1988 Bayliner 1700 Capri, 85 Force motor and Escort trailer.
I towed from MN to NM about 1400 miles. It was described as a fixer upper and indeed I was hoping not too much but...

This is my Chevy Colorado CrewCab 5 cyl.
17 mpg pulling this 2000 lbs of boat.

Here it is ready to launch almost 2 years later :)

Note the missing glass. This is the least of my problems.

This does not look to bad just faded or so I thought! Uphholstry on all top area is cracked or torn badly.

Seat was so bad I just tossed it. The hatch on the seat did not fit right. Actually the area the hatch is supposed to sit on is so rotted it tilted when I stepped on it.

The interior is just dirty but looks are so decieving
note the floor and see the carpet on top.
Later pictures will show whats underneath.

I thought I could just replace the carpet however-
as you will see its bad...real bad.

I launched the boat to see if the motor and controls worked.
Indeed the Motor and controls work. But the motor needs a lotta work.
As I stepped into the front floor I felt the carpet give way.
This is what I saw after I took up the carpet.

Wow did not see this coming.
This is what I saw after I took up the carpet.

The rear seating, splashwell and some of the floor.

(I wish it was as solid as it looks but, under the carpet is a badly rotted floor.

I removed the carpeting in the boat. I need a beer after this but since I don't drink oh well.

This is the floor under the seat and where the bildge hatch sits note the rot.

The floor when removed actually sagged about 1/2 inch in the middle where the gas tank sits. Look at the frame in front of fuel tank it is rotted and bowed also.

The foam looks dry but in removing it it was not.

If you look closly you will see the water squeezing uot unto the shovel. This foam was on top of the floor itself and was supposed to be enclosed under the seating.

As you see in the photo a 4 1/2" angle grinder and crow bar are used extensivly in the removal process.
Not Pictured is me covered in flberglass dust.

----------NOTE-----------------------------------------

ALWAYS USE A RESPIRATOR, GLOVES, LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS, HATS GOOGLES, AND LONG PANTS.

IF YOU FAIL TO USE ANY SAFETY ITEMS YOU WILL HURT YOURSELF SEVERLY!!!

If you look closly near the middle of the boat you will see what appears to be a white line in the keel. This is light from the bottom of the boat the gel coat is greatly thinned due to beaching. To the right you see that behind the stringers the foam has been removed. On the left you see the foam still in place.

I removed the fuel tank and had a new sender installed.
Notice that the stringers were not rotted. The foam was saturated in the area on the top and bottom in the picture. Foam has been removed.

This is the frame installed before the fuel tank.
I coated all wood 2 times with epoxy. To glue it in I mixed up epoxy and added milled fiberglass. This keeps the epoxy from running and gives more strength to the joint.

The hatch supports were also rotten and I added a T shaped piece to the front are to add more strength.

I reinstalled the tank as it came from the factory. It was installed as stated in the boating rulles of the Coast Guard.

I coated all flooring with epoxy on both sides and edges.
This is 1/2 plywood exterior rated. And no the plywood is above the floor but I do have some epoxy drips on the floor.

This is epoxy mixed with milled glass. I use this to secure all floors and jionts. Notice the stck is not touching the edges. I know that I have enough fibers when this is happening.


-----------NOTE--------------

Milled glass is like asbestos when inhaled, do not mix this without a respirator and posibly gloves as it will make you itch like crazy.

I used a rock to hold down the floor as I installed 2 part foam of the 2 lb type. The floor is glued with epoxy and milled glass to stringers and screwed in however the foam was lifing the floor away at the hull floor seam and I did not want to stand on it.

The floor is finally installed Foam has been poured under floor between stringers and hull edges. Floor is also secured with epoxy milled glass and Stanless steel screws to the stringers.

The floor was glued to the hull but it is not yet the way the factory did it. When removing the old floor the glass was ove the edge.

The gap is gone and the floor is about even with hull.

This is a much stronger and better joint than the factory joint.

Looks better and better note the foam that leaked a little?

S-Glass is 30% stronger than E-Glass cloth. I used 6oz cloth.

It is soaked and rolled from edge to edge. I will come back and fill the weave of the cloth with another coat of epoxy.

This was the old hatch cover without the aluminium edging.
Dirty and worn.

The bottom had water stains and was getting flimsy. Another hole waiting to happen.

I have repaired the aluminium eding with a wire brush. I then coated the plywood with 2 coats of epoxy and the edges also. I then installed new boat carpet. Looking good. I need to find a finish for the Aluminium.

I installed a new hatch handle. I got it on E-bay for $2.00. The old handle was just a big thumbtack with a ring through the bottom. It just apeared to look ugly.

I needed a big crimper for the 6 guage wires.

Thre is Snow here! We do get snow as late as the end of March but two days ago it was 70 degrees!!! Come on boat gods!

This is a trial run on an instrument panel with the guages installed. The tach is a bit different than the rest due to having a force outboard motor. It requires a 20 pole tach which sadly are not easily available.

If you will notice the tach looks just like the rest. To bad the tach does not read the 20 pole Force pulses.

This is the final dash unless it does not fit as usual due to my measurements. :) You will notice the tach is not the same as the other guages. It will read the 20 pole alternator.

This is the last of the wood in the boat. Basically this is the wood under the upholstry. It will be sealed with outdoor paint. Epoxy here would be overkill as none of this wood is in constant contact with water. If it were to rot it can easily be replaced as opposed to the floor/stringers.

This is the paint crew. They get a dollar a piece. thats 4 coats of paint. Two to each side and the edges.

This side has 2 coats. The crew will come back and paint the other side.

Sadly the crew got their dollar and told daddy we quit.
The captain finished this project too. :)

Notice the fuel sender and wiring is the correct color.

This is the bonding wire it was only 3 feet long and was wrapped and soldered to the Negative black ground wire. Thats a no no according the the USCG!

All the black negatives they were joined like this to a singlw wire connected to the batery and the fuse panel. The fuse panel has a negatice bus bu there were no wires connected to it. I was more than a little surpirsed till I started to pull out the wiring.

Everything was wrapped in electical tape!!

There she is started and purring like a Force should spitting water 5 feet away at idle.

Pushing the boat about 25 mph cruise speed at 3800 rpm. Got it trimmed right to FLY!

That log is six feet long and about 4 inches around! Those were floating all over the lake. I saw a bigger one also. Water is very off color due to runoff this year and recent rains. I was having fun dodging the logs!

I beached it at the butte in May 2005. About 4 miles from ramp just to get this picture.

Go to Http://www.iboats.com and join the fun!!!!!