Now the fun starts - project boat

[Buddy01]

After 10 years of ownership the old man has finally let go of his 530 freedom sport and passed it down to me! Unfortunately it's been a bit neglected the last couple of years, but that just means it's basically my own new blank canvas!
Instead if being a crossover like it's designed I'm wanting to turn it into a pure fishing boat (as much as it can be)!

Starting with cleaning it out, re-wiring the whole boat, new lighting, new floor, front casting platform etc, and one day when I have the spare cash and everything else is done, get a nice wrap down the side.

I'm a sparky myself so I plan on going way overboard with the electrics, mounting all my busbars and fuse boxes in a IP box with all my cables run through duct..

Just wondering if many people have done a full strip out and refit of a similar boat, and what are some extra gadgets/accessories etc that you might have added that you can't now live without!

thanks guys!
Nick

[cormorant]

Motor and quintrex looms should be fine at 10 years. Clean it and enjoy using it and you have plenty of time on the water to think about mods. As you would know they are a good generalist boat that can fish well and you will murder any future resale by dicking with it as people who go looking for that hull will want it as they came from the factory and if they are looking for a offshore fishing boat will go looking elsewhere if you get my meaning. If that means do it up and sell it to get a more hardcore fishing boat it may give you the best leverage to get you the boat you want. Probably not what others will think or what you may have wanted to hear. Most boat mods are in the eye of the beholder

[juggernaut]

I'm in the process of finishing a similar Quintrex project (5 metre Sea Breeze).

Mods are up to you, but I've done a few like raised the steering wheel, volt meter on dash, dual batts, rewire, new lights, stereo, underfloor storage, new bimini with clears, fishfinder and gps, new seats and posts, upholstery, new floors and panels, and currently in the process of recarpeting.

I'm time poor so the above work took far longer than I'd liked/hoped/expected. Accordingly, my only advice to you is do whatever you want to the boat given your realistic time constraints and budget. Otherwise, the project might drag on for too long and you'll regret not being out there on the water enjoying your boat.

[Buddy01]

@ cormorant - I definitely get what you're saying, but my thought is right now it owes me nothing. Why not spend the money and make it as much as it can be? My ideal fishing machine would cost me 80k+ , and I think id rather just upgrade once rather than go through 2 or 3 in between boats on the way to my gameking.

[Buddy01]

That sounds really good! Pretty much the same as what I'm looking to do, voltmeter on the dash and upgrade from the stock switches. A couple of flush 12v outlets as well new interior lights and a removable led light bar across the front.

I picked her up Saturday and by Sunday evening the whole floor has been stripped out, the new one has been cut out and had 3 coats of bond Crete go on it. At least now once the floor is in, it's seaworthy and comfortable and the extras can go in as I have the time.
Still tossing up weather to use standard Quintero seats back in it or have a bench type seat made up that the Waeco/esky fits underneath to save a bit more room..


How are you doing your carpet,permanent with glue and staples, or something removable?

[juggernaut]

Yep I also fitted a couple of 12v sockets too. Carpet will be permanent (glue) and I will use extra carpet as a mat when fishing etc.

I used the pedestal seat arrangement with new pedestals and front seats (mainly because I wanted a backrest) and had the rear bench seat recovered to match. I have thought of ditching the rear bench seat and replacing with a couple of padded esky's with velcro underneath and move them around the boat as required. The velcro would grab the carpet and stop them moving around (in theory).

[Buddy01]

Yea I've got the old rear lounge but I think I'll get a cushion made to clip onto the ice box, and secure that into the corner now. going to go with the pedestal seats also, the frame work that I needed to fit above the icebox would have left the seat position to high.
Managed to find new led interior lights with the same cutout size so no mods required and they should fit straight in. Ordered white ones instead of black ones, should blend into the sides nicely. Going to just run some strip lighting up in the bow, switch it separately so it doesn't obstruct my view at night if I want the rear lights on..

