TOPIC: Hello, new guy. Restoration or new build.

Hello folks been poking around here for a few days and figured I may as well join up and enter the fray as it were. Been dreaming over boat plans for many years but lately been looking seriously at a boat I have that needs to be restored. Transom is mush so judging by the shape of the deck I cant help but think it needs to be decapitated in order to get to it. Guess I'm open for any advice/wisdom on this, I'm quite sure the floor needs to be removed as well and redone. Then refinish the outside. From what I can tell (judging by the engine) it is a 1967 Renken. It is just a hair over 14' long. I got to working on the engine recently and have determined that it is good enough to restore, mainly needs a lot of cleaning and regular maintenance. 95 psi compression on both cyl's cold after sitting for 20+ years so Im thinking it will have a little more once its up and running and warm. This got me to start considering building a small runabout to put it on. But I keep looking back at that old boat and how cool that would be to just run that but it needs help. Here are a few pic's to wet your collective whistles.
Ill just post the links to save space on the page here..


Main question right now is about replacing the core of the transom, what would be my best bet on that since its basically kind of partially covered by the rear deck. There is a large crack almost all the way across (horizontally) on the inner side no doubt from the engine torquing on the soft transom so the inner skin would be a good candidate to be removed.

Thanks in advance for any tidbits of info or other comments and hello again glad to be here, I have already learn a lot just searching around on this site.

Here she is the day I brought her home.




And here she is now.

C.G. : WELCOME. YES, lots of advice here.. I really do not see the pictures opne up .?? Just the home page of service. . One of the prior posts of Custom Craft below from UGa Girl has the same question & answers of spliting the top & bottom half of hull. Usually under the side rub rail is some sort of fasting hardware that will be removed or cut off .

. The GLEN -L has lots of offerings if you go on to build a hull.
I think something like the ZIP model might appeal to ya .

Ok sorry about my picture issue, had to edit a few times to get it right but now its all set.. yes Glen-L website is a regular haunt for me (like a kid drooling thru the old wards/sears catalogs, I know thing of the past). Was thinking about a Tuffy or Zip, or even a Flying saucer. But I have this one so thinking it would be cheaper and less work than building a whole new one, although I would love to build one someday.

i seem to have the same color 67 engine in the four cyl 60hp version. Also my steering wheel is identical with the center chrome
cap saying Glasspar . Does your say RENKEN.?? (YES I see word in pic ENLARGE)> .This would be a good hull for experience.. Is the height of the transom under the motor about 16 inches (SHORT) , or the standard 21 inches for LONG.?
Hard to tell in the pic. .. If one splits the hull halves ,you may need a new black rub rail . I would check on a source & PRICE before that route. It may tend to get pricy for your budget.? .Also seats can they be found for your $$.. Front deck does have some nice design relief, & the rear slant fins. Some good paint results for the top can be had with good quality & even a brush. .. Is the pully cable steering still usable Or would that be upgrade.?.. I think the hand winch near the steering has to go .~! IMO.

Split, the transom height is 16" exactly. Ive been looking carefully inside where the hull meets deck and I have discovered the large crack I mentioned in the transom is actually where they meet and it appears to be the lower part of where a piece of "tape" join's the two halves is cracked.. so its not really the transom skin but that joint between the two no doubt from abuse, I'll tell that story here briefly. As far as seats I have no idea what was in there originally or what they would have looked like/mounting. The steering system still moves but with a lot of effort, the cable would need to be replaced for sure and the two pulleys nearest the motor are plastic and are deformed pretty badly. The "outer" pulleys are metal and intact albeit rusty.
Here are a few shots I also have.


So the story is, my brother in laws cousin (always good when they start like that) had this boat and the two of them went to a lake one day over 20 years ago and tried it out.. first thing he did was to get it off the trailer, start it up and proceed to run it up onto shore hahah.. well the comedy of errors continued.. they hit every sandbar they could and sheared several pins from the prop until they ran out. Then ended up walking along the edge of the lake with the boat all the way back around to where the launch ramp was, of course right then he found another shear pin "Oh yeah heres another one" hahah.. Well after that he gave the boat to another cousin and there it sat in his driveway until last summer when he gave it to me cause he wanted it gone and I will take any boat cause I love a challenge and love boats. Honestly I thought maybe I would use the motor on something and just chop the boat up into bits with a sawzall and slowly put em into my weekly garbage. But the more I look at it the more I think that hull would be really fun even with the 33 johnson it came with (pretty sure that was the orig motor) the hull tag says its rated for a 50hp (back then 50hp that is measured at the crank). I dont have any other boat to play with so Im thinking I am going to take it on as a project and mabye have it up and running for next season I guess. I still have my canoe (which I call jetski/skiboat bait, I swear they are trying to kill me).

