New Boat!!!! 1986 Sea Nymph Fishing Machine FM-161

[BoatDawg4120]

So.... My last post was for my 12ft V-hull mod. Well after 2 months posted for sale I came across a 16ft aluminum Sea Nymph with a 30hp johnson and trailer included. Seller had it posted on a local Facebook for sale page for $800. Needed floor put in and the guy only had it for a month and realized it was more of a project than he was capable of doing so he posted it for what he had in it. He did not know if the motor ran but original owner said it still did but parked it due to rotten floor and some holes in the hull that needed repaired. I offered the guy a straight trade for my 12ft with the 1955 7.5hp Rudy and trailer for his. After about 45 mins of conversing and looking over each others items we signed over titles and headed our separate ways each with our new toys. I was ecstatic!!! and still am. He had removed the flooring and about 75% of the foam which was water logged. I spent 4 days cutting scraping and pressure washing the rest out. Found 8-10 small holes in the boat and from looking at these holes i realized they were PT wood corrosion holes. The floor the guy had ripped out apparently had been replaced once before and the unknowing person had put PT in its place. Well I vinegar washed then baking soda washed the entire boat to neutralize the corrosion. This was also the reasoning behind total removal of all the foam and anything else that could potentially be harboring the PT chemicals from the wood. The transom outer skin appears to have gotten the worst of it in the corners where the foam did not allow the moisture to dry out or drain out when it got there. I will have to have a 12"x8" patch WELDED in on the left corner and another 6"x8" patch on the right corner. Not a big deal as I have a friend that I have known for over 10 years that owns his own metal fab shop and is willing to get the pieces welded in and has offered to completely replace the inner and outer skins of the transom if needed going from riveted to all weld on the rear which might be my best bet. He offered it as payment for helping him sort through about $12k worth of boat parts and engines and such left at the second building on his lot that he previously was renting out to a guy who was running a boat repair shop out of it. The building needed some maintenance and such also that I have been helping with. Sounds like a great deal to me.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Sorry for the split post but my browser logs me out if I dont post within a certain amount of time. Anyways.... Back to the boat. The 86 Sea Nymph FM171 had the option for a 60 or 90hp motor. The FM161 that I now own could be purchased with the 30 or 60hp engine. I have a 85hp chrysler with all controls and is turn key that I will be placing on the boat. I know it is a little overpowered but smart driving and knowing the dangers of irresponsible boat driving I should be ok. Should I ever sell it I will be placing a 1971 Thunderbolt 500 Merc on it. Just for piece of mind. I will add the pics I have of the boat. Side consol and driver seat came with it. I have 2 20gal aluminum fuel cells that I will be putting on the boat. Transom core will be replaced and reinforced. Deck will be original at first but later on down the road I will be raising the front deck in front of the livewell and adding a rear casting deck that will also house more storage and the two aluminum fuel cells. I am PUMPED!!!! Cant wait to get it done and post the pics. I will be on here and there to update where the build stands and upload progression photos.

 

[SaltyGhost]

