Thread: Updating and Upgrading My Skeeter F-80 Strada

Still trying to use supplies laying around in the shop I had to buy a Water Pressure gauge. I bought a white face gauge because if I strip my boat on Ross Barnett the instruments have white face.



To simplify wiring I prefabbed a harness for the Ground side & Lighting side of the required Gauge wiring.



Here the Trim gauge is being terminated to the Yamaha wiring.



This is another chunk of the original generic wiring harness I cut out. You can see how they built boats back then, unused wires were just wrapped up with electrical tape. This bundle was hidden like the rest of these old wiring practices, if you had to find a problem this would have been very, very hard to find if you didn't work for a Skeeter Dealer.



The ground & Lighting wires are hanging out of the Tach Hole. I still have to enlarge the Tach hole for a modern Tach. Where I'm working on this boat I don't make big dusty messes. Actually, previewing this post I realized I have not checked the number of Poles on the Stator of this Yamaha to be sure the Tach Pole Switch is set correctly before installing it.

The trailer this Skeeter came on is the original factory Skeeter trailer. It needs work. Rust pits all over, bearings, seals, hubs, & tires all need replacing. The carpet, fair but the mounting hardware for the boards - all rusted. The Tongue Jack is a welded on unit, it needs a serious shaft cleaning & lubrication, maybe a new wheel too. Paint, Paint, & more Paint.



Time to put the Overhead Lift to work.



I kept all 5 tires off the Fishin' Expedition when I went to Coopers. The Goodyear Wranglers that was on the SUV were horrible but they work great to set boats on. Sad thing is Goodyear owns Cooper Tires. I guess I'm getting some of my monies worth.



These pictures really don't show the condition of this trailer. All salvageable, it's going to take some work.



Now I can continue to work on the boat while the trailer is in the different stages of restoration.

A little lipstick and you’ll have it looking good as new. No doubt in my mind.

Originally Posted by SuperDave336

A little lipstick and you’ll have it looking good as new. No doubt in my mind.

It's going to take some very good lipstick to stop the trailer frame from rusting.

Nothing a couple boxes of rust reformer can't fix! But somehow I don't think that's the route you're gonna take. That thing gonna look like new when you're done I'm sure.

This is looking great, Rojo. You do stellar work!

I wanted this boat because I knew the owner. You can see this is the factory Buddy Bearing sticker from 1986. This boat was hardly wet, carport stored as long as I have known about it. CDC member Pnut has the engine off of it. Here are a few more pictures.



Check out the last picture, no studs in the hubs. This hub has Stud/Bolts. All will be replaced. Oh, and the Axle was bent, I will build a new one.



I keep a set of 13in & 14in fenders in my stash. Still have not decided if I'm going to repair the fenders or replace them.



I've been on the Needle Gun all morning. I'm much further along, the three aft crossmembers are completely done. I had to cut the Rollers off at the shafts, Urethane units with Stainless Shafts will go back. As well as 2x6 Bunk Boards.



Since I have the AC running in the shop the Air Scrubber is being used to keep any dust generated removed from the air.

I have spent the last two days with a Needle Gun stripping all the paint & rust off this trailer frame. When I flipped it over I realized they didn't paint the undersides when manufactured. They primed the entire trailer but shot one coat of black enamel with a spray gun where they could easily. I had a lot of stripping to do to prep for primer & paint.



I have a set of fenders in my stash so I'm just going to cut the original one off and weld new ones on.



At the end of the day today I have one coat of Red Lead primer over the entire trailer while upside down. I plan on putting a second coat everywhere that goes in the water before top coating with Farm Tractor & Implement enamel paint. After a couple of top coats I will flip the trailer over and continue painting the topsides.

Looks good.

After catching a few more of those Monster Slabs this morning I returned to put a second coat of primer on the areas of the trailer that gets dunked. After allowing time to dry enough to Top Coat I rolled the first top coat of Tractor & Implement paint on.



I only rolled paint 1/2 way up the insides of the channel as I still have to prime the topsides of the channel. By painting the undersides several coats before flipping I will never have to paint the frame again.



I rolled all the flats that I could then left the shop fan blowing air over the frame to speed drying. The suspension will be painted black. I still have to weld up a new axle.