'82 Bomber backyard rebuild

[laurentide]

I may very well be getting in over my head here, but here goes...

I got this boat four years ago with the intention of using it for the remainder of its safely operable life, and I thought I'd just salvage the trailer and strong running 3 cylinder Johnson to use with an aluminum hull. Well, that "safely operable" window is coming to a close. The PO made some terrible repairs to gouges in the skin below the waterline, which are now slowly leaking, and the transom (and likely stringers) is wet and rotted.

Now that I've used the boat a bunch over the last few years, and also gotten into fishing, I've realized that it's a pretty practical design for a lake and I like the added weight of fiberglass on a body of water that routinely kicks up 3' waves. It does have low bow height and freeboard, but it hasn't been swamped in some pretty scary conditions (Lake Champlain is over 120 miles long and 11 miles wide where I launch...and very deep). I also like having a built-in casting deck and open bow on the cap and the fact that I can pull it with a Subaru. /end rationalization to self/

Anyway, here are a few pics. This is going to be a very slow process over the next several months, as it's mid-October in Vermont and I don't have the luxury of a garage or shop.

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

First dumb question of many to follow: How do remove this red plastic connector?

 

[gddavid]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

pull apart with a gentle bending action to help disengage the pins. It is just stiff with age.

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Thanks gddavid.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Welcome to iBoats!

Nice Boat!!! If you don't have garage and you're in Vermont, you'll need to make some sort of an enclosure if you want to work on her over the winter. I KNOW you're gunna get a lot of Snow so you gotta be able to keep her dry some how. Do you know if she has foam below deck? Your first order of business will be to make a motor stand and get the motor off. You can make your own Motor "Cherry Picker" for under $50 bucks if you have a floor jack or small bottle jack.

You can make a motor stand like this...
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=266008
Next order of business would be to strip the windshield and all other hardware off of her and get the interior out. Make her a completely bare shell. Based on your pics, you're gunna have to decapitate her to get to the transom. Remove the rubber insert from the rubrail and then drill out the HUNDREDS rivets or remove the of screws holding her together. It may or may not have resin gluing the two halves together at various points. Use 2x4's to slide between the hull and the cap and then get 3 buddies to help lift the cap off and put in storage or lay flat on some 2x4's on the ground and cover with a tarp. Cutting the deck out and removing the stringers and transom should be the next order of business. Lots of examples of that here on the forum. Do some searching and reading and post more pics and questions as they come up.

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

WOG, thanks for the detailed response. I've read much of your advice and looked at diagrams you've posted, so you've in effect already been a great help to me as far as coming to a decision that I can do this and to get started. So, thanks.

• I'm going to make a PVC framed enclosure for the hull once I get it gutted...a very simple tent structure, but it should keep the snow off.

• It does in fact have foam below the rotted out deck. I know this because it was staring back at me when I pulled back a bad patch job on the hull exterior. It's not a foam core, just the original pour in from the manufacturer. I'm planning on just getting it all out, and, if the hull seems sturdy enough without it, just replacing with foam panel pieces between the new stringers/bulkheads.

• It's hard to see in the pictures, but I parked it under that Elm tree to use one of the big limbs as an anchor for a come-a-long. I've actually already got the engine off using this crude but effective system. In case you're wondering, the transom bolt holes for the engine mount confirmed my suspicion of weeping moisture and rot. I pretty much knew this to be the case from replacing the transducer earlier in the summer.

So, yeah, next order of business is removing hardware, cap, and all the rotted, waterlogged contents of the hull. I'll post pics and questions as I go along. With the shortening days this will be a weekend project, but I'd love to put it back in the lake this spring. Cheers, and thanks again for the help and encouragement.

PS: I know this isn't the outboard section, but iboats deserves a huge thanks from me on that front as well. I was this close to giving the boat away due to what I perceived as a bad piston ring, but a lot of searching in the engine forum led me to just replace the head gasket...now it purrs like it's new with rebuilt carbs (another thing I wouldn't have attempted myself before discovering this forum).

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Welcome to dry dock What are these 2 so intently watching:

I, the Admiral & the dogs on our crew LOVE this pix:

Best of luck this winter getting setup, torn down & the boat put back for the 2013 season

 

[sphelps]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

^^^I agree with jbc on the pics^^^ Looks like a worthy candidate for a rebuild !
Best of luck with the project !

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Thanks for the doggie pix comments....unfortunately, the black guy in that photo, Leo, now that he's bigger and even dumber, has decided that he hates the boat now. He was only 2 months old in those photos and presumably had no idea what was going on. My wife and I took them out once this summer, and, while the tri-color dog was cool with it, Leo immediately abandoned ship about 100 feet from the ramp before realizing that the boat was in motion and slowly moving away from him...absolute panic and a bad time all around. I'm going to try to get him used to it again slowly.

Anyway, I was itchin' to get going on a couple of things after work today, so please excuse the bad flash photos. It's a small step, but the outboard is off. Tomorrow begins rubrail/rivet/screw/windshield removal if the rain holds off in the evening.

The transom laid bare.

The insidiousness.

