nice work, hope she catches you some nice fish!

Different day different dollar.... I go to grapevine mostly but Hopefully I will make more lLewisville trips and also I want to hit Twok!

That is a GREAT Rebuild

Wow ......Just wow, Great Job, all u need now is a couple of downriggers and your set

i would like to talk about what kind of work i could get done on my boat to bling it up. please let me know some prices.
phil 214-336-7665

My compliments on your restore project. Truly amazing. You are to be congratulated on your hard work, ingenuity, and craftsmanship.

Very nice. You have done a beautiful job!

I have this same boat, I'll try to post pics in the daylight. Do you still have the boat, how is the floor holding up. How do you like it.

haha sorry to resurrect such an old thread... I do indeed still have the boat... I have had so many great adventures on this sweetheart...

I have been up rivers in 1 foot of water in the middle of the night catching blues swirling in the shallows.

I have had here out on the ocean in some extremely rough seas catching Kingfish, sharks, cobia, massive redfish sea trout and sea sickness. My "record" so far is 28 miles offshore ( I was well prepared)

I nearly sank one time when my buddy pulled a loose anchor line and pulled the plug out!

Ive done the catfish classic on Fork 3 times and won money on a few of them.

I caught a PB 45 lb blue cat on Grapevine.

I can pull the boat behind our Coleman pop-up camper and go wherever I want (quite the site running down the freeway.

I may post some pictures of my adventures on this boat (which I now call the "Chum shot") if anyone is interested

As far as how she is holding up... pretty well. She is definitely due for a facelift as the sun has gotten to the Console and the upholstery. I plan on fishing this season then pulling her down for an overhaul to inclued a pro clear coat job on the console. I also have a few leaky rivets I want to fix and to re caulk and paint the interior and perhaps even spring for an exterior paint job. The upholstery will get redone as well.

I just installed a new stereo that is great and over the years I have had to do a few things like get a new axle for the Dilly trailer (man I LOVE that trailer) and replace the steering cable. The 1983 mercury is running as good as ever, although I did break a tooth on the forward gear (which I replaced myself)

This boat has been way more than I ever hoped for. The versatility is unmatched. It makes me sad because I keep my eye on new boats and there is simply nothing available that is going to bring me the variety of capabilities this boat has. She cant last forever, it is after all a glorified pop can. Perhaps I can get 5-10 more years out of her.

Cheers!

Haha, I am going to resurrect this thread one more time... for ROUND TWO!

After a Decade of use and sun, this boat now needs more attention. A Lot of degradation has happened in the last 2 or 3 years. Time for a whole new overhaul! When I did this restore, I was younger and did not have much money to throw at the project. A luxury which I do have now. I started ripping into her today. I have often looked back at this restore project and thought about things I would have done differently... Well, this time around I will be able to!

Here is the plan:

Completely strip boat down
Take Hull to sandblasters
Repair any hull issues ( I have found a few places that welding is needed and some new rivets
Replace transom/floor/ any wood with Fiberglass coated Coosa board.
Completely strip Center console, sand and put on new gel coat.
I am going to consider purchasing a much newer 4 stroke engine and say goodbye to the tower of power. It still runs but I would very much like a quieter engine that can handle the ethanol in the fuel. I may throw a 115 on it, going up from 90 HP. that should give me a top speed of 45-50 Mph and a cruise of about 35. Rang should be improved as well with a 4 stroke.

Some random thoughts for this time around:

I will take special care to assure that no water/grime can get down past the decking or under the center console. These will be very meticulously sealed up
I want to cut a hole in the top of the bow and create a place to stow the anchor.
If I re power, I may drop some big dollars for an engine with all electronic controls.
I did find a company that will completely refurbish the tower of power I have to like new condition for about $5500.00
I am also considering going to twin 70 hp motors for a total of 140hp, which is the placarded max for the boat.
There was some wood I was not able to replace the first time around that is very buried in the stern... I am going to give a serious go to removing what I need to to replace it with coosa.

