New to the site..... New (old) Aquasport 19-6

[gran398]

Good start! Got the slime off

Keep going...she's gonna be winkin' atcha...

 

[Spectre5922]

That was quite a few hours of hard scrubbing Gran and I still have the inside to go. I figure I'll have over 10-20 more hours just in general cleanup and disassembly before the real work begins. I still have to pull the rest of the teak and rigging. She definitely is starting to  show a little of her sex appeal now that she's getting cleaned up and looking kind of presentable.

[Spectre5922]

Well I am taking my tank to be fabricated today.  I should have it back by the end of next week.  For you Houston area guys I'll review how well the tank is built as soon as I get it back.  I haven't gotten a LOT done on the boat in the last few weeks due to work.  I DID get a chance to get the exterior all cleaned up though. It looks SO much better than when it has all that green funk on it!  
Another idea that I had lately was to ad a little more real estate to the top of the console similar to a Pathfinder 2200 to give me more room for gauges, etc.  I know that some of you will cringe at the idea of changing the console on an AS, but this is a functional change that will definitely be for the better.  
Here are some pics of how it sits now.  I can't seem to keep leaves out of it and I was too lazy to sweep it out before I took the pics.

The console is just sitting in place because I was taking some measurements.



Here is a transom shot with the old motor finally pulled.



Starboard side looking MUCH cleaner!



Ya GOTTA love that front tire!



I still have some work to do on the transom tidying things up and getting rid of the rest of the old hardware.



Here is the Port side.  It looks a LOT cleaner just being washed and getting rid of the old rotted guides on the trailer.  If you look closely you can see a spot that we buffed out to see what the hull would look like about 1/3 of the way back from the bow.  NOW I'm getting excited!


It's going to be a long process and won't be ready until next summer, but it is going to be a LOT of fun!

[Aswaff400]

looks good man! those AS emblems look to be in good condition, if they are, they are worth some weight in gold

can you post a pic or 2 of those for us?
 

[Spectre5922]

I will try to get by there today and get some pics of them.  I just went back to the last pics and magnified a few of them.  The port side emblem appears to be in almost perfect shape but the starboard side emblem is broken.  It is missing the "rt" and the top part of the 6.

[Spectre5922]

Well, I didn't hear any grumbles and groans from the AS purists, so I decided to go ahead and modify the console for more room to mount switches, gauges, stereos, etc.  Here is what I got done today.  The upper section will house the gauges, VHF and radio, and the lower section will hold the switch panel, horn, kill switch, ignition, steering and throttle.  I think the layout will be much more roomy and uncluttered.  I also cut the top off the console so it is wide open underneath and tabbed the inside joint also.  From the pics, you can probably tell that all of the ply is not resin-coated yet.  The back side is coated along with the areas that needed to be tabbed (I hate working with ply that is resin-coated on both sides).  I will resin coat the rest before I start laying the glass.  I like it, butI'm curious what you guys think?










Have I done a good thing or totally screwed up a classic console and commited a cardinal AS sin?

[pete]

Nice job,I like it! Lots more room to mount stuff,I would suggest a small storage or glove box flush mounted on that new section,always nice to have a handy place to put wallet,keys,camera,etc.looks great!customize it to suit your needs,thats the fun of it

[Spectre5922]

I am either going to install a small glovebox in the top section or just use the area under the console (shelf) for storage.  I will also have a seperate 2-way dedicated bilge switch and a 12v power socket for phone chargers, Q-beam, etc.  I also thought about dividing the area under the console (shelf area) into two sections.  One would be a box that takes up the front half with a door for storage, then the other half (back half) of the shelf area would be accessible from the front side behind the seat.  I am also considering building a live well/leaning post combo.  From what I have seen, that was an AS option and it just makes sense to save room doing that.  I could build a nice one and have a seat cushion upholstered for about what a leaning post would cost and would not have to take up valuable floor (fishing) space with a seperate live well. I'm also planning on moving the console about 5"-6" forward from the stock position.  If I do that, I won't really loose a lot of rear deck space from the install of a leaning post/live well combo and will also possibly help offset the additional weight of it.

By the way.....  I cut a huge hole in the floor in several places (mid-deck on each side and center in front of transom).  The floor is amazingly in-tact.  There are two spots that are soft.  Both of them are from delaminating plywood.  The PO had a t-top at one time and did a really bad job of sealing the bolt holes when he removed it.  The two soft spots are right beside old t-top holes.  The rest of the floor is rock hard.  I also got my head up under the floor to look at the stringers.  They are really in fantastic shape and are not delaminating from the floor.  I will probably not pull the floor.  Instead, I will repair the bad spots including properly sealing any old holes and then lay and glass a layer of 3/4".  By the way....  The floor in the boat is only 1/2" ply!  I would have thought a boat that size would have 3/4".

I also checked the transom while I was under the floor.  It is solid as a rock!  NOW I am getting stoked!  The more I tear into her, the more that I realize she's not really in that bad a shape.  It is mostly cosmetic.

[pete]

here is a link to a cool one built on THT

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-out ... cc-86.html

bottom of page,go back a few pages to see the build

[gran398]

The console looks great.

A bit taller, great for hiding behind the weather. Looks like a Tampa guide console.

Relatively vertical on the upper face for flush-mount electronics install. You have a lot of options here.

Good idea for a number of reasons to go with the livewell as a component of the leaning post.

[Spectre5922]

Thanks guys.

Gran...  I specifically picked that height.  It is only 10" taller than stock.  It is tall enough that I can sit on the live well or seat and see through the windshield so I don't have to take saltwater to the face on windy/choppy days, but is short enough that I will still drive the boat looking over the windshield while standing up.  Just about everything with a readout will be on the top section closer to eye level, the fish finder and compass will be on the very top along with a few flush-mounted cup holders and everything that I need to touch or control will be on the bottom section.  It is kind of a mimic of a Pathfinder 2200 console except wider.

BTW....  I should be getting my tank back tomorrow so I will post up picks and a review as soon as I get it.

[LilRichard]

Good job on the console!

[Blue Agave]

IMHO a leaning post is useless in our aquasports.  Go with a livewell with a cushion, and lean on the livewell.

[MarshMarlowe196]

Could go with something like this-



My father-in-law-to-be's Boston Whaler has a really nice leaning post with a hidden cooler underneath that slides out on a track.

I personally like the cooler seat with the adjustable backrest.  I can move it a little forward and "lean" on it if I really wanted to, or sit down and drive, or move the backrest completely forward and fish out of the back of the boat.  Then again, I do have the stern-mount wells on my boat, so a leaning post style livewell would seem logical if I didn't have the wells.

[Spectre5922]

Well, I went by to see how the tank was coming along.  He has the bottom and sides bent and the front and rear cut and ready to weld.  I had to take him some more $$$ for more material before he could finish.  I should have it back by Thursday during lunch.  

Here are some pics of the way it sits now. He still has to cut the baffles and top, then weld everything together.  He also has a brand new sender to install for me.  I can't wait to get it back and epoxy-coated so I can go to the next step.







Also, of all things......  I have been worried about a motor....  Now I have 2!  I still have the old Sea King 140, but now I have also been given a 1977 Evinrude 115 that is 100% complete!  We have already done a compression test on the 115 and it is reading right at 95 on 3 cylinders and right at 105 on the 4th.  I also have the title for the 115.  I know it is an older motor, but it sure is a lot cleaner than the 140.  That 140 looks like it's been ridden hard and put up wet.  The 115on the other hand is amazingly clean for it's age.