February 18th, 2011 - Work on the Floor

Tonight I added plywood reinforcement to the keel stringer. I cut them to size and Gorilla glued them to the stringer. Then I clamped them in place and screwed through the two sides to really squeeze them together. This afternoon I cut floor pieces to fit and installed them and fastened them down tonight as well. Glassing is the next step on the floor. Then I ran some wiring for my continuous power from the back of the boat to the front as well as wired the bilge pump.

Front section of stringer

Back section of stringer

Back section of stringer with the rear floor in place

Bilge pump

Full floor view

February 18th, 2011 - Fact finding mission to the '76 GT-150

I went back up to Wisconsin to see how much work it will be to get the '76 GT-150 home and to see what I could find in the boat, now that most of the snow was gone. As you can see, it is quite a mess. The top is really bad with moss growing all over. I threw out alot of stuff from the inside and found plants have taken root inside. Not bad, but still! Some things were still frozen down, but I was able to clean out quite a bit. The trailer is in the ground up to the axle so that is going to be quite a bit of work getting that out, not to mention that it was parked with the tongue towards the woods.The tires are shot so I will have to get some new ones to get it on the road. It should take a full day to get this road ready.

Full boat view

Top and side of the hull

Left side hub without wheel

Right side hub with wheel

 

Top of the Bow

February 15th, 2011 - Cleaning up Fiberglass and Master Power Cut-off

Today, I cleaned up the areas where the flooring material meets the hull on the sides of the boat. My neighbor loaned me a really slick tool. When you turn it on, it vibrates and cuts through the fiberglass like butter. I also installed a master power cut-off in the rear of the boat for a little added safety and security.

 Nice, clean edges

 Battery and rear of the boat

 Closer view

 REALLY cool Tool

 Battery cut-off Switch with Key

Battery cut-off Switch covered

Battery cut-off Switch Open

February 12, 2011 - More of the Floor

I removed a bit more of the flooring today and decided that I am not going to take the boat apart (yet). I am going to completely remove the flooring back of the ski locker and replace that with marine plywood, beef up the stringers including the back area so I can attach a ski tow pole in the future and replace the cross members. I will fiberglass all of it and add new foam under the floor to replace the used and sorry pieces that I removed.

 View from the front

 View from the back

 Front cross member and some foam

Old foam from under the floor

February 10, 2011 - Another GT-150?

Call me crazy but I found another GT-150. This one is a 1976 model, buried in the snow, last registered in 1997. I trudged through the 2 foot deep snow to get back to the boat to check it out. It comes with a 65HP Mercury and a Calkins trailer. That was the selling point for me. In Illinois, it is very difficult to register a trailer if you don't have a manufacturer's serial number and bill of sale. I have both of those now. I have to wait for the snow to melt before I can bring this home. I am not sure if I will take this apart and sell off the parts or try to sell it as is. Any takers?

 

 My first view

 Serial number on the hull

 After a little digging out

Here is the motor. I hope the cowl is in the boat somewhere

 The dash and wheel. The motor controls are there as well.

 The serial number and manufacturer - yay!

February 9, 2011 - Wiring and Floor

It is now time to try to figure out the wiring. There was quite a mess back by the battery and the wires and control cables were laying inside the boat in the passenger compartment. I was able to fit all of the cables and wires that had to go from the front to the back up in the side of the hull, out of the way. The wiring under the dash was also taken apart so that it can be cleaned up and all the pigtails and splices removed. After I had all of that out of the way, I dug into the floor. The wood was fairly rotten and I was able to pull up the plywood in chunks and pieces. I found a few mouse nests under there as well. The stringers and ribs look to be in good shape though.

 Mess of wires in the back

 Pigtails, splices and switches under dash

 Cleaned up wiring, just the positive and negative cables

 Part of floor removed

 Floor

These are the gauges that are installed

February 8th, 2011 - Carpet and Seat Removal

It was time to rip out the old carpet to see what was underneath. After removing the seats, the seat bases were removed. It looked like one of the screws was close to the hull and not in the plywood floor area. Sure enough, the seat base was screwed to the hull! Guess we'll have to fix that. After alot of vacuuming, I could finally see the wood floor. It seemed a little soft, but I will tackle that later. I was also able to see what the transom area looked like from the inside. I think it has been beefed up pretty well. Bigger motor maybe???

Hole in hull from seat screw

Hole in hull from seat screw

Battery area

 Floor without Carpet

 Control Area

 Wiring and Control cables along starboard side

 Steel plates in the transom

Mess of wires around battery compartment

February 4th, 2011 - A little clean up

After a little clean up, I am figuring out what I bought. The Chrysler motor with power trim and tilt (it works) is mounted on a very sturdy beefed up transom. The clearcoat is faded and there are a few cracks here and there, but the hull seems very solid. The seats will need to be replaced, along with the carpet, but the floor seems pretty solid. We'll see when the carpet gets ripped out. It also came with two fuel tanks, an anchor and life jackets. There is a full compliment of gauges, except a trim indicator, conditions to be determined. Some of the trim is faded and in need of minor repair, but it all seems to be there with the exception of the round Glastron emblem on top of the bow.

 Sitting in garage

 Port side trim

 1979 85HP Chrysler Model 859H9B Serial #2452

  Power trim and tilt, beefed up transom

 Dash board

 Front view

Clean motor

February 3rd, 2011 - I picked it up.

I drove the 200 miles to Nekoosa and picked up my new boat today. It's a 1979 Glastron GT-150 with an 85HP Chrysler. This is the day after 20 inches of snow fell with blizzard conditions, then a -10 degree night. People seeing me drive by must have thought I was crazy. Anyway, it trailered home very well.

Just out of the shed

 Hooked up and getting ready to go

January 2011 - I found a new boat

I have been looking for a Glastron GT-150 for a while. It is a cool looking boat and I was wanting something faster that our red Glass Magic. I finally found one in Nekoosa, WI. These are the pictures that I saw on the internet site for the Classic Glastron Owners of Minnesota and Western Wisconsin.

This is the seller's picture taken last summer

Interior

Motor