1986 Aquasport 200 Osprey Build - Miami, FL

[molekulebrian]

Hey guys!

I'm new to the forum and just recently purchased my first AS. It's a 1986 200 Osprey (I believe) with a 1986 Evinrude 120hp and I got a great deal on it with a trailer. I'm not currently using the trailer because it'll be at a dock/marina for its life here in Miami. I'll be continually adding photos to this thread of everything I'm doing to the boat so everyone can see the progress that I'm making. I'm not very good (at all) and have no experience with fiberglass, so I don't think I'm going to tackle that, but I know quite a bit about electric and plumbing so that's my first order of business. Here is what I've already done:

• Replaced Evinrude starter with a brand new one from

DNL Auto here in Miami
• Replaced all 4 spark plugs
• Replaced 2 ignition coils because 2 got ripped off and snapped while taking the cowl off
• Replaced old battery with 2 new batteries
• Replaced all both throttle and clutch cables with Teleflex TF Extreme Universal Cables w/ OMC connection kit
• Replaced the old OMC control with a Teleflex Marine MT-3 Single Control
• Removed all the old circle deck lids and replaced with new 6" lids, including an 8" clear lid for the bilge
• Discarded about 10lbs worth of useless wiring that was never taken out
• Replaced the old 500GPH Rule bilge pump with a brand new 1500GPH Rule Automatic Bilge (currently pumping through the deck lid until I enlarge the thru-hull)
• I'm in the process of rubbing all the interior paint off of all the stainless fittings as well (the previous owner just painted the entire interior without removing and of the deck fittings, so everything is white and there is a ton of overspray)[/list]

That's currently how the boat is sitting right now. There are some major issues that I need to address however. The previous owner converted the engine over to an electric fuel pump (pumping out 2-3.5psi, too much??) which I'm not really liking right now, but I'm unsure on how to replace it with one that runs on pulse (not sure where the engine pulse connection comes from). The scuppers are also about an inch and a half under water, so I plugged the inside with black science plugs made for beakers, so the only water coming in is from the rain which can easily be taken care of by the bilge. I've purchased new ping pong scuppers, but haven't installed them yet (won't do much anyways since they're underwater) but I will when I take the boat out of the water for bottom paint soon.

Here is the list of things that I'm working on currently:

• Connecting the throttle and clutch cables to the Teleflex MT-3 Single Control
• Cleaning out, vaccumming, and acetone the interior console, painting the interior white while running a bead of silicone along the bottom edge to seal
• Installing a

Perko battery switch complete with all 2G positive and negative cables
• Removing and replacing the old connection block with a new one that includes a ground bank
• Rewiring all electronics on board cleanly and neatly including gauges
• Replacing all switches with a new switchboard (any good suggestions?)
• Replacing the old wood dash with a new custom cut starboard dash panel for helm section and gauge section
• Possibly replacing the cooler seat with either a leaning post, or nothing at all
• Converting the console front seat into a livewell[/list]

I'm sure there is a BUNCH more things that will come up soon, but at least here is a taste of what's going on. Looking forward to hearing your input and helping me along the way, as I'm sure I will have plenty of questions! Thanks!

[dburr]

Welcome aboard!!!

What a great project and a really good start!

[RickK]

Looks pretty good already  

[FJStretch]

Welcome to the CA forum!
I too am relatively new and, remarkably, I acquired an 1986 osprey 200 in August.  Lots of work to do. As mine doesn't appear to be in as good a shape as yours. are you tackling the hull painting yourself or having someone handle that? (On my list too.. Down the road but not far).

Right now, most of my attention has been on my boat's 1997 Suzi DT150. It's hanging from chains in my garage right now.  I finished replacing the tilt tube and the teleflex support rod, which were well married by corrosion.  That was quite a job. Ran into several obstacles along the way too.

Let me know how you like those cables... That is on my list too.

[molekulebrian]

Hey thanks man and congrats on your 200!

The only hull painting I'll be doing is bottom paint and I have a guy who's doing it for me up at Bradford Marina in Ft. Laud for cheap. I'm painting the inside of the console myself but that's easy.

