Hi everyone.
Well I'm now officially a RIB owner. Picked up my Tornado 4.5m yesterday. Not the neatest boat on the block but for what I paid for it it she'd certainly give me a foothold. Need to do a bit of work to both boat and trailer though.......
Well, what did you expect. It's not new......
Trailer needs new suspension units. What is currently on it is crap. Was going to buy a set off eBay for use with mini wheels (about £80). Also need to add a roller as its missing of the bottom. And I need to turn the side rollers through 180degrees as how they are now mean that the rib tubes are sitting on a roller.... Need to get the rollers on the rigid part. If that don't work then will replace with smaller set.
The RIB looks ok but does need work. The tubes supposedly stay up for about 3 days. This leads me onto my first question: how hard should the ribs be when blown up. Do they have a degree of softness/bounce in them. My rib has 3 chambers. Roughly how long should I be leaving the blower attached to each for correct filling. I know that's a how long is a piece of string question but don't want to have it run for 5 mins when it needs to be on for 15 if you get my drift.
I need to replace the valves on the tubes as one was deff letting air out when I removed the blower. How hard are these to replace. Do I need to replace the whole thing or just the insert part......
The underside looks a bit flaky. But think its just antifouling. What's under that looks ok ish. Do I need to remove the antifouling?
The engine is a 20hp mercury. But the throttle control cables (x2. Not sure if both throttle or what) are a bit on the short side and run over the deck. I wNt to replace them so that the follow the steering control around the deck.
The big engine question is...... What 2 stroke mix should I be using. I asked the guy who. Got it from and he said 100:1 but something in me says that's not right. What does everyone think.... 100:1 50:1 other mix ratio.......
Other bits on it just need tidying up. Need to sort out the centre driving position. Screen needs to come off and find a proper one for it and need to remove the grab handles n rod holders cos they look bloody horrible. Oh and the compass needs going as no liquid. Was just going to get a fish finder (lowrance) with a transom transponder for depth etc.
Oh. And I think this is PU material (prob got that wrong lol) I don't think it's hypalon as its too smooth.......
How easy is it to remove patches and re-apply them on these sorts of tubes? Is it an easy ish job or something that needs to go be professionally done?
Anyway. That's it for now. Will let you know how repairs go wheni start them (wife nagging to do stuff at home now eek......)
Cheers Gary
BLACK PIG
Piglet
Yankee 154
Depending on how much you've got in it, you "could" strip off the tubes, flip it on its back & fettle the hull, re-tube it & find a tidy 50-60hp engine. It depends on the condition of the hull/transom & how much you have already spent/want to spend. You could end up with a tidy little outfit & be a lot wiser at the end of the exercise.
White Noise
