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1984 Mako 224 Restoration Project
November 6, 2010
Spidercracks faired
Transom touched up - went over some of the areas I had previously sanded and found too low Fuel fill area, primed - hopefully it protects it well, as it was tedious to shape
Forward spider cracks, repaired and initial primed Transom corner primed Post priming, looking forward
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November 6, 2010
Fiberglass sanded and faired, looking toward the bow
Fuel fill and runoff diverter filled and faired - more sculpting than anything else.. Still some low spots that need to be dealt with though. Front void exposed.
Same area filled in... Was getting late though.
Sanded
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October 30, 2010
Port side of boat cap required some repairs for crack and spider cracks... When grinding into the area, it also became obvious that there were some large voids in the original layup.
Areas that were ground out, are in "natural" fiberglass color.
Fiberglassed the bottom portion of the cap first.
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October 23, 2010
Fiberglassed some spider cracking in various spots along the port side of the hull.
Rear corner of the transom... Started grinding, and found a big void, so a small spot became rather large.
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October 20, 2010
Primed with Alexseal 302 high build, done by brush (not the recommended application technique).
Guide coat applied to find the high spots
Transom after sanding ... certain high and low spots were revealed.
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October 9, 2010
Boat was moved to a different work area. Transom top is seen here ready to be faired.
The long and painful process of fairing is started.
Faired, and awaiting primer. Some of the holes were filled with dowels before final fairing
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September 23, 2010
Resealed the transom top.
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September 6, 2010
Transom top removed and redied for Epoxy treatment
Pouring epoxy resin in, to fill gaps in the wood, and hopefully hunt down any rot.
Ground down the edge of the fiberglass after adding in the epoxy, in preparation for resealing the top.
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August 15 , 2010
Part of bottom paint removed, forward bow stop on trailer refitted, and FL registration numbers removed as well
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August 7 , 2010
Grinding down the coffin lid
Laying out the Nidacore for size verification
Weighing down the lamiate, to force resin and air out.
Laminate after drying
Closeup of a corner
Coffin core laminated
Cutting the spare fiberglass around the lip away with an improvised jig
Coffin lid in place
Bottom of coffin lid after fitting and installation
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July 24 , 2010
Gas coffin lid - most of the area was rotted, and would require removal
Old coffin lid wood
Coffin lid fairly clean
Bottom paint removed from boot stripe area
John trying to get the gas tank to come free
Damage to glass from 5200 doing its job a little too well
Drilling out core samples of transom
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July 17 , 2010
Transom crack in the right corner
Left side of the transom
Found and Easter Egg - original hull number sticker.
Rubrail removed
Rubrail area cleaned after removal
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July 17 , 2010
One of the first things we did, was to take off the motor, so we had access to everything else. |
Removing foam from the gas tank
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July 17 , 2010
One of the first things we did, was to take off the motor, so we had access to everything else. |
Removing foam from the gas tank
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July 4 , 2010
Spent the morning doing acid... Changed the way things look. |
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July 3 , 2010
Stopped by the boatyard today.. Cory and his crew did a good job of powerwashing the boat... Doesn't look as life critical as when it was pulled out of the water. Next step is to do some acid - Muriatic in this case.
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June 30, 2010
Contemplating repainting to yellow. Below are the renderings I have come up with - at present I am leaning towards the really yellow one towards the right. |
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June 28, 2010
It has been a while to say the least. The boat was put on a lift 6 years ago, where it lived for 4 years... Then it was moved into the water, and unfortunately had a long spell of non-use. This month, I purchased a trailer for it, and prepped her to come out of the water... and the shot of her coming out, can only be described as boat abuse - but at least she is now on the road to recovery. I wanted to thank Cory @ North Beach Marina for arranging the towing, haulout, cleaning, and trailer tire repairs - he has gone above and beyond - if you need boat or trailer storage in North Miami, or somebody to help manage your small boat, give him a call.
