[204Angler]

Well. I have done a few transoms, decks, wiring minor motor work to include lower ends etc... HOWEVER, I MUST say the MOST frustrating, time-consuming-for-what-it-was work I've ever done was R&R a fuel filler neck on my old Wellcraft 250 Sportsman. The thing was 70 inches long and went through permanently inaccessible areas of the boat beneath deck between stringers and bulkheads....sheesh.
I finally got it. I HAD to do it because the previous owner put a 1" O.D diameter water line THROUGH the 1.5" I.D coast guard rated fuel neck that had dry rotted, gotten stiff and failed I guess. Either way, it needed to be done and thank goodness it is done.
So, I know there are a couple of you that build boats and have your own list and what about the do-it-yourselfers like me?

 

[sundrop]

bilge pump in my Seapro was a $^%@, working through a little access port, only one hand would fit in so you couldn't support anything. Running the wiring from the rear to the front for the trolling motor was a bear too even with a wire snake.

 

[Drum Runner]

Well. I have done a few transoms, decks, wiring minor motor work to include lower ends etc... HOWEVER, I MUST say the MOST frustrating, time-consuming-for-what-it-was work I've ever done was R&R a fuel filler neck on my old Wellcraft 250 Sportsman. The thing was 70 inches long and went through permanently inaccessible areas of the boat beneath deck between stringers and bulkheads....sheesh.
I finally got it. I HAD to do it because the previous owner put a 1" O.D diameter water line THROUGH the 1.5" I.D coast guard rated fuel neck that had dry rotted, gotten stiff and failed I guess. Either way, it needed to be done and thank goodness it is done.
So, I know there are a couple of you that build boats and have your own list and what about the do-it-yourselfers like me?

It has to be repairing bottom cracks. Repairing the crack is simple and cheap. Getting to the crack is the expensive and time consuming part. Usually winds up being dismantling the boat. If it's a bass boat, engine removal, top cap removal, and patch. If I have to go through all that I'm selling a complete new sole and foam job or I refuse the job. BECAUSE when he notices a soft spot in his sole 5 years later or waterlogged foam, I'll get badmouthed. Forget the fact that the sole was installed sub standard at the factory and he's stored it outside in the weather. So a 30 dollar patch turns into 2500 dollars. Take it or we're both wasting our time.

I would like to add though that building your own boat ends the frustrating moments trying to fish fuel lines, wires and pump pipe. You'll put enough PVC pipe below the sole to plumb a small house. You'll be dreaming up what ifs as an excuse to add another pipe.

 

[Brenardo]

By far the worst is electrical. Specifically the tach on my boat. I have decided not to even think about it. It causes me to loose sleep and waste relaxation time!

 

[204Angler]

Yeah when I build my body I'll definitely run PVC for conduit. Make it easier to fish wires, plumbing and the like. Great idea.
Do allot of bottom cracks go all the way through??

would like to add though that building your own boat ends the frustrating moments trying to fish fuel lines, wires and pump pipe. You'll put enough PVC pipe below the sole to plumb a small house. You'll be dreaming up what ifs as an excuse to add another pipe

 

[204Angler]

By far the worst is electrical. Specifically the tach on my boat. I have decided not to even think about it. It causes me to loose sleep and waste relaxation time!

How did you wire your tach? I still need to do that

 

[Brenardo]

**** don't ask me. Mine still ain't working right.

It is a 01 Yammy and the tach signal comes from a wonderful unexplainable depression filled place, that not even the Yamaha techs that I have talked to can explain.

Most engines you can spice a wire from the rectifier and find a good ground and 12 volt voltage source to power the light in the tach.


Though Girkman was telling me something about under the flywheel.

 

[Drum Runner]

Yeah when I build my body I'll definitely run PVC for conduit. Make it easier to fish wires, plumbing and the like. Great idea.
Do allot of bottom cracks go all the way through??

Most I've seen don't but it depends on the angle of the hit, the object, and how hard it's hit.
And a bottom crack can be deceiving. I've seen cracks that only leaked sitting still and I've seen cracks that only leaked under power. Fixed a 3 foot long keel crack on a Ranger. Hit one of those logs that suspend in the water column at wide open throttle. A bouncing betty. Up one day and down the next. That was a major repair. Had he had insurance I have no doubt it would have been totaled.

