Posted: 06/27/2009 at 8:12am | IP Logged

I've got the 89 MonArk ready for its redo.  I've been reading as much of the forum that I can to try and avoid repeat questions but I'll pose some here.

Here's some pics of my 'before' stage.  The furniture's actually well-built and needs recovering, but I don't like that they're wooden framed and there's no true dry storage.  Somebody tell me if I'm crazy.

I'm going to start taking everything off to get to the deck.  Once I get to the plywood, I'll have to make the determination as to replace/reuse.  You can see that the front of the deck has taken some abuse.  Looking at the wood from this picture, would this type of surface be re-usable if it were to look this way under the rest of the carpet?

From there, I need to take off the aluminum trim.  Note that I'm missing a corner as well as a serious rub-through on the side.  Will the universal corner from PS fit?  What would you suggest to replace the trim?  I don't want to 'rig' a fix, but may have to.  Any advice would be great.

Last question for today:  I'm hoping to find some furniture that has a Live Well/Aerator in the storage area.  Are those available at PS?  If not, are there some simple remedies to add one?

Looking forward to some great conversation!

***moved pictures from your last post to put here, since its the beginning of the of the old look prior to teardown to the new look***

Posted: 06/27/2009 at 9:06am | IP Logged

First, good job on the posting of pics, size, spacing, and placing of text between pics (must have read the instructions carefully ) I also took the liberty of placing info in your signature line of what you've mentioned so far about your boat. PontoonStuff doesn't have any furniture with a livewell in it. However, they do have a Wise seat that has a cooler in it which can be adapted for that with a basspirator kit like this or this, this or any of the kits from EZACDC found here and that's just a small sampling. As to your floor, if your boat is an 89 and you're intending on keeping it a long time, then consider a redeck kit. From what I can see of the floor, you've already got cracks, probably waterlogged but get the carpet off and look closely, walk and bounce on it to detect soft spots, etc. Somebody had posted where you can get corner caps. Those sold by PontoonStuff are radius type, which if you read their info, you can adapt to your boat by cutting down that corner some. While you hav those rub rails off, bend/beat them back into shape. I haven't exactly seen rub rails like those that have a lip about an inch down. Mine are more designed to hold on top and barely catch the supports at the bottom (about 3 inches thereabouts).  Keep in mind that when manufacturers say life time warranty on floors (marine ply) to them that means 10yrs give or take (found that out from SmokerCraft).   Have you considered making your own livewell and put a cushion on the lid? That way it could be flexible on where you put. Livewells with circular or curved walls will make your bait last longer if you're wanting a baitwell) like this one. You can also just get baitwell/livewell liners to put inside the seat. But to me, that would be a pain to lift the seat cushion, then open up the bait/livewell and do your thing. Me, I'd put in the baitwell/livewell and build an enclosure around it (shade them from the sun). But everyone has their methods on what they would do.

So what else is on your agenda for this vessel?

Posted: 06/27/2009 at 9:30am | IP Logged

Thanks Charles.  Regarding the decking, I won't know until I get into it but the floor's definitely not soft or bouncy anywhere.  An inspection from underneath shows the underside to be in exceptional shape.  I'll take it as it comes.

My plans are to rebuild.  Once I determine the deck situation, I'll order PS carpet kit and get it back together.  I've got some bent railing that I'll straighten before I take it off for leverage sake.

I've seen different posts regarding using the vinyl to replace the aluminum attached to the railing.  Is it advisable to re-paint my existing aluminum and re-use it?  If not, the vinyl comes in 24 in. widths.  Is that the standard distance between the horizontal members on the railing?  When I install the railing over the new carpet, do I need the 'risers' mentioned in some of the re-deck kits?

From there, I'll add all new furniture and two seats out front to fish from.  Nice seat-mounted lighting and a stereo will also be a must.  How should I consider their installation(s) prior to installing the furniture?

I also plan on cleaning the toons.  Is that best done at the beginning of the rebuild?

I also plan on getting a double length bimini top so that most of the boat is actually shaded.  That'll keep the family happier in this 102 degree Dallas heat.  I'll eventually upgrade the outboard to a newer 90 hp.

When I get going, I'll post progress pics in the appropriate section.

***moved pics to beginning of your post/topic and moved to rebuild section***

Posted: 06/27/2009 at 10:12am | IP Logged

Well you've told me enough that this is going to be a rebuild, so its been renamed and moved to the rebuild section. Any questions you have regarding the rebuild phase, just ask here. As for polishing the toons, its MUCH easier if you've got everything stripped off, but if you don't take the floor off, then just wait till you're done with everything else as it will take LOTS of time to do. We've got sticky notes (just look around or somebody will post a link to it) on how to polish them and with what (me and scbadiver's recommendations and he's done it several times now). Nuvite (once you get those logs cleaned) will do the job. Try to avoid sanding unless you use very fine grit, you want to avoid swirl marks as that'll make you job of polishing even harder, but it can be done.  As for spacers, its a MUST if you want that floor not to ROT. If you find rot, you'll most likely find it wherever those wooden seat bases are and where the fence was bolted down without the risers (all along there). If you didn't have risers, then somebody at some time took them out for some reason. Most likely when they put that carpet down that you're taking up now. 

I'm going to let others chime in here, as I'm no expert and it'll give some the other members a chance to edge in here so I can quit rambling on  

Posted: 06/27/2009 at 11:32pm | IP Logged

Chris,

I think you may be able to find a livewell/seat combo somewhere. Just remember you will be tied to that product for the rest of your seats if you want the color to match. I have a seat that has an ice chest below it that could be used as a livewell with a portable aerator. Just for information I made a livewell for my toon using one of the plastic base seats. It was given to me so I didn't have much to lose but it turned out good. I used NP1 and put around the holes I drilled for the fill and both drain tubes. Mine has worked good so far and we use it for bait and fish.