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February 5, 2004
| The motor assembly process continues. As it stands I have all of the parts that I need (electrical, lower unit, etc), and have added a few performace parts into the fold. Specifically I have a Brucato SVS, Brucato intake, 300 Promax heads, Boyesen reeds, computers from a 250XB motor, and to cover it all up, a 300 Promax cowling. Putting this all to the water, I have a Torquemaster lower unit, with 1.75 gears. Expected horsepower is in the 270 range. |
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November 20, 2003
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Been a long time since the last update. I have had the opportunity to use the boat several times, but not as much as I would like. The 225 EFI Offshore motor that I mentioned on the July 23rd update, fell through. I have since acquired a Mercury 225 EFI Saltwater that needs a few parts and basic repairs. Basic repairs include getting a new lower unit, installing new stator, cdm modules, ecms, alternator, and main ignition harness.The cowlings also need new paint and decals. On other fronts, I need to spend a day or two at the marina going through the boat and doing some cosmetic maintenance, as well as some basic mechanical work. |
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July 23, 2003
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I took the boat out for the first time, in a long while, this past weekend. Performed well, and had no complaints. During my usual search of eBay for boat parts, I came across somebody parting out a 1998 Mercury/Mariner 225 EFI Offshore motor. Had a few little "windows" to the outside world through the block, and is in need of a rebuild. Contacted the owner, and worked a deal - so I am now expecting a motor to come my way in the next week or so. Plan is to start rebuilding it in my spare time, and have it hung on the boat by November for its one year birthday. I'll take the old 200 off, and rebuild it, as a spare, so that I can bounce back to it, if (when) I blow up the 225. |
July 8, 2003
| I called Gold Coast Marine on July 3rd to talk about the work that had been done to the boat. I had stopped by the marina, and found that structurally the boat looked good, however you could see blue filler under the gelcoat. I had been out of town over the 4th of July weekend, so I stopped by again today and saw that the blue marks were still there. Contacting Gold Coast, I asked them about it, and they said that they have contacted their fiberglass repair folks (they outsource it turns out), to find out about getting it right. In talking to a co-worker who used to work at Bobby Moore's Custom Marine, it turns out that the blue filler is used for jobs that require a fast cure, and that the gelcoat was probably sanded too much, which is why the blue poked through. |
June 16, 2003
| Contacted Gold Coast Marine, who are located next to marina where I keep my boat. Finally got a quote of $450 to fix the damage, with work to begin this Thursday, and to be completed by Friday. Gelcoat is supposed to match the faded gelcoat that already exists. |
June 15, 2003
| Bad day on the boat.... Went south on the intra-coastal to "Sundays" on Key Biscayne. Lots of rain, and not much dryness to be found at their dockside seating. After doing a quick lunch, we decided to head back north to sunnier waters. Rain got worse after we left, so we ducked under a bridge to avoid the furry - unfortunately the current was damn strong, coming under the bridge, and as we reversed direction, it threw the boat into one of the pilings - we bounced off the left side, with a little bit of a scuff on the rubrail, but unfortunately we were thrown straight into one of the rightside pilings.... End result, is that I have a 8" crack/break midway up the starboard side of the boat, along with a small break at the rubrail, and several gouges in the gelcoat that average 2' in length.... Needless to say I was not a happy camper, and uttered enough obscenities to make a transport ship full of sailors blush. Tomorrow I start calling local fiberglass experts to get a quote. |
June 12, 2003
| Gray Canvas, of Ft. Lauderdale, installed a new center console cushion and seatback for me. The quality was outstanding, and the service was great. I recently purchased a Makita 9227C sander / polisher, and used it for the first time today, to polish and wax my engine cowling - the results were great, although I ended up going through some of the gelcoat / point on a few of the edges - chalk it up to learning. | ||
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May 25, 2003
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Installed a smaller fender washer (#10) in place of the thermostats. Idea behind the smaller hole is to slow down water movement through the head, and allow the water to absorb more heat. Engine warmed up a little more on the bottom end of the RPM scale (which is a good thing), but only came down slightly on the top end. Doing some additional research on what I need to do to remedy the overheating. If additional steps don't make it run cooler, then I will throw the stock heads back on to bring the temp back down. |
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May 18, 2003
