Bringing a Grady back to life... comments? suggestions?

[IpswichGrady]

So I just purchased this 1983 Caribbean 242. Needs some sprucing up... some updates. She is clean with regards to the fiberglass... no cracks really anywhere.

If you look at the instrument pic you can see she only has 1,046 hours.... that's pretty low.. right?

The wood trim needs to be spruced up. What would be the best thing to do... I could varnish it all. Is that the way to go?

The old seadrive ... hmmm... I want a swim platform so I am probably going to go bracket and new motor(new to me motor). Agree?

And as for a motor.. 225 ?

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

T

 

[Fishtales]

I'd sand the trim well and see what it looks like. Some good threads here on teak restoration or check thehulltruth.com.
I'd inspect the floors, stringers and transom well. You really want to know if there is any rot and if so to what degree before getting into it too deep. Ensure she is very solid and then start the work of bringing her back to life.

Just sayn, an old Grady usually has some rot and you want to know to what extent before sinking a time and money into her.

 

[Finest Kind]

I'd sand the trim well and see what it looks like.....

After sanding down the wood trim, hit it with a couple coats of SIKKENS CETOL and it will come back like new and last all season with no additional maintenance....

Yep, go with a new flotation bracket and a new motor...and give that old Girl a new life!

 

[IpswichGrady]

I'd inspect the floors, stringers and transom well. You really want to know if there is any rot and if so to what degree before getting into it too deep. Ensure she is very solid and then start the work of bringing her back to life.

Just sayn, an old Grady usually has some rot and you want to know to what extent before sinking a time and money into her.

Yes I did look under the deck hatches and found some rot that will need to be addressed. The boat was a $500 donation so I’m good putting some sweat equity into her.

What I was doing was starting to remove the fuel tank to check it out. Along both sides there is a wood wall that runs down the center of the boat that makes a channel for the tank to sit between. One of the walls is water compromised. I’m going to look for a thread outlining how to remove the tank and maybe even replace that wall ..... if anyone knows of such a thread by all means point me to it!

 

[IpswichGrady]

How do you remove this cross member that spans across the top of my tank? There are 2 screws on each end but there also appears to be screws coming in from the other side of the wall where you do not have access. Just cut the screws?

 

[DennisG01]

There's others on here that have taken on large projects, but search for some threads where I was a post - even a recent one, I believe - A few years back I did a pretty large floor/crossmember/bulkhead rebuild on my boat.

As far as that 2x4 goes, yes, just cut the thing out. Most likely, if you remove the accessible screws, then cut the 2x in half, you might be able to just pull the two pieces away from the stringers, depending on how soft the 2x is. Otherwise - sawzall it right next to the stringer with a long, flexible blade.

 

[IpswichGrady]

What's with Photobucket?? I guess I need to subscribe to a truly free photo sharing program!

 

[IpswichGrady]

Let's hope Flicker works!

Here is a pic of the lateral support wall that was on the starboard side of my fuel tank. As you can see I cut the fuel lines coming in. You can also see the copper hydraulic steering lines. That wood support is rotten. I will need to replace that. A common repair?

 

[IpswichGrady]

I drilled some holes to see how bad my transom is and unfortunately all core samples were wet and dark. So... I will be scouring posts and the web to learn how a Grady's transom is repaired. I did find this website (http://www.babylonboatworks.com/1978-23-mako) which shows how they cut the back outer fiberglass skin to gain access to the wood.

I like this approach due to how easily access can be gained. Questions I have are...

- Is the a good approach?
- The gunwale will need to be cut to allow the new wood to be dropped in. I will search for posts to see what others have experienced.
- I wonder how difficult it will be to re-attache the skin and make it look invisible like it was never cut out


-

 

[UCPA111]

Looks like you have a project! I am knee deep in mine. If you dove into the tank area..you might want to yank it out. Mine looked ok from the top but had pitting and wear on the bottom. I bought new one. I'm redoing a lot on this boat.... Checkout my progress for some ideas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9LoXhTst9Y

It's all possible...just time and money...and sweat.

 

[IpswichGrady]

Ok... I have been working on the transom (sorry, on another site that deals with transom and building more specifically... nothing against GreatGrady) and have gotten to a stopping point due to the weather. What I am working on now is the electrical issues... mainly just going to replace it all. So here are my questions for anyone who has some electric experience....

This is the page from the 1984 manual talking about the wiring.

My question is simple... do I rely on the gauge wires used still? and the Amps?

