Sea Nymph 19.5 Center Console Restoration

[Great_Laker]

I bought a 1987 Sea Nymph 19.5' center console in 2017 and have been slowly restoring the boat to fit my fishing style in Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes. A lot of the ideas and restoration tips/tricks have come from others on this site and lots of Youtube videos, so i thought i should post some pictures and descriptions as i go along in the future to help others that may be restoring an old fishing boat with modern gear and rigging. This winter i decided to take the engines off the back of the boat (sell them) and replace the transom which was..... not fun. Previous owners used pressure treated plywood as the transom which caused corrosion and pitting of the aluminum and the only through-bolts between the outside aluminum, wood transom, and inside aluminum frame were the four engine bolts, all other hardware was corroded (non stainless steel) and was only screwed into the wood, not bolted. That caused the outside aluminum to warp as the wood rotted and the main engine and kicker pulled the transom away from the rest of the boat and opened up a space in the splashwell for water to leak into the hull. We needed the bucket of a Kubota tractor to lift the old water logged transom board out of the boat with eye bolts drilled into the wood since it had swollen and wouldn't budge. The inside aluminum skin had so many corrosion pit holes that i had to replace it. Local metal shop cut a new sheet of 1/8" aluminum. The transom was 1 3/4" so used marine plywood and cut 3/4" and two 1/2" pieces, glued and screwed together. Coated the wood in fiber glass epoxy resin and reinstalled in the boat this time with stainless steel bolts. Waiting for warmer weather and then will repaint the aluminum and splashwell and seal the seams with 5200. New outboard coming in March

Edited July 5, 2022 by Great_Laker

[strik]

Great work, sea nymphs are a great platform.

 

Well done

[Frogger]

Love it! That’s a lot of work that pays off in a big way. Nice rig!

[Great_Laker]

Its been a great boat so far. Tall gunnels make it feel pretty safe in rollers and only weighing 1,100 lbs makes trailering and solo launching and retrieving easy. The center console is also perfect for trolling solo, can drive into chop and reel in at the same time. Wish the floors were aluminum though, already replaced them once. 

[Rocco]

Nicely done Sir

Sea nymphs are a great boat.

You have years of enjoyment ahead in that beauty !

 

Cheers

[Great_Laker]

Getting the center console ready for controls with the new outboard on the way. Had to cover all the old gauge, key, and control holes. Used 1/4” black Starboard which was a really easy material to work with. Decided not to get new gauges and just use the Lowrance units for engine gauges as they connect with NMEA 2000 and display all the information you could need (e.g., rpm, mpg, trim, gas level). Saves quite a bit of money in rigging if you already have a Lowrance. Waterproof Blue Seas switch board was also added to replace original switches. Cleaning up the wiring harness and bus bars coming next.

[whaler1]

What engines are you putting in?

[Great_Laker]

32 minutes ago, whaler1 said:

What engines are you putting in?

Single Honda 75 hp with troll controller 

[whaler1]

Really cool. Going to be an amazing boat. 

[tinfin]

Great work, looks fantastic!

Sent from my LML212VL using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Shakemsam]

Nice Rig! Running a 90 195 Sportfisherman that I picked up a few years ago. I would imagine the transom wasn't through bolted to due the lack of access without removing all the foam. The only through bolts I have access to are the motor bolts. Keep in mind that aluminum and stainless don't mix well, just like aluminum and PT wood. Unfortunately not really any other options though. Having a good painted surface on the aluminum helps. You can also add a plastic washer as a barrier between the hull and any stainless nut, bolt head, or washer. I like your use of the Lowrance for gauges but I would be concerned with the chance of a network failure. I would have a voltmeter at a min and maybe engine temp. Good Luck!

[Sea Nympho]

Thats Awesome !!!

[Great_Laker]

12 hours ago, Shakemsam said:

Nice Rig! Running a 90 195 Sportfisherman that I picked up a few years ago. I would imagine the transom wasn't through bolted to due the lack of access without removing all the foam. The only through bolts I have access to are the motor bolts. Keep in mind that aluminum and stainless don't mix well, just like aluminum and PT wood. Unfortunately not really any other options though. Having a good painted surface on the aluminum helps. You can also add a plastic washer as a barrier between the hull and any stainless nut, bolt head, or washer. I like your use of the Lowrance for gauges but I would be concerned with the chance of a network failure. I would have a voltmeter at a min and maybe engine temp. Good Luck!

That’s exactly right, getting access to the other bolts requires you to take the splash well apart. Taking it apart was easy but putting it back together with 1/4 close-end rivets was not. I had to buy a pneumatic rivet gun to save my forearms. Never thought about stainless to aluminum galvanization, thanks for pointing that out! The surfaces are painted on all sides and all bolts/washers are covered in 5200 sealant but rubber or plastic washers seem easy enough to add. Hopefully I won’t need to worry about network failures with two lowrances both connected to the NMEA network and 2022 modern engines have warning lights on the key switch and governors which don’t allow you to easily damage the engine, but I agree it’s something to consider. I have a stand alone volt meter as well as both lowrances give you voltage so that should be covered. Putting the splash well drains in this weekend which seems easy to screw up if they are not drilled out correctly. Any tips on that process would be appreciated.