I would greatly appreciate input on what to do with the engine situation. I can see myself using it on the ocean again, so having 2 motors would be really nice.



Now, for those of you who may be wondering... why put any money into a 1983 boat that is in disrepair? The fact is that I cannot find a new boat that will be as versatile as this one. If I could, believe me I would buy it. I have searched high and low and simply put, nothing new can do what this boat can. Find me a new Center console boat that can move through 1 foot of water, go 40 MPH on 90 hp... Handle the ocean swells , comfortably carry 3 people and 16 fishing poles that are out of the way while under way, has a live well and cooler, holds 24 gallons of fuel, and has a swim ladder... Not to mention that this boat is very light and easy to tow and the Dilly trailer lets me launch it ANYWHERE so long as I can get the trailers tires to the water.

This animal simply does not exist in the new boat market, which is a real shame. The boat manufacturers seem to be more interested in producing things that look pretty rather than function for what they are intended. There is no reason a boat like this could not be made new and built to last 50 years.

Wish me luck, I have a LOT of work ahead of me.

So far I have taken off the center console, removed the battery, pulled the front flooring and taken as much as I can off the transom. I need helping hand to get the remaining bolts off as I cannot reach the backside nuts and the front of the bolts at the same time. Once those are loose the transom should slide right out. The motor is already off, If anyone wants a 90 hp merc and all the controls, hit me up and we can talk.

Looks like I am in the market for TIG welder as there is quite a bit of holes to fill on the transom.

The fiberglass I ordered showed up today and the Coosa board will be here tomorrow as will a friend to help me get that transom loose.

The notion of having the entire boat sand blasted is probably going to go out the window. A quote I got for just the outside was $2500.00 and it does not seem worth it. New plan may be to just lightly sand down, prime/fill the small gouges and then paint over the existing paint with a glossy white hull paint.

Great story! In the past we have owned two different Sea Nymph SS175's. Probably the best boats we have ever owned. Lost interest in the brand when they sold out to a larger aluminum boat builder. I always thought a 90 HP 4 stroke would have been great on one of the smaller Sea Nymph boats. If my memory is correct,Your boat was rated for a 140. Great memories and keep us posted on your latest restoration!

By the way, we just repowered or 2003 Boston Whaler 17 ft Montauk with a 90 Hp Mercury 4 stroke. Great combination.

I, for one, am glad you dragged this thread out of retirement. Really cool to see how you've matured over the last 10 years. Stuff that would "just pass" isn't good enough anymore. Looking forward to hearing about the new makeover. Keep em coming!

Thanks Texcajun and Ifish !

I have been quite hard at work on her. I have taken the rear end completely apart.
As I dug deeper and deeper I kept finding things I want done proper.

The aluminum portion of the transom was in shambles so I decided to go with a new one.

Got quoted $1400 to have one fabricated... Well, since I have a jigsaw and a TIG I decided to make it myself. I am close to being done and will post pictures when it is complete. It is .125 " compared to the .100 inch it had, so much stronger. I had to weld on the flanges as I do not have a way to bend them in like the original... Feels silly to weld then rivet it on, but that is just how it has to be.

As for the console, I was going to gel coat it, but have decided a high quality paint will be a better option. If anyone has any experience with 2 part paint and can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.
I will not be using the aluminum livewell... instead I will be internally baffling off the portion where the aluminum sat and have the fiberglass itself serve as the live-well... This will add quite a bit of room and there will be nothing to corrode. I plan to gelcoat inside which should make it easy to see inside for bait.

The next step is to fix all the stuff with the hull, which will include putting 8 drain pipes in the cross members which currently have no path for water to drain out... I am really perplexed as to how anyone would build a boat with 8 places that water can become trapped. Ill be drilling through them and then welding in Thick wall 1" aluminum pipes. The added bonus is that most of them are cracked and welding in the aluminum will bring their strength back.