Thread: 1996 Blazer VL100 Restoration to Crappie Chaser

Just a quick post on how I rotate hulls & caps using 3 chain hoists. You need nylon straps if you do not want to scratch anything. I rig the front and back hoists either on center for hulls or through the hatch openings on caps. The example here is for flipping the cap. The center hoist is used to control the rotation, no physical lifting is done, the hoists do all the work. The nylon straps let you rotate the cap while keeping their grip as long as you cinch them up tight to begin with. I lift with all 3 to start, then lower the middle until the cap is hanging from the other 2 hoists. Then slack off the center hoist so you can move the chain to the other side of the cap then reconnect to strap. A towel is sometimes need on the chain until it clears the finish side of the cap. After it is flipped it hangs crooked so I lower the cap to the floor, re-rig the hoists using 2x4's on center with the strap eyes over the ends to give me a lifting point.

Very cool. And here I thought you had some super power !

Started installing hull hardware today. Been a bit under the weather so just now getting a little work done. Also have a 240LTS in for a bit of PM and Garmin / Fusion / Sirrus FM network problems. Anyway, I found years ago just guessing if my drill bit is straight & square didn't work too well. Always had problems installing hardware like Bow Eyes, Stern Eyes, thru-hull penetrations, etc. So I started using my drill press to drill a cheater fixture to help keep bit perfectly square and locate stuff in the same place. I test fit my hardware into the jig before drilling the boat. Here a piece of 100 year old Mahogany flooring is used to set height, angle, and keep holes perfect. You can see in the pictures how tight the hardware fits to mounting holes. By cutting the mounting angle in the jig I just flip it over to mount the eye on the opposite side.

Very smart to have a pattern. I do this as well for other projects.

We always see our own mistakes the most.........................we always figure out a better way to do a job after completion too.

Well talking about being nervous, cutting a hole in the side of your boat to install flush side running lites will make anyone nervous. Especially if no good pattern exists. Here are Donovan's Black over Stainless LED side marker Lites. They are good quality, have a great gasket, recessed lens making it harder for a stick-up to damage it, all around well designed. I really do not like the Lite Base where you stick your light in, the bases give problems and you are always carrying this loose light fixture around. On this particular boat once again space is a premium. With all the electronics & stuff that must be shoe-horned in a organized way, functional, accessible, useful, in such a small area removing the lite base is necessary. First things first, the "Pattern". I take my time when making these, getting it right is huge. So once I have a good fit I transfer the mounting holes first. I use the fixture itself to mark the location of the mounting holes on the outside of the hull, no guessing, know exactly where you are mounting the lite. I always want inside access if at all possible. Drill the mounting holes from the outside. Using screws and fender washers I mount the pattern to the inside of the hull using the holes I just made. Using a jumbo sharpie I color in well the entire area to be removed. A holesaw was then used to remove the bulk of the fiberglass in the shaded area. Afterwards I use a air die grinder affectionately named "Brutus". It has a 3/4in diameter carbide, single cut, bit that eats glass for breakfast. Working from the inside I open up the mounting hole carefully always removing material so the lite mounting holes are moving towards the holes drilled into the hull. Once I can just slide the lite in flush I stop fitting. When mounting the lite I marine silicone both sides of the gasket before screwing in place. Seal the back side of the lite too! Here I'm using 8/32 SS allen head screws with SS Loc-nuts. The pictures support the job.

Looking very good rojoguio. your attention to detail is awesome.

When adding the two boxes in the floor of the boat the dividers locations were transferred to the gunnels in such a way I could accurately layout their locations with the floor installed. The forward box is smaller and designed to hold 2 - PC925 Odyssey batteries for the trolling motor. The aft box will provide storage for the essentials I always have on board, tools, emergency gear, etc. Also it will store the extra tackle boxes for different species of fish. In the fall I can catch crappie, bass, flounder, spotted sea trout, and redfish all in the same 3-4 miles of river. The last few years all the freshwater has cut the salinity to the point the saltwater fish have been harder to catch limits of but still some days you just can't strike out, fish are everywhere you throw. I carry small tackle boxes for everything, besides crappie and need a place "out of the way" to store them.

Anyway, you can see in the pictures after fitting the cap to the new floor or deck I took the time to outline with a sharpie the position of the cap in relation to the floor. A second dotted line was traced of where the new console is located on the floor. Finally the dividers of the floor boxes was transferred to the floor. From here the exact location of the floor boxes are easily seen. The hatches for forward and aft compartments were laid out, the holes cut, and Brutus used to make a tight final fit of the hatch flanges. The original deck drain just drained into the center stringer if you remember from an earlier post. Very poor boat building. Anyway the new deck breaks to the center, draining the water right to the new cast SS 1-1/8in deck drain. I ordered Sierra's higher end wire reinforced, glycol resistant 1-1/4in hose to connect the floor drain to the bilge in the stern of the boat. This is necessary as I'm taking a page from Champion's boat building playbook. The Void under the livewell & fuel tank is getting Foam Filled for added flotation. Along with the two new side flotation additions planned on both gunnels I will be adding a additional 150-160 pounds of positive flotation to the stern. With the addition of the hydraulic jackplate (not on the USCG tested boat) and the engine weighs an extra 38 pounds (more than any 4 cylinder under 100HP in 1990's) , 8 inches further aft (additional lever factor), and finally assuming the boat the USCG tested had more flotation than the production boats I want to add a safety cushion. After talking to numerous insurance companies I won't be able to get any insurance worth the trouble to purchase for a 1995 boat. I have to try to keep it floating at all costs. It looks like I can add close to an additional 100 pounds of positive flotation in the bow too. Will cross that bridge later. The floor voids / storage will be waterproof too for some time. The new fuel tank is 3 gals less than the old one, gives a little more room the get to bilge pump.