Good one Kafue - I'll drink to that! BEAU, thanks. We may have strong backs and weak minds, but we are learning to be handier every day. Fortunately we have some friends as resources to tap into if we need to make up where we fall short in expertise and skills.
this is a potential great boat. There is a beautifuly restored 42 post on this website.... RE the generator..... If you do go with a diesel generator with gas main engines you will neet to make sure the diesel generator is iginiton protected (most are not) or placed in a different compartment from the gas engines and gas tanks
Capt J - I should have! I did throw some years old beer, booze and party treats that were left on the boat. RT46 Thanks for the advice, it sounds more complicated than I need to deal with right now. And yes, I have studied the threads where some members have done some awesome work. They have set the bar very high for sure.
My (former) 1981 Post 42 was in about that same condition when I purchased her in 2003. I did a complete refit and she turned out beautifully. Mine was diesel, 671ti 450 HP. I will try to post some pics of the finished project later today is anyone is interested.
If you intend to keep the gas engines, and the house is indeed rotten, making her an express will definately lighten her a bit and pick up some speed while taxing the engines less. I think you've got a solid hull that needs a LOT of TLC but you can make a good boat out of her again with a lot of elbow grease and a good amount of money.......
SeaEric - I look forward to seeing your pics and learning more about what you did with yours. Capt J - Still have lots of options open as we learn more about what we have. House needs attention for sure, but it does not appear to have extensive rot so we probably can get that in decent shape. Engines are low hours and everything we see so far look to be in like new condition. They are 450HP Merlins which have pretty beefy components. One is yet to bar over but we think we have isolated the cause down to one or two non-major issues. Then we hope we will be firing them up soon. Still plenty of other areas needing attention, but also plenty of potential.
The biggest single upgrade that made the most difference in the appearance of my refit 42 Post was to remove the wooden rub rails and replace them with PVC rub rail and new stainless steel. When I did my work, Post was still around and their parts department had a rub rail upgrade "kit" that I purchased from them. I think that I may have bought the last of their old stock. They shipped to me everything I needed in the proper quantity to do a proper rub rail replacement.
I replaced the totally trashed fighting chair in favor of a custom aft deck table mounted on the existing chair pedestal. Bait freezer gave way to a refrigerator/icemaker. Any teak that was trim or vertical received varnish. Any teak that was horizontal or walkable stayed bleached and natural.
The leaking and crazed plastic forward salon windows were replaced with lexan as they have a curve to them and glass is out of the question. Even on my all FG boat, those windshields were wood framed. Mine were poorly constructed of mahogany and badly rotten. We rebuilt them in teak. The interior mahogany paneling and cabinetry was badly sun-struck and faded. Rather than refinish it by stripping back to bare wood, we elected to employ the interior satin finish that has a stain built in. It took several coats and some finesse, but the results were easier and quite acceptable.
Since she didn't have a hardtop, there was no overhead box for the electronics. I fabricated this pop up panel with the RayMarine stuff mounted inside on a custom engraved face plate. A linear actuator and the push of a button opened it. It turned out to be a good solution. Closed, with the power off - the equipment was secure from theft and out of the weather.
Great work SeaEric!!! Would like to get some more detail on the way you did the electronic panel with the actuator. Very tidy and safe, not to mention smart. captnpete: Now is your chance to get your wife to talk to you again, if that is what you want! Show her Eric's work, just don't ask/tell what it must have cost in work & $'s.
It was pretty simple. Its a teak frame set in the top of the cabinet with a solid teak top attached at the rear with a piano hinge. The radius sides are Starboard attached to the top and face plate with pairs of teak strips. Before the linear actuator was installed, I would just lift it open and latch it in place. The 12v linear actuator (I think we purchased it on ebay!) was then mounted from below and merely pushed the hinged unit up to a stop. We used an up/down momentary toggle switch mounted in the face of the cabinet.
Sea Eric, Nicely done. The electronics panel looks great. I had the same problem with the front windows but chose to eliminate them altogether. This gave the boat a newer look. You really did a nice job on yours.
Wow, SeaEric, you too have set the bar very high! That is a beautiful boat! As Kafue says, I need to show my wife to help her become a believer in the project! Thanks for sharing your work, I hope we can see some more.
