Thread: Skeetbum project 1

Thanks for dropping by. Ive been a project kinda guy for a long time and this one was worth sharing. A good friend called me a couple of months ago and said that he no longer used his boat and it needed attention. It was mine if I came and got it. Took a little time and a trip back to FL but i picked up my brother outside of Atlanta and south we went. Down on a Tuesday, got the boat and got it ready to ride on Wednesday and a return trip on Thursday. A busy three days. The trip went smooth with no mechanical disappointments. Ive been busy with it since its arrival and I began to think of posting its progress as it came along. So here we go.

The phone call came from this man. A good friend whos been around quite a bit in his life and fished some of the places on most of our bucket lists. His name is Chuck and the boat is named Chuker and will be for as long as i own it. Chucks been a CDC member for a long time and well known in the Florida gatherings. Having also spent time around Memphis, Chuck and his boat have spent time on all the lakes around Mississippi. It comes from good practice, and I plan on expanding on that.



This is the man with one of his smallest fish ever. Always enjoyed time i spent fishing with him, good conversation.

And this is the boat in front of one of the best tackle shops ever, Bitters B&T in Winter Springs, FL.

A little better look at what I started with. A very good start with most screws and bolts frozen. I must admit i said some bad words during the process. Just an introduction today with more pics and progress to come.

This is about a week ago plus. This is like peeling away the layers trying to find the starting place to begin rebuilding, kinda discovery phase. All the carpet had to go. Problem was that all the sections that were carpeted had been done so, wrapping the edges, before they were installed. Any carpet I left behind left a fuzzy edge and thats not gonna git it. Tearing out rug also left rivets about an eighth proud so they all had to go. This loosened floor and wall panels giving me access to what lay beyond. The foam in the floor by the big motor was trashed by fuel and oil and was now a sponge, so that got replaced before replacing the rivets. The brown you see in the pics is adhesive from the rug and had to go from the wall and other vertical sections. Being contact cement I believe, sanding wasn’t an option. So this became my best friend for a while.

Laying the panels on a makeshift workbench I was able to spread the stripper and let it cook a while, some of it sat overnight. I scraped very little and let the pressure washer remove most of what I wanted gone. Once cleaned and dried off they got sanded and primed with self etching primer and the painting began. Color is satin gray with a couple of coats of clear over it. Having done a few of the pieces im liking the color. Y’all keep in mind that this is a 28YO utility and fishing boat and not a showpiece. I still will have my name on it so it’s not getting a slapdash job done either, trying to keep it all in perspective. I removed the one livewell to increase the open floor space, not sure if it will go back. The console was removed and stripped and repainted, ready to go back soon. All the switch panels cracked of broke so im doing a redesign of the dash and top of the console. The guages also had gone south and they came out, leaving me room for the new switch panels. Still debating on using a live well timer now that there’s room on the dash for the switch and timer. I had to strip thge drivers side livewll in the boat which was messy but not bad. Zero insulation on the live well timer means no fish kept in the hot months. Suits me, I mostly CPR anyway.

Ive heard the motor run but it wont stay running on its own so there’s a trip to the doc at some point to bring it back to rights. Carbs were done a few years back and may not have ever been used since. The choke solenoid (enrichment solenoid?) leaks fuel which is now mixed since i removed the VRO and I’ll get that rebuilt, along with replacing the impeller, before she goes to the doc. Steering was all but frozen when I got it so I figured the cable or helm was bad, but not so. Turns out the bezel that trims the base of the steering shaft is a fairly tight fitting plastic piece. From water getting inside the bezel, rust began and expended as it usually does and was putting drag on the steering. With a little persuasion I was able to remove the bezel and found the steering to be functional and once I removed the rust and treated the shaft with Ospho to kill the oxidation the system is ready to go.

That’s my disassembled console on my high tech work bench wearing primer.

This is the front seat in my Jon that i may bring over to this boat but not sure. Seating options aren’t on a front burner yet but the planning for them is getting closer. The rear seat will go back like it was cuz im not putting a raised deck in the back. Same reason I didn't raise the front deck. At my age my agility isnt like it was and a lot of my fishing buds are old guys too so staying below the gunnels makes us feel safer and makes the fall out factor smaller. The boxes on either side in the back are full of foam and some plumbing is run thru them before they were foamed so they aren’t going anywhere. The bilge and live well hose are still flexible but hard to deal with so I’ll be cutting them back and adding a double barbed connector with let me add new, more flexible hose to reconnect everything. It’s late and im going to bed. Ill do more and other day. If you look at one of the pics you’ll see the gray on the side panels I’m using. The se cond to last pic also shows a deck extension I put it front, partially cuz I already had the materials. No doors will go on that yet but may later. What I had was all eighth inch stuff so I think large animals could mate on it without hurting it.