Yesterday.......I couldn't even spell C-Brats and now.......

cemiii

Hi, Newbie/Newbrat here!

Well, I did it. Went out and bid against the entire Pacific NW, it seems, for an old 22' angler in N/Ca. Likely overpaid, but taking my chances. To pick up on Friday, unrun, untested. Suspect many surprises ahead both good and bad. I should probably name her "Wo is Me!"

I am absolutely freaked by how much these things seem to fetch in what is supposed to be hard times. I tracked several that I saw and felt were nearly 100% overpriced, only to see them disappear from the radar almost overnight. Final price was nearly exactly what the original purchaser paid new, not counting the add ons.

Pretty much original in every respect, sun faded and ox'd, but electronically above avg.. Thought originally I could buy, repower her, (etec or hf90) but kind of broke that budget for a year or two and may need to milk a bit more life from the original J70. Would like much to repower for use on Tahoe as well as for fuel efficiency.

Only obvious immediate major flaws are lengthwise crack on starboard top of (still sound) transom and cracked helm slider glass. No cracks or obvious major repairs I could see, not even where the cabin meets the hull. Can you still get glass from the Co. or do i just go to a good glass shop? Any recommendation for the transom repair other than pouring in chop fiber and resin and then capping with matt/resin? Maybe "Restore It" first?

Any other ideas of what I should be looking for in shakedown? I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions for the group soon. Have owned many boats including "The Last One III" (but that was many, many boats ago). Hope this one sticks a while and grows on me much like they seem to have on so many of you.

Thanks, Chris M.

Pat Anderson · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:43 pm Post subject:

Welcome aboard, Chris! Our resident expert on glass repairs is Bob Austin of Thataway. Either do it yourself (I wouldn't) or go to a local glass shop. The factory is apparently out of the glass repair business - or any repairs for that matter. Probably more convenient to have done in California than Washington anyway - it is not a warranty item, that's for sure! If your schedule allows, think about making one of the CBGTs (C-Brat Get Togethers) - they are a lot of fun! I think a fair number of folks from California will be making it to Lake Powell in September, will be a great one!

dotnmarty · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:27 pm Post subject:

"The Last One III" !! That's the best name yet. Sure beats "Cognative Dissonance I". Welcome aboard.

thataway · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:02 pm Post subject:

Chris,
Welcome Aboard--great boat you bought-- You will use it and sell it for what you paid for it. Not many boats you can do that with! Plus you have a really solid boat.

There are others who also have a goodly amount of glass repair experience. First I would suggest posting a photo of the crack on your Album (which the moderators will supply). Most likely, it does not go down to the transom core. You do want to repair it. I would "V" out the crack, with a Dremel tool. Keep following the crack until it dissapears. Assuming it is superficial, you probably can lay in a few strands of glass "threads" --pulled form cloth. Then gel coat the surface. I prefer to do repairs of this nature, using epoxy, because the secondary bonding capability of epoxy is better than polyester resin. The gel coat does not adhere as well to epoxy as to polyester. There are also some binders which will allow better adherance to the gel coat. After gel coating, then sand out the surface, with progressively finer paper to 1200 and then polish out with a rubbing compound; finish with 3M Finesse-it. Then good wax. Same with the colored gel coat--most likely a good rubbing compund, Finesse-it, and wax. It is amazing how well this gel coat will come back.

If the crack goes to the plywood transom core then actions will have to be different---but I think this is unlikelly.

starcrafttom · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:37 pm Post subject:

cemmi, What part of California are you from. you mentioned Lake tahoe. We used to live near there.

rip@chugach.net · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:42 am Post subject:

Sea Wolf · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:39 am Post subject:

cemiii (Chris)-

The slider glass can be replaced by any good glass shop.

Remove the inside of the window frame, and it can be slipped out. Leave the outside frame intact, it's calked/sealed to the fiberglass of the boat. Take the old glass to the shop as a template. Mine cost about $45 to replace in '98.

Lubricate the felt with Liquid Rollers, and do so on all the rest of the windows. (See the Sticky Windows and a Good Deal thread).

Is the window tinted? Matching the tint can also be done by the glass shop.

That ol' '87 Angler is a bulletproof boat!

Welcome Aboard!

Joe. Teeth

cemiii · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:39 pm Post subject:

Thanks so much for all the tips (and the reassurance on my buyers remorse!!!). I am in Alamo, Ca. (30 miles +/- E of SF) close to the bay and delta, some great reservoirs and 4-5 hrs from tahoe, 1-2 more to trinity, all places i'd like to spend time). This one was only 10 miles away and though i'm retired, i'm glad it does not involve a Seattle type R/T.

On the remorse issue when I visited the boat there was a pair of Cannon Mag 10's in the cabin that I thought were included as the mount set ups were on the boat. That was part of my rationalization for getting to where I needed to be to win the bid. though my heart sank when the seller said later they were not included. But perhaps it was a blessing as "my mistake in not asking specifically" got me to where i needed to be anyway. Now I can use the rationalization the other way, on a new pair Scotties! Really, really nice seller and i'm sure there was never meant to be any miscommunication. Pick up is tomorrow am.

Things I love about the boat include the great freeboard (4yr old granddaughter who loves fishin'); windlass/auto davit (great for old decrepit guys); single axel disc brake trailer (great for guys surrounded by toll bridges); and a dinette (that will fit 2 fat guys comfortably, unlike some diner booths) who'da'thought?

Glad to be aboard, chris m

I'll get a photo of my crack (the boat's, that is) but i put a load of excess weight both up and down on the tilted main motor and there was no noticed deflection in the t.

oldgrowth · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:28 pm Post subject:

Chris M - welcome aboard.

Sounds like you got yourself a nice boat there. Next to going out in them, it is also fun working on them and making modifications and personalizing our boats. Sounds like you will be able to do both.
________
Dave

oldgrowth · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:33 pm Post subject:

[quote="rip@chugach.net"]

cemiii · Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:52 pm Post subject:

the window slider glass was only $27. taking off the inside frame on these old boats doesn't do any good as the rest of it is one solid piece. that is, it would need to come off to get the glass out.

You don't need to remove anything but you need to slide out the piece of plastic that the slider slides on. after 21 years of uv it is toast and i am going to have to fab a replacement from aluminum "L".

I have been repairing the transom crack. dremeled out, used 2 part slow cure epoxy first. rotary wire brushed the f/g to get a good bite and added 2 layers of resin and matt overlapping front and back by about 1&1/2". any ideas of how to get this looking better? just add gel paste and feather sand?

have yet to figure out how to add pix to the post.

thataway · Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:53 pm Post subject:

You need an album--then from the album (from moderator) you can go to the photo, click on "properties"--copy this to the clip board. Hit the "Img" then paste the link and hit Img astrek (I cannot get the astrek to come up).

You can do this with any other photo for which you have a web link.

Without seeing what you are doing it is difficult to know how this will blend in. I like to use half cabosil and half microlite for fairing. Good combination of strength and thickening and sandability. Then apply gel coat or paint... Generally the boats are finished with matching gelcoat back to the contour of the original boat.

ffheap · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:25 am Post subject:

Again,
Welcome aboard Cris,

I own a 1983 Angler. I love it. I have made many improvements including a new 75 HP 4 Stroke Yamaha, rebuilt transom, A Cockpit cover which gives me a 6' by 6' "living room", Storage areas on both sides of the motor well, A stern seat that is used as a great "napping area", Shelves under the table and to the right of the helm seat., a galley box behind the helm seat.

This years projects include shelves under the helm seat and ventilation in the cabin.

You have a great boat. Enjoy.

Fred