The Project Begins... 19ft Sterling Tunnel

[AxisMoto]

I took delivery of my new boat yesterday, and immediately began the process of re-rigging. I knew I was going to need to replace the transom, and although the previous owner assured me that the floor was solid, I assumed differently so I wasn't too disappointed when I found the floor to be as bad (if not worse) than the transom...

The pics show my survey holes - I cut several 1-2" square holes with a chisel and hammer (being very careful not to go through the outer layer), and exposed what was VERY wet balsa core. (see photos).

So, this weekend will be building a jig to set the boat on (so that it doesn't redesign itself during the rebuild), and then removing as much of the old stuff as possible.

I will post updates. Also, anyone who sees specific errors (or want to offer encouragment), please chime in.

-David, AxisMoto

[Sunburnt]

Hi David,

I live in Mesa and I am presently waiting till fall to finish the restoration of my PowerCat. (link below)

I feel your pain, I just did a total transom, core, and deck wood replacement myself.


Anyway I'm always looking to meet new people and watch projects. Good luck, and keep the pictures coming, maybe we could hook up some time.

What are your plans for power?

Jeff

[AxisMoto]

Hi

You can stop by anytime and see the progress - my shop is at I-17 and Thomas (we are a motorcycle performance and parts shop).

I have a pair of 2.0L Mercury V6s that I'm rigging up. With proper tuning, I'll get almost 200hp per motor, so it should be real fun.

I'm building my support jig this morning so that I can finish pulling out the floor coring. I should be able to start putting it back together tomorrow - my store is closed on Sunday and Monday, so those are the days I can get stuff done...

-David, AxisMoto

[Sunburnt]

Wiil do Dave,

I'll keep in touch.

Starting to get it back together by tomorrow?

I had about 20 Hours into the grinding before I could start on my rebuild. Once the floor is up you'll need to check the core and I presume stringers, they are probably bad too. The one thing I learned is that everything took about 5 times longer than I thought it would.

Don't rush it, doing it right pays huge dividends down the road. With 400 horses on the back there's no room for short cuts..


Pictures. we need pictures..

Jeff

[Forkin' Crazy]

Building a cradle for it is an excellent start IMO.

Twins should be a ball!!

[AxisMoto]

The two projects for today were, first, to get the boat off of the trailer and onto a support jig. Second, remove transom core and most of the rest of the boat (leaving only outer hull).

The motor was off, and I had already stripped the rest of the rigging and interior, so the boat was fairly light. (It should be about 600-700lbs (I think), but there are GALLONS of water "inside" this boat.

Photos here show lifting front onto sawhorses, and a good photo of the bottom (which appears to be in great shape, with the exception of two 3" square patches - I can fix those when I redo the floor).

[AxisMoto]

Here the stern is set onto the sawhorse, and then once the trailer is pulled out, the hull is set down on a support jig. I used three 1x8s, rigged together to support the rear 15 feet of the center pod and both tunnels. I then used stacks of 2x4s to wedge into other key areas to add support, in addition to a beam across the front to support the sponson fronts.

For those of you thinking of trying this, using two 8 foot saw horses is the MINIMUM that would have supported this boat - they were flexing pretty good, and it bent one of the sawhorse brackets (meaning it was close to failure...)