We wanted a project boat and this 2004 Bayliner Bowrider really fits that description. It is in rough shape but we only paid $1000 for the 18-foot boat with trailer, this will be a restore down to the stringers on a budget of $7,000. We first have to tear the boat down, there is a piece of plywood placed what we think is a rotten floor. The Mercruiser 3.0-liter engine has a stuck valve on cylinder 3, we hope it only needs a new cylinder head, but it may need a rebuild. The wiring on this boat really needs some work, the engine wiring harness is in very rough shape, along with the rest of the boat’s wiring, there is frayed and burn wires, missing wires, and customization to wiring that was done wrong. The hull of the boat needs repair from being beached and it looks like the last owner tried to hit everything floating in the water.
We hope you enjoy following us on this journey as we breath new life into this old boat.
Engine Needs Rebuilding Trouble in paradise, we have issues with the lower end of the Mercruiser 3.0 engine in our 2004 Bayliner Bowrider 175. We don’t have the A-frame needed to remove it and don’t really want to pull the engine ourselves. Issue found when we got the new head on the engine from Clearwater Cylinder …
Sanding Day It got a little hot with all this safety gear on, flashback to wearing MOP4 in the military, but fiberglass is not that good for your lungs. While sanding it felt like any breeze there was stopped, sanding the bilge and stringers to prepare it all for fiberglass feels like the hardest part …
Pretty Boat So when buying a used boat, or bring back that luster to your current boat there is hope for your gelcoat. Danielle has worked her little tail off to restore the gelcoat on the boat with wonderful results. Before she started we thought would need a new gel coat applied, but now not …
Boat Floor Demolition Time Let’s go over the required tools and accessories before we start the boat floor demolition. It is a great idea to get yourself a good breathing mask with eye protection (Mold spores bad, breathing good). Tools we used were a skill saw, crowbar, hammer, and a shovel. The shovel will be explained …
Better To Float While cleaning out the boat we discovered the bilge pump did not work, that is bad. It started smoking when we filled the bilge with water looking for leaks. It got very exciting as to disconnect the bilge pump in hopes to save the wiring. This also reminded us why it is so …
Battery Good While the battery can be the last thing you think of, we did not want this marine battery to go bad. One of the first things we bought on our boat restore journey was a battery charger from Amazon. This charger was only $20 and will do what we need, keep the battery …
Cleaning The Boat Before we dived into repairs we had to clean the engine. You don’t have to be covered in grease to feel like a proper Greasemonkey. Instead of cleaning the boat in the driveway we went to the car wash with a few cans of de-greaser, and a bunch of quarters. The hardest part …
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 …
