1983 Lowe Stinger Pro Restore

[WhopperPlopper]

Picked up a 1983 Lowe Stinger Pro, running 35hp 'Rude, and functional trailer. I've done a few jon to bass boat conversions where I had to fabricate a lot of the decking or hatches for storage so I feel this will be fairly straight forward. I am glad the motor would turn over easily and start right up but I still need to recheck the compression on "tried and true" compression gauge as mine is new and is reading 70psi on both cylinders. This is the lowest compression on a motor I've owned but it seems to be running great. I've owned an identical 35 hp 'Rude but cannot remember what the compression was. Chime in on what you all think.

The archives for 1983 were unavailable but here is the 1984 stinger pro which is identical to the one I picked up.
I'll add a picture later of what she looked like when I got her

 

[WhopperPlopper]

Here’s what the boat looked like when I got it home. Looks small but has a lot of fictional features. Has all aluminum decking/supports.. does have minimal wood under aluminum deck where there is pedestals and the stern deck is wood and was replaced with osb so I’ll have to use it as a template with an exterior ply.

 

[WhopperPlopper]

Made some progress last night. Ripped up all the carpet and removed the osb back deck. The top half of floatation foam is dry so I’m going to keep the bigger dry chunks to put back in and pour over it with the 2 or expanding foam.. pulled the boat off the trailer by taking the rear hooks to a wallll mounted shelf and slowly pulled the trailer forward... going to be abnormally warm weather next few days over 70 during the day and better than 50 degrees at night so going to repaint the trailer and recarpet new bunks. Rewired the trailer already.

The boat bottom is so grimey but I cleared a spot off with some clr and then rubbed a little 3m polish
On it and it is shiny!
After trailer is done And inside boat is completely gutted and cleaned out I’m going to flip the boat over and completely scrub it down and then polish it. Flip it back on the new trailer and get to work on the inside

After I I electric polish it do I need to “seal it” with anything or just wipe it down after I take it out of the water

 

[onthewater102]

Wow - marveling at the construction quality difference in that Lowe vs. my early 80's Tracker III that I'm 80% done restoring... You've got all aluminum decking, Tracker used a bunch of plywood held down with mild steel screws, your foam compartments look evenly filled, Tracker just dripped whatever foam they felt like using and didn't bother making sure the compartment was filled, you've got proper floor drains...the list goes on.

Looks like a nice setup for pulling behind a small crossover without needing a bulky tow vehicle - odd that the boat building market has gotten away from these types of boats when they match so perfectly to some of the most popular vehicles out there.

If you're going to the trouble of removing all the foam are you planning on testing the hull for leaks? It'd be the perfect opportunity to rebuck/replace rivets and do it right so you don't have to worry about it again.

Compression sounds on the low side. I know older motors ran on 6:1 compression from the factory, but 70psi would be on the low side even for one of those. If the cylinders' pressure is even it might just be on the tail end of its service and closing in on being in need of an overhaul.

 

[WhopperPlopper]

I will say this will be the 3rd Lowe boat I've owned and definitely impressed with the quality. The all aluminum floor (minus minimal wood) is a big help. I think you're right I should go ahead and inspect rivets inside and out and fix the ones I can. I even have been considering rolling something under the floor over the rivets or just dab m5200 over them for overkill.

I am worried about the outboard compression now, but before giving up I'll do what everyone has suggested and maybe with a little luck it's my cheap compression tester.

Send me your thread if it's on here, I always like to check out other restores for ideas.

 

[WhopperPlopper]

Working on the trailer has been a pain. Got it all sanded down and then tac clothed and first coat of primer on.. just time consuming but after that first coat everything else should be a breeze. I ordered nearly everything I’ll need for the restore earlier in the week but noticed today when it said it would be here by the the 28th it actually was April 28th damn coronavirus...
Also broke the handle on my cheapo HF angle grinder.. but luckily I had a long volt and bunch of washers to make it better lol

 

[WhopperPlopper]

2 coats of primer and about to put on a third coat of oil based enamel black with hardness.. it’s a smooth looking finish!

