hello all
i currently own and fish/boat on a 1994 grady 208 adventure. single 250 yamaha 2 stroke. its overpowered and overweight. thing is a tank though. owned her for about a year, but already itching for a larger platform..
i ran across a 1985 sailfish 255. its got dual mercury 250hp 2strokes. its got a rotted transom. cosmetically, it looks like they mixed sand and latex paint to "redo" the floors. the motors are carbed, and carbs were full of straight 2 stroke oil.
anyway, being as dumb as i am, i bought the 1985 sailfish as a "project" to fix up, while i can still use the 208 to fish the rest of the season. i got a great deal on it, and figured at worst case i can part off the motors/hardtop and breakeven. i also have been wanting to fix a rotted transom. i am also good at mechanical stuff...
the tanks are full of dead gas. its light brown/gold colored. i dont think the tanks are leaking. i pumped some gas out, and didnt see any water in it. i have ~200 gallons of dead gas. maybe i can pump into my truck and burn some of them.. i was able to get the motors running off a premix fuel can. surprisingly, they both started and idled great.... i wonder if the oil in the carbs was a winterization trick?
anyway, they had slapped a thick aluminum hanging bracket over the fiberglass of the transom. there is no wood left inside, just dust. i plan to rerig and pull the motors off this weekend. im planning to redo the transom from the inside. cut and cleanout inside layer of glass. clean up inside face of outside transom layer. lay down a large 1708 sheet across inside and extend into hull about 4 inches. then itll get 2x 3/4
" of epoxy sealed marine plywood. another 3-4 layers of 1708, extending 2-3" past the previous layer. im goign to throw a few extra tabbing pieces to extend the repair area onto hull and give more strength. it might be overkill, but eventually i may move up to 4 stroke motors, or add outboard bracket... so i rather have the strength. does this seem right ? also, the upper part of the transom corners seem like the wood is still there. do i need to sheet all the way up there, or can i just repair the whole horizontal along the line where the motors hang?
being 1985... its got 2 "livewells" which arent that large. they are in the upper corners of the transom. i do like the small size, for killies/spearing....but they wouldnt be large enough to hold 2 bunker... so i started looking at newer sailfish/islander/marlin transom layouts. has anyone taken the transom cap part off a newer boat and put on an older one? i like the marlin layout with the wide transom cap with many compartments. i like the mini door, but feel its more wasted space than anything. i also like the closed transom way more than the open transom with "garage door" in the middle. can anyone explain why someone would want an open transom? im very undecided on which direction to go here...
my current 208 has 2 "fish iceboxes". the 255 only has a single one. what do people do here normally? i had used one for fish, and one for food/drinks on the 208. does all food/drinks go in the cabin? there is a large drink cooler in there... but it seems out of the way to go in the cabin to grab a water... i notcied there is a large empty area under the starboard side of the deck.... not getting overzealous but im debating cutting that area out, adding a few hatches and making seperated comparments there for storage/fish/ice/etc.... any ideas here id appreciate..
thanks for reading if you did. i appreciate any tips / pics / advice
p.s. ive been reading this forum for about a month and finally clicked the confirmation email
i currently own and fish/boat on a 1994 grady 208 adventure. single 250 yamaha 2 stroke. its overpowered and overweight. thing is a tank though. owned her for about a year, but already itching for a larger platform..
i ran across a 1985 sailfish 255. its got dual mercury 250hp 2strokes. its got a rotted transom. cosmetically, it looks like they mixed sand and latex paint to "redo" the floors. the motors are carbed, and carbs were full of straight 2 stroke oil.
anyway, being as dumb as i am, i bought the 1985 sailfish as a "project" to fix up, while i can still use the 208 to fish the rest of the season. i got a great deal on it, and figured at worst case i can part off the motors/hardtop and breakeven. i also have been wanting to fix a rotted transom. i am also good at mechanical stuff...
the tanks are full of dead gas. its light brown/gold colored. i dont think the tanks are leaking. i pumped some gas out, and didnt see any water in it. i have ~200 gallons of dead gas. maybe i can pump into my truck and burn some of them.. i was able to get the motors running off a premix fuel can. surprisingly, they both started and idled great.... i wonder if the oil in the carbs was a winterization trick?
anyway, they had slapped a thick aluminum hanging bracket over the fiberglass of the transom. there is no wood left inside, just dust. i plan to rerig and pull the motors off this weekend. im planning to redo the transom from the inside. cut and cleanout inside layer of glass. clean up inside face of outside transom layer. lay down a large 1708 sheet across inside and extend into hull about 4 inches. then itll get 2x 3/4
" of epoxy sealed marine plywood. another 3-4 layers of 1708, extending 2-3" past the previous layer. im goign to throw a few extra tabbing pieces to extend the repair area onto hull and give more strength. it might be overkill, but eventually i may move up to 4 stroke motors, or add outboard bracket... so i rather have the strength. does this seem right ? also, the upper part of the transom corners seem like the wood is still there. do i need to sheet all the way up there, or can i just repair the whole horizontal along the line where the motors hang?
being 1985... its got 2 "livewells" which arent that large. they are in the upper corners of the transom. i do like the small size, for killies/spearing....but they wouldnt be large enough to hold 2 bunker... so i started looking at newer sailfish/islander/marlin transom layouts. has anyone taken the transom cap part off a newer boat and put on an older one? i like the marlin layout with the wide transom cap with many compartments. i like the mini door, but feel its more wasted space than anything. i also like the closed transom way more than the open transom with "garage door" in the middle. can anyone explain why someone would want an open transom? im very undecided on which direction to go here...
my current 208 has 2 "fish iceboxes". the 255 only has a single one. what do people do here normally? i had used one for fish, and one for food/drinks on the 208. does all food/drinks go in the cabin? there is a large drink cooler in there... but it seems out of the way to go in the cabin to grab a water... i notcied there is a large empty area under the starboard side of the deck.... not getting overzealous but im debating cutting that area out, adding a few hatches and making seperated comparments there for storage/fish/ice/etc.... any ideas here id appreciate..
thanks for reading if you did. i appreciate any tips / pics / advice
p.s. ive been reading this forum for about a month and finally clicked the confirmation email