[dry net]

I had one of them, great boat to fish out of!!! The downside was that it was the wettest boat I ever fished out of. I still miss that boat.

[Shakemsam]

59 minutes ago, Great_Laker said:

That’s exactly right, getting access to the other bolts requires you to take the splash well apart. Taking it apart was easy but putting it back together with 1/4 close-end rivets was not. I had to buy a pneumatic rivet gun to save my forearms. Never thought about stainless to aluminum galvanization, thanks for pointing that out! The surfaces are painted on all sides and all bolts/washers are covered in 5200 sealant but rubber or plastic washers seem easy enough to add. Hopefully I won’t need to worry about network failures with two lowrances both connected to the NMEA network and 2022 modern engines have warning lights on the key switch and governors which don’t allow you to easily damage the engine, but I agree it’s something to consider. I have a stand alone volt meter as well as both lowrances give you voltage so that should be covered. Putting the splash well drains in this weekend which seems easy to screw up if they are not drilled out correctly. Any tips on that process would be appreciated.

Be sure to re-use the inserts for the transom holes or replace with new. Coat them liberally with 5200. Keep their location in mind if you are putting the kicker directly on the transom vs a bracket. If transom, mount a piece of starboard inside the splashwell so the pressure from the kicker mount is spread out. In lew of starboard, I use black poly cutting board that I buy at Walmart. I also use it for transducer plates. Cuts easy and routs nice too and lots cheaper.

[Great_Laker]

1 hour ago, Shakemsam said:

Be sure to re-use the inserts for the transom holes or replace with new. Coat them liberally with 5200. Keep their location in mind if you are putting the kicker directly on the transom vs a bracket. If transom, mount a piece of starboard inside the splashwell so the pressure from the kicker mount is spread out. In lew of starboard, I use black poly cutting board that I buy at Walmart. I also use it for transducer plates. Cuts easy and routs nice too and lots cheaper.

Good advice! I bought new drain holes since I had to cut the other brass ones out to get the transom wood out. I sold my Yamaha kicker so no need to plan on that but I did cut a 1/4” piece of aluminum that I used as a backer plate previously to displace weight and I’ll be using that for the new outboard mounting holes. The splash well  drain holes bottom out on the splash well aluminum so drilling the new hole will need to be very precise so water drains correctly 

[Shakemsam]

Lay the drain in splashwell and trace it out. Drill out the center with 1/8 bit. Then gradually step up to the same diameter as the drain, from the outside. Then finish it with a small sanding drum.

[PA Matt]

Very nice! Looks like a nice sturdy repair. That console looks great.

[Wirenut]

You did a great job there, lots of hours spent I'm sure. I have a 1964 MFG that needed the transom repaired but I went a diffrent route. Took all the wood out , scraped, cleaned, put new fittings thru but used a pourable transom compound. It was pretty easy,, all prep work really. I am very happy with the results. Is there a reason that you used wood or just the way you decided to do it? 

[Shakemsam]

28 minutes ago, Wirenut said:

You did a great job there, lots of hours spent I'm sure. I have a 1964 MFG that needed the transom repaired but I went a diffrent route. Took all the wood out , scraped, cleaned, put new fittings thru but used a pourable transom compound. It was pretty easy,, all prep work really. I am very happy with the results. Is there a reason that you used wood or just the way you decided to do it? 

Wood is relatively cheap compared to Seacast or any of the other pourable's. Not to mention aluminum boats don't have sealed transoms like fiberglass. It could be done but the work involved wouldn't be worth it.

[Hosworld]

Awesome job, great looking boat! I have one just like it but side console and no where near as nice! 

[Great_Laker]

2 hours ago, Wirenut said:

You did a great job there, lots of hours spent I'm sure. I have a 1964 MFG that needed the transom repaired but I went a diffrent route. Took all the wood out , scraped, cleaned, put new fittings thru but used a pourable transom compound. It was pretty easy,, all prep work really. I am very happy with the results. Is there a reason that you used wood or just the way you decided to do it? 

I bet that turned out great! I considered it but like others mentioned, the transom is not sealed so the poured material would run through the aluminum frame on the inside of the boat. I also considered composite but that was 10x the cost of plywood and the reality is I won’t be keeping this boat forever.  

[Great_Laker]

Finished off the pre-motor wiring today and the NMEA backbone. Lots of zip ties and crawling on my back 

[Shakemsam]

Nice!

Something to think about...I added a breaker between the battery and the console. Makes life easy when working on any console issues later. Also...12v at the back for riggers if you need and accessories like maybe a filet knife.

Edited February 26, 2022 by Shakemsam

[Great_Laker]

Warm weather this weekend allowed me to prep, seal, and paint the transom and get it ready to mount the motor. Also installed splash well drains and put together a transom backer plate for the engine out of 1/4” aluminum to help distribute the load. Nothing left to do but repower. Getting close to brown trout season!