FWIW, once you get your fuel system installed, pressure test it. Make sure it holds a couple PSI (2-3) for a couple hours.

When I rebuilt my boat I failed to pressure test the tank/hoses during rebuild... After filling the fuel tank there was a faint fuel smell that I attributed to the I/O's carb, but when I cranked up the bow to take it to the lake on it's maiden voyage,,, I got a huge surprise. Fuel shooting out the bilge pump Lucky I didn't burn down the boat right there! I called Crestliner about a replacement tank and they said $450+ shipping... Then I ran across the USCG recall. (Kind of weird they didn't pickup on the USCG recall when I asked the first time as they wanted the boat's HIN....) If there wasn't the recall I would have done like you and had a custom tank built, cheaper and I think an aluminum tank is better.

Something else, check your livewell hoses. Mine were all hard and brittle where they ran in the bilge. I'm sure this was from the fuel exposure. It was high quality hose, just hard as a rock. That stuff is really expensive, like a couple bucks a foot. I found a place on Ebay and got all of it for $30-40. Works great for bilge pump hose too. Oh yeah, the 15 year old plastic thru-hull drain fitting and livewell pump, I'd replace them just for safety sake.

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

FD - I used your lacquer thinner marinade trick and it worked great. I had soaked the glue pretty good previously and tried scrubbing it off right away with no luck... but just like you said - I soaked a rag and let it sit for ~20 minutes while I sanded and it would wipe right off. I actually have about 98% of the hull already cleaned (wire brush method) but there are a few hard to reach spots that this will work great for. Thanks!

Good idea about the pressure test too.. I will definitely do. Hadn't thought of the livewell hoses but definitely going to work on the through hull fitting and the pump. I really dislike that setup but not sure yet what to do about it. Putting an open hole below the waterline just makes me uncomfortable for some reason.... I have seen several boats now (all newer than mine) where the o-ring on the pump or the plastic housing has let loose and they just bubble water into the bilge continuously.

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

As promised ? here are the pics of floor panels ?

new floor panels cut?





Since I had them all laid out in the basement I just had to do this.


Its practically ready for the water!




and they actually fit in the boat too ?

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Several coats of epoxy on each side and the ends. I Used the epoxy from Clark Craft like saw some others here doing. I like the 1:1 mix ratio? hard for me to goof that up.

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

So now the deck panels are ready for vinyl and that brings up my next question ?



Should I scuff up the floor panels at all before putting the nautolex adhesive on it? The boards are so smooth right now with the epoxy ? they are like bar tops. I am worried about adhesion. Will the glue stick OK to the smooth epoxy or should I scratch it up a bit with some steel wool of fine grit sandpaper??

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Nice project you've got going on here

I epoxied my deck and the Nautolex adhesive works fine with no scuffing or anything.

I also liked the 1:1 ration from Clarkcraft since I need all the help I can get

I would vote for leaving the foam if you are positive that it's ALL dry.

Maybe weigh the hull and see how it compares to the NADA.com listed dry weight?

 

[Frayed_Knot]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Thanks HA. good to know about the adhesive.

I found out about the clark craft epoxy reading your SS thread. didn't want to spend the $ for the west system stuff and was looking for an alternative. i have been pretty happy with it. I had some left over after the last round of deck panels and used it to paint a pudding stone that I polished up... looks awesome. next time I epoxy more boards I will have to try it out on some of the Petoskey stones I have laying around the garage.

still flip-flopping on the decision about the foam. I agree with everyone that is replacing it ... but then when i look at how much work it will be to replace I start feeling pretty lazy and usually end up just getting another beer to think it over for a bit longer... I will have to do some more checking and make absolutely sure there is no water in it, especially around the area where the floor was bad.

It still just boggles me that closed cell foam isn't an industry standard for the floatation in boats...

 

[fishrdan]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Putting an open hole below the waterline just makes me uncomfortable for some reason.... I have seen several boats now (all newer than mine) where the o-ring on the pump or the plastic housing has let loose and they just bubble water into the bilge continuously.

I know what you are saying about a 1" hole below the water line, that's why I replaced the thru-hull fittings and pump. I didn't trust the 10 year old plastic, for another 10 years. Plus, it would be a huge PITA to replace them later once the boat is all put back together. For sealing them up, use a bead of 3m 5200 on the inside and outside, snug it down, clean off the excess, then let the sealant cure. I also put some 5200 on the hoses before attaching them to the fittings.

For the foam, do some core samples and see if everything is dry. Take a piece of PVC pipe, cut some teeth in it then saw a plug out of the foam in a couple of places. If it's dry, just replace the plug with some 5200. (Don't leave an empty hole for water to pool in and soak the foam) If it's wet,,, well.... You know....

I used spray contact cement on my vinyl ( automotive vinyl top adhesive), so no idea about the Nautolex adhesive.

Are you going back original or changing the layout of the boat? Is this going to be a fishing rig or a family boat? I changed stuff when I rebuilt mine. I left off the side panels and put rod holders down the sides of the boat. Works great for a fishing boat, probably not so great for a family of watersport boat though.

 

[McGR]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

Nice project boat there. That big 130 looper should move pretty good. I used contact cement too, but I'd guess the Nautolex adhesive should work fine without any surface prep.

By the way, what have you been eating for breakfast? You've made more progress on your project in two days than I made in two months on mine.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

I don't know how I've missed this one. That's a super nice hull with a heck of a motor. You're going love that boat when you're done. Great work so far!!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Crestliner Sportfish ? Refurbish w/ pics and questions

If those Petoskey stones are gonna be exposed to UV then you might want to clear coat them with something that has UV blockers.

The resin will break down if exposed to the sun. I use Epifanes clear varnish, good stuff.