Work has resumed!

After several months, work has finally resumed, and now I am working on the boat! No more trailer work for me! On to the fun stuff. You can see how happy Evie is about it! I spent all weekend removing decals and road tar from the Olive Pit. I also began adding a few more holes to the hull. The previous owner used screws in the floor that were too long and as a result caused stress marks and holes in the hull. They had to be drilled out. I also ground down the two foot long crack in the keel near the stern. I began on the hole in the keel at the bow, but didn't get very far once I tore up the cheap stick on sanding disk fitted to my drill. Well there is always next weekend. There is always another weekend

Before and After

Just a fun comparison.

The Trailer is Finished!

Finally the trailer is finished! I can't begin to express how happy I am to get the trailer into the back yard and the boat into the garage! Here are a few celebratory pictures!

Fall color from the drive thru line.

Not technically boat repair, but we had to take a lunch some tine and this was a nice mood for the dollar menu.

How about a trailer that is only one color

When we took the trailer apart we discovered that we had a bad axel. The bearings had chewed half way through the spindle shaft! Glad we caught that. We shored up the suspension then blasted the loose rust and dead paint. We used a medium grit coal slag media. It worked great once we realized that the sandblaster that I had was a P.O.S. and went to the store to buy a new one. Add it to the list, along with a new axel I guess.


Now for two coats of primer and the first of three coats of gloss black.

Work has started!

It has happened! The repairs are underway! And to make myself clear my intentions are not to restore, but to "fix up". Get it in the water with a small amount of style. That said let's get to work and gut the boat, build a dolly, and separate the boat from the trailer!

More Pictures

Here are more pics from the day I brought The Olive Pit home.

"The Olive Pit"

So I wanted a boat and I ended up with a project. When I brought it home we named it "The Ugly Boat" and that is what we called it until my father Jerry saw the pictures and responded with, "I am at a loss for words....Do you remember the great movie, "The Money Pit"? I am going to call this "The Olive Pit" "

The name stuck.

The Olive Pit is a 1976 Arrow Glass Tarpon bass boat. The original 50Hp Evinrude was swapped out by the the previous owner (he only bought it for the engine) for a 1969 25Hp Evinrude Sport. To my surprise buying The Olive Pit generated quite a bit of enthusiasm from friends and family as to weather or not it would ever float. It has multiple cracks in the keel and is in need of many patches of new gelcoat. The floor is soft and the engine needs work. I have never heard it run by the way. A fact that would make many people nervous. Not me! I keep telling myself that. Not to mention that the trailer lists to one side and has more rust than paint.
I foolishly claimed that I could not only get The Olive Pit finished by January 2007 but that I could do it for $1000 including the price of the boat! The purchase price was $400 and I have bought many parts, tools, and books to help with repairs for $300. Except for a little demo on the interior and a lot of staring at it with a beer in my hand no work has been done as of today.
I have started this blog to keep a record of this insanely fun project and to make it easy for those that are interested to take the ride with me. The fact that I know nothing about fiberglass repair, have never messed with a marine engine, and I have set an unrealistic budget should make this project a blast! Will I meet my goal? (shrug shoulders)