18.5 Double eagle rebuild

[Claunder]

Well I finally pulled the trigger. Picked up this 18.5 already 75% gutted sitting on a single axel trailer in really good shape. Hull itself is actually in really good shape as well. I will be giving hera full transom/stringer/floor replacement with an aluminum pod and outboard. Currently shopping around for used power, hoping for a 150hp 4stroke. Already have the pod build all lined up through a close friend. Hoping to have her on the water for late spring early summer. Stay tuned for updates along the way!

 

[kaelc]

Great size, hope you get a great 150hp for, that will be a good power to weight ratio.

 

[Claunder]

Coming along slowly but surely. Stringers cut back, wood removed from transom, transom ready for grinding. Got the barn set up with some extra lighting and laid a couple tarps down.

Wondering people’s opinion on removing the outer edge of flooring where it meets with the hull. Seems to be about a 3/4ish” think combination of glass and wood. Tried with the oscillator and didn’t make much headway. Not super keen on grinding all of it off either. Area is circled in green.


TIA

 

[Brando]

Angle grinder and 40grit disc not a fun part of the project but it will go faster than you think. There are some guards you can buy for the grinder that will allow you to connect your shop vac still gonna be a messy job unfortunately. If you don’t already have a full face mask/respirator now is the time to pick one up you’ll be happy to have it when you do the fiberglass layup as well. half mask is sufficient but the full face is nice and worth the extra money imo Tyvek suit also advised there’s a few itchy days in your future but looks like good progress so far.

 

[salmonkiller01]

Coming along slowly but surely. Stringers cut back, wood removed from transom, transom ready for grinding. Got the barn set up with some extra lighting and laid a couple tarps down.

Wondering people’s opinion on removing the outer edge of flooring where it meets with the hull. Seems to be about a 3/4ish” think combination of glass and wood. Tried with the oscillator and didn’t make much headway. Not super keen on grinding all of it off either. Area is circled in green.


View attachment 89001View attachment 89002View attachment 89003TIA

I used a zip disc for cutting off the thin strip then a flapper wheel to tidy up

 

[steeler]

Coming along slowly but surely. Stringers cut back, wood removed from transom, transom ready for grinding. Got the barn set up with some extra lighting and laid a couple tarps down.

Wondering people’s opinion on removing the outer edge of flooring where it meets with the hull. Seems to be about a 3/4ish” think combination of glass and wood. Tried with the oscillator and didn’t make much headway. Not super keen on grinding all of it off either. Area is circled in green.


View attachment 89001View attachment 89002View attachment 89003TIA

oscillating saw with a good quality grout diamond grit blade doesn't get dull and doesn't throw the dust everywhere like a grinder its slower but saves time not making a huge mess everywhere a sawzall will also work with less mess than a grinder or risk of gouging the hull. If you cut that part off after removing the stringers it makes it easier to get the blade under.

 

[Claunder]

Transom ground down. Template out of cardboard. First layer of 5/8” plywood relief cut, flood coated, and laminated with thickened poly. Nice to be putting new material into the boat opposed to taking rotten stuff out. Thanks for all the tips and advice so far from everyone!

 

[Oscar162]

Transom ground down. Template out of cardboard. First layer of 5/8” plywood relief cut, flood coated, and laminated with thickened poly. Nice to be putting new material into the boat opposed to taking rotten stuff out. Thanks for all the tips and advice so far from everyone!

Transom ground down. Template out of cardboard. First layer of 5/8” plywood relief cut, flood coated, and laminated with thickened poly. Nice to be putting new material into the boat opposed to taking rotten stuff out. Thanks for all the tips and advice so far from everyone!


View attachment 89308View attachment 89309View attachment 89310View attachment 89311View attachment 89312View attachment 89313View attachment 89314

Transom ground down. Template out of cardboard. First layer of 5/8” plywood relief cut, flood coated, and laminated with thickened poly. Nice to be putting new material into the boat opposed to taking rotten stuff out. Thanks for all the tips and advice so far from everyone!