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Installed the 5/16 fender washers in place of the thermostats, and only realized a 5 degree drop in temperature. At this point I plan on putting the original heads back onto the boat, to lower the operating temp back to where it should be, and will shelve those heads until I build a new motor. Spent a little time polishing the outboard cowling - it looks as if 3m fiberglass cleaner will do the job, but it is going to take a bit of time and elbow grease. Finally the cushions have been removed, and are being done by Gray Canvas out of Ft. Lauderdale. |
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May 17, 2003
| Last week I went ahead
and installed my 35cc heads. Did a compression check (motor was cold, so
it wasn't totally accurate), and pretty much showed the same compression
as I started with - 110psi. Took the boat out, and noticed that the temperature
was now up 20 degrees or so at speed - so it was back to the drawing board,
to find out why the motor was running warm. Today I took out an infrared thermometer, and shot readings of the heads, and each cylinder - which confirmed that my instrumentation was correct, and that there was a heat issue. Tommorrow I plan on installing fender washers, in place of the thermostats, to see how the motor does with un-restricted water flow - if it works successfully I am going to try out a set of 120 degree thermostats, to see if I can come up with a happy medium (factory are 143). While out, I did do a speed run, and going into the wind, got the boat up to 42.1 mph. With the wind to my back, it was slightly less - suggesting that the wind might have been helping to lift the boat out of the water a bit. On other fronts, I finally installed the brackets for the swim ladder, which now resides on the rear fold-down cockpit piece (it is on the motor side, to keep the maximum available space in the cockpit). I also re-secured the front hatch with 3M 4000, but I still need to replace most of the screws from that with through bolted machine screws, as I don't think the adhesive will be enough. Finally there has been a problem with the fish finder - it hasn't been displaying the depth or bottom contours properly - I did an inspection, and it showed that the oil had leaked out of the in hull bracket - I will refill that tomorrow, and then keep an eye on it, to see how it fares. |
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April 21, 2003
| Before my last trip
out, I had to repair the electrical connectors for the Bennett trim-tabs
- they had been sitting in the bilge, and saltwater corrosion had finally
gotten the best of them. While out, one of my guests knocked off the front
storage area hatch - so I will need to repair that on one of my future outings. Horsepower has come up on my list of things that I want to address. After doing some research on the performance sites, I have decided to install some 34-35cc heads (stock is approx 38cc), a larger set of carbs from a 225 or 245 factory motor, and a set of stock 5 petal reed cages with Boyesen reeds, or a set of 4 petal rubberized cages with Boyesen reeds. It is expected that all of this will net 25-35hp, but will require that I run the boat on hi-octane gas, and move the max rpm to 6000-6200. As part of my research for doing these mods, I have also put together a Mercury V6 FAQ. At present the boat does 41.5mph with one passenger, and half a tank of gas at 5600rpm and 34.5mph at 4300-4400rpm. Once the extra power is there, I will probably have to reprop - however if I stick with my same prop I will send it out for repair of a few dings that it has. Along the way, I also need to have the bottom repainted, and should also remove the old thru-hull transducer. |
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April 17, 2003
| Brought a spare set of voltage regulators out to the boat, and replaced both units. One of the units that was replaced had melted through the connector slightly, indicating that it was overheating from too much load. Along the way, I also started back-tracking through the electrical system, and noted that the main circuit from the motor to the disconnect switch was corroded and hanging on by a thread - so I trimmed it back, and put a new connector between it, and the disconnect. Finally I installed a new Perko base for the all-around stern light. | ||
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April 13, 2003
| Installed a new water pump impeller last night. I tried to pull the water pump base out as well, but it didn't want to budge, so I left it. Reassembled the lower to the mid-section, refilled with lube, and did a function test (wow I did it right). While I had the time I also ran a can of motor de-carb through the engine, in a gradual effort to clean out any carbon that might be building up on things - it made a lot of smoke, and hopefully cleared things out a bit. Took the boat out for a test run, and it idled from 750 to 1500 rpm around 140-150 degrees, and ran at cruise around 155 or so - so I am happy. Did have a problem occur today, presumably with the voltage regulator whereby it occasionally popped up to 16-17 volts - if I applied a load from something like the trim/tilt motor, then it usually dropped down to 14.4 volts or so. Problem appeared more regularly through the day, so I am also wondering if it is a heat related issue (would have been running for 1.5 hours or so when the problem became more than just occasional. | ||
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April 6, 2003
