1978 Avon Searider 5.4 Restoration.

A1an · 07 May 2012, 22:29

Il start from the beginning.... myself and a pal have a mutual interest in boats, engines and shiny things which has led to us doing up a couple of boats and outboards in order to stay away from wifes and the livingroom sofa.

We were recently offered an ageing Avon 5.4 and Mercury 80 that were both in need of a little TLC. Off to Bradford we go. After a quick change of trailer bearings and an evening at Wetherspoons we were heading back to Fort William the next morning with a project!

Here it is...

As you can see the transom is rotten!

The boat was a non starter unless we were satisfied we could get the old Mercury 80hp going, after a few parts, many tins of WD40 and some divine intervention it was a runner, here is the thread for the old Merc...

http://www.rib.net/forum/f36/1978-me...0-a-47513.html

So it was on to the boat. After some angle grinder work getting the transom front panel off, the rotten ply out and everything cleaned up...

TBC

A1an · 07 May 2012, 22:48

New transom has been made out of 2 sheets of 18mm marine ply. The remaining transom you see above has had a layer of CSM and polyester resin added to it to take up any uneveness and give the first sheet of ply something to bond to, the first sheet of ply was clamped in place and left to go off, the next day the face of it was resined to accept the second sheet, this sandwich was then clamped up...

Once the resin had set up overnight the final finish layer was added to the bare ply, its turned out fantastic....

Excess trimmed off and ready for sanding...

Its as solid as a rock, the original was two sheets of ply, one 18mm and one 12mm, our way has beefed it up a little and there is still a little more to do to strengthen it.

A1an · 07 May 2012, 23:07

Anyone know where I can buy some of the original Avon stickers?...

captnjack · 07 May 2012, 23:15

Impressive job with that transom replacement mate. Be sure those edges are well sealed for another 30years of life!

ribraff · 07 May 2012, 23:31

Nice job there... are you going to put the Stainless supports back in?

A1an · 07 May 2012, 23:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by ribraff

Nice job there... are you going to put the Stainless supports back in?

Yep, new polished stainless ones are made, we have stopped at this stage as I am going to get the polisher and compound on the transom to try and bring back the original colour so the less bolts sticking through it the better.

A1an · 07 May 2012, 23:39

The original plate on the transom says itl take 120hp...eeek!

Thats quite an engine for a relatively skinny transom.

captnjack · 07 May 2012, 23:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by A1an

The original plate on the transom says itl take 120hp...eeek!

Thats quite an engine for a relatively skinny transom.

A 1978 120hp is roughly a 90-100hp today (wild guess). They measured at the powerhead back then, not the propshaft like they do today.

A1an · 08 May 2012, 07:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by captnjack

A 1978 120hp is roughly a 90-100hp today (wild guess). They measured at the powerhead back then, not the propshaft like they do today.

Ahh I see, if that is the case then will the Merc 80 of the same year be the same ie measured at the powerhead?

matt h · 08 May 2012, 08:31

What a lovely project!! nice one, keept he pictures coming

A1an · 11 May 2012, 23:10

Small update, transom is almost finished, all sanded and sealed on top with a coat of resin, this will be capped with a stainless capping plate, tubes also re attatched...

The spray deck bit at the front has been taken off...

Look at the difference in colour, any ideas of how to try and blend the two colours together and get rid of glue residue?...

Need to try and clean this stuff off, tried TFR with a green scourer but its almost welded on, any tips?...

A1an · 11 May 2012, 23:13

Scrubbed within an inch of its life with a strong mix of TFR...

Anyone recognise this reg mark?...

ragbar · 11 May 2012, 23:50

Do the old toobs hold the air ? If so, pretty amazing !

Congratulations to the professional work with the transom.

Greetz

Eric

chewy · 11 May 2012, 23:51

Very nice!

Landlockedpirate · 11 May 2012, 23:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by A1an

Anyone recognise this reg mark?...

Based on where you bought the boat, its likely to be the West Riding Sailing Club based on Wintersett Resevoir near Wakefield. I only sailed there once during the 80's but i'm sure they had searider safety boats (Mind you all sailing clubs had seariders during the 70's and 80's !)

1978SeaRider · 15 May 2012, 19:48

gotta love 1978 Seariders

T 15 · 15 May 2012, 22:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by A1an

Ahh I see, if that is the case then will the Merc 80 of the same year be the same ie measured at the powerhead?

yes your Merc 80 is measured at the flywheel, in 1984 the Merc 80hp became a Merc 75hp ( measured at prop )

the decals on your engine look like 1979 decals

A1an · 17 May 2012, 22:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by T 15

yes your Merc 80 is measured at the flywheel, in 1984 the Merc 80hp became a Merc 75hp ( measured at prop )

the decals on your engine look like 1979 decals

My mistake, it is a 79.

Its a crap day here today so I spent some time in the workshop.

A quick mock up to check dimensions, might run a patent on the idea!!...

Plan finalised and jigsaw dug out...

The middle panel will house the tacho, speedo, battery voltage and water pressure. The angle the panel is helps the gauges to be readable whether you are sitting or standing.

A1an · 23 May 2012, 17:08

New stays made up and test fitted...

Tube trims glued back into place, the 2 pack Hypalon glue is REALLY strong!..

Console glassed up, this will have the sides cut out of it so it becomes more of a "wash through" console instead of being water tight, itl take a couple of Barrus tanks with a few inches to spare...

Its going to get a final cloth and a couple of resin coats after we have cut out the sides, this be sanded then flow coated.

A1an · 31 May 2012, 20:38

A bit of a leap forward over the last couple of days.

Flange glassed in to the console for attatching it to the deck....

First coat on console before a mock up of instruments, control box and wheel, hatch also cut out....

Then DISASTER!! I was using the tractor to fill up our Biomass heating system and when reversing it back into the shed and lowering the bucket a hose blew and sprayed the still tacky console with hydraulic fluid!! Gutted!

On a brighter note (much brighter) we managed to get a coat of flowcoat on the deck and transom....

Most of the parts are here for putting it all back together, just waiting on a steering cable.

Updates when the console is in.