HoneyB Posted November 13, 2023 Report Share Posted November 13, 2023 I thought I would start a thread on my 1992 MA restoration. There are some fine examples of restorations on this site. I can only hope my little rehab will be as nice. The boat was in a state of a mild rehab when I bought it. Once I got the boat home I went straight into complete tear down mode. I planned to pull the cap to inspect the stringers and replace the fuel tank at a minimum. Before pulling the cap I found the floor seemed soft in one spot. After pulling the cap I found the stringer in that area seemed to not be quite full of foam and would give from the top. I have not cut it open as of yet. The rest of the stringers look to be fine. No cracks no delimitation with the sole of the boat. I currently have the boat flipped to work on all the oyster rash. The plan is to paint the hull before I flip it to work on the inside of the hull. I wanted to buy a newer console that some other guys have used in project hulls but I think my price was double what some guys were seeing a couple of years ago so I am going to make a few changes to my MA console and hope it works out well. I wanted to wait for more in depth work to start this thread but realized how I was amassing pictures at an alarming rate. Please feel free to comment and offer thought’s or ideas as I move along. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2023 Some tear down pics 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2023 Pulling the cap. I should have not cut the nose off. There is not a lot of information out there on the method but I would have been better to cut the floor and then pull the entire cap. What I found out was there was quite a bit of glass between the front of the cockpit and the cap.. lifting the rest of the cap was simple. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2023 A couple of pictures of the inside before I flipped the boat. There will be more pictures of the inside once I actually start working on it. Note that any standing water was from washing the boat. There was no water in the hull when the cap was removed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2023 We flipped the boat and built a frame off the trailer bunks to support the hull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2023 Some sanding and filling and sanding on the bottom and it is just about ready for primer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2023 I mentioned that I wanted to freshen up the console a bit. The weather turned wet and gray so I decided to start mocking up the console. Hopefully I do not turn a nice console into a large pile of fiberglass scraps. The top of the console mock up is shorter that the height of my top mounted Gps on my Hewes. So I am thinking total height the same with flush mounted electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted November 14, 2023 Report Share Posted November 14, 2023 Oh jeez, I just found my new favorite thread. Honey B, this is going to be a fun one to watch. Curious, if you get a sec, would love to hear more about how you would have pulled that cap knowing what you know now. Are you saying you would have pulled it in one piece? Or would you have cut the floor out and pulled it out in those two pieces? Inquiring minds. . . . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Posted November 14, 2023 Report Share Posted November 14, 2023 Great project Honey B !! You guys make it look far simpler than it really is. The results are truly worth the effort !! Looking forward to the rest !! MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2023 5 hours ago, whichwaysup said: Curious, if you get a sec, would love to hear more about how you would have pulled that cap knowing what you know now. Are you saying you would have pulled it in one piece? Or would you have cut the floor out and pulled it out in those two pieces? Inquiring minds. . . . In searching other restorations I obviously found where the back deck was cut and removed. That seemed like a lot of glass work to put it back together. Another thread I found suggested just cutting the floor out to get to the stringers. My fuel tank was installed more forward I think in the newer MA boats it was shifted back to more mid ship. The floor of my boat had a lot of holes drilled around and inside the console. It was also soft in one area beside the console. Knowing I planned to replace the floor I had already decided to cut the floor out. I thought I could lift the cap off leaving the shell of the cockpit. That is why I started trying to lift it from the front. I cut the front section still not knowing how I planed to get the back deck up. I decided to just pull on the back deck and found that with the floor cut out the cockpit shell came right up with the cap. In hindsight I think I could have cut the floor out and lifted the whole cap in one piece. I did cut some holes in a couple of the boxes where the cap was attached to the pods of fiberglass that the boat was set down on when the hull was joined. As you can see in the picture all the foam that was pumped came out with the cap. It should make a nice snug fit when I rejoin the two pieces. I will figure a way to get a bond between the foam and outer skin when I put them back together. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2023 Me and my helper building memories and consoles 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted November 17, 2023 Report Share Posted November 17, 2023 HoneyB - That young man is very fortunate to have someone teaching him these skills. Thanks for letting the rest of us enjoy the journey - keep the posts coming! BTW, what kind of condition was the fuel tank in that boat? