TOPIC: Your advice re my winter project

Gentlemen;

Have a winter project on hand and am just in the process of cleaning 15 years of crud out of it.

The boat is a 15.5',McCormick Silos "Fish-N-Ski". I can find no information about McCormick Silos but presume that it was a forerunner of what is now McCormick-Deering Tractors. Are any of you familiar with this product? As I am in Canada, 350 miles north of Toronto, I am assuming that it was produced here as well.

It was parked in the trees for the last 15 years with a Chrysler 55 attached to it and the engine would not turn over. When I removed the engine hood, I could see that the engine had very little running time on it. Just to see what it would do, I sprayed a 40:1 mix into the cylinders every few hours for a couple of days. At the same time, dropped the LU, repaired a rupture in the leg where freezing had done it's job. Replace the three bearings in the LU, rerplaced the impeller, cleaned everything up and re-assembled. Pulled the head off to ensure that soaking it had not loosened anything too big and was able to clean out some minor corrosion.

After the fuel sytem was cleaned, I choked it and it started on the third attempt and purred like kitten. It actually scared the hell out of me when it started as I was not really expecting it to do so. At least I know it it is worth doing a complete job on over the winter.

Other than pulling the floor, I want to sand the exterior before putting it in the shop for the winter. The existing coat is in very good shape, though faded and the only real problem is the heavy weather/surface cracking in certain areas, especially around corners. Some of the cracks appear to be almost down to the fiberglass. Can these be dremelled out and filled with something or will the filler tend to creep out after the new paint coat is applied? Because most of it is on corners, I do have the chance to reinforce the back sides to provide more strength in those areas to prevent future spider cracking.

Regards

Gerry

Hi Gerry, and welcome to FG. Congrats on getting the Chrysler running again, that will certainly give you a more than a little inspiration to get the project going full steam, right!?

There are quite a few knowledgeable folks around here who will possibly be able to help with the history of your boat, just give it a little time. (Being originally from the midwest US, I'm familiar with the McCormick brand of farm equipment, but had no idea they made boats. Maybe not the same company, we'll see what turns up.)

As far as fiberglass repairs and refinishing your project, once again there are several folks around here who will be glad to assist with your questions or problems as they come up. To get started I recommend reading Jamil's tutorial in the Research/Restoration section of this site, here's a link straight to it:
www.fiberglassics.com/restoration/page-2

Post some pics of your boat and motor when you get a chance, we'd love to see it.

Mark;

Thanks for the welcome and I look forward to learning from the others here who seem to have produced some very fine boats.

Regards

Gerry

HI Gerry; Nice to see another northern Ontario member here. Where are you located? I'm in Sudbury. Please post some pics of your boat.
Al

Al;

I am in New Liskeard and hope to have some photos this weekend. Will be down there on 13th Sept to see my heart doctor. Let me know if you are free for coffee.

Regards

Gerry

Well, after almost four weeks and no answer I am going ahead with my own repair scheme. Thought for sure their would be someone here who could advise.

Thanks gents.

Gerry

MarkS answered your question within minutes.. even providing a direct link..

There has been lots written about boat restoration- and much good advise has already been posted (and saved in the archives)... you just have to take a bit of initiative to find it.

We have little to go on except a brief description of your boat. Photos of the problem areas would have been helpful. You said you would take some 3-weeks ago... But they have yet to be posted.. perhaps the delay is because we are waiting on you to provide more information...

Good luck on your own repair scheme...

I did read the topics described, which in no way answered my question with regard to possible eruption of the filler through the new paint.

My apologies about the pictures but I didn't realize that they were required to answer the question.

Thanks again!

Gerry

gerry,yes pictures help imensly,it shows us if its just jellcoat crazing or stress cracks,if they are just crazing,i use resin jelly to fill the larger ones,and just use filler primer on the really small crazing,sanding between every coat,at least thats how i do it,with crazing at least,john

tango936 wrote:

I did read the topics described,

You can also search for key-words like "stress cracks", "flexing", or "fillers" to return more subject matter. I think this thread probably shows a boat with similar areas of concern, and suggestions for repair.

fiberglassics.com/glassic-forums/main-forum/stress-cracks-in-gunwales-need-advise#14656

...which in no way answered my question with regard to possible eruption of the filler through the new paint.

Lets try this then... Just how deep are these cracks? Can you tell if they are structural, or just surface crazing? You state that they are mostly near corners- which may indicate flexing of the area (stress- but we don't know the boat) but it could also be damage- such as docking, or someone stepping in/on a weak area not meant to be used as such. I had a crack on the front deck of my MFG- that was from (someone heavy) standing on it. It isn't meant to be stood upon... but If the only info I gave you was there was a crack on my foredeck... you really couldn't help me.

Regular fillers- such as "bondo" and even 2-component spot putty... do not do well in areas that flex. We cannot tell if it's an area that requires reinforcement or not. You say you can get to the area for reinforcement- so it certainly wouldn't hurt anything, but may not be necessary.
As for the "filler" you choose "erupting"... we cannot answer that without knowing which fillers (or paint) you plan on using.
They make flexible fillers for urethane (car) bumper covers.. it fills and sands similar to regular body-filler, but is more forgiving to flex. The problem is- the primers, high-builds, and finishes don't have the same abilities- without additives..

There is a proper application for the myriad of fillers, primers, and finishes available to you. We just have to match the repair system with the problem.

My apologies about the pictures but I didn't realize that they were required to answer the question.

Sometimes they are VITAL.

You mentioned some "appear" to be "almost" down to the fiberglass. Sure would be nice if we could see them... as a more accurate answer to your question depends on it.. I know I go through threads like these to provide help... WHEN there is a question I can answer accurately rather than just generalize.
You mentioned posting pics.. Had they been posted, I would have revisited this thread (my settings bring up "new" posts first).. and perhaps been able to more accurately answer. Without "new" information.. the thread just dies. It wasn't meant as a dig.. it's just that I/we were waiting for more info.

Sounds like an interesting boat...

I am very sure that your boat was not made by McCormick Deering... they, International, Case IH, etc... did not make boats.. C.H. Wendel produced a pictorial history of International Harvestyer, with all products ever produced by the company...

Gerry:
Have you picked up a copy on "RUNABOUT RENOVATION" by Jim Anderson?
You can go through Amazon.com , ebay, or type tyhe title in a search engine to locate.
I have not picked up a boat to redo yet but did purchase the book. AWESOME!..Very well detailed and fun to read. Its almost like reading someones notes from a rebuild , not a tech boook.....look it up, purchase and read...it is broke down in steps. Amazon.com i believe offers a few different books with this one that might interest you too. Hopwe this works...


PS:
Post up some pics.....