Just saying hello.

[sogood]

Hello all an apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place, but just a quick hello from a newbie. I live in Kerry, in the south west of Ireland, just 2km from my local harbour. I'm currently in the process of restoring a Microplus 501 explorer and am finally turning the corner and feel that I'm on the home stretch.

Hoping to be ready for the water in February/ March. My resto has been more of a cosmetic job with thankfully, no major rebuilding needed. I have posted the process so far on practicalboating and am happy with the results so far.

Anyway, that's all for now, hope to learn a little more and maybe be able to impart any info wherever possible.

Thanks.

 

[RIN]

Hello all an apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place, but just a quick hello from a newbie. I live in Kerry, in the south west of Ireland, just 2km from my local harbour. I'm currently in the process of restoring a Microplus 501 explorer and am finally turning the corner and feel that I'm on the home stretch.

Hoping to be ready for the water in February/ March. My resto has been more of a cosmetic job with thankfully, no major rebuilding needed. I have posted the process so far on practicalboating and am happy with the results so far.

Anyway, that's all for now, hope to learn a little more and maybe be able to impart any info wherever possible.

Thanks.

Welcome Sogood, and you have come to the right place.

Never mind Practicalboating - post your pics here - we want to see them. In fact its against this forum's rules to do a restoration without posting pics

 

[Greg2]

Yes welcome. Definitely the right place and for goodness sake don't start off on the wrong foot by breaching the rules mentioned by RIN! We need to see pics please

 

[Seastoke]

What engine you putting on her

 

[sogood]

What engine you putting on her

Hi. For the moment I'm going with the engine that came with the boat. It's an old 28hp Yamaha, electric start and has all the controls etc. I'll give it a good overhaul first and see how it works out, but might upgrade to something newer and maybe a little bit bigger. having said that, I won't be in a hurry anywhere. And to any other posters, thanks for the response and pics will follow shortly.

 

[sogood]

What engine you putting on her

Hi,for the moment I will use the engine that came with the boat, a 28hp Yamaha electric start, after I've given it a good overhaul!! I'll see how it performs, but, as it's an old engine, circa 1978, I think a slightly larger, newer replacement will be on the cards in the future.

 

[gordmac]

Thing to watch with these planing hulls is to have enough engine power to plane them otherwise maybe 10hp is all you need.

 

[Wavey]

If the Yamaha came with the boat then that's good to start with. Keep the costs down.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures. I have fond memories of tearing around the Thames Estuary in a 501, catching mackerel off the back and cooking them on a BBQ in the cockpit. You couldn't get them any fresher .

 

[sogood]

As a newbie to most things aquatic, I presume by "planing" you mean going forwards, with the front of the boat somewhat proud, or clear of the water? This makes sense in that it would reduce drag?

I made a stand for the outboard just a few days ago and so now, I can work on the engine in comfort. I am still varnishing and so, it useful to have something to do while the varnish dries!

Aside from that, I suppose it's high time I started including some pics and progress, so.................

I picked up the boat back in late 2012 as a winter project. I work flat out during the summer season as a seasonal tour coach driver and have the luxury of "down time" during the winter months, with lots of free time from about mid October through to mid March, living off the savings from a busy summer!

Last winter was a bit crazy busy for a variety of reasons and so, I only got basic, preliminary work done, but this year, I have been playing catch up.

So, on to the boat. When I got the boat, it was in pretty good overall condition, with original gelcoat on the cabin. It was fairly basic and original, a little bit tatty, my resto was more cosmetic with some added creature comforts.

Pcs show the boat as it was when I first saw it and when I brought it home, where I have the absolute luxury of a large shed/workshop, where I began stripping the several layers of rough, flaky, discoloured paint from the hull.

 

[sogood]

Microplus

The original floor in the boat was a plastic affair, which apparently came from a small shed! It was made up in two interlocking panels, supported along the keel with a long plank, so, job No.1 began.........

Out came the original plastic floor and the hull was scrubbed up and painted.

I made up a number of "joists" or supports, using 3/4" marine plywood, each capped with a solid wood slip and these were scribed and fitted to the hull, using fibreglass. I left a gap beneath them, to allow for drainage along the bilge. it was slow going, as they had to be levelled and aligned in relation to each other.

Then I bought some standard decking, consisting of a nine ridged construction and ripped these down into smaller 3 ridged sections ( getting 3 boards from each original board) and ripped them down again into slimmer, shallower boards. These were stained and varnished 3 times before later being screwed down onto the joists. Pics to follow.