| On my last trip out, the warning horn went off about 1/2 mile from the marina - went ahead and pointed the boat towards shore, and checked the oil level in the remote tank and on-board tank. Both oil levels were good, so that ruled out something simple. Procured a gallon of 2-cycle oil, and added it to the fuel tank - after which I let it sit and mix naturally for half an hour. Limped the boat home from there, and started the trouble shooting process once the boat was on a work rack. All of the sensors checked out, and the pump itself was putting out oil, so the hunt was narrowed down to a bad warning module. I found a like new unit on the Internet, and installed it - which halted the warning horn going off at all times, and restored the self test function to the unit. While I had the cowling off, I removed and replaced both thermostats. Took the boat out for a test run, and noted that the water temp was too high (should be between 140-160, and I was doing 140-190), which at this point indicates the need for a new waterpump. Also during my test runs, I noted that voltage would occasionally reach 16.3 volts - which indicates a loose battery terminal, bad stator, or bad rectifier/regulator - my next trip out will investigate it more. | ||
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March 1, 2003
| Finally assembled all of the pieces parts to install my 4' Armstrong ladder to the hull. Drilled the holes, and had a little bit of difficulty getting them to align exactly between the bracket and plate (both of which are machined to the same pattern - but once you drill through 2-3" of wood and fiberglass, you tend to be 1/16 - 1/8" off). Produced a little bit of water when I was drilling (3/8 hole) - more so on the lower holes (about 6" above waterline) - which concerns me a bit - will be keeping an eye on things. Was finally able to get it attached, and used a fair amount amount of 3M 4200 to help seal things up. Drilled the holes on the fold down transom for the storage bracket, but my screws were not long enough to complete the install - once I get those in hand, the rest of the install should take less than 20 minutes. Along the way, I had to relocate the trim pump to make space for the bracket. Troubleshoot my popping of fuses on the nav-lights - looks like it was a ground wire from the instruments that ran by the switches. While stowing some fenders in the bow locker, I noticed that the wood screws have stripped out for the most part, and should be replaced with through bolting. Finally I drilled and did the physical install of one (of two) cigarette lighter receptacles in the dash - I still need to wire them into the electrical system though - would have installed a second unit as well, but the steering wheel interfered with the drill. | ||
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February 22, 2003
| Fitted up the new medium duty Lee rod holders. Required redrilling of holes, so I put some marinetex into the old holes, and started building up area under rod holder where the hole was too large for the rod holder. Rod holder area still requires cleanup and additional application of epoxy for fill. Took the boat out for an extended cruise - had lights pop a fuse after crossing large wake from boat in the ICW... So I need to figure out the load for that fuse, and replace - as fuses I had on board did not do the trick. | ||
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February 16, 2003
| Installed transducer into transducer housing, and did final securing of transducer cable, and connection to the Furuno. Function tested depth finder, and it seems to be working. | ||
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February 15, 2003
| Spent today taking care of some long standing items. I removed all four corroded rod holders, and installed two Lee 30 degree heavy duty units in the aft positions - they don't clearance too well for the forward rod holders, so I am going to have to purchase some of the medium duty units. Removed the "SEIL 5" from the starboard side and stern, by using a heat gun and razor. Finally took the time to program my Icom radio with its MMSI as well as hooked it up to the GPS NMEA output, and let the two units talk to each other. Going out solo on a boat with no kill switch has always struck me as being a little foolhardy (especially on choppy days), so I did the physical installation of the Mercury kill switch on the lower portion of the dash - but had to pass on the electrical installation, since it was already dark, and I had nothing besides headlights to work by. Finally, I installed the housing for the in-hull transducer, and am going to let it cure overnight before putting the mineral oil in, and completing the install. | ||
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January 20, 2003
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Installed a Furuno LS6100, where the Hummingbird unit came out. Wired unit to power and function tested. Used old Hummingbird transducer cable, as a pull fire for the Airmar in-hull transducer - discovered that the Hummingbird transducer was sitting in the bilge and was not attached to anything. While in the bilge, I also discovered a condemned thru-hull transducer (hadn't previously noticed on the bottom of boat). I opted to hold off on the new transducer install, until I weigh my options on what to do with the old thru-hull. Took the opportunity of having the boat on a workstand, and replaced the 700 gph bilge pump, with a 1100 gph automatic Rule. At present I am planning on continuing with the in-hull transducer, and will replace the thru-hull with a low profile temperature transducer. |