Posted: 07/03/2009 at 9:20am | IP Logged

Wish me luck!  I'm heading to the pasture at the farm to start the tear down.  Any words of advice?  What tools do I need the most?  Are the rails usually screwed down or bolt/nut?

I'm hopeful I can get everything off today but I foresee the helm as being an issue for me to tackle alone.

Posted: 07/03/2009 at 8:42pm | IP Logged

Well, I spent 3 hours until I overheated and couldn't take it any more.  I still have the helm to get off.  That's where I could use some serious advice.  Should I plan on reusing my gauges?  If so, I need to go through and label each wire and take everything off that panel.  Also, how do I remove the throttle linkages and steering cable?  I knew I would hit a road bump when I got there but everything else went pretty smoothly.

I have a few stubborn bolts/nuts to get off but it all went fairly well.  I also tried to peel a bit of the carpet back and I think it's going to be a laborious nightmare so I'm likely to just re-deck.  Any idea what PS charges for freight to Dallas on the plywood?  I can get it local for about $90/sheet.

Also opened the toon plugs and it POURED out water in both for quite a while.  It's obvious I've got leaks.  I think it probably best to get the deck off and find the leaks at that point.

I know I've got a million more questions but cant' think of them right now for the life of me.

Posted: 07/03/2009 at 8:59pm | IP Logged

Great start Chris! If you look at the arrow in the pic below, you will see a pin that goes through the cable. Just remove that pin from both the throttle and shift cable ends and remove the cables. If no pin, it may be a small 'C' clip on the side that is removed. The steering cable will either have a bolt or a hole right where the cable goes into the helm/steering box. Either remove that bolt or push a pin into the hole and pull the cable out. Some have a pin attached already that can be used..

Oopps, forgot pic..

Posted: 07/03/2009 at 9:01pm | IP Logged

Rick, did you mean to attach a pic???

Hopefully I'm going to rehydrate and head out Sunday afternoon and get the rest of everything off.

Posted: 07/04/2009 at 9:06am | IP Logged

Charles, when I had removed those 5 bolts, I saw the cable around a pulley of sorts.  So you're saying to turn to the right?  Will the cable come all the way out by only doing that or is there something in the pulley mechanism that's keeping it from coming all the way out?

Another crazy question for you:  The underside of my deck looks stellar but the glue isn't easily coming off the top side.  Would turning it over be a bad thing to do?

Posted: 07/07/2009 at 8:30am | IP Logged

My dad called me last night and he'd gotten curious about the carpet and deck so he got up there and started trying to get carpet off.  He said it's coming off in the middle without trouble but it's getting hard on the edges.  My deck has no soft spots so I think I'm leaning toward reusing.  The very front part of the deck will probably need one new sheet.  I did notice that the decking is tongue and groove.  Is that normal??

If I can sneak out of here and get to it, I'll try and get the controls/steering disconnected so I can feed it through the hole in the deck.  Then I can really get after the carpet removal.  I'll likely take a belt sander and get the remaining adhesive off.

Next question:  Does the boat need to be off the trailer to truly inspect and find leaks in the logs?  I made a Schrader valve screw-in to pressurize the logs.  Dad worked for the telephone company so he's got a low pressure gauge from when they pomped nitrogen in the phone lines.  Ideally, I'd like to clean the logs first so I can find the holes easier.

One thing I forgot to do is measure everything before I took the rails so I could know what furniture layout and sizes I want.  How do you mark or denote where the rails install after you put the carpet and trim back on?

Posted: 07/08/2009 at 6:23pm | IP Logged

it's hard to say/... I would probably match the stripes or accent color in the seats before the base color of the seats... IMO...... I would do something in the grary or blue area... sahara with the cream seat.... might be too much.... but then... it might be ok..hard to say...

are the seats and carpet from PS????

yeah... you know I went and looked at the seats and the carpet from the site... would probably go with blue....A)  match the stripe in the seat B) hide stains and such better (IMO) C).... I think just looks better..... have you thought of ordering a sample of each clolor to be shipped with seats, and comparing from there????

Posted: 07/08/2009 at 7:49pm | IP Logged

Ouuu, hummm, not good. Well, get the decking off, clean up the toons as best as you can so when you test for leaks it'll show up. Even after initial repairs you might find more so don't stop testing and good luck. 

Posted: 07/12/2009 at 8:57am | IP Logged

I worked on removing the deck yesterday and boy was it hot!  Did all that work just to find out that my camera's battery was out.  You'll have to use your imagination as I upload these from my phone.

I got most of the wood off but need about another hour to get the rear and front pieces off.  Then I'll start getting the left over screws out of the cross members.  Since this is the lightest it's ever going to be, I've decided this will be the perfect time to really check the logs for leaks.  I'll clean them up really good then commence the leak search.

My plywood's coming in tomorrow and I'm ordering carpet and kit from PS tomorrow so maybe I can get going on it next weekend.

I've had an epiphany from looking at a lot of other pics.  Rather than try and mount my control box for the motor to the console, I'm thinking of placing it on a panel secured to the rails.  That will solve my issue of removing the linkages, etc. and also allow me to get the console up against the rails.

Here's a shot of my progress on the tear down.

Check out this little creature I found sitting on one of the crossmembers.  Anyone know what kind of frog this is?  He blended PERFECTLY with the aluminum.