Getting Our Boat! | Boat Restoration - Chris Does What "With Danielle"

Boat Restoration Journey Begins

So Danielle and I wanted a boat got us a project boat to restore that fit in our garage. The 2004 Bayliner Bowrider 175 we bought does not run, needed a lot of TLC, but was really cheap only costing only $1000 for the boat and the trailer. We, of course, went through a discovery of all the issues we would have to tackle before buying this beautiful little project.

Floor Has Issues

The floor of the boat has a 3/4 inch piece of plywood placed over it, we guess the floor under it is rotten or has some serious issues. We plan to take the floor down to the stringers during our discovery, you always need a good foundation to build on. Also not breaking a leg falling through a rotten floor would be ideal.

Engine Won’t Start

The Mercruiser 3.0-liter engine has a stuck valve on cylinder 3. If it is only the head this would really help keep the budget low, but if we have to rebuild it is going to bump the budget. We are just going to have to pull the head and see what the damage is.

Wiring Rats Love

The wiring on the boat is a mess, there are bad splices, frayed, melted, and missing wires throughout the boat. Wiring can be a painstaking issue to fix, kinda like finding the bulb that is burnout on Christmas lights. I enjoy doing wiring, it poses a challenge that I feel is very rewarding once you get it all figured out.

Boat Don’t Float

Lastly, the hull on this boat has some issue that may make it not as buoyant as we would like. The idea of the hull on a boat is to keep the water out, and Danielle really would like that to happen. The issues are that the boat was beach causing a lot of wear on the front of the hull to the point it is transparent. It also looks like the previous owner was trying to hit everything in the water creating small issues that need to be tended to. I hope to have a lot of fun here as we learn fiberglass together.

The Boat Fund

We are going to keep a running tally on what we spend, really don’t want to go over $6,000, plus the $1000 we gave for the boat and trailer. I am sure it will be a challenge to stay at or below our budget especially if we have to rebuild the engine, friends have already said it is a cute little hole to throw money in.

Please stay tuned for future updates.

Boat Restoration Blogs

We hope you enjoy this as much as we do! Also, you may want to check out Dining in with Danielle for great recipes!

Commonsense provided by my love Danielle Redding.

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