TOPIC: 1972 Steury Runabout Project

re: 85HP Evinrude with PT&T - I'm a big fan of the OMC V4's, especially the cross-flow motors. Finding one in decent shape with PT&T is a win-win, and some folks have been successful with mounting the older "classic" style covers (hoods) on the more modern motors. (Food for thought?)

A fresh properly constructed transom (maybe even add a couple "knee braces") should support the motor fine. Teaching your daughter that just because you have the extra power doesn't mean you have to use it all the time would be a good idea. They get a lot better gas mileage at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle anyway!

I'd pick up the motor just to have for a future project or later on in that boat.

Personally, I'd be hesitant to put that kind of power on that boat for a beginner and/or teen. Regardless of how good a kid she is, the temptation will be too great to resist...especially when friends (read boys) get involved! . Bottom line is, kids will be kids...wait till she starts asking for a bigger boat (you know, a month after you splash it!), then you can find one that fits the motor better. I'd keep the 60 for now. Plenty of power for her and a few friends. Anyway, my 2 cents....

I understand the warnings about the increased HP, though I still maintain that going from the 60 to the 85 is a modest increase. It's not like I'm going from 50 to 150.

Both of our girls have grown up around more power than they need...driving my wife's 750Li, my 330i, my Jaguar XJR, etc.

Would I send my 16yo out for a long drive in the Jag? No. Matter of fact, I put both of them in a big Suburban and Tahoe for their own cars.

My point is, I understand the hp risk, inexperience, immaturity, etc.

She will be supervised at all times until I feel she has developed a sense of control and responsibility. Even with the 60.


So in the end, it is more about what motor will give the best return on my investment, and the tilt/trim luxury can't be dismissed.

Today I finally got back to actually working on the boat. Got the deck hung from the ceiling and out of the way until the hull is complete. Removed some of the fiberglass and the old gas tank. Tomorrow we will clean all of the crap out of it and finish removing the floor and start grinding.

Please look at the pictures and give me direction. In some areas when I was removing the glass that held the deck to the hull I got deep on the inside. My question is, how much of the inside glass do I have to remove to start rebuilding?

What are the metal brackets in the corners?

On the transom, I plan to cut out the inside fiberglass layer and expose the wood, trying to remove it in one piece to use as a template. Is that a good plan?

Overall, this boat is in better shape than I thought. The transom is much more solid than I thought it would be.

It will be nice to have it all new.

More progress today as we got the rest of the floor cut out.
Questions based on today's work:

The plywood floor appears to extend to the very tip of the bow. It goes under the small raised area up front. I cut it off even with that transition for now. The stringer is VERY solid, and I tapped a sharp point in numerous places to find solid wood. I cross drilled three areas and found dry solid wood.
I am tempted to leave the stringer in place and reglass over it, replace the floor up to the bow raised area, and not open up the raised area up front. The floor is only 4 ft wide at its widest, and it sits on the stringer and then the raised areas on the hull just lateral to the stringer. I can't see how that wouldn't be strong enough.

Does that sound like an ok plan?

I took out the "thing" in the bottom of the hull (depth gauge or fish finder?) and now need to know how to repair that hole. I will read about that.

I took the inner glass off of the transom. What is the best way to get the transom out without destroying anything so I can use it as a template?

As I prepare to start grinding, how much do I need to take off inside of the hull? Is all of the red layer gelcoat? Do I grind ALL of that off?

Thanks for the help guys!

Taking the old transom out in one piece would be nice for making a template, but pretty hard to do in "real world" practice. Taking a circular saw and cutting shallow criss-cross patterns in the wood, then taking a wide chisel or thick putty knife type tool to pry out the old wood works best for me. Grinders, oscillating "multi-tool"s, whatever you can get your hands on will work, just be careful not to damage the outer layers of fiberglass or "skin".

Once the old wood is removed I prefer "bogus" shipping paper for making a pattern. Many folks use strips of cardboard and a hot glue gun to make the pattern, once again just whatever works best for you. I prefer to make the template a little larger than needed, then trim down in small steps to get a better fit.

I'm with you on leaving the raised portion of the floor in the bow.

Fixing holes in fiberglass is address in several articles found in the Research/Restoration section of the top tool bar header. If you want to shoot some pics of that area I'm sure some of the gang will be glad to advise, but the process is pretty standard for most repairs - just varied by size.

Ideally you would like to grind away all gel coat in areas where your are doing fiberglass layup or fillet work - for better adhesion. Old gel coat will continue to degrade and crack if not removed or painted/sealed. My first rebuild I thought you had to grind ALL the fiberglass under the floor area, when just doing the "attachment points" would have been sufficient. I painted the entire under floor area to help seal it anyway, so I guess it all worked out for the best in the end?

Just a few of my thoughts here, others may have alternate methods or better ideas......?

Gave up on taking the transom out in one piece. It is slowly coming out in many, many pieces.

Question about the bilge:
The boat did not have a bilge pump, and I'd like to add one. The bilge itself is tiny...9 inches wide, 6 inches bow to stern, and just 4 inches deep. The 6 inches goes from the end of the single stringer to the transom. Can I take some liberty during the rebuild to expand the bilge without huge structural concern? The way the bilge was built is pretty suspect...the heavy woven glass that tied the transom to the bottom of the hull was left sticking up, certainly trapping water, keeping it from ever reaching the bilge. This boat did not have ANY foam, and it is pretty shallow from the floor to the hull. I think I'd like the bilge to extend at LEAST 6 inches more to the left AND to the right to catch water coming from the two centermost hull channels. My concern is, will I have enough depth at only 4 inches to get a pump in there and really have it work?

Shouldn't be an issue, just have to be careful where you put the float switch! Or get an auto bilge pump, and then no worries at all!

So we may have hit a bit of a hitch in the progress on the Steury. I have posted in other threads on this site about two more boats I just bought. First, I got a 1966 Larson All American. Originally I got it for the motor, a 75 hp Evinrude Starflite. However, it is in such good original condition, and we got it in the water and it goes just fine. It runs like a new boat! We got it to use as a practice boat for Alaina to learn on. Just this week I got a 1970 Sea King in extremely good all original condition. I paid $300 for the Larson and $400 for the Sea King.


With the Sea King sitting in the shop, it is REALLY hard to look at the Steury as a good project. It just doesn't have the style and class that the Sea King does. Even the Larson has some vintage character that the Steury doesn't. Past the styling, from just an economical standpoint, I think it may make more sense to have Alaina keep the Larson as her boat. It has a soft spot in the floor, so we can replace that as our project. We already know it runs and floats and goes great, so we are way ahead. It has fiberglass stringers, so no worries there. The transom is rock solid.

I planned to offer the Sea King as an option for her too, but the more I look at it, I think I am keeping it. I really love the look of it and it is soooo clean. I will likely keep it long term.

So, long story short, I think the Steury may not make it. I asked Alaina which boat she wanted to do, and she couldn't decide. She really really likes the Larson, but said she feels connected to the Steury as it was her first boat. My dad helped...he asked if her second boyfriend (super nice kid) was better than her first boyfriend. She liked the analogy:)

We can do the floor in Larson over the winter and be ready for summer boating. Anyone want a Steury?