First Remodel

Just picked up this boat, motor, and trailer at the start of the year for $450.

It's a 14' Crestliner, and I'm planning to remodel pretty much all of it. The plan is to use it for both hunting and fishing. I welcome any input up front.

Hmmmm. I think it might need a paint job. Trailer paint looks pretty good, though. Ha Ha

richg99

Trailer seems to be in somewhat decent shape. I would take care of that green paint job and remove it. Ohh by the way, welcome to Tinboats. You are about to learn A LOT on here.

Carpet looks great. Seats look low enough to step over easily. A lot depends on what you want the boat to look like when you finish.

Sometimes, it is better to just fish in it a few times and then decide what, if anything, needs improving.

I've made so many changes over the years and then decided that whatever I did wasn't what I should have done...that I now don't even glue PVC "stuff" together. I screw it in place and then glue it only after a couple of trips out prove its worth.

Go slow. Read the build threads here for ideas. Ask away...Lots of smart guys/gals here. Welcome aboard.

richg99

p.s. at that price, you stole the rig. Well done.

Thanks for the advice. I'm willing to put in the work to make sure I get a quality boat that will last, but I definitely plan to use it rather than just tinker.

The trailer looks to be in fairly decent shape (the previous owner installed rear LED lights on the trailer and tossed in two spare tires to boot); though, he advised that the springs should be replaced before doing any significant mileage. I plan to rerun the wiring since it was installed outside the trailer and put a new strap on the winch since the rope is a bit worn. At some point I will repaint it and potentially change it over to a bunk, but it isn't necessary for now.

As for the boat, the carpeting will do for my current need, except for that hideous I/O on the rear seat. I noticed a few rivets at first glace that will need to be repaired, and a large dent on the bow that I believe includes a crack, but I won't be able to do a leak test for a while since winter is upon us.

What is the story on the motor? Looks vintage. Congrats on the rig!

Sorry for the delay in posting. The wife has a honey-do list that wouldn't wait.

Ouachita: the motor is a vintage Johnson 7.5 that the previous owner tossed in with the boat. It has some damage, but I was told that it will turnover. I'm hoping to have a buddy help me tear it down and rebuild it. For now it will be my everyday motor. I like the idea that one screwdriver can get me out any jam.

I wanted to check out the supports for the platforms before deciding if I wanted to change anything. First thing I found is that the plywood as well as the supports were never sealed (thanks to other threads in the forum I knew that that is a non-no) and were now starting to rot. In addition the old carpet was stuffed under the front platform. I ended up cutting the new carpeting off of the platforms so that I could properly seal a new floor. Plus there should be enough left over to wrap new bunks for the trailer.







I finished leak testing the boat last weekend as well and only found a few places that will need to be addressed. The main area being the seam between the bottom and side pieces of aluminum. I'm thinking that once I sand down the inside I can run a line of caulk on the inside and outside that should take care of the issue. The bolts for the transom don't seem to have been caulked and are leaking pretty significantly.







This weekend, I got the boat off of the trailer and started the teardown.

A couple last pictures for the week.

I'm trying to decide if the weld on the base of the winch post needs to be addressed. It seems like the post may have had a steel piece wrapped around it for support. Any thoughts?



Hoping to find time throughout this week to finish the teardown of the trailer so that I can start stripping the paint this coming weekend.



Any questions, comments, or pointers are appreciated.

I apologize for the delay in posting. Life tends to get the better of me every now and then. In addition, the weather has not been cooperating with the stripping of the trailer.

I finished the teardown for the trailer outside of getting the axel and wheels separated. I've tried quiet a few things, but have yet to find something that will loosen the lug nuts. I'm planning to take the assembly to a tire shop down the street to see if they can get the tires off.



I also am having trouble finding new leaf springs for the trailer. The measurements for the mounting spots on the trailer don't match any of the leaf springs that I can find for sale. I've attached a rough sketch, and any suggestions are more than welcome.



I'm planning to finish ordering the last few pieces for the trailer this week and then working on stripping the paint if the weather cooperates.

As far as breaking the lug nuts...heat is a good choice. Have you tried that?
richg99

What is the length of the original springs?
The holes in the frame are to let you move the axle front to back to achieve the correct tongue weight.
You should have loosened the lug nuts when the trailer was on the ground and it had some weight on it.
An impact gun will get them off.

lckstckn2smknbrls:
The old springs are 1 3/4" x 18 1/2". I found springs that were 18 1/4". I'm nervous about that 1/4" difference. Will it matter?

Yeah, in hindsight I should have loosened them before taking the boat off. Live and learn.

richg99: I'm going to get a torch and try that tonight.

The 1/4" difference is most likely from the old springs flattening out from age and shouldn't be an issue.

Wow how time flies! I wanted to give a quick update on progress for the boat trailer.

Stripping has been completed on the main pieces. CitriStrip was used to remove the old paint because it was a low VOC formula.

One note of caution, always use proper eye and skin protection when using this product, as it melted the cheap foam brush I used to apply it.


Here are the results




After stripping the metal pieces I used a wirewheel drill attachment as well as steel brushes to clean up any remaining areas of concern. I would suggest paying up for the wooden handled brushed as the plastic handled ones were a bit flimsy, in my opinion.

Moving along. Just keep up the good work and someday....you can go fishing!

Ha Ha richg99

I use my angle grinder with wire wheels and flap discs to strip old trailers.