1978 sylvan 14ft project

[jellio5]

Finally back to boat work today after drying out from the flood I'm still finishing little things up. I redid my wiring in the far back compartment mainly for cosmetics and it looks much better. Also put an inspection hole in the back by my bilge pump and plug. I put my rod holders for trolling on and did some other odds and ends. This weekend I'm going to get another base for a middle seat and get one more grey seat for the back. Also have to pick up a measuring deal sticker to put in the boat for slot limits around here. tomorrow my wife and daughter are going out for the first time in the boat.....pics to follow.

 

[jellio5]

As seen on another post here's a list of materials and costs for this project.

Here is the parts list for everything I've got boat motor trailer

Initial boat investment - $0.00 traded a Johnson 10HP and tank for it.

I rounded everthing up to include tax I got the totals from the reciepts I saved.

All told it looks like I have about $1800.00 into my boating since I started about 4 years ago and most of this stuff was bought over time.

This list doesn't include fishing gear/poles/reels/tackle/license's/rain gear and some small stuff in the boat.

If I could only pay myself for the hours I spend working I'd be rich.

1978 Sylvan 14ft

Wood - I used 3 sheets of 4'x8'x1/2" thick outdoor plywood at $16.00 a sheet.
Wood water proofer 1 gallon - $8.00
Carpet - For the floors I used Foss Ecofi Status indoor/outdoor carpet charcoal grey 7'x12' at a total cost of $54.00 For the rear seat and cabinets I used Lancer Sundancer Marine back indoor/outdoor carpet in steel grey 3'x12' came to $17.00
I used 2 quarts of Florcraft indoor/outdoor carpet adhesive at $5.67 each - $12.00
I used 3 cans of Rustoleum self etching primer at $3.44 each - $11.00
I quart of Rustoleum gun metal paint - $9.00
Angel aluminum 3/4" x8' angel aluminum - $5.00
Angel aluminum 1"x8' angel aluminum - $9.00
Seat base that attaches to floor - $24.00
Seat post - $12.00
Seat base spring typ - $8.00
Seat - $39.00
Bow light - $14.00
Stearn light and base - $18.00
Stearn light pole holder - $3.00
Cigarette light plugs for phone charging ect. $5.00 each x 2 - $10.00
Interior lights - $2.00x4 - $8.00
toggle switches - $1.50 each x 3 - $5.00
Hinges - 1 piano hinge 3' long at $7.00 and 6 smaller ones at $2.00x3 - $13.00
Battery shut off - $6.00
Rear seat mount I scored at a rummage sale $2.00 (probably run $30-$40 in the store)
Misc wire conectors - $12.00
New plug - $2.00
Transom board - $5.00
Misc screws/bolts/nuts/washers - $12.00
Rod holders - $10.00
Cup holders - $6.00
Locks/hardware for cabinets - $8.00
New deep cycle battery - $70.00
Strap for battery case - $4.00
Registration for boat - $8.00
10 pack of misc bungess - $10.00
L brackets for cabinets - $15.00

Total cost - $387.00

Things I already had that I transfered from my old boat to this one but bought about 3 years ago.

Onboard charger - $25.00
Trolling motor plug - $18.00
Battery life indicator - $8.00
Battery box - $8.00
Bilge pump - $16.00
Bilge hardware - $10.00
Graph and hardware - $110.00
Fold up emergency paddle - $20.00
Trolling Motor - $80.00 (bought used at a garage sale)
Anchor and rope - $25.00
Clets for docking - $10.00
docking rope - $6.00
Life vests - $50.00
Misc movable and plug in lights - $25.00
Boat cover and motor cover - $60.00

Total - $480.00

Freebies

Wire for electrical - Thanks dad
Electrical conections/shrink tube I have a ton of this stuff
Aluminum prep not sure what it's called but my neighbor who does boats gave it to me and it etched the aluminum and cleaned it worked great - Thanks Loren
sheet of alumimum I got a piece of race car aluminum from a buddy for my control panel and some brackets and my rear inspection hole.
2"x4"x8' - I had a bunch of wood I used threw out the boat that was green treated from a fence I took down.
Staples and nuts/bolts/washers I had alot of this stuff already
Tools - Thankfully i have alot of tools and what I don't have my dad let me borrow thankds again dad.
Paint - I have a ton of paint both spray and brush/roller stuff and the local recycler always has something.

