1984 Sylvan Supper Snapper Rebuild

[clc442]

I have an old Sylvan Supper Snapper 16" deep V, that was my starter boat, that I've owned for 10 years now. I was always planning on buying a new boat when the time was right, but the price of new boats have gone thru the roof. Financing a $60k Lund isn't the best decision right now, so I'm keeping my overhead to a minimum just in case. So my plan is to redo the boat and outfit it with the features of a new boat and some electronics. I had a mouse get into the boat 2 years ago and chew a bunch of wires in the outboard and main electrical. This caused problems with the outboard that I had trouble fixing, and basically ended slowly replacing everything so the outboard should be good for a couple years (1993 25 hp Mariner 2 stroke). The flooring is original to the boat and needs to be replaced. Also the batteries are weak and are dead by the end of a long day on the water. When I bought the boat, it was in bad shape and I just kept doing small projects and repairs to make the boat better, now is the perfect time for the full rebuild, with a more multi-species layout. The plan is to add a rod locker, small windshield for the side console, extend the front casting deck and upgrade the bilge and live-well.
You can see the before pictures, It was a solid setup, 55lb thrust Terrova with I-pilot link, and a helix 9 HB. All I have to do is put a new floor in right how hard could that be?

 

[clc442]

I started tearing the boat apart in late August, figuring I had all winter to work on the boat. This entire seemed to be put together with rivets. I had to chisel the heads off about 100 buck rivets to get all the storage boxes and seats out. Now my boat has a lot of holes in the hull that hopefully I will be able to put in watertight rivets. All the sub floors that were not exposed to sunlight were rotted.I pulled the carpet and drilled out the rivets and pried up the floor. The boat has always been stored in a garage as far as I know. The pour foam looked to be in good condition so I was very tempted to keep the foam, but I made the correct choice to remove the foam. Once I got all the foam out there was some corrosion and pitting on the hull. I've hit it with a wire wheel brush and on a drill to remove the corrosion and last of the foam.

How do I neutralize this rust to stop it and do I need to paint it with some primer? I have done a little searching and think Alumahawk paint might work.

 

[LDUBS]

I just read in another thread about using zinc chromate primer to prevent future corrosion. That is after any existing issues are addressed of course. Don't know any more about it that what I read.

Here is a link to the thread: https://www.tinboats.net/threads/co...-boat-restoration-build-or-scrap-metal.51424/

 

[clc442]

Its been awhile since I've posted, So I will have to catch up on the progress. Its been slow but I'm happy with the results. So I ended up scrubbing the hull with a water vinegar solution to clean up the corrosion, and I also replaced the cast aluminum bow eye with a SS U bolt. then I filled the boat with water and checked for leaks. By some miracle no leaks!

 

[clc442]

Now I started the prep the boat for some paint. I didn't sand the boat down to bare metal or bother with that paint stripper sludge that looks like hell to deal with. I just roughed it up real good and tried to sand out any scratches. I fish a pretty stumpy reservoir for a week every year that is hard on the boat. So I bought the low friction epoxy paint for the bottom, to hopefully prevent leaks down the road or maybe even help power load when trailering. So with a little help from a friend and a 4 wheel dolly, we pulled the boat off the trailer and flipped it into the grass. We put the dolly under the transom and we grab a side of the bow and dragged it back into the garage. I ended up going with the gator glide for the bottom paint. I followed the directions for the bottom prep work. Sanded it down pretty good, I took my time because I never want to have to flip this boat again.

 

[Stand Up]

Don't give up. It will look great when you're done. A restored boat is beautiful.