I went out and got this boat for tournaments. It's a 83 Hydra Sport X260 with a Evinrude 110. It's a decent boat just needs a little help I'll have it done by next weeks tournament. I started it in the yard to make sure it sounded healthy and it did so I took it out to the lake real early when there were only a couple boats there to see how it ran across the water and from holeshot to top speed it never hesitated.

So the project starts.

                              joe

You can't pass up a deal like that..

Those are nice boats.

$400.00 is no bargain if all the flooring, stringers, and transom are rotted out of it.

I promise you there is more to fixing that floor than just replacing what you see. It needs to have the cap pulled to do it right. You can possibly patch what's in the picture, but there is way more rot than you are seeing. The stringers are going to be suspect also. While you are at it go to the back of the boat and lift up on the foot of the motor to see if the transom gives any at all. If the motor moves on the transom get back to me and I will let you know what you need to do to fix the problem. If the transom gives it may well leak badly while on the water. You need to check this out very carefully. The complete flooring is gone, the stringers are probably gone, and if they are I would bet the transom is to. Cost to pull the cap and repair thes items correctly will run at least 3,000.00 and probably over 5,000.00

I am in no way trying to talk you out of the job. It can be fixed, but it is a job and won't be fixed in time for next week's tournament. This boat has serious issues that need to be addressed to make it safe.

Again, not trying to rain on your project, but there is a lot more to it than covering what you see with a piece of wood and carpet.

Good luck

Hey man its a Nice boat for 400 bucks! Crap for anything under 500 i wouldn't expect it to float let alone run! Hell if it lasts a few months or years and you can make it look good enough to sell you may be able to buy another to start a bigger better project. Anyways Good luck and send me some pix on the cell when you get this thing going!

I'm with fish for dollars here. In fact, I can see the transom is shot just seeing the brown stainage coming from the few fittings I can see in those transom shots.

I'm not one to rain on parades either but that's a cap off resto job right there. Stringer, knee brace and transom replacement. It's a lot of work, money and time.

That boat isn't too terribly safe without repairing the structural components which are all probably rotted.

Nope the stringers and transom are good, I put the motor up, stood on the motor and jumped up and down no flex or cracks, I had this thing ripped apart looking and checking that's how i know there's nothing wrong with it. the brown you see is the nasty water I was just in 20 mins before. Last years project looked like that and I had it down KY Lake for the Road trip.Either way I bought it for 400 put 500 into it run it till it dies or breaks then junk it.

You did a bequtiful job.

Did he throw in the kids for free???      

Hey simplejoe. I wrote this post about a year and a half ago. Hope you find inspiration in it. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions. Have fun     Happy fishing.

Hi Susan . I've been where you are . 18 months ago I bought a boat that looked really nice and

was told was in excelent condition. Before ever getting it in the water I spent $2000 to have the

motor completely overhauled. The motor is a 1967 Evinrude Starflite 80. Runs like a champ now .

Arter a few fishing trips on the lakes around here I noticed an ever worsening crunching sound

under foot in 2 areas of the deck. The boat is a 1977 Glastron Sportster, 16'. I pulled up the

carpet in those areas expecting to replace a little plywood and be done with it. WRONG. The

plywood was so rotten I could just rip out chunks with my hands. My mechanic told me to replace

the deck and stringers. Never tackled a job anything like this before, but at this point I was

commited. I cut out the fiberglass all around the inside perimeter with pnuematic cutting tool and

removed all plywood. I left the old stringers in place (1 down the keel, 1 on either side 1/2 way

between keel and side of hull) as they weren't totally rotted out. The original stringers were pine,

and plywood deck was 1/2" plywood. I bought red oak to make new stringers and 3/4" marine

grade plywood for new deck. After cutting and shaping stringers to fit in place I treated all the

new wood to waterproof it before installation. Mixed fiberglass resin, then diluted it 50% with

acetone to allow it to penetrate into the new wood, and treated the old stringers as well .I applied

4 coats to completely seal and coat wood. Pulled out all the old open cell foam from the hull (it

was all waterlogged and weighed a ton ), bought twice as much new foam, closed cell to prevent

waterlogging. Installed the foam, and bolted new stringers to old ones, sandwiching the old ones

with new on either side, Useing stainless steel bolts. Screwed down new decking with brass

screws. Applied new fiberglass cloth and resin to seal down new deck and form it to the hull.

