Restoring an oldie, this should get interesting...

Brian N

Brian N

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My son's school requires each student to undertake a project for his/her senior year. The guidelines are pretty unrestrictive, but it has to be a substantial project and has to be well documented with a presentation made to the school at the end of the year.

For my older son's project, he got the idea of restoring a boat for himself. He will have to learn a lot of new skills, do a bunch of work, and at the end will have a cool new toy.

Last night we picked up the boat...

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The seller thought it was an old Larson, as it turns out, it is a 1981 Sea Raider, about 13' long with a 1975 50 HP Johnson Sea Horse. I've had a heck of a time getting any info on this boat, has anyone ever heard of them?

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As this project goes along, I am quite sure I'll be relying on the knowledge base here for plenty of help. Our plan is to remove the engine, strip out the interior, remove everything from the hull, and rebuild her from the hull up. We're not sure if the metal flake paint can be restored, the clear coat is peeling pretty badly. If not, we'll sand it down and repaint it.

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Also, the steering controls are clearly a backyard rig, so we'll have to straighten that out.

The hull, transom, and floors are all solid. The motor turned over and tried to catch but wouldn't fire, but it looks to be in good shape.

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The interior...let's just say it needs some loving...

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Overall, I took a bit of a gamble on the boat, but I could sell the trailer alone for what I paid for the whole package, so no major loss either way. So what do you think guys, have I bit off more than I can chew? If nothing else, it will keep us busy this winter...

Stay tuned folks, lots of questions will be forthcoming...
 
All we were able to find by searching was this one guy who had these pictures of his restored Sea Raider, he bought it thinking it was a Checkmate... I don't know if we'll get to this point, but we'll do our best!

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I don't know anything about them but that is a cool project.

Good luck to your son and keep the pictures coming as it goes along.
 
Wonderful that you are raising a kid that will do that.
 
Great idea. First of all, and hopefully it gets completed, it will help build self confidence based on accomplishment. He will most likely learn some respect for property along the way.
Cool!
 
Thanks guys...right now we're working on a checklist of what needs to be done and a shopping list of what we need to buy.

Any thoughts on the old metal flake with the peeling gel coat? Can new gel coat be applied or are we better off sanding and re-painting?
 
Peeling clear coat over the metal flake is the way I see it. I say the clear coat has to go, and if the sanding is too aggressive, get ready for the whole enchilada. It all depends on the base coat IMHO, and how easy the clear comes off.
 
The clear cost is almost gone on the top, and peeling everywhere but the sides. I'm thinking we're better off just scraping what's left, sanding everything down, and re-painting. He'd love to save the original color, but I don't know how well new clear coat will adhere.
 
Before cashing in on the metalflake, consult with a person who does bass boat repairs.
 
If you can get the old clearcoat off without sanding into the metal flake itself, then it can be re-clearcoated and will look good. Generally speaking, the flake will be very close to the surface of the fiberglass, so when you start sanding you will get into the flake.
 
Great job Brian. I remember spending an adolescent summer building a sailing dinghy. Kept me out of trouble and that boat gave me many hours of joy and instruction. This is a great thing for both of you.
 
Be thankful it does not have an Evinrude with its famous electric shift.
 
So far he has the interior stripped out and most of the metal removed (rails, etc). He's figuring out what wood needs to be replaced...
 
Is your son going to take on the upholstery? Thats not easy, probably takes some years of experience to get it to look good along with a heavy duty sewing machine. A marine upholstery place might do it in the winter when business is slow.
 
It's going to be all DIY, with some help as needed from some of my more knowledgeable friends. He may rebuild the bench seats that were in there, or he may purchase and install some bucket seats. Hasn't decided yet...

The benches that were in it were home-made, and poorly built. we could build better if he decides to go that route. It would be pretty basic wood backing with foam and vinyl cover.
 
Where did you ever locate a real school?
That kind of education is priceless.

That 50 is one of the best engines made. It is Simple and a lot were produced.

Please keep us informed, and give him my best wishes.
 
So far he has stripped out the old interior and started on removing all of the accessories for safe storage. Next he needs to safely get the windshield off, I'm sure we'd never find a replacement...

School and soccer have started, so time will be a bit more limited until the season ends.

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Wezie, it's a small, private Christian school. We love it, and my sons are getting an excellent education.
 
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