Also... anyone have a good thread with what someone has done regarding rewiring their Grady? Im going to scour the site (and others) to see what I should do.

Thanks!

Oh... for anyone interested in the transom work here is a link to what I have done... https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=62661

 

[IpswichGrady]

As an added post... here are a couple of pics showing the switches and gauges. What a rats nest! I found a good thread on another site where the poster did a fabulous job cleaning up his wiring. Here is a link to that post.

http://www.sailfishforums.com/forums/sh ... g-clean-up

I plan to model my re-wire on his work... clean and apparently meticulous.

Im not sure if my gauges work... everything just looked tired and corroded. I'm looking forward to some new gauges and the peace of mind knowing the wiring is not going to fail due to age.

 

[DennisG01]

Wire gauge/fuse size vs Amps carried has not changed. 2+2 still equals 4! Meaning, yes, you can absolutely use the same wire gauge as currently in there. The only reason you would change things is if you alter the load on a particular circuit.

 

[IpswichGrady]

I don’t foresee changing much if anything. I am not that knowledgeable regarding electronics like fish finders...gps.... depth finders (I’m sure some devices do multiple functions). I want to get it setup and then hopefully I can modify/add things later.

Thanks

 

[DennisG01]

I'm not sure what type, if any, hot busbar you might have under the helm, so check on this before doing anything. BUT, when I was getting rid of who-knows-how-many PO's "rat nests" of wiring, one of the things I did was to run a 10g hot wire to a new bus bar that I mounted in the cabin. I chose the cabin simply because that was convenient for the locations of the electronics I was running. But you could do the same thing under the helm. 10g will be plenty for supplying anything at the dash, along with additional electronics. If you have a 1-2-both-all type battery switch, run the 10g off the "both" setting. That way when you turn the battery switch "off", it disables the busbar.

For best results, are you familiar with marine "tinned" wire? That's the good stuff. Ancor is a solid manufacturer for both wire and connectors. Speaking of connectors, check out the ones with heat shrink already attached. Do not solder connections.

 

[IpswichGrady]

I’m going to replace my battery switch to a Blue Sea “add a battery “ with the ACR. The boat had a 2 battery setup and of course I will move forward that way again.

I was thinking of running a hot bus bar with a cover behind the helm and feeding my accessories from that. Thanks for saying/advising that a 10g wire would do the trick

I have seen Ancor wire on Amazon. I found a website (pacer group) that has marine wire which is coast guard and ABYC approved. It is tinned. 100ft for $12 (https://www.pacergroup.net/16-gauge-marine-wire/). Is there any reason not to go that route?

Ok.... I am going to get the heat shrink ring terminals.... question is, what size ring? I know it depends on the bus bar. I’m going to purchase the Blue Sea Systems 2312, 150 Ampere Common Busbar (20 x 8-32 Screw terminal with cover)

 

[IpswichGrady]

I am getting WAY ahead of myself... BUT, winter is the time to find marine items at a discount. I want a hardtop for my Grady 242 Caribbean. I found this on my local Craigslist... Could this be re-fitted to work on my boat? Price is right... $500

 

[DennisG01]

Never heard of Pacer before, but their website looks good - along with the "about us" video. But that's as much as I know about them, which isn't much. Be sure to check their pricing with shipping included for an accurate comparison. I KNOW that Ancor is good stuff.

8-32... #8 stud, 32 threads per inch. The size of the ring hole isn't terribly important, as long it fits and is not too loose. Make sure you get the properly sized crimp hole for the wires you're using.

Is that tower from a boat like your model? You can ask for all kind of measurements, but you'll never really know until you try it (if it's not from your model boat, that is). It's not much of a hardtop, though. If you have to (want to) make any modifications, you'll probably end up spending more money than just buying one from a place like Atlantic Towers.

 

[IpswichGrady]

Ya I will def add in shipping to determine if the wire is a good deal.

The tower came off a 30’ Blackwatch. I’m gonna offer $200 and take a look. That is my bargaining argument.... that it will take some work to make it fit and in the end may cost just as much as a hard top that would fit.

 

[DennisG01]

A 30' boat? Unless you can cut, weld, grind, smooth/fair, re-anodize or paint yourself... along with measuring precisely for all the right angles yourself, I wouldn't even think about it. It's just going to end up sitting in your yard until you can re-sell it. You can get some measurements and compare to your boat, but I HIGHLY doubt it's going to come ANYWHERE near fitting.