[Adam_G]

few thing I learnt from my boat rebuild..

number one.. make it functional.. an easy to use boat is nice to use. have a place for everything, keep the deck uncluttered, built in tackle storage, rod storage, built in esky/kill tank (maybe under your new cast deck)? you're a sparky, sort out the dual batteries properly with a VSR etc. make a facility for easy battery charging at home when not in use e.g. plug and socket set up. apart from charging a phone/device at sea why would you need 12V sockets, hard wire everything in with individual fuses and switches per circuit, make provision for future additions (live well, bow mount electric etc.).

[Buddy01]

Yea ive got a few ideas for some of that - rocket launcher attached to Bimini for rod storage, tackle bag / life jacket storage under the existing front consoles with a lockable hatch/door. Keep Existing side pockets for paddles, gaff etc in. Big decision to make regarding icebox. Weather to rip out existing useless kill tank and have something fabricated to go in the same spot, or buy something narrow that fits underneath the middle windscreen and underneath the casting platform insert, that way it can be removed and the old kill tank becomes more storage.. Already have a big esky that I plan to strap into the tear corner where the old lounge was and clipping on a cushion for a seat..
definitely want to do a good job with the electrics. Have bought 2 new batteries and looking at the BEP VSR's withe the selectors from BLA. Want to mount that down the back and then have an IP68 box up under the dash with a 6x blade fuse holder/ neg busbar. Bring cables in through glands and run cables through slotted duct inside. Throw it on a hinge so it's easy to work on. Seems easy enough in logic, just time consuming like everything else..
12 volt outlet purely for phone, no way an iPhone 5 battery would last a day out on the bay
wish it was easier to hide a landing net though, only idea is some elastic straps on top of the bimini...

[cormorant]

Buddy . One other thing. No insult intended . Some of the worst jobs I have seen done on boat electrical have been by 240v sparkies as they don't think about salt water and think they can just replace anything as it deteriorates. There is a member on here who sells proper marine crimps and kits with glue lined shrinkwrap etc and do it properly once supporting all wires etc In reality you will only rarely need to look at the electrics so access with a few screws is nothing and there are waterproof circuit breaker with switches all surface mount so anything can be reset rather than fuses.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Maritime-...-/390510920262
https://www.bluesea.com/products/837...Position-Black

Just saying - like a mechanic and his car -Hell fix it when it breaks but at sea it is different. Will good to see your progress photos and get out there and use it ASAP.

Lots of new products to keep phones dry from salt and with extra battery and can still stream to blutooth speakers etc .

http://www.ibattz.com/products_power_aquaseal.php

great usb socket these days as well.

http://www.12volt.com.au/redirect.ht...03/plugs2.html

[juggernaut]

Yeah I pretty much used Blue Sea gear everywhere for the electrics, Carling Contura switches and tinned wire. I used glue lined heat shrink waterproof terminals from Superior Terminals (peterbo3 on this forum) - ships in an overnight bag.

In my boat Quintrex also bolted all the negs to the hull. So you might want to remove it from the hull and put it on a neg bus bar.

[Berger4]

Juggernaut is right about Quintrex boats having all the negs going to the hull. I had an 02 Quintrex topender that I recently sold and had to do a complete rewire about 3 years ago on it, but the first thing I did about 6 years ago when i got it was to put in a busbar as the neg was earthed to the boat. I used mostly Blue sea gear as well. For wire to wire joins I soldered and used a silicone grease that a mate from work recommended (can't remember the name of it now) and then shrink wrapped. For joining wires to bus bars etc I just use eye terminals in the correct size for the wire and use an proper crimping tool, I have had to many problems with soldering terminals in the past and only crimp now, much easier to repair or fix on the water if something does go wrong which is vary rare.

The only other thing I can recommend is to forget about using ply if you are doing the decks and get a product called nema board. I used this on my casting deck 3 years ago when I did the electrics and it has held up fine. It was about twice the cost of ply but I figured it was worth it as I would never have to replace it again ( except when you buy another project boat). I was going to do the rest of the deck in it but sold the boat instead.

