Where do I begin?

[copout]

See the history over in the general thread if needed. Please bear with me as I have minimal knowledge with fiberglass or engines, this should be costly & comidical at the same time! She has sat for almost 5 years & hasn't been started in 2. There are 2 tanks, on is alum (above deck but under console) & I think from my dads records the other (below deck) is poly.
1st order is to drain any remaining fuel. Where do I dispose?
2nd clean tanks.
3rd change plugs & oils.
4th address crack above starboard bunk. How?
5th address trailer bucks & rollers.
6th saftey checks & equip boat with safety items.
7th address cosmetic issues in rails & floor. I think this is gel coat delamination?
8th I could go on & on.....
I am going to try to do all of this on my own, so any help is appreciated.
Here's some of the photos.
Thank you,

crack above bunk




cosmetic cracks

[Bushwacker]

You could call your local county Waste Management outfit about the old gas. I think the household hazardous waste disposal place would take it.

I've seen old lines full of crud when they sat a long time with fuel in them, so you might want to replace the primer bulb and all the fuel lines from the tank to the motor. Might also check the lines on motor from fuel pump to carbs for crud also. When you get the tanks clean and some fresh gas in it, if motor won't idle right, the carbs may also be full of crud, so you may have to disassemble, clean and rebuild them.

Do a compression check on motor to check for stuck rings. If one or two cylinders are low, might try runing some ring free or equivalent decarb stuff thru it. (Do this with the OLD plugs in it!) I'd also change water pump impeller, which may be full of cracks from sitting a long time.

That transom crack may be just some filler that didn't bond well, but I'd open it up and make sure it's not thru the laminate into the core before launching the boat. Those stains and bubbles around it look a little suspicious. If just cosmetic, might be able to repair with epoxy filler. I would not use polyester filler below the waterline.

The gel coat cracks up on the gunnel & top of transom look like maybe some extra gel coat was laid on pretty thick. That stuff is very brittle, so once it gets over about 0.032" thick it doesn't take much stress to put a lot of cracks in it. Will probably have to sand/grind it off, repair with epoxy and repaint.

It takes a lot of work to bring a boat back to life that's been sitting a long time, so good luck! This forum can give you a lot of good advice on stuff to check. I'm sure there's a lot I missed!

[Islandtrader]

A good place to start is by Reading the top post by Strick. Read from beginning to end. Then read it end to beginning.

The post may not address all your issues in detail, but it will cover just about anything you might want to do.

Good luck, and remember that this is going to cost $$$.

[copout]

A good place to start is by Reading the top post by Strick. Read from beginning to end. Then read it end to beginning.

The post may not address all your issues in detail, but it will cover just about anything you might want to do.

Good luck, and remember that this is going to cost $$$.

Ok I've done that & it makes me want to strip the whole thing down but that's not in the budget nor is it needed, yet!

Sunday I washed out all the pine needles & other leaves. I removed all access hatches & refamilarized (sp) myself with the boat.

Today I started draining the below deck tank.
Question-the gas coming out looks clear, no debris & no water. Should I discard it or slowly mix it in with fresh gas in a truck or car? So far I have 15 gal... I figure it's coming off the top & towards the botton it should get milky. I could be wrong, it won't be the first & deff not the last time.

I must say there are sooo many incredible boats on here & it's nice to see the amount of help offered. Thanks for allowing me the join the ranks of the fellow CSC brethrin.

Many questions to come......

[Caymanboy]

Soooo, the fuel has been there for 2 years, hmmmmmm.
2 thoughts, putting 15 gals of good fuel into 15 gals of bad fuel does not make 30 gals of OK fuel, it makes 30 gals of BAD fuel.
Is the cost of 15 gals of extra fuel worth it?
Crack on the transom appears to be more than fairing, I would try to find out how wet the transom is.
The gelcoat crazing is from sun or bad gelcoat, I notice new cleats there, has the boat been reglecoated in that area? That will take some time to fill and fair.

[wtenglish]

I had a similar situation with a full tank of fuel when I started. I know that you can dispose of in several ways including some marinas but I couldn't find anyone in Jax, Fl that would take mine. I wound up buying 6 - 5 gal containers and siphoned into that for storage. I have a 10 year old Chevy Z71 with 260k miles on it that I drive for work and would mix in about two gallons every time I would fill up. This took some time but worked and didn't kill my old truck. I did run some fuel additive through it from time to time to help clean the injectors though.

[pl99]

Hey bud if you need a little help next week let me know Im heading your way, Im gonna be doing a little shopping around at sailorman just around corner from you..

Chris
Send me a pm with info