Thread: 1996 Blazer VL100 Restoration to Crappie Chaser

Let me play the devils advocate here and ask a question...Mainly so I can thouraly understand this.You want the flanges flat. I get that part, and you want total drainage. I get that. Maybe I'm jumping ahead here, but in the pic, of what I think is the inside of the drain plug hole, your bottom edge is the edge of the radiused edge. tho make it a flush fit, you would need to work that area with a grinder to make it flat, yes??? or are you going to just resin that pipe/tube in for the drain plug so it's flush with the inside edge of the transome??? I never said I was the brightest lightbulb in the box, but I'm not burned out either...not yet anyway. You do AMAZING work, and this shows. Thank you ahead of time for the explaination. Eric.

Originally Posted by Jamesdean

Let me play the devils advocate here and ask a question...Mainly so I can thouraly understand this.You want the flanges flat. I get that part, and you want total drainage. I get that. Maybe I'm jumping ahead here, but in the pic, of what I think is the inside of the drain plug hole, your bottom edge is the edge of the radiused edge. tho make it a flush fit, you would need to work that area with a grinder to make it flat, yes??? or are you going to just resin that pipe/tube in for the drain plug so it's flush with the inside edge of the transome??? I never said I was the brightest lightbulb in the box, but I'm not burned out either...not yet anyway. You do AMAZING work, and this shows. Thank you ahead of time for the explaination. Eric.

That was done, hard to see because the Drain Plug itself has a second set of threads that is the Keeper or Retaining set (what is exposed in the picture inside the bilge) you can get a better idea of the length of the plug in the first photo. With the boat on the trailer and the plug out not a teaspoon of water remains in the bilge. The Drain Housing is very short, just a small lip to the inside. All composite there too, nothing to absorb water and rot.

Thank you for the explanation. So the plug is , I forget the name, but is a screw in type, similar to a inside pipe plug.

Originally Posted by Jamesdean

Thank you for the explanation. So the plug is , I forget the name, but is a screw in type, similar to a inside pipe plug.

Well it has a Acme Thread, like the thread you would see in a big Gate Valve, Sausage Stuffer, Metal Lathe, etc. Also it is captive so when you unscrew the drain plug to open it a second set of threads prevents it from just falling out. You must start the second set of threads then unscrew them to completely remove the plug.

Originally Posted by rojoguio

To start out with, I hate a boat that the drain plug is located leaving a lip in the bilge preventing complete drainage. Here I use a 12in long 1/8in drill bit to position the drain fixture location. Then I up-size the hole to 1/4in, the size of my hole saw fixture pilot hole. Maintaining the 90 degree angle to transom I saw out the hole perfectly positioning the location for complete bilge drainage. While fitting the drain fixture shoulder to the transom I took a couple of pictures. The first shows the fixture crooked, not flush on the transom. The second shows the fit corrected for a flush fit. My photography lacks a bit but if you look closely you see in the second picture the flange sits flush.



So my other Blazer the livewell drain hose is always in the way so I replace the drain fitting on this livewell with a 90 degree fitting and install the Overboard drain in the pre-planned location in the transom. Also I hate when you can't see a bilge pump discharge. Again, my other boat it is underwater when you lean over to see if anything is pumping out. I move the discharge to the cap with a slight upward discharge angle. This will be much easier to see.




I mounted the Bilge Pump, Livewell Pump and Float Switch too. Here I need to make a point. You can Plan, Plan, & Plan, but still not visualize everything. I modified the transom to provide the 2 flat areas on each side of the Splashwell to make access to the Livewell pump easier as I get older and to have a good spot for the Overboard discharge. What I didn't foresee was the Livewell pump cartridge replacement by lifting the cartridge up was going to be impossible. No clearance for that under the Splashwell. So I ordered a different pump the the cartridge and discharge are in the right direction for easy servicing later.

Nice work! Way above my head…I was challenged by a leaky valve and flapper on the toilet this past weekend!

Continuing my last post I am providing a picture of a holesaw to fitting comparison for DIY reference material. The saw teeth should not pass over the fitting threads. Holesaws are designed to cut a little larger hole than the saw itself so if you get any larger saw a problem down the road with leaks may "Spring" up.



No reason to quit so I rough in wired the boat too. I have done this so long I see all the necessary circuits in my head. All boat wiring color codes were maintained. I did pull in a Garmin NEMA 2000 cable to the bow from the console area for future expansion plans to my electronics. A few pictures are included.

Concerns were connecting in the cobwebs of my brain that the added flotation may fluff off some or absorb water so I hit it with 2 coats of Upol Raptor Black bed liner coating. The aft and forward hatches expose the flotation to possible damage too. So much effort and work has gone into this project I want it to float high when swamped, really no calculation of displacement with the original quantity of flotation came out acceptable to me. I can calculate Stability in my sleep. Righting Moments, Free Surface Corrections, etc. I'm so good at it when I took my USCG exam for OIM I got a perfect score.



One other thing to mention here is the Cap didn't fit after the foam application. A bit of foam was sanded then the skin sealed back with epoxy before Raptor coating.

I just had a chuckle….too much foam and you’d have an airboat.

The one great thing is the ability to trim it to shape as needed. Following this each AM as I drink my first cup of coffee.