Bought new high quality outdoor carpeting and glued it to the new deck, using a roller to get it

smooth and even. Then installed new high end pedistal seats fron Cabela's to replace the original

back to back lounge seats. Since then I have also added a new bimini top, Minkota Edge 50#

thrust trolling motor, marine band radio, Serius satellite radio, Eagle 620c depth/fish finder,

compass, submersible fishing lights, dual batteries on a 1/both/off switch, fishing rod storage

tubes for 8 rods, motorcycle headlights for night time operation, interior cabin lights on both

sides of boat, and a solar battery charger to keep batteries full charged at all times. I did all the

work myself (except the motor overhaul ) over a period of about 5 monthe last winter. I love the

end result . I get constant compliments on the boat , it looks brand new , and runs like it too.

Total expenses are about  $6500 . That might seem like a lot, but try to buy something in the

condition that this boat is in now for that amount. It was a lot of work, but for me it was well worth

it. Don't hesitate to ask me for any advise or help you would need should you decide to rebuild

your "good bones" boat.       Happy fishing.

Allen

~N.A.F.C.~B.A.S.S.~BoatU.S.~N.R.A.~A.M.A.~

Back to top  

Hey simplejoe. I wrote this post about a year and a half ago. Hope you find inspiration in it. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions. Have fun Happy fishing.

Hi Susan . I've been where you are . 18 months ago I bought a boat that looked really nice and

was told was in excelent condition. Before ever getting it in the water I spent $2000 to have the

motor completely overhauled. The motor is a 1967 Evinrude Starflite 80. Runs like a champ now .

Arter a few fishing trips on the lakes around here I noticed an ever worsening crunching sound

under foot in 2 areas of the deck. The boat is a 1977 Glastron Sportster, 16'. I pulled up the

carpet in those areas expecting to replace a little plywood and be done with it. WRONG. The

plywood was so rotten I could just rip out chunks with my hands. My mechanic told me to replace

the deck and stringers. Never tackled a job anything like this before, but at this point I was

commited. I cut out the fiberglass all around the inside perimeter with pnuematic cutting tool and

removed all plywood. I left the old stringers in place (1 down the keel, 1 on either side 1/2 way

between keel and side of hull) as they weren't totally rotted out. The original stringers were pine,

and plywood deck was 1/2" plywood. I bought red oak to make new stringers and 3/4" marine

grade plywood for new deck. After cutting and shaping stringers to fit in place I treated all the

new wood to waterproof it before installation. Mixed fiberglass resin, then diluted it 50% with

acetone to allow it to penetrate into the new wood, and treated the old stringers as well .I applied

4 coats to completely seal and coat wood. Pulled out all the old open cell foam from the hull (it

was all waterlogged and weighed a ton ), bought twice as much new foam, closed cell to prevent

waterlogging. Installed the foam, and bolted new stringers to old ones, sandwiching the old ones

with new on either side, Useing stainless steel bolts. Screwed down new decking with brass

screws. Applied new fiberglass cloth and resin to seal down new deck and form it to the hull.

Bought new high quality outdoor carpeting and glued it to the new deck, using a roller to get it

smooth and even. Then installed new high end pedistal seats fron Cabela's to replace the original

back to back lounge seats. Since then I have also added a new bimini top, Minkota Edge 50#

thrust trolling motor, marine band radio, Serius satellite radio, Eagle 620c depth/fish finder,

compass, submersible fishing lights, dual batteries on a 1/both/off switch, fishing rod storage

tubes for 8 rods, motorcycle headlights for night time operation, interior cabin lights on both

sides of boat, and a solar battery charger to keep batteries full charged at all times. I did all the

work myself (except the motor overhaul ) over a period of about 5 monthe last winter. I love the

end result . I get constant compliments on the boat , it looks brand new , and runs like it too.

Total expenses are about $6500 . That might seem like a lot, but try to buy something in the

condition that this boat is in now for that amount. It was a lot of work, but for me it was well worth

it. Don't hesitate to ask me for any advise or help you would need should you decide to rebuild

your "good bones" boat.       Happy fishing.

Allen

~N.A.F.C.~B.A.S.S.~BoatU.S.~N.R.A.~A.M.A.~

Back to top

This should be required reading for anyone shopping for used boats. Great story.