Sounds like you have a good motor on the back, just no maintenance was ever done to it, that's too bad. Sounds like you're on the right track though.

Going to look at a slip on the Miami river tomorrow so I'll post pictures if I decide to take it.

[gman 82 aquasport]

Nice boat, and welcome aboard
For your switch panel look at the Seasense waterproof panel, Overtons and Gander mountain have them, just put one on my 19-6 Osprey, 6 switches LED indicator lights and circuit breakers, all for under $50..As far as the scuppers sitting so low, go aheasd and add the ball scuppers so that any water gets in can get out while underway...at some time you will need to check the stringer foam and flotation faom to see how wet it is, it's amazing how much lighter these boats are with dry foam in them sounds like you have a good working plan for now to get her up to speed and usable

[molekulebrian]

Thanks gman

I'm sure the foam is quite soaked, the only issue is that I live in a high rise and have no place to store the boat except in the water. Is there any way to slowly take the wet foam out (through port holes or deck lids maybe) and replace it with new foam?

I'm just afraid of the massive storage fee I'll be looking at once the boat is out of the water and at a marina.

[GoneFission]

I put some deck hatches in on my CCP and took several hundred pounds of wet foam out - you might be able to do something similar on your Osprey:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5395&p=74275&hilit=hatch#p74275

[Georgie]

Hi Brian,

Welcome aboard...The boat looks great!  Jealous of the T-top (my 18 Wellcraft has no shade)  

The previous owner converted the engine over to an electric fuel pump (pumping out 2-3.5psi, too much??) which I'm not really liking right now, but I'm unsure on how to replace it with one that runs on pulse (not sure where the engine pulse connection comes from).

I'm concerned about the electrical fuel pump...it's a poor way to replace the original VRO that was probably on your engine.  Can I assume that your engine is now "plumbed" to run pre-mix fuel?  Also, can you provide a model number for your engine?  Helps immensely when planning repairs and deciding on parts.  The model numbers are usually located on the port side transom motor mount bracket, or stamped into a silver freeze plug on the engine block.  I'll work from there and give you some options.

Replacing all switches with a new switchboard (any good suggestions?)

How far are you trying to go with the dash replacement?  From the photos it looks like your dash may be original but I really can't tell.  Do you want to "re-engineer" it, or just clean it up?  (I personally hate replacing salvageable original equipment, but its totally a personal preference) If you're just trying to clean up wiring and switches and other stuff, you can find quality new stock dash panels on E-bay that often include pre-assembled wiring and gauges for pennies compared to buying/building the stuff yourself.  If you really want to re-engineer the console, I think you'll need to be ready to spend some dough and just make it custom however you like.

Just some preliminary thoughts.   Nice lookin' boat.  Get it running so you can have some fun!

Like your handle.  

so I plugged the inside with black science plugs made for beakers

You a chemist?

[molekulebrian]

Hey thanks Georgie,

Yes you're right, the engine now needs pre-mix every time 50-1. I'll get the model number ASAP as I think this is an important fix that needs to be made.

My thoughts are to rewire and rerig everything on the console/dash area and make it "new" again. I'd like to take the original grey wood off and replace it with white starboard, move around some things and clean it up alot, but we will see how things go.

As far as being a scientist, I am not. haha. I just found that the chemistry/science beaker plugs are the perfect size for the inside scuppers and provide a great seal.

___________________________

I finished (kind of) the install of the Teleflex MT-3 today.




However I can't seem to get the adjustments right for reverse (it never worked since I've had it). I need to tweak it some more, but I moved the lever so that its the shortest throw on the clutch, but still the reverse gear seems to "bottom out" and not make it all the way. I think I may need to move forward the white OMC adapter clip on the engine to allow for more movement, but I'm really not sure.

I'm going to take it out this afternoon, without reverse, just to see how she does anyways with the new controls. I'll be sure to post some photos/video.

Here is also a shot of my ghetto rigged 1 1/8" 1500gph bilge pump that I have at the moment until I enlarge my thru-hull fitting. Works great so far!