One other thing is to look out for galvanic corrosion on Quintrex's, not sure if it is the same on other painted aluminium boats, as I took out every screw in the boat when I got it and replaced them along with a good amount of duralac. It seemed to slow it down, it may also have been due to the negs being connected to the hull.

Anyway take your time and don't be in a rush to get it on the water. Sometimes fixing up the boat can be almost as good as going fishing. Did I just say that? I think I need another beer.

[Buddy01]

Buddy . One other thing. No insult intended . Some of the worst jobs I have seen done on boat electrical have been by 240v sparkies as they don't think about salt water and think they can just replace anything as it deteriorates. There is a member on here who sells proper marine crimps and kits with glue lined shrinkwrap etc and do it properly once supporting all wires etc In reality you will only rarely need to look at teh electrics so access with a few screws is nothing and there are waterproof circuit breaker with switches all surface mount so anything can be reset rather than fuses.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Maritime-...-/390510920262
https://www.bluesea.com/products/837...Position-Black

Just saying - like a mechanic and his car -Hell fix it when it breaks but at sea it is different. Will good to see your progress photos and get out there and use it ASAP.

Lots of new products to keep phones dry from salt and with extra battery and can still stream to blutooth speakers etc .

http://www.ibattz.com/products_power_aquaseal.php

great usb socket these days as well.

http://www.12volt.com.au/redirect.ht...03/plugs2.html

Sooo you're saying I can't just twist the cables together and BP them? I'll go all out and tape them up even! 😀
yea mate I definitely only want to do it once. I'm not going to stinge on anything or use bits and pieces I find floating around my van.
I've been looking at those bluesea products, witworths have a good range of the different types.. I'm just limited for room on the dash. That's why I was thinking of going with the blade fuse block, and try and find some replacement switches to fit the existing cutout..

[Buddy01]

Juggernaut is right about Quintrex boats having all the negs going to the hull. I had an 02 Quintrex topender that I recently sold and had to do a complete rewire about 3 years ago on it, but the first thing I did about 6 years ago when i got it was to put in a busbar as the neg was earthed to the boat. I used mostly Blue sea gear as well. For wire to wire joins I soldered and used a silicone grease that a mate from work recommended (can't remember the name of it now) and then shrink wrapped. For joining wires to bus bars etc I just use eye terminals in the correct size for the wire and use an proper crimping tool, I have had to many problems with soldering terminals in the past and only crimp now, much easier to repair or fix on the water if something does go wrong which is vary rare.

The only other thing I can recommend is to forget about using ply if you are doing the decks and get a product called nema board. I used this on my casting deck 3 years ago when I did the electrics and it has held up fine. It was about twice the cost of ply but I figured it was worth it as I would never have to replace it again ( except when you buy another project boat). I was going to do the rest of the deck in it but sold the boat instead.

One other thing is to look out for galvanic corrosion on Quintrex's, not sure if it is the same on other painted aluminium boats, as I took out every screw in the boat when I got it and replaced them along with a good amount of duralac. It seemed to slow it down, it may also have been due to the negs being connected to the hull.

Anyway take your time and don't be in a rush to get it on the water. Sometimes fixing up the boat can be almost as good as going fishing. Did I just say that? I think I need another beer.

ive noticed that as well, I'll definitely be moving the negs to a busbar
i was going to use Dow Corning gel on the crimps and then heat shrink over the whole lot. Got myself the ratchet crimping tool also, all of mine will be crimped as well rather than soldered.

ive already replaced the rotted floor panels in ply and sealed them, so I think I'll stick with them and maybe look for that product you have suggested, and use them for the other sections of the floor as they require replacing. Half of the floor is fine so I will keep the decent old stuff in for now and replace as they start to soften up/as I have time. With Christmas holidays fast approaching I want to have it good to go for any decent break in the weather, and maybe in the new year I'll replace the other sections!

[Buddy01]

Attachment 106803
Thats the product I'm going to use