Jack

You did a bequtiful job.

Did he throw in the kids for free??? :)

If he did I'd send them back  ;D Just Kidding those 2 are my fishing buddies. Aj my son is one heck of fisherman, and Marlie is starting out this is the first year I'm putting a hook on the rod.

Allen that is a great post and everybody should read it. I needed to read it a few years back. I learned my lesson on the very first boat I bought. It looked nice but underneath it all it was junk and after a few thousand I had it the way I wanted it.

The boat I just bought was off a friend of mine that's in the bass club that I'm in. He needed some money and I wanted a tournament boat. I checked it all out besides hearing it run at his house so I knew what I getting into and really it's not all that bad it just needed cleaned up.

I got alot of stuff on order and my budget has been blown, I got all new seats, 3 new batteries, carpet, new bilge pump, and 2 new 800 gph livewell pumps. Plus the odds and ends things. Still needed is a Trolling motor and fishfinder. I didn't need all of this but if I'm doing a rebuild I'm doing it right.

I'll post some pics tomorrow after work. Thanks for the concern Allen and Jack but I know what I'm getting into. If I don't get it done this weekend I have my other one to go on.

                                      joe

                         

I too just finished an old 1988 Javelin 16 ft (do not know the model #). The expanded foam was by far the worst of the project. It is shot in and expands to fill all the voids and it bonds to all surfaces. It does not just "fall" out. Wife and I dug and cut and sawed foam out for a week and a half. Then had to make a long tool on a drill motor to "rout" the foam out from under the seats, battery compartments, transom area, and console.

I then repaired the stringers/ ribs with new wood (ash) and installed Styrofoam in most of the voids. The remainder was shot in using Crazy Foam.

I did not use marine grade ply on the floor. I used a new type of house flooring plywood. It has an exposure rating equaling marine grade ply (1),  and it is far less expensive. However, I also coated it both sides with oil based enamel and sealed again after it was laid. As this boat will never see the deplorable conditions it had seen (uncovered under a tree for years), I am confident it will last a long time. New carpet on all the decks finished it off, with all new stainless hardware for hinges and such.

I also had to peel all the gelcoat off the entire cap. The blisters were just a precursor to the rest of the gelcoat debonding from the metalflake cap. Most of it came off OK, but some places were stubborn. After I was down to bare metalflake, I shot the whole top of the boat with urethane clearcoat. Then wet sanded and power buffed the entire boat. It is quite shiny now.

I still have a concern or two about the old 88 vintage Johnson motor, though it runs good now. I took the VRO off of it due to talking with my local marina guy. He said that the VRO was unreliable, and I sure don't want to buy an engine. I'd rather mix gas any day.

If I had it to do over again, I probably would have passed on this ride. However, I just put it in the water for the first time last week, and now all the work and cussing  is a faded memory! The first time I cracked the throttle and the thing launched like a bullet (as much as a 110 will launch), I was in heaven.

Oh, and don't forget to go over the trailer. Repack trailer bearings, especially if it sat for a long time. I had two bad ones.

Cheers,

Mark

I think half the fun is fixing and making the boat just like how you want it with repairs or add ons.

I think half the fun is fixing and making the boat just like how you want it with repairs or add ons.

It's obvious you've never repaired a transom or stringers. Anyone that thinks that's fun is extremely ill.

The boat project is going good got the new floor in, 2 seats mounted, all the bilge and livewell pumps in. I bought a Garmin color fishfinder/ gps for it and it's in. Still waiting for the carpet to come in and getting a trolling motor next weekend it's a Motorguide 55 thrust 12/24 volt. It's been raining a lot here so I'll get some pics soon. If it keeps up raining I'll just put it in the garage.

                                   joe

Good luck joe - And UPDATE US - Rain or no rain .... send them to my cell too - Cant wait to see it *Are you bringint it to Pickwick this year*?

I'll update you, I had it out at the lake last Sunday and was talking to some guy that wanted a boat so it might be sold as of this weekend. I also bought another boat going to get it this Sunday it's a 20' Javelin with a 200 hp motor on it.  My wife is ready to divorce my butt if I keep bringing boats home  ;D  

I'll call you this weekend Brian and I'll send some pics of the new boat.

                                              joe