Hi Brian,

Welcome aboard...The boat looks great!  Jealous of the T-top (my 18 Wellcraft has no shade)  

The previous owner converted the engine over to an electric fuel pump (pumping out 2-3.5psi, too much??) which I'm not really liking right now, but I'm unsure on how to replace it with one that runs on pulse (not sure where the engine pulse connection comes from).

I'm concerned about the electrical fuel pump...it's a poor way to replace the original VRO that was probably on your engine.  Can I assume that your engine is now "plumbed" to run pre-mix fuel?  Also, can you provide a model number for your engine?  Helps immensely when planning repairs and deciding on parts.  The model numbers are usually located on the port side transom motor mount bracket, or stamped into a silver freeze plug on the engine block.  I'll work from there and give you some options.

Replacing all switches with a new switchboard (any good suggestions?)

How far are you trying to go with the dash replacement?  From the photos it looks like your dash may be original but I really can't tell.  Do you want to "re-engineer" it, or just clean it up?  (I personally hate replacing salvageable original equipment, but its totally a personal preference) If you're just trying to clean up wiring and switches and other stuff, you can find quality new stock dash panels on E-bay that often include pre-assembled wiring and gauges for pennies compared to buying/building the stuff yourself.  If you really want to re-engineer the console, I think you'll need to be ready to spend some dough and just make it custom however you like.

Just some preliminary thoughts.   Nice lookin' boat.  Get it running so you can have some fun!

Like your handle.  

so I plugged the inside with black science plugs made for beakers

You a chemist?

[molekulebrian]

So I took out the boat yesterday afternoon for a short little trip. Boat performed pretty well, come to find out reverse does work and the new cables worked flawlessly, nice and smooth.  I think the carbs need to be cleaned out as it stuttered pretty bad during the first take off. I think she topped out around 32-35mph but I'm not too sure since I don't have any instruments to check it.

Anyways here is a short video of a cruise

http://youtu.be/ySXBc47lKgA

[molekulebrian]

Did a little more work over the weekend on the boat. Since my slip location in Miami isn't ideal, I made the decision to remove the T-top and sell it locally. I had a guy that was interested and now I'm able to leave and fish whenever I please, not just when it's low tide (low fixed bridge). Anyways, I'm actually liking it a little more now that it's off, seem to have some more room, as well as it lightened the load quite a bit (seemed to weigh about 100-120lbs give or take).







The down side is now I have some fiberglass work to do. I have very little, if any, experience with fiberglass, so this will be an adventure and I'm sure, a learning experience. My other option that I was considering was finding and purchasing a new console and starting fresh, but it seems like it may be difficult to find one the same width, so that the rigging floor can still be removed on the starboard side. I would like to have a place to flush mount some new electronics as well, but like I said, width may be an issue. (any ideas?)

Speaking of electronics, I picked up a new mounting system for my iPad navigation. I decided to go with the RAM suction cup mount (windshield or top of console), the RAM mount for heavy duty cases, and a Griffin Survivor Military iPad case for water spray. This should work pretty well for broad navigation as I only really need to see channel markers and general depth info. A dedicated fish/depth finder will come later down the line.

This week I'm meeting with a possible Evinrude trade (my 86 120hp for this shops 90 150hp) which hopefully should only run about $1,000 fully rigged. This would give me some more power as well as more reliability on the water, which is what I'm looking for. Also getting the bottom painted on Weds morning, so more pictures to come.

[molekulebrian]

So I finished up a few things on the boat today to get it ready for it's trip down the Miami river to get bottom painted tomorrow morning. Topped her off with gas and tidied up a bit. Also tested out my iPad navigation system with suction cup mount. Works really nice. Tough to see in direct sunlight, but that was to be expected. Other than that seems solid, but we will see tomorrow morning how well it stays. Here are some pics of the setup:

[dburr]

Do tell what chart app you use and where do you get the GPS input!!  

[CLM65]

Looks nice, but I don't think I would trust my ipad to a suction cup mount .  Hit a few waves and I bet it releases.