Restoring a $900 boat

[Rafinx]

Ok Ill give you a back ground on this boat.

Once upon a time I decided to go squidding, on the way there, I came across a boat for $1000, sure enough I bought it but knocked it down for $900. This boat is a 15ft 1980's Pongrass runabout with a 1976 35hp evinrude motor.

Over the time of its purchase I have done:

Hydrofoils

Repainted

New winch

New leaf springs, bracket, cleaned the axle, new bearings and hubs, new wheel arches.

New seats front and rear with a stainless steel bracket that follow the face of the seat for to make a more secure seat for the swivel chairs.

And just a general clean up

Here are the pictures of what I have done.

Any questions feel free to ask.

I just wanted to show what ive been up to and trying to keep my handy work up to scratch seeing as I had to quit my job at holden as a mechanic to pursue my career as police officer.

Ive always been hands on with projects.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Rafinx

[Rafinx]

Oh and Ignore the shotty paint job As:

1: the windshield is being replace.

2: the black guard is going to be sanded down and re-dyed.

3: the rest can be cleaned

4: I got lazy

Oh and other things I have done is new spark plugs, new gearbox oil, new 3/8 fuel line and a furuno ls4100 fitted to the boat now.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Rafinx

[cheap charlie]

Looks good champ.

The blue top deck modernises the boat a little..

So all fish raiders can call on you to get us out of tickets in the future ?

[Rafinx]

Looks good champ.

The blue top deck modernises the boat a little..

So all fish raiders can call on you to get us out of tickets in the future ?

Alot of people ask me that, Im a fairly easy going bloke, but unfortunately or fortunately in some cases your foot has to be put down.

[dunc333]

nice work man coming along nicely

[Rafinx]

If any one is wondering, that piece of wood on my perspex windshield, is due to a nice circular hole caused by my dad, He put a support beam to hold a tarp and keep the water out, unfortunately he decided to hit the beam with the truck thus pushing it through my windshield.

[coasty1]

Nice job buddy,hope you make a dollar or you get some use out of it yourself,summers coming so enjoy..

[mike82]

Nice work!

Looking good!

[Rafinx]

Looking Good Man,

How do you find launching and retrieving with that trailer as I noticed you have wooden skids on it?

I have a similar setup and had a hell of a time getting it on and off so I added a couple of rollers right at the back and took most of the weight off the skids but enough to support it as they take most of the weight.

I hope your rig serves you well looks like a very good setup.

Nice work by the way

Regards,

Nathan

Mate I was going to be putting rollers on it, but their a bit heavy on the wallet.

When I usually release the boat into the water I generally move it about 50 cm by hand then, let the tilt do the rest, as for retrieving, that whinch on there is a beast, and it makes light work of it coming back on.

[Joco]

NICE work, coming along really well, good thing you got rid of that purple scheme

ALL thats missing is a nice Marlin/Jewfish tail hanging over the edge of the boat

[Rafinx]

yeah I suppose if the winch is strong it would make a difference might look at getting a better winch for my trailer in the future.

so the outboard is running good now? as you were having dramas a few weeks ago as I remember?

Regards,

Nathan

yes mate was the valve at the fuel tank. It rattled itself shut so created suction in the fuel tank, It runs like a beast now, surprising for a 35hp!

[Pongrass18ft]

Oh and Ignore the shotty paint job As:

1: the windshield is being replace.

2: the black guard is going to be sanded down and re-dyed.

3: the rest can be cleaned

4: I got lazy

Oh and other things I have done is new spark plugs, new gearbox oil, new 3/8 fuel line and a furuno ls4100 fitted to the boat now.

Great work , they sure are a great dry , safe ride the pongrass boats.

Good to see the engine problems solved

chris

[tareeterror]

Looking Good Man,

How do you find launching and retrieving with that trailer as I noticed you have wooden skids on it?

I have a similar setup and had a hell of a time getting it on and off so I added a couple of rollers right at the back and took most of the weight off the skids but enough to support it as they take most of the weight.

I hope your rig serves you well looks like a very good setup.

Nice work by the way

Regards,

Nathan

Have your skids got the blue nylon strips? if not they make them so slippery boat will just slide off, a friends dad also used to rub his skids with soap before retrieving boat which helped a lot too.