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January 19, 2003
| Weather here was in the upper 50s / lower 60s, but the need to be on the water prevailed over creature comfort.... so we took the boat out around 2pm this afternoon for 3 hours. Water was calm inside of the ICW. Low tide however was playing hell with various boats - a 72' or so Magnum was maneuvering itself out of shallow water around the 79th street Causeway, and a 25' open fish grounded itself on a sandbar outside of the entrance to Jimbo's on Virginia Key. Parked the boat, and did a little bit of electronics preparation, by removing the old Hummingbird fish finder. Trip back was uneventful, except for the 40' cruiser that had a naked woman on the back flaunting her stuff. | ||
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January 11, 2003
| Well over the past month, I obtained all the parts and tools I would need to fix the engine electrical problems. Found that screamandfly.com offers a good classifieds sections, with a lot of low hours parts. Now have a spare stator, coil, 2 switchboxes, flywheel puller, Mercury spark tester, and misc other parts. Arranged for a friend of mine to meet me at the marina (he is probably the best outboard mechanic in Miami) and we started the trouble shooting procedure. Ran through all the ignition components using his voltmeter and gauges, did a compression test, etc. and all worked well. Tested the carbs, and it looked like the top 2 were not performing as they should be. Took apart the carb, and the jet had backed out and was interfering with the movement of the float. Retightened, resealed, and reassembled the carbs. Took boat out for a test run, and all performed as it should. | ||
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November 30, 2002
| Took the boat out today. Weather was beautiful, with seas under 1ft. All went well for the first 12 miles of the trip, until the boat stumbled. Took it off plane, tried to get it back on plane, but RPMs would drop out at 3400 rpm, and the boat would bog. Limped back to port at fast idle. Changed fuel filters on engine and transom, checked plugs, and ran again. Same story. Posted inquires on screamandfly.com and thehulltruth.com, asking for trouble shooting help. General consensus was either a stator or switchbox. |
November 17, 2002
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Weather here in Miami was kinda junky so I went to Ft. Pierce on Saturday to check out Marine Connection Liquidators. They had a pretty extensive selection of boat parts, some well priced - and others pretty much full retail - bummer there is that most of the stuff isn't priced out, so what you pay is based kinda sorta on who you talk to. I did pickup the ignition kill switch that I needed for 1/3 retail, as well as a few Mako decals/plates. Sunday the weather was a bit better, but I had to take care of some other stuff in the morning. By 2:30p, I had cleared out my day, and was able to get the marina to put my boat on a workrack, and did some probing and maintenance.
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November 10, 2002
| Went out for another trip today. Started on the ICW and came back on the ocean side. Conditions today were a lot nicer, with 2 ft seas - allowing us to come home at 28-30 knots for the track back north. Everything worked as planned, but I now need to start addressing some of the issues that I brought up before, instead of just joyriding the boat... Oh well...... Saw dolphins again today, and easily double the boats of Saturday. Destinations included Montys for lunch, and Jimbos for a little beer and music. |
November 9, 2002
| Took the boat out today for the first time since it was purchased, and put about 30 miles of ICW and open water running on it (even split - started out on the Atlantic side up by Haulover Beach, and moved back into the ICW once we got to Govt. Cut, since we were getting a little beat up). Stopped the boat for a little swim on the Atlantic side, near the site of the sunken M60 tanks, but couldn't see them with the equipment we brought along (just masks, no fins - will come back with Scuba sometime). Boat started and handled fine, and the GPS did its proper job of keeping us out of trouble. Through the day I came up with the following "Honey Do List". | ||
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| (Top) Observed a group of 6-8 bottlenose dolphins playing in the bay, just north of the Julia Tuttle (Above) View from the Atlantic of South Beach. Pictured in the middle is approx 15th St. (Below) Julia Tuttle Causeway while going north on the ICW. |
| I have saved the trip from Garmin MapSource as both a JPG and PDF |
November 5, 2002
| (Above) Removed Fish-n-eye-tis from the side of the hull. Used Acetone, and a bit of a cocktail of 3m rubbing compound. (Below) Installed Garmin 162 GPS Unit |
Other Things Accomplished Today
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Took baseline images to catalog boats current condition. Installed Garmin 162 GPS. Cleaned out misc junk from center console. Removed exposed 12v + terminal from starboard side aft engine area - Created hazardous condition for divers, and general safety hazard. |
Removed Fish-n-eye-tis from both sides of the boat. Removed lighter adapter from top of console. Washed inside and outside of boat, to include flushing of bilge etc. Replaced several toggle switch covers |
Last
Modified on December 12, 2010
aalbert@biggerhammer.net
