MFG Carefree project

[RKjay]

Hello everyone I introduced myself in the dockside chat section but I was not able to upload any pictures. I figured it out so here they are. It's a 70's MFG Carefree rescued from a field after 10 years of sitting for the sum of $150. The boat had no engine but I have a Johnson 40 horse I will be using. The hull seems to be very weak but a few of my friends tell my it can be fixed so I will study up on that as my first coarse of action for this project. Looking forward to restoring this boat and being part of the iboats community.

Thank you,
Jay

Recieved condition

After a little elbow grease.

The power plant. 1968 Johnson 40 Electrashift 2 cylinder.

 

[Trooper82]

Re: MFG Carefree project

wow! she cleaned up right good!!..nice looking boat...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: MFG Carefree project

Have you core sampled the Transom? MFG, back in the day, did make some engineered stringers so, under the deck may be ok, but you should investigate that at www.fiberglassics.com What did you do to get the shine back?

 

[sphelps]

Re: MFG Carefree project

Wow ! Like night and day on the cleanup !
Glad to see another MFG come to life ! Someday we might just out number the Starmada ! LOL !

 

[mushyb]

Re: MFG Carefree project

Wow what a piece of junk. That thing would be better off holding water as a trough for horses. Man if it wasn't for the big johnson in the rear i would have said that the boat was somewhat straight! Anyways i'm just messing around, nice boat buddy! Its going to be saweeeeeeeet! Happy Boating!

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: MFG Carefree project

Wow, nice job with the elbow grease. I'm very curious on what you did to get that boat that nice...Do tell.. Great boat too, by the way.

 

[RKjay]

Re: MFG Carefree project

Thanks for the replies everyone. My big secret to the shine is I took the after picture when it was still wet HA HA. After it dried the paint is a little dull but still looks a lot better than when I got it. I only used a small pressure washer and some blue coral car wash to get the grime off.

I did not core sample the transom. I was planning on it but it seems that the entire hull needs to be fixed. I was walking around in the boat and I heard a lot of crunching and could see a lot of flexing also. I would think that if I do all this work to the hull it would be foolish to leave an old transom untouched. Maybe that’s a good idea maybe not I’m not sure, I have absolutely no knowledge of boats so there is a big learning curve here. As of right now the engine is coming back off and the boat is going to storage while I research this project. I have learned to do my research and do things correct the first time so I only do it once. I would like to do a full restoration to this boat so everything is perfect. Since I am a complete novice I am estimating I will need to do a few months of studying before I start any repairs. Once again thanks everyone for the replies and any other suggestions are much appreciated.

Jay

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: MFG Carefree project

Well Jay, Welcome to iBoats!!!!
This is he Boat Restoration University!!!!

Just spend about an hour or two a day on the forum searching, reading and studying all the many threads on here and in no time you'll have a good basic understanding of everything you'll need to know to restore your boat to her original old self. I'd recommend you start here.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=286013
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=234392
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=510077

 

[Isaacm1986]

Re: MFG Carefree project

Welcome to the community! I have a suggestion for the paint, but it tends to stir a lot of debate here on the forums and I am not looking to start a war in your restoration thread. I will pm you my thoughts.

Keep up the good work!

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: MFG Carefree project

Expect the worse. Be prepared to do a full restore, transom and all. If there is one thing I learned with these old boats is it's never just the deck or never just anything. It's all rotten. Sorry for that, but you may as well face it now. lol.

 

[RKjay]

Re: MFG Carefree project

Yeah after I cleaned up the inside I realized that it would just be wise to do over the whole hull inside and out and then the transom. I want to do a complete resto so this boat is as close to perfect as possible. It will be a fun learning experience and I will be proud of it when finished.