You have to patch both inside and out. The bottom of a planing hull at times has alot of forces exerted on it. From the engine torgue to water pressure. You can't put enough patch on the outside to restore the original integrity and still blend it in to the hull. Pretty much you grind the crack area out and start with a patch that covers and overlaps the damage. You keep adding patches that get progressively larger and larger covering more area. Epoxy on the inside repair, polyester on the outside repair.

 

[Fishscalz]

Removing and replacing a motor deep in the bowels of a sailboat, that had been salvaged from sinking at the dock......and put on the hard for 2 years to dry out. I ran out of words and made some up words during that experience....

The boat is still going strong, this was done in 1994.

Fishscalz

 

[Drum Runner]

I'm a word inventor too. Fortunately the beer probably has a bearing in me not remembering many of them.

 

[drumfisher]

Was mounting a trolling motor and I had to crawl in one of the front compartments and reach as hard as I could to put a washer and nut on two of the bolts that held the trolling motor. It took awhile but I finally got it done. Had little red dots on me from the fiberglass. It was so tight that I couldn't flip on my other side. A claustrophobic would've crapped them self.

 

[204Angler]

**** don't ask me. Mine still ain't working right.

It is a 01 Yammy and the tach signal comes from a wonderful unexplainable depression filled place, that not even the Yamaha techs that I have talked to can explain.

Most engines you can spice a wire from the rectifier and find a good ground and 12 volt voltage source to power the light in the tach.


Though Girkman was telling me something about under the flywheel.

Ha ha ha ha...that's funny right there

 

[204Angler]

Was mounting a trolling motor and I had to crawl in one of the front compartments and reach as hard as I could to put a washer and nut on two of the bolts that held the trolling motor. It took awhile but I finally got it done. Had little red dots on me from the fiberglass. It was so tight that I couldn't flip on my other side. A claustrophobic would've crapped them self.

That's funny because I had the same experience installing one on an old hydrasports bass boat. No room for me under deck to I cut an access hole in the deck so I could reach those stupid bolts to put the washers and nuts on. Jeez....Been easier to pull the cap off the hull!!

 

[204Angler]

bilge pump in my Seapro was a $^%@, working through a little access port, only one hand would fit in so you couldn't support anything. Running the wiring from the rear to the front for the trolling motor was a bear too even with a wire snake.

Dangit Drop...you just reminded me I installed a brand new engine in my ski boat and forgot to put a bilge pump in there....UGH! May have to cut a hole in the bottom of the hull and have DR show me how to fix it

 

[Drum Runner]

I am not squeamish in the least bit about cutting a hole in the bottom of a boat. Especially one that aint mine

 

[Drum Runner]

I'm thinking seriously about building a sit on yak plan I have. I'll have to cut a massive hole in the bottom of it to put a MIRAGE DRIVE in it.

 

[Drum Runner]

There is a T shaped expansion nut for mounting them motors unless you just didn't want to use them for some reason.

 

[jcole]

Without a doubt. Leaks! I have fought leaks on my boat since I bought it. Seal everything you can possibly think of and still get leaks. The best part about it. It might be dry one time out. The next time there will be so much water coming out you wonder how it didn't sink.

I think removing the shift shaft coupler on my 01 Johnson v4 comes a close second. Talked to several people before dropping the lower unit for tips and nothing worked. I finally got the right combo of extentions and swivels to get the bolt out but knew I would never be able to get it back in. That took almost 2 hours. Replacing the water pump took all of 20 minutes. After taking a good long look at it I figured out that all I had to do was remove the bolts holding the vro pump in. Pulled it back and put the bolt straight in.

 

[Girkman]

By far the worst is electrical. Specifically the tach on my boat. I have decided not to even think about it. It causes me to loose sleep and waste relaxation time!

Keep telling you to bring it by maybe one of these days

 

[Brenardo]

Keep telling you to bring it by maybe one of these days

I know man. I know...