I think the boat is nice looking, and not that hard to restore. Appears to be in pretty decent condition. What are you waiting for? Remove the rub-rail molding and take the deck off. Then you will have full access to the transom. I'd be proud to motor around in that craft on the local lakes.

Go for it

I think it should be saved. One thing about boats and old cars. You can never get out of them what you'd need for profit.Working on a glassic is because you want it and desire to be different from the new cookie-cutter boat people. In fact I think you'd fit in right here.

As aside note, when your putting your boat in the water watch the guys face your talking to when you tell him"No this boat is older than I am." I just love the look. And be nice when your towing their nice new bass buggy in for them.

CLARK : I looked at the top motor pic & does not look like there is a 5 inch extenter housing in the mid-section (Tower)., that could be removed.? If one measures from the clamp "U" brackdet on the boat down to the cavitaion plate & gets 20 ", this motor is LONG , thus sticking below the boat extra 5 inches , which hits more sand bars & rocks like you mentioned.

.If true , may buy a short shaft motor (Geting harder to find). 2) raise the new transom up 5 "(could cut into the splashwell & not need to seperate the hull halves) .. 3) Do a nice job on the boat, put a 2"wood block spacer under the motor "U" clamp , & just ride slower & watch the lake level under boat.

Let us know what you decide.

Well I actually have the gearbox off of the motor right now cause I was verifying the condition of the waterpump impeller.. I could see that people have surely been inside that motor over the years by the look of the screws ect.. and the impeller is nice soft rubber still and not all worn out so I will just clean it all up really well and call it good for now. There are however 2 of the bolt holes that hold the gearbox on that are bad. One has a broken off bolt in it and the other has only a small fraction of the threads left.. so I will have to do the thread repair kits on those two holes I suppose. Anyway, I just measured down from the "U" clamp basically top of what would be the transom (its on a makeshift motor stand) and I got 13 inches to the bottom mating surface of the lower unit and I get 5 inches from the upper mating surface of the gearbox to the anti ventilation plate. So a total of 18 inches if it was together. Im guessing that it was the orig motor but I dont really know that.. there is no control although it has the "junction box) that is appropriate for that motor but I dont have the cover. I will find out what I need to do to make sure its registered to me before I start cutting or repairing anything. I built a horsebarn for the guy who used to own it and had it registered last (1990 by the tag) and he lives about a mile away from here so would be nothing to get a bill of sale or something to make that transaction. I'll probably go pick the brains (brains) of the folks at the secretary of state today about that. Its small enough I dont belive in michigan that boats get titled until they are 20 feet but I could be wrong just goin from memory. Finally got a sunny day today, gonna go grout a little tile in a kitchen and when I get home mabye ill put the boom on the tractor and carefully pull it up to my backyard in the wet/long grass and fashion some kind of a cradle for it to sit in. Probably gonna have to move a jeep to make a spot heheh.. Thanks again for the comments all a little encouragement goes a long way.

Well, "It's to late to turn back now" as they say.. pulled the old girl up into the backyard today and built a cradle to hold it up off the ground while I work. But it all really became real when I just went out there and pulled the rubber bumper strip off. It all came off in one piece which was nice, although sure seems like it will be a chore getting it back on there. Ive found a few places that sell many different types/shapes of that stuff so maybe I can even get new when its time. Has anyone ever used something like "Tire wet" or something to soften/restore that rubber? Taking things apart always goes faster than putting them back together so if the weather is good maybe my memorial day weekend will be the stripping down of this boat. The alum track that the rubber was in is only three sections and is riveted on so will be cake to drill those out and remove it. I dont know what it is about boats but there were tons of tiny black ants under there with eggs. They do the same thing to my canoe wherever I put it, I keep finding them crawling on me as I am typing this hehe. The folks at the secretary of state told me all I need is whatever numbers I can get off the boat like the old registration # and serial number (If I can read it, its barely there). That and a bill of sale of some kind, and they can register it for me, I will feel better knowing its registered to me and wont be a problem later on. So its on now, wish me luck this might get dirty... heheh.. thanks for all the replies so far.