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2023 🤣 A lot of this stuff we are learning together. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted November 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2023 8 hours ago, whichwaysup said: BTW, what kind of condition was the fuel tank in that boat? The tank was in good shape for a 30 year old tank. I had to drill the head off of three of the screw on the sending unit to get it off. The actual sending unit was broken inside the tank and the float portion is still in the tank. The aluminum had some pitting but would have likely lasted several more years with nothing don’t to the tank. It was very tempting to clean it and powdercoat it. My oldest son came over and when he looked at the tank he said “ whatcha gonna do with it?”. I said I’m Going to buy a tank before I talk myself into not buying one! He laughed and said it looks pretty good didn’t it! I did not pull the entire boat apart to put the 30 year old tank back into the boat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted November 18, 2023 Report Share Posted November 18, 2023 19 hours ago, HoneyB said: He laughed and said it looks pretty good didn’t it! I did not pull the entire boat apart to put the 30 year old tank back into the boat. good decision Mine on the MA17 Holy Ghost was 27 years old....not leaking, but, developing some pin holes...it just takes one small pin hole and you have a disaster... my advice is if you have the room, you can add a few more gallons by adding an inch to all the sides....it' amazing how just that little bit gives you a bit more range... Enjoy the re-build....there are many days I wish I had kept the the Ghost MA17...but, she's in a good home... dc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lap it Up Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 23 hours ago, HoneyB said: The tank was in good shape for a 30 year old tank. I had to drill the head off of three of the screw on the sending unit to get it off. The actual sending unit was broken inside the tank and the float portion is still in the tank. The aluminum had some pitting but would have likely lasted several more years with nothing don’t to the tank. It was very tempting to clean it and powdercoat it. My oldest son came over and when he looked at the tank he said “ whatcha gonna do with it?”. I said I’m Going to buy a tank before I talk myself into not buying one! He laughed and said it looks pretty good didn’t it! I did not pull the entire boat apart to put the 30 year old tank back into the boat. Cudos to how MBG used to install tanks. Minimal to no foam to allow water rot and good aluminum. I feel for the folks buying these new boats. They just don’t do it the same anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 Just an odd-ball thought/question, but wouldn't it be "best practice", since aluminum fuel tanks always have stainless hardware attached to them, to bond the tank to a zinc anode in contact with the salty sea? Seems to me, that would seriously quiet-down the galvanic action between the two dissimilar metals and stop the corrosive pitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HoneyB Posted November 19, 2023 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 So now I can update the questions on the fuel cell. After reaching out to others here who recently had tanks built I placed a call to T-N-T. I asked about moving all the fittings forward thinking I might cut the seat off the front of the console. After mocking up the console I decided to leave the front seat on. They called me to say they had something for me to consider. It seems someone ordered a MA tank, they had the metal upgraded to 3/16 material and had it powder coated. The only problem was they ordered the tank for the wrong year model and did not need the Coffin style tank. I saved a few hundred off the cost of the same tank that would have been built out of thinner aluminum. I think 47 gallons feeding what ever 4 stroke I end up will be plenty of fuel. The tank came with pick up tube and sending unit installed. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Dude, you must be living right! That's AWESOME! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted December 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2023 Plunking along I think I have all the offending bottom scrapes and chips filled. I will sand this primer off then spray primer over the entire hull and prep for paint. Also working on the console but it is rather ugly right now. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted December 3, 2023 Report Share Posted December 3, 2023 Fine work HB! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted December 4, 2023 Report Share Posted December 4, 2023 X2 Love this thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted December 4, 2023 Report Share Posted December 4, 2023 I can never get enough - gawking at the classic lines of a MA 18 hull. No wonder it has such a legendary ride! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Posted December 5, 2023 Report Share Posted December 5, 2023 Agree ! Such a pretty bottom !! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted December 5, 2023 Report Share Posted December 5, 2023 If I could ever find a wood carver talented enough, I would love to get a model made of mine. I could literally stare at those lines all day. Not sure why they are so striking, but with a two tone hull they just pop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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