 

[WhopperPlopper]

Did some more grinding with the wire wheel to get more old glue off. Was happy to see the bottom
Floor and sides were all one piece.. I like that rather than doing each panel Separate and worry about a seam not lining up. A lot of my amazon order came in but some of the things I need sooner keep getting delayed. I also opened my carpet i Ordered from bestboatseats.com/pontoonstuff and the color of the carpet was spot on and the rubber backing was significantly better quality than the indoor/outdoor runner backed carpet I’ve used from menards..but I simulated wrapping a hatch or corner/bend and the carpet separates a lot and can see the backing through the carpet.. I’ve emailed the company to see what I can do before attempting to return and try the 20 oz carpet if that makes a difference..

The indoor/outdoor carpet never did this.. so we will see

Drilled out the rivets on the front deck and that foam looks pretty up top but soaked about halfway down and caused it to expand and bowed up the floor... will chip away at this and the rear deck and replace with pink insulation foam wrapped in 2-3 mil plastic sheathing... any other suggestions?

 

[WhopperPlopper]

Finally dug out 98% of the poured in foam, when I broke through the first 4 inches of the rear foam compartments it smelled heavily of fuel and water mixed in. By what you can seen from the waterline inside the boat where the tanks went you can see this thing was pulled on a bank and left there for some time, all the foam was saturated. The two foam compartments on the bow I pulled out and kept pieces of the dry foam to hopefully reuse when I do a pour to save on buying foam..has anything done this? I was thinking putting 2-4mil plastic down and then pouring some two part foam in then dump dry crumbles and then put more 2 part foam on top until it is full.

Glad I used a shovel it really cut down the time it took me to dig the foam out. I thought I made a mistake on the front compartments as most of it was dry besides the bottom 3-4 inches. I cant imagine how much this soaked foam weighs!

Lastly, I was able to find all the floor panel rivets to remove the bottom floor/side walls. It was a PITA but I found every last rivet (for the most part there were consistent but a few no rhyme or reason rivets). The sheet foam on the floor/side walls was the worst. SO heavy. I was able to put it in contractor bags but no way the trash man will be able to lift them... Going to do some fine pickin the last bits of foam out and then put it on the trailer to bring to the car wash.

Also thinking of spraying some type of rubberized coating (walmart brand bedliner aerosol) over inside all of the rivets at or below the waterline...

Few questions:

1.) Will this rubberized coating stick to the bare aluminum hull without prep?
2.) Will putting the 2-4mil plastic sheeting into the foam compartments melt from the 2 part foam "kicking off"?
3.) If I use foam closed cell foam (pink panther kid) would I be able to squish them into the compartments enough to create the rigidity the poured foam gave..obviously I'll put 1.25" insulation between ribs.

 

[WhopperPlopper]

Meandering from the priority of rebuilding this bad boy...

After I do a thorough clean of the inside I want to clean and polish the bottom of the boat. I will make the aluminum to a mirror polished and then redo the original lowe bass/fish logo with pinstripe. Anyone know how to get my hands on the originals..same color and size.

 

[WhopperPlopper]

Finished this boat last summer and have fished it a lot. The transom is ready for a replacement and am considering a wood alternative (aluminum square tubing?) but for convenience I may just glass some marine ply and call it good. Still need to remove old decals and polish and have new decals made/put on...but hard to do when I spent most weekends fishing it.

I contemplated selling and buying something bigger/faster but decided to just upgrade to 40hp 4 stroke with electric tilt/trim and that should get me by the next few years. Fish mostly night tournaments where 30mph is fastest you're *allowed* to go at night so doesn't need to be a rocket.

anyone from Missouri and know how to get a boat motor legal from out of state where they don't have titles...? they're just so incredibly cheaper I'd drive 3-5 hours to save on a motor.

 

[PilotPete01]

Hello! I'm new here and know this is a very old post. But, wanted to say thanks for all the detailed photos! I just picked up one of these to restore, partially due to finding this build thread. I took it for a spin last night to try it out, but it's going to get torn down and restored starting in a couple weeks. The plan is to have a nice boat to take my son out fishing on. He's already obsessed with the new boat

Are there any tips or pointers you learned along the way that would have made the project easier? I know you used the wire brush attachment for the glue, did you just try pulling up the carpet to get it off? Or did you use a scraper or multitool or something like that?

Here's a couple pics of mine!