'91 1700 upgrade and rerig progress

[BradH]

In February 2012 I purchased a 1991 1700 CC that was repowered in '06 with a Yamaha 115 2 stroke. I had been looking for about two years for the right first personal boat to mess around in the Chesapeake with. Finally found this:

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=11241

This boat fit the bill better than anything else. It was in extremely good condition, lived most of the last 10 years inside on a trailer as a lowcountry South Carolina guides personal boat...and was not used much at all.

Feel like a should give back to CP for all the help I had, so I figured I’d start a thread with the upgrades and rigging I’ve done hoping that it helps out the next guy. BTW...this is my first experience with a Parker.

 

[BradH]

The next month or so I spent getting it ready to live back in the water, and doing a few major upgrades, mostly safety related. This was Feb/March in Maryland...sucks working in the cold!

First had to rip out all the crap it had accumulated in 21 years of life. Old wiring, VHF, stereo, speakers, antennas, pumps...anything that was not working or on the fritz went out.

Through hull fed a washdown pump, typical clamshell pickup with straight threads with a pipe thread ball valve (tapered tread) wedged onto the last two threads. This junk had to go, and wanted to do it right.

I picked a flanged seacock and a flush through hull fitting trying to reduce some prop caviation that I thought the old one was causing, and maybe pick up a little speed.

To help tap the threads in the board straight I chucked the tap in the drill press and turned the mandril by hand...cool trick an old rigger taught me.

Cutting the taper in the hull was not fun, but finding a 2" tapered countersink was even harder. Fortunately someone at work had one, and a friends husband cut the shank down from 5/8" to 1/2". Filled the old holes with epoxy while I had it out to bond the plate to the inside of the hull.

 

[BradH]

During the seatrial I noticed the helm wasn't a no-feedback type. Let go of the wheel and it turns hard over from engine torque. I hate this setup and think it's one of the lest safe things out there. Why they did not spend another 20 bucks or so on the upgraded helm when the rest of the steering was replaced in 06 I have no idea.

The console is a little short for me anyway, so I wanted to move the wheel up 2-3" somehow and maybe change it to a more vertical angle. Found a Teleflex retrofit helm kit that does both.

Since the Cable was the new style and in great condition, everything literally clicked into place. Had to install the tilt unit "upside down" to get the travel the way I wanted, and it works great. If you ever install Teleflex helms, CHANGE OUT THE HARDWARE TO STAINLESS! When I removed the old stuff (6 years old) most hardware was rusted together or not that strong. The new hardware in the package was the same plated crap. Told West Marine about it and they let me grab all SS to replace it for free.

The old teak cap looked like it needed some love, so sanded it down and shot it with a rattle can of UV polyurethane. Sorry not too many pics of this process.

While in the console, I decided to move around the electronics and add a new 172c plotter I found on craigslist. Yanked everything off the top and had two surprises...Humminbird uses non-stainless screws in their bases that rust, and big compasses have big cutouts. I was just going to move things around, but saw this and 21 years of old electronic mounting screws and couldn't just live with it. Called Brown Towles at Fin Addict Marine, and for less than $30 has 1/2" seafoam starboard piece cut and shipped to top the console with.

Traded my neighbor at the slip the old compass for a new LED combo nav light, and picked up a new smaller compass that conveniently fits between them.

 

[BradH]

Checked the fuel system before she was splashed, and the tank was in pretty good shape. The hoses were horrible. So they all got replaced. Also moved the filter head from the transom (carefully filling the mounting holes) to under the gunnel. Screwed the new head to a piece of Azek (expanded PVC trim) then glued it in place with 5200. Sprayed 3-4 coasts of phantom black on the head and fittings to ward off corrosion.

Yanked screws and filled holes everywhere with West epoxy. Need to go back and cover with gelcoat, but haven't gotten up the courage to do it yet. Been reading on here and one day when it warms up will try my hand at it. Never messed with gel before. The cooler feet in the filter pic got yanked too. Most holes had silicone, so tried a bunch of producst til I found McKanica silicone remover. This stuff works great, and does not damage gelcoat or your hands.

I fishing after work and in the dark a lot so I really needed some type of lights. Found these LEDs at West Marine on clearance for $4 down from 20, figured 9 spaced around the boat would do the trick. Wired them up in a harness inside at the kitchen table and installed it in the boat. Used a wired switch that ran a washpump that was yanked. Will find more pics of this process.

 

[BradH]

Every time I turn around I find another surprise, but fortunately the big ticket items are done with...I think.

Other small things done-
Replaced fuel sender and rewired
Ran rigging for trim gauge and water pressure
Replaced all pie plate inspection hatches
Installed TH marine ball scuppers (love these things)
Moved oil tank from transom corner to in console (this was not a fun project)
Installed all 6' reduced glare around white light on top corner of console (sooo much better than regular style)
Cleaned and dried under console and fwd seat and caulked
Beacon Light Marina gave her a good coat of bottom paint and tune up with link and sinc

To do-
Replace bilge pump and lines
Wire trim gauge
Install pressure gauge and plumb
Clean up wiring under dash
Find and install cupholders
Install and wire stereo, make under gunwale speaker brackets
Compound and buff
Get a better prop that does not cavitate in turns and lets me trim the boat out

So that's where I'm at. She gets run 3-4 days a week from March-November, and 1-2 days every two weeks Nov-March when the weather cooperates.

I'll try to add to this with pics as I get things done. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments on how or why I did something, or if there is a better way.

 

[windknotnc]

Looks good...funny how one thing leads to another.

 

[Luv2fish]

Nice work. This will be a great boat!!!

Steve

 

[warthog5]

Humminbird uses non-stainless screws in their bases that rust

There are a lot of manufactures that make things for boats and supply mounting screws. A lot of the screws are Black looking
I never use those and go to my screw box's for stainless.

Sprayed 3-4 coasts of phantom black on the head and fittings to ward off corrosion.

That will not last long as to the ascetic's. The way to make one look good for a long time is to buy the stainless mounting head in the beginning.

 

[BradH]

Looks good...funny how one thing leads to another.

This is the truth. Anyone out there planning a project should keep a little money and time for these things.

Nice work. This will be a great boat!!!

Steve

Thanks Steve, best thing I have done is to get out and use it to figure out what other things I want to do.

Humminbird uses non-stainless screws in their bases that rust

There are a lot of manufactures that make things for boats and supply mounting screws. A lot of the screws are Black looking
I never use those and go to my screw box's for stainless.

Sprayed 3-4 coasts of phantom black on the head and fittings to ward off corrosion.

That will not last long as to the ascetic's. The way to make one look good for a long time is to buy the stainless mounting head in the beginning.

The real surprise was the plated fasteners that came from Teleflex in the helm. The rusted bolts holding EVERYTHING together in the old helm were close to failure...

Stainless would have been nice but for another 40 bucks and having good luck in the past with prime and paint I went with Al. I'm poor, not cheap!