Sparky on page 3 of this forum there is a post,, chalky white rubrails,,, that has a couple responses to your question on rubrails.

Clark,

I am SO glad to hear you are going to restore. Nothing like pulling up in a vintage boat to get the conversations started. DH and I have a Red Fish Shark that needs restoring and a AristoCraft. Alas, those projects are behind the SeaMac (wood) and the DuraCraft (aluminum). I'll watch your progress and hopefully learn a few things!

Strange, seems that at least for me this site was down most of the afternoon/evening and I just had to try a bunch of times to log in.. finally it worked.. anyway..

Thought I would have the deck removed today but it started raining on me and didnt think laying in a boat with a powertool in my hands in the rain was so smart.. Managed to get the alum channel of the rubrail off, there was a second course of rivets under that. Then drilled them all out further to clear the outer skin(deck) and used a putty knife and a hammer to "free" up what was left of each one. On the inside is about a 4 inch piece of mat joining the two halves so I attempted a cutting wheel on a grinder and quickly found that I am going to have to shave this raggity beard to achieve a proper seal with my respirator. Gave up on the grinder and switched over to the good old wave of the future the fein multimaster, that made quick work of that mat and I was about halway thru cutting all the way around before the rain got to bad to keep working. Not sure how I will do the most forward part in the bow as there is not a lot of clearance even for that tool, but I'll figure something out and hope to have the deck off tommorow if it doesnt rain. Cant wait to surgically remove the inner transom skin and get that cleaned out as well. Soon I'll have to start worrying about some supplies to begin rebuilding.

One question, is it advisable to strip out a transom and go ahead and strip out the old flooring too? or is it best to do these as seperate projects? Just guessing here but mabye with all that structure removed could it become to flexy and kinda get out of shape? wouldnt want to put it back together askew. Also a tip, if you hear buzzing that isnt coming from the tool you are using it may be wasps/hornets building nests a few inches above your face. As I was packing it up I couldnt help singing these words.. "well the sign said ya got to have a multi-ma-ster to cut this here,(then it rained) so I tucked my tools up under the bow and went in to have a beer...."

Welcome aboard Clark, you're going to fit in just fine around here.

Just my two cents, but do the floor and transom sepatately. Study the construction first once you have the top off.
I highly recommend seacast (I used it) or one of it's competitors for the transom.
Wasps seem to love classic boats here too.
My 68' Starcraft had a rear deck, but it was too much for me to separate. I ended up cutting the transom off from the outside. Crazy but it worked.

try wefcorubber.com for your rub rail.

FINALLY!!! Last two days I have been rained out just when I was starting to get a head of steam behind me, T-storms and Tornado watch's really screwed me out of some time. So Ive been at it all day today in the 90 degree sun with my multimaster tool and a hammer and putty knife.. Finally got the lid off of this baby and jumped into the cold shower hehe..



Transom wasnt totally mushy but it is in spots around the upper and lower drainholes and the towing eyes if thats what ya call those. The plywood is definatly delaminated from itself and the inner skin is stuck to nothing. Hopefully I'll get most of that torn out tommorow before it rains again in the evening (when am I gonna get my garden planted in all of this?). I could hear a parade in town at noon and as I am in michigan there are lakes in all directions, could hear boats all day rippin around but I probably had more fun sweating and squinting laying on my back cutting glass tape knowing that someday I will be done and it will seem like something is missing not needing to work on it but only use it. Lotta work but know that she's opened up I think I got the most tedious part done its all repairs from here on in. Earned my 6 pack of Bell's Oberon today.

Clark,
Your making great progress, keep it up. It will all be worth it once your done. All those boat noises will be great incentive to get her done and run with them! By the way, I grew up in Michigan, Shelby township. Ran all over Lake St. Claire, Higgins and Houghton lakes with the boat in my avatar (grandfathers boat).

Bob