 

[sogood]

While waiting for the varnish to dry on the decking boards, I set about replacing the grab handles on the roof. These fell apart as I was stripping the boat, so, I got some mahogany, about 2"x1" and marked out the pattern, cut them to shape and routed the edges. These will sit in the same place on the roof, using the original holes and now that they have had a few coats of varnish, they are looking pretty good. Pics of fitting etc. will follow.

 

[sogood]

Internally, the cabin was very original and I wanted to make it more comfortable, so, I thought the introduction of some wood might make it feel a little more cosy. To this end, I made a cover, using 1/2" ply to go around the little locker. The sides are routed into what looks like individual planks, a feature that I replicated elsewhere. I have since made a pair of doors, also routed and a shelf for this cabinet. My gas cooker will sit on top of this cabinet.

Another change was the removal of the sink (or whatever it was!) in order to install a small portaloo. This was not too high on my priorities, but the good woman suggested that it might be useful, so who am I to argue??

I cut the sink away and made up a cabinet, with storage and an access for the handle that operates the flap in the toilet bowl. The shape of the lid allows it to be opened below the level of the toilet bowl, saving the backs of the thighs for anyone in the seated position!

Pics are in the next post as I seem to be running out of permitted file space!!!

 

[sogood]

Ok. so I'm going to stop for the moment until I can figure out why my file sizes are, apparently, too large. This is despite reducing, cropping and whatever else is available. maybe somebody has some thoughts?

Until then,,,,,,,,,,

 

[blueglass]

As a newbie to most things aquatic, I presume by "planing" you mean going forwards, with the front of the boat somewhat proud, or clear of the water? This makes sense in that it would reduce drag?

exactly that sogood. You need a certain speed to get enough lift to "get over the hump" (as they say) to achieve planing speed. If you aren't in a hurry a smaller engine will get you along well enough at slower displacement speeds.
always keen interest on here for projects - welcome!

 

[sogood]

Maybe someone can help me. I've tried to upload more pics and each time I try, I'm told that the file exceeds my permitted file size. Now, the odd thing is, when I tried to upload a file of about 580kb, I was told it exceeded my limit by 25kb, so, I assume anything below555kb should be ok. But when I tried to upload a file of 250kb, I'm told it exceeds my allowance by 17kb. What's going on?

Thanks in advance.

 

[sampeeter]

Hello to all friends an apologies
if I'm posting in the wrong place, but just a quick hello from a newbie.
I live in Gold Coast Australia. I'm boat mechanic.

 

[rafiki_]

S

Maybe someone can help me. I've tried to upload more pics and each time I try, I'm told that the file exceeds my permitted file size. Now, the odd thing is, when I tried to upload a file of about 580kb, I was told it exceeded my limit by 25kb, so, I assume anything below555kb should be ok. But when I tried to upload a file of 250kb, I'm told it exceeds my allowance by 17kb. What's going on?

Thanks in advance.

YBW does not give you much data storage space, so most of us use an external storage device like Photobucket. You load your pictures to Photobucket, then insert the appropriate link into your post, so you do not use any YBW storage space.
Anyway, your posts are excellent, many thanks, talking us through your refurb. It sounds like you have some good carpentry experience, and you are doing a quality job on your boat.

 

[sogood]

Many thanks rafiki, I can get myself sorted so and post some more. Lots of pics to follow and thanks for the encouragement also. I did a camper van conversion some years back but this is my first boat restoration, but getting there!

Thanks again.

 

[gordmac]

Looks like you are doing a good job, will be nice when you finish her.
Boats work in two basic ways, displacement which goes through the water and displaces it. This limits the boat speed to something low but will not need a lot of power. With your boat the maximum displacement speed will be maybe four knots. Planing boats are flat at the stern which creates lift and allows them to travel at speed planing over the top of the water, at a guess your boat maybe needs to do 15 knots to achieve this . This takes a lot more power to achieve. In between hull and planing speeds the boat will sit with a bow up attitude, quite steep, as you are basically trying to push it up a hill. This uses a lot of fuel for not much more speed. When the boat planes, called going over the hump, it levels out more and will go faster on less fuel. Problem is if you don't have enough power to get on the plane and try and go faster than a few knots you will go along quite bow high drinking fuel.

 

[sogood]

After some advice, I may have this picture upload thing sorted, so, to that end, attached picture of the surround I made up for the little cabinet. This will be shelved and fitted with a pair of doors. The varnish is drying on these as I type.
It seems that I can only post one image at a time, due to file size, so, lots of little posts to follow, fingers crossed.