15 HP Evinrude Outboard

I redid/painted/cleaned this over the winter

Initial cost - $750.00 included the tank bought from twin cities outboard
Hydro foils - $25.00
Paint - $15.00
Hose and ends - $25.00
Misc parts lower unit lube/plugs and oil - $25.00
Throtle handle parts (had a problem I had to fix last year) - $20.00

Total - $860.00

Trailer

Initial cost - $0.00 and it has a lifetime license I traded some extra ice gear I had for it when I got my first boat several years ago.
Lights and wiring plugs - $25.00
paint and primer - $12.00

Total - $37.00

Lots of elbow grease and work to get the trailer looking like new.

 

[jellio5]

Loaded up and ready for some fishing this evening

 

[TheMaestro]

=D> nice work! Another Sylvan Saved!

 

[novaman]

Good to see You're all ok! Very nice job on that Sylvan and in an amazingly short period of time. Congrats on a really nice modification =D> 8) Hope things get back towards normal for You folks.

 

[sharrison]

Very nice setup. Does the boat flex much without the front or center bench? I pulled my center one out but was scared to pull any of the rest out after reading about the hull flexing real bad without them.

Do you know what model Sylvan it is? I just bought one and it looks exactly like yours and I have no idea on the model or weight capacity/HP limit. I tried to call Sylvan today but no answer and never got a call back.

Thanks
Steve

 

[jellio5]

I don't notice any flex in the boat beyond the normal flex. One thing I did before tying the wood/aluminum into the boat is I put three big straps around it to suck it all and tight I didn't tighten the super tight just enough to suck it in slightly.

After doing some research I believe this boat is a sea man - no that's not a typo. I have a 15 on mine and there's no tag for up rating but mine would easily a 20hp i wouldn't go over 25hp.

Got out fishing tonight with my daughter and our neighbors son beauty of a night and we caught a lot of fish.....zero issues with the boat. Only problem was the road to my fishing hole was flooded so we went to plan b which turned out well.

 

[sharrison]

Thanks for the info. Does your boat have a 64" beam?
I did find this https://boatspecs.iboats.com/Sylvan_Marine__14_Seaman__1977/bp/66b92849
No pics but gives some info.

 

[jellio5]

I just measured my beam and it's 64" and the length is spot on. Thanks for the info.

 

[sharrison]

Same as mine, so it looks like you were right on the model. I am still going to call Sylvan again and try to see if I can get a replacement plate for mine. I'll let you know what other info I come across.

 

[jellio5]

My messy wiring project have to put wire loom on the exposed wires and I built a cover so I can put my oil and lube on the top.

I hate wiring

 

[jellio5]

This wiring is for my interior lights(4) my bow and stern lights my bilge the two cigarette plug ins my bilge pump my on board charger the trolling motor plug and my battery gauge and my graph...phew didn't realize I had that much stuff I have the bow and stern lights, the bilge and interior lights hooked to switches and hooked and my battery shut off turns power off to everything.

 

[jellio5]

I have another mini project in the works. I picked up an old trolling motor from a rummage sale and all it needed was a switch and the mount deal was broke so fixed both. I'm working on mounting it up front on the bow of my boat.

First step was to remove the top section to fix the mount and rewrite the switch I also removed the old handle to replace it with a longer one.

You can see in this pic how I fixed the broken mount. I used some plumbing/electrical fittings on the top and bottom to hold it in place. Since its a bow mount it will always be all the way down anyway.

You can see in this pic how I reworked the on/off button to change it to foot control.

Here is the foot pedal construction the only thing left to do is mount it in the boat and finish wiring it.

You can see in this pic the longer handle I made and mounted

It's ready for paint just have to let some glue setup for awhile then prime/paint.

I need to pick up another wiring plug to install like I have in the back so I can just plug it in. I also may brainstorm a way to move the variable speed switch from inside the unit to mount it in a little box so I can control the on/off and speed and forward/reverse without having to move. I'll still have to manually steer though.

Next step is to figure out how to mount it.

Here's what I started with.

 

[jellio5]

Almost ready to start making a bracket for the motor to mount on the bow. Tomorrows projects will be installing the foot pedal and finishing the wiring. Gotta do a little more detailing on the motir as well. Might be over kill but I'm thinking about keeping my transom mount trolling motor on the back.

Anyone have any good links/pics/diagram for a transom mount motor in the bow.

 

[jellio5]

gathering parts during the day and going to work tonight after it cools down a bit. Plan to get the trolling motor finished tonight. Test day will come on Monday night hopefully.

 

[jellio5]

Phew I think I got everything done. I'll post some pics tomorrow of the finished product it turned out well I think. Test day on Monday.

 

[jellio5]

It's completely done

 

[jellio5]

Success the trolling motor project worked great. Wish I would have done it a long time ago.

 

[jellio5]

Officially to hit to work on the boat today....I like summer but this heat is for the birds.

 

[TheMaestro]

Trolling motor setup that you did looks really good, way to be resourceful and creative!