View attachment 89308View attachment 89309View attachment 89310View attachment 89311View attachment 89312View attachment 89313View attachment 89314

Welcome to the itchy-butt DE novice boat building club! Looking good!

 

[Claunder]

3rd and final layer of 5/8” laminated, filleted, and tabbed in with 3 layers of 1708. Transom is almost done!

 

[Claunder]

Update on the 185 after an extremely slow March and April. Super busy with work and life finally able to get back on the project more frequently.

Did another huge grind to remove the secondary stringers and prep for decking. Got the new secondary’s cut, bedded in and tabbed with a few layers of 1708. Also sourced a 2004 130hp Honda for main power and a 2006 9.9hp Yamaha kicker.

Things are finally coming together and hopefully be splashing this thing sometime in early July!

 

[Claunder]

Update on the 185! Things coming along slowly but surely. Bulkheads glassed in. In-floor storage glassed in with gutter system. Floor is all glassed in. Transom faired and gel coated inside and out. Seat boxes mocked up and tabbed in. Super excited to get the pod mounted last night! Work and trying to enjoy the summer have slowed things down a fair bit. Looks like we’re gonna miss the summer season but we’ll keep pushing and shoot for the fall!

 

[Bifmalibu]

Nice job! Where are you going to fish this boat?

 

[Claunder]

Nice job! Where are you going to fish this boat?

Thanks! This boat will mainly get fished out of Cheanuh Marina in east Sooke. Maybe do a couple trips elsewhere each year

 

[RuhtraSamoht]

Hows the restoration coming along?

 

[Claunder]

Update on the 185! Work, babies and puppies have been taking the priority as of late, but we have managed to make a little progress.



- Floor faired and gelcoated

- Seat boxes faired and glecoated

- x4 Seats with swivel bases mounted

- 130HP Honda main mounted

- 9.9HP Yamaha kicker mounted

- New cable steering and helm installed

- Kicker tie bar installed

-Outboard rigging ran, dressed, and forward controls mounted

- Custom aluminum ignition and gauge cluster fabbed and installed

- Batteries mounted

- Switch panel mounted

- Battery selector switch mounted

- Main battery cables and distribution block installed

-Adjusted the trailer tongue and winch post. This allowed the boat to move almost two feet forward on the trailer for better tongue weight



Still lots of little things to do! Hopefully be able to work on this baby a little more consistently moving forward and have her somewhat ready for the spring!

 

[Claunder]

Update on the 185!

- Fuel system complete for now with 80L aluminum tank temporarily mounted in the bow
- Bilge pump plumbed and wired
- Lowrance HDS 7 wired and 3-1 transducer mounted with no screws into new transom
- VHF mounted and wired to old antenna
- Trailer rear rollers converted to bunks
- Trailer lights re-wired
- 9.9 Yamaha water pump/impeller service

After 13 months of hard work, we went out for her inaugural first ever sea trial today!

Was really unsure how she would sit at rest and also what kind of behaviour we would get trying to plane. Overall very pleased with both. Maybe a tad stern heavy but not a big deal IMO. Will have to play around with trim, motor height and prop but the 130hp Honda pushed 36mph @ 3900rpm today which seemed quite good. That was with 3/4 tank of fuel and two guys.

Still lots to do but overall very happy with where she’s at especially with the season right around the corner.

 

[salmonkiller01]

Looks nice. Can you move you batteries forward? Doesn’t look stern heavy. More bow light if that makes sense.

 

[Squire]

Looks great; might even be more bow light than stern heavy?

 

[Claunder]

Looks nice. Can you move you batteries forward? Doesn’t look stern heavy. More bow light if that makes sense.

Thanks man! The batteries are currently mounted in the seat boxes as far forward as they can be in there. Also the 80L tank is currently mounted in the bow.

I’ll have to sleep on it some more lol.. Currently pretty happy with how it sits and how it performed!

 

[Claunder]

Looks great; might even be more bow light than stern heavy?

Yeah you and salmonkiller might be on to something lol…

I’ll sleep on it a few nights and see if that changes my mind