I'm not going to leave it like this...outside, that is...but is there any problem storing it on its side like this? I had a furniture dolly that moves it around fine, and I drained the carbs and gear oil. I let it sit for a couple of days vertically after fogging it on the muffs. I'll be moving it into the dry shed when fall yard work is done (it's tight in there). Other than rodent invasion, is there any danger in this?

Thanks again for the kind words on the project. Cheers.

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Getting WAY ahead of myself here, but would a little kicker like this move this boat (approximately 1100 lbs)? I'm probably going to mount a kicker bracket while the cap is detached. http://burlington.craigslist.org/boa/3322269819.html Should I keep looking for a cheap 9.9?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Thanks for the doggie pix comments....unfortunately, the black guy in that photo, Leo, now that he's bigger and even dumber, has decided that he hates the boat now. He was only 2 months old in those photos and presumably had no idea what was going on. My wife and I took them out once this summer, and, while the tri-color dog was cool with it, Leo immediately abandoned ship about 100 feet from the ramp before realizing that the boat was in motion and slowly moving away from him...absolute panic and a bad time all around. I'm going to try to get him used to it again slowly.

Anyway, I was itchin' to get going on a couple of things after work today, so please excuse the bad flash photos. It's a small step, but the outboard is off. Tomorrow begins rubrail/rivet/screw/windshield removal if the rain holds off in the evening.

The transom laid bare.


The insidiousness.


I'm not going to leave it like this...outside, that is...but is there any problem storing it on its side like this? I had a furniture dolly that moves it around fine, and I drained the carbs and gear oil. I let it sit for a couple of days vertically after fogging it on the muffs. I'll be moving it into the dry shed when fall yard work is done (it's tight in there). Other than rodent invasion, is there any danger in this?


Thanks again for the kind words on the project. Cheers.

I'd recommend building one of these for your motor....
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=266008

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Getting WAY ahead of myself here, but would a little kicker like this move this boat (approximately 1100 lbs)? I'm probably going to mount a kicker bracket while the cap is detached. http://burlington.craigslist.org/boa/3322269819.html Should I keep looking for a cheap 9.9?

In moving water? I suspect not well.... What are most 4hp going for in VT? How good a deal is $175? Here, it's about right, so not much room to make any money flipping it up to a 9.9hp.....

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

I'd recommend building one of these for your motor....
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=266008

Yep, I probably have that lumber, too. And furniture dolly casters....

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Building your own outboard motor stand has a material list & dimensions

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

In moving water? I suspect not well.... What are most 4hp going for in VT? How good a deal is $175? Here, it's about right, so not much room to make any money flipping it up to a 9.9hp.....

There are always a bunch of 2 and 4 hp kickers for very cheap on CL around here. I'm not into buying/selling, so I'll just wait on a deal for something that can actually move the boat for trolling and redundancy. Thanks.

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

NM...

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Building your own outboard motor stand has a material list & dimensions

Cool. I'll get on this.

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Had a bit of a setback a few days ago, when I was bringing in houseplants for the winter and dropped a gigantic planter on my right hand middle finger...fractured fingertip bone and a little too much pain to get anything done.

It's feeling a lot better, so yesterday I drilled out all the rivets, and this morning I'm starting to pull the cap off. This may be a bad idea, but I decided to leave the windshield on for rigidity...that combined with the bulkhead style rear cap should keep it from flexing I'm thinking. Weight's not an issue, as I'm using some mechanical advantage to lift it (getting people together with my work schedule is impossible). Also, please excuse my laziness with regard to all the junk that's still in the boat...I'm trying to take advantage of nice weather and get the hard stuff done now.

Anyway, I have a foam question. As you can see in these pics, there is in fact a core of foam in the gunwale structure between the outer glass skin and a layer of chopped, presumably blown-in glass. This stuff is in good shape and I'm just wondering if anyone has encountered this and left it intact. The bottom of the hull where the chines begin is laid up thicker and is foam-less. Would anyone know if this is structural foam?

Pulling up the bow section:

Here's the interior gunwale foam layer at the bow:

More foam going aft:

This is what the thin interior glass layer looks like:

Another shot of the bow, and you can see where the foam transitions to the thicker glass bottom:

Also, I'm thinking of just getting the hull taken care of this winter and spring, and then worry about the topside resto in the summer/fall. I should have some tear-down pics coming soon. Cheers.

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

Well, this is not turning out as I expected at all. This thing is foam cored, and I don't know what to do at this point.

The bow opened up, that's all encapsulated foam:

There's a small damaged spot in the center of this pic:

...and here's a closer shot...of wet foam:

This looks like it would flex pretty substantially without the foam backing:

This kind of shows the big picture of what's going on here:

I realize that I have to pull the deck up to get a better idea of what's involved, and I'll at least do that, but is this possibly way too involved a project to get myself into? If anyone here has dealt with a hull like this I'd love to get your feedback. I feel like I can deal with a transom/stringer replacement, but this kind of scares me. Thanks guys.

 

[laurentide]

Re: '82 Bomber backyard rebuild

I was just out there staring at it and thinking; can I just remove all of it and reinforce with a few yards of cloth and resin? I'm going to take a whole bunch of measurements and brace everything before I go any further.

I know that Bayliner made boats like this around this period of time, but I didn't realize it was at least a somewhat widespread process. This is bummin' me out.