It's nice to know someone who can weld aluminum. Knowing someone who has his own shop is even better. I'd be thinking up all kinds of mods and enhancements.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Quick update. Used some aluminum acid to further clean the inside of the hull of any corrosion. Rinsed it all out. Can't do any patch work til it's dried up so I started to tinker with the motor. Pulled the plugs they look almost brand new. Put a little fuel in the cylinders and turned it over. Fired right up. Great news for me.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Trying to figure out how to go about repairing the rotted section of aluminum on the bottom left and right corners of the transom. Wondering if I should remove the rivets that hold the side skin and transom skins together and put the patch metal inside bent around the corner where I can rivet it back together or skip the rivets all together and have it welded through. Any input would be appreciated. I havent had a chance to get the boat over to the fab shop yet as he has been working a job out of the area and hasnt been to the shop all week. Hoping today I can catch him when I get home from work before he leaves.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Made some progress on the boat today. Was able to get the outboard off and start on the transom rebuild. Got the core and inner aluminum skin out. The inner skin was really pitted. I have one of the bench panels from my old Jon boat that I'm gonna use to strengthen that up. Core came out in about 8 pieces with the bottom 4" completely missing. I started to fab the patches for the two bottom corners of the transom. I found the best way to get it done is gonna be to river the patches in place with a really tuff silicone we use at the shop I work at on our dry van trailers. It's some nasty stuff so on e it's on it's sealed. The metal shop down the street has been bending the aluminum for me and I couldn't be happier with the results. Tomorrow I will be putting the panels in place and riveting them in place. Transom core will be cut and sealed. Hope to have the transom and flooring going together next week.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Got my transom core cut out. Still need to trim the top down but I had to fit it one piece at a time so the top part I left so that once both pieces were in I had something to screw the two together and then pull out as one piece. Will be pulling it out and gluing and sealing it after trimming it down. Coming along a little faster than I had first thought it would. Used 23/32 exterior plywood. Which is almost the same as 3/4.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Spent all day working on the boat. Thought I would upload the pics from today's progress. Transom and outer transom skin repairs are complete. Very happy to have these done as they were the biggest issues on the boat all together. Now I can move on to the minor patches and floor install.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Havent been able to make any more progress on the boat. Spent my last 3 days off out on the water wakeboarding and such. My weekend work schedule leaves me getting home about dark on sat and sun so its difficult to do anything then. I did buy some bulbs for my shop lamp tho so I will be trying to get some holes fixed tonight when i get home. Tomorrow I will be getting home around 4 so it will be a good day to get some things done. No holiday festivities for me. Trying to save some cash for vacation which i leave for on Wednesday. I did list my 1954 Mercury Mark 30 for sale this past week. Wasnt on craigslist for even 2 hours and someone was blowing up my phone about it. He is supposed to be coming down today to look at it and hopefully buy. He is getting a steal if he does buy it. $500 for the motor. All original paint and chrome cowl. Engine runs like a dream. Timing belt needs replaced along with regular maintenance items. And I told him I would throw in the pulley and cable steering system for it. I know i could get more out of it if I really wanted to but I dont like seeing it waste away in my shed. I had mounted it on my 12' jon boat for a few weeks before I traded the boat and that thing would fly. 29mph fully loaded with me and a friend in the boat. Never had any stability or porpusing issues. Local law enforcement were always very interested in it but never gave me a hard time. I had it out on the local lake one day and was pulling my buddy on a tube behind the boat with it and FWC came and pulled right down the ramp with their truck and flashed their lights. I pulled it right to shore so he wouldnt get pissed off and he came over and said he just wanted to get a look at the motor lol. He did a quick check to make sure I had all my required items on the boat and then sat for almost an hour just chatting with us. Good old Lake County, FL. Law enforcement in this area are usually pretty cool about stuff. Anyways, I still havent decided how I am going to set the boat up. For now the plan is to go back in with everything stock. I just want to get the floor and seat and console back in to it the way it was original and then go from there. Its driving me crazy not being able to get on the water to fish right now. I do plan on getting it built up with a front and rear casting deck. The front deck will start at the livewell and go forward. I want to leave the livewell alone. Its a solid livewell. 22 gals. Already plumbed and all I want to do is remove the vertical overflow pipe and replace it with one 1.5" taller. that would leave it still 1 inch below the lid. To alter the height of it would be pretty difficult to do with the way it is set up in the boat. So to compensate I will be adding a 20 gallon livewell to the rear when i put the rear casting deck in using a rubbermaid tote. I will offset it with the 20 gal aluminum fuel cell that will be going in. To put the rear deck in I am going to cut the rod box door short so that it opens at the front end of the boat with about a 4ft opening and the back end of the door will be screwed down since it will not be able to open once the deck is put in above it. This way I can still put the rods in it.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Stuck at work again on a holiday. Ill be heading home here in about 30 minutes and going straight to Ace Hardware to pickup new thru hull fittings and some clear vinyl hosing. Probably go ahead and buy a new shop vac to get the boat cleaned completely out. Hoping to have all the holes completely patched today. Will water test tomorrow and then begin with the floor install. Anyone have any experience with the Bass Pro-Standard Marine Carpet?

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Got all but 2or 3 holes patched up. Decided to throw some paint on it today. She came out beautiful. Gonna have a local decal shop cut some custom decals and reg numbers for me.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Well its been a week or so since ive posted. Spent a week in Denver on vacation. Loved it but couldnt wait to get back to FL to continue with my boat build. Before I left I sprayed the outside of the boat with some awesome paint we use at work for our aluminum trailer side panels. No need to prime or scuff. Once its on it doesnt come off. So the boat was wiped down and painted in bright white before i left for vacation. I painted from the side rivet line where it meets the bottom all the way up to the rails. Pics from my previous post show how that turned out. I am extremely happy with the results. It looks great and wipes right off when dirty. When I got back Monday from my vacation I went straight to work on getting it water tested and the decking cut. Tuesday I filled the boat with water and marked any leaks that were left. There were only three pinhole leaks that I was able to find. Drained the boat and used a small torch to dry the areas with holes then sealed them. Measured and cut the floor, front deck and front livewell lid. Wrapped them with carpet and set it all in. Today I had planned on hanging the motor before I went into work but it started raining on me. After the rain tho I put the driver seat in and just set it in place. Sat in it in the front yard for about 15 minutes just picturing what it was going to be like on the water. I may have looked like a complete retard to anyone driving by, including my wife on her way back from the store, but man was I proud of the work I have put into this boat. Its definitly taking longer than I had hoped it would but I decided at the very beginning that I wasnt going to rush myself on this build. I was going to do it the way I wanted it set up and have it done right and I am very very happy with the way it is coming along. I will post pics of the carpet and decks laid in when i get a chance. I just dumped all the pics from my phone earlier today so I have to pull them off my computer at home.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Was able to pull some pics from my fb page. So here you go.

 

[earl60446]

Doing a nice job and you are making great progress too, many of these projects on this forum go real slow. Nothing wrong with that though, it's a labor of love.
Tim

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Well the boat was planned to be in the water the end of this past week but Im getting off to a slow start coming off from vacation and trying to adjust back to the 2 hour time difference. Been up til 2 or 3am the last few days.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Well. Rear casting deck is framed cut and carpeted. Fuel tank ready for flush mount cap. Added 33 gallon live well. Two hatches in the rear deck. One for access to the live well, bilge and batteries. The other is for a small tackle storage area. Fitting 4 3600 series BPS boxes plus some room. Driver seat mounted. Console remounted. Cables routed. Getting the wiring finished up. Have to adjust the plumbing for the added well. Gonna complete the bench to add a passenger seat with storage below. It's coming out just the way I wanted.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

I had this grand idea that I would be putting the boat in the water this morning for the initial test run but yesterday afternoon that idea was aborted. I got the rear casting deck all finished up and laid in place but did not secure it because i need to have it off to route all the controls and wiring and such. Well after three install and removals of the steering cable I decided that I was not going to risk my safety or anyone elses with this cable. It was just too stiff and even though I am going to only run the 30hp for a while. I dont want to have any possible issues hanging around when i get the 85hp ready to go on. So as of about 30 mins ago I have a complete new SeaStar (Teleflex) Quick connect Helm steering assembly coming to the house in the next week or so. Everything from the steering wheel all the way to the motor will be brand new. Including the wheel. Had to do it on a budget so I got the Teleflex Ace Steering wheel which was only $26. All in all I think I will be very happy with it all tho. Nothing better than having piece of mind when moving at WOT. I wasnt going to take a chance at a cable freezing or snapping while under way. I often have my 2 year old daughter on the boat with me and Would never forgive myself if something happened because I didnt make the right call at this point in the build.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

I only just ordered the steering parts yesterday and the wait is killing me. Today I started to seperate out the accessory wire harness and ohming out my pairs and switches. Ohmed out my new ignition switch and started to install that. There was a light sprinkle going on so I was picky about what I wanted to get into today. I have some 7 Wire cable at work and I think I am going to replace everything with that and then use some of the paired cabling we have here for other items. At least I can get all the electrical components wired up and complete while I wait. I think thats the hardest part of any build is the wait for items the be shipped.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Still waiting for the cable and Steering wheel. UPS tracking shows both will be in by Tuesday end of day. I dug more into my wiring yesterday. got the ignition switch completely wired in. Motor turns over perfectly. Used a Tohatsu switch with the push to choke option which I connected to the Electric Primer circuit. I have decided to change up my switch configuration. The boat has 3 accessory switches factory wired. 3 pole anchor/nav light. 3 pole on of auto bilge and 2 pole Livewell intake. I am switching the bilge and livewell switches. I dont need the auto position on the bilge because I will be wiring the float switch directly to the battery. I have an extra livewell pump that I am going to be adding in. So I will use the 3 pole for intake and pump out. This option will just work out better for me. I would rather the float switch be wired direct to battery in case I leave the boat docked somewhere over night and it just happens to spring a leak or start dumping rain. I would rather have a dead battery than a sunken boat.

 

[BoatDawg4120]

Ok so. New steering system is in the boat. Nice smooth operation from lock to lock. Steering wheel looks great compared to what was originally there. Covered the carpet and started painting the inside of the boat. She is looking great. Got the motor started and ran it for about 10 mins yesterday. Only problem is the motor does not **** off with the key so I need to figure out what is happening there. Throttle cable seems to be pretty tight too so I am going to check that out. Here are some pics.