AA Broadbill Re-Hab

John Tonielli

John Tonielli

Member
I picked up this broadbill about 10 years ago from a guy in Sandusky. Apparently he had replaced the factory floor and transom, as well as added additional flotation foam under the floor and along the gunnels. Before I bought the boat I perused tons of pictures showing the re-build, so i was confident he did a good job-and I still think he did. After 10 years, i wanted to change some things-mainly the floor height (lower) and the blind set-up.

At first look, it seemed like a pretty straightforward project-just take off the lid, cut out the old floor and glass in a new one! Nothing is ever as easy as it seems!

boatdemo.jpg


That is what i was left with drilling out over 200 stainless rivets and prying the top off. I noticed a line of tiny ants headed from the front of the boat to the back, after i took the sawzall to the floor and pulled out the foam. Poked a hole in the "sturdy" transom after removing the old poly glass and this is what I found (incidentaly this used to hold a 35 horse 2 stroke):

transomrot.jpg



Ants came pouring out, so I checked the rest of the wood and it was soaked and rotted:

transomdemo.jpg


I have a ton more picks of trying to put this mess back together. As soon as I figure out how to delete the pics I already uploaded i will continue the sequence!

On another note-thanks Eric for all the help with these pics!!!

John T.

View attachment boatdemo.jpg
 
some more pics:

woodfree.jpg



the hull after sanding off old polyester and wood free!

woodfree2.jpg


much better. starting to look like I can revive this old girl.

newtransom.jpg


The new transom in it's infancy, prior to bonding, sanding and 5 coats of epoxy

transomglued2.jpg


Transom in place. Made big mistake here that cost me tons of time and work. Anybody know?

transomglued.jpg



More to come!!!

John T.
 
I flipped the boat over and found more to do:

hullbefore1.jpg


I guess after years of dragging this thing through mud, ice and and the original layup was exposed

hullbefore2.jpg


hull mid-sanding

hullbefore3.jpg


You've all launched at concrete ramps before on windy days, right? This is what happens!

hullafter2.jpg


Hull after 5 coats of epoxy and a fair bit of graphite powder added to the final 2 coats

hullafter1.jpg


Holes filled, layup repaired, she may actually float! Notice the addiational sanding i still have to do, to remove the old coats of paint. The Makita sander with Stikit pad made quick work of most of it, but those tight spots are a pain!
 
wow what are those 4" pvc pipes under the floor, I guess you did want to lower that floor some :) these little boats are one of my personal favorites it good to see someone restoring one to keep it alive and your doing a good job keep the pictures coming andrew has infected many of us with this picture disease where we must see boat restore/build pictures to get by :)
 
So at this point I am done the hull. I neglected to mention I added 7lb cloth to the inside on the hull, as well as the underside of the lid. If you recall, awhile back I asked a question regarding fixing a soft fiberglass deck. Doug Mergargee was kind enough to answer that additional glass may help. I also poured 2 part foam into the combing and glassed that in for rigidity.

As far as the big mistake I made......I filleted the new transom into place while the hull was still out of shape. With the lid detached it sort of sags a bit and pushes out from the midline, thus pushing the transom back (further astern)from its intended position with the lid attached. When I buttoned them both up i was about 3 inches off and needed to "pull" the transom toward the bow ever so gently. Four big C-clamps on the back and 50 little 1 inch c-clamps held the top in place as i cranked the big clamps closed. It I also had to cut the flotation pods I installed, as the foam was inhibiting the forward progress. Live and learn. In my mind, it was easier to work with the lid off. In retrospect, I'll reconsider!

I must've been fully engrossed in fixing the transom problem at this point because I totally neglected to take any pics until after the floor was in and paint was applied.

newfloor2.jpg



The floor was a challenge, as i wanted to keep it as low as possible, yet level. With the v shaped hull, the floor tapered in as it approached the front. Flotation was added and the first coat was spreayed-Parkers Marsh Grass. I bought the wrong color, but refused to return it. 15 years with Hunter green, and I still like it better than mud brown, oh well.

finalmotormount.jpg


Theres the motor mount after many coats of glass (it sustianed some damage during the C-clamp procedure). The rubber thru-hull is for the gas-line.

newfloor.jpg


starting to take shape-

electricals.jpg


Notice the foam pads. Found them on 32nd Street and 7th Ave in Manhattan. Not bad @ $20 each.

almost done...............
 
WOW!!!! Outstanding work John!!!!!!!!! We should run our Bills together on the bay some time soon....Call me!
 
Jim-

Jeff is correct, it helps the hull slide through the water better as the epoxy has resisitant qualities, but it also tints the epoxy black. Sutton mentioned something else called "frog snot" that alot of the fan boat guys use. If this epoxy doesn't hold well (it doesn't like to flex too much) than I will try it.

John T.
 
Thanks for the post. I also have an AA broadbill and would like to know where you got the rubber trim that goes between the upper and lower sections?
 
John-

It's the original rub-rail. I looked into replacing it, but the costs per foot was outrageous. You can try and call Arthur Armstrong. I had good luck getting the handles and accessories from them at a reasonable price. I inquired about a new blind, but they wanted over $600 bucks without the frame, so I had a guy around here sew me up one.

John T.
 
WOW, what an awesome rehab job.....

I'd love to know where I can get more information on the graphite you used for the hull.

That blind is also top-notch...

Great job..
 
John,
Great tutorial with pix for us shallenged in the comprehension dept. I'm going to be rehabing a sneak box this next year and this will help greatly.
My question is, can you ellaborate any on the blind and it's support structure, snaps on the boat etc?
Thanks in advance for any info.
 
Great job John, Nice pictorial make the winter up here go better. Good luck in your hunting. Pete
 
Thanks for the replies guys! I'll try and get some pictures of the blind set-up this weekend during daylight hours. As far as the graphite powder, you can pretty much get it anywhere they sell epoxy and fiberglass. I use RAKA direct. They may cost a bit more, but I like the quick service and Larry is always available to answer any questions. I did use US Composites for the 2-part foam, as I needed a bunch for the bow compartment and they were almost half the price.

Best regards-

John T.

Maiden voyage is this Saturday. Not expecting much in the way of birds with this weather, but it should be a satisfying day!
 
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