Duke's Rehab of the CABO 204 Centercon...

[DukesFin]

I'm going to copy and paste my posts from the restoration forum here, but the work is "well under way" now!

NO TURNING BACK!!!

Okay, here it is:
Here are a few more pictures of the progress I've made to date with the dismantling of the boat... I think that all I've got left to do is remove the gas tank (and associated plumbing), remove the trillion screws holding the cap on, remove the bow eye and anchor roller, and finally, contort myself so I can try to see how they bonded the cap to the transom... :

Here's a view from the aft:


Aft/Port Corner View:


The Console that was actually molded with the cap... That's right... It's all ONE piece!


And a close up of the helm:


Sanding this beast is NOT going to be fun, that's for sure. I bet it will be just as much fun as removing all the 5200 and silicone that's on everything!!!

Making progress!!! I'm almost ready to pull her out from under the temporary shelter and into a warehouse where I can pull the cap (or start trying to)!

[Chalk]

Love seeing restos

[DukesFin]

Good news! I found about 1500 square feet of warehouse to do my work in for 2 months @ only $500/month! (I'm sharing an 18,000 square foot warehouse).

I will be moving the boat there tomorrow so I'll be able to update with some progress soon!

The guy next door (other side of the wall in the warehouse) has a forklift I can use, commercial/industrial air with lines all over the warehouse, exhaust system, work tables, power/water included...

Oh, it's a sweet place to do this work for sure!!!

Okay, she is in her new home for her 2-month re-hab stint...


So, first things first... Start pulling that cap. I removed a zillion screws and started prying both the bow and stern:


The cap came off without too much trouble, but there was some foam to remove:

I went from this:

to this:


At least the cap is now removed and I can work on some hull-insides! Do boats always look that much bigger when you look at just the hull?


Here's a shot of the underside of the deck:


Here's what I learned today...

If you have an anchor locker with no drain to the outside, the water will fill up all of your foam.

If you have rod holders that open up to the interior of your hull with no way to drain out, it will fill up your foam with water.

If you have fish boxes in the bow and the drain hoses are broken, they will fill up your foam with water.

Foam is considerably heavier when it is filled with water.

Water soaked foam can and will help a LOT of mold growth in your hull.

Water soaked foam is nasty stuff to remove.

If you think you have a lot of foam on your boat... Think again... I had what your boat manufacturer couldn't fit in your hull! Every bit of space between the deck and hull, hull sides and liner from keel to gunnels was FULL of foam.

I thought about not going back in with the foam when I put it back together but my deck does NOT rest on the stringers. My deck is pretty stout with a lot of hatches, but having all of that foam in there surely helps support the deck to some extent, and I'm sure it cut down on a lot of sound.

The only problem was not a great design on the anchor locker, rod holders and broken drains.

When I put it back together again, those issues will be solved and I'll be very sure that where there's foam, there will be NO WAY for water to reach it!

Carry on. More reports to follow soon. My next step is to start cleaning and sanding/grinding the inside of the hull for some repairs and a new layer of glass, just to tidy it up.

[FHC]

try going back close cell foam it will not absorb water they use it for house insulation

[DukesFin]

try going back close cell foam it will not absorb water they use it for house insulation

I'm not sure if they make that in a two-part "pourable" form or not, but pourable is a MUST in my boat. Besides that, if I seal that boat up right, there won't be any way for water to reach the foam unless I run aground, get hit or hit something else hard.

Sealed correctly, the foam will never see water, so no chance of it getting wet.

The reason I have to have a pourable, expanding foam is due to the irregularities of the underside of the deck and liner, and it's need for support.

I'm open to thoughts and suggestions for sure, so if I'm wrong in my assumptions or what I THINK I know, please feel free to keep the thoughts and suggestions coming!!!

You see, most decks lay on the stringers. Not on my boat. The deck "floats" over the stringers:

[silverking]

Duke,
That's a very ambitious project.

I know you like to tinker, but you do realize for all your time, money and effort you could buy another boat? Just playing devil's advocate

I know, it'll be rewarding when it's all done and you get some slime on her and every man needs a project or two. As someone who owns a custom skiff, I have spent many an hour working on my boat. There have been times when my frustration level was so high I considered selling her. And then I stepped back, admired her lines and sighed. My wife calls her the other woman, for obvious reasons.

Good luck with everything. I will enjoy reading about your progress.

[DukesFin]

Oh, I know I'll NEVER get out of the boat, what I'm putting into it.

I'd love a new boat. I figure that with what I'm doing, POWER aside, I'll have one. This work I'm doing, with the warehouse rental included, is going to cost me at the most, $3,000.00. This does not count my time, but I really can't count that as this is fun for me. If I'm not working on the boat, what else do I have to do? Watch TV? No thanks! I'd rather spend more time doing something that like you mention, will allow me to stand back when it's all done and be proud, feel safe! Not a bad price tag at all.

I think that will put me up to a total of around $8K in the boat. If I purchased another brand new motor, that would bring it up to around $25K or so. I'll have a boat that I love the ride in, set up the way I want, operating the way I want, know and understand, and love every minute on it.

I absolutely HAVE to have some sort of "project" to work on. I go crazy if I don't! I love learning new trades and I'm learning a couple with this project.

[mullet]

I'd be surprised if the actually relied on the foam for support. Have you thought about scabbing onto the stringers and bringing them to the deck? I'd bet the deck is strong enough without the foam but I could be wrong.

[DukesFin]

Good idea about bringing the stringers up to the deck, but it would be a guess on the height they'd need to be at to meet the deck. I tried and tried to measure that before I pulled the cap, but there was just no good angle or way of measuring accurately to do it properly, especially forward of the console. Since the deck is part of the liner, there is no "line" on the hull for me to measure off of. Trying to measure from the stringers up to the deck's underside was impossible as I couldn't see the underside of the deck. Oh well!

Once I pulled the cap, I had a tidal wave of ideas about bringing the deck down to the stringers, but that involved WAY too much modification and cost. Mainly due to the gas tank! I would have loved to have that much more depth on deck, but oh well! The more modifications I think of, I keep going back to the "safer" thought of the fact that the boat was designed a certain way for certain reasons, and I may not be able to figure out how or why it was done the way it was, so keeping to the original design (or as close as possible) makes me feel a bit more secure about what I'm doing.

[mullet]

here ya go:
http://www.shopmaninc.com/foam.html

[DukesFin]

here ya go:
http://www.shopmaninc.com/foam.html

Oh, yea! 80-pound kit, here I come! Thanks Billy!

I got to GRINDING today... My GOD, I'm so glad I got the respirator and eye protection! I was outside doing the grinding with a 36-grit flapper on my 4 1/2" grinder. I've gone through 2 flappers and I'm done with my 2nd set of respirator cartridges. I'm about half way done grinding inside the hull, so I'll finish that part up tomorrow and start glassing some spots.

It turns out, whoever installed the thru-hull ducer for the Furuno did a HORRIBLE job both cutting holes and sealing, so I've ground quite a bit and have to build back up a lot there, but structurally, the hull is sound and the transome is solid.

I'll upload some pictures tomorrow...

[flatpicker]

Wow, 2 months? Your the man! Keep the pictures coming. Here's another option on the foam.
http://boatbuildercentral.com/products.php?cat=56

[DukesFin]

I'm working by the story about how to eat an elephant... "...one bite at a time"! It's a big job, but if I keep plugging away at it every day, it should be okay!

Since I've found the transom and stringers are good, I can breathe a little easier. I was worried I was going to have to build new stringers and that would not have been fun!!!

You can see the outline of the respirator and the safety glasses:

[Tidedancer]

Duke, depending on the year model of your Cabo the foam was used to obtain level flotation for the boat per Coast Guard requirements. It does add some insulation (sound) from wave pounding and adds some strength too. But not much. It looks like you have a real job cut out for you but I know she will be good as new when you get through. Please keep the photos coming we all enjoy a good project.

[qoutrage]

Now there's a face only a Mama could love....Well maybe, Melli, too. Just kiddin' ya, Duke.
I'd say there ain't no turning back now. At the rate you're working, you might beat your two month estimate.
Nice thread